Exodus 12:16

12:16 On the first day there will be a holy convocation, ¹  and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind ²  on them, only what every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you.

Exodus 12:48

12:48 “When a foreigner lives ³  with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, ⁴  and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land ⁵  – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

Exodus 13:3

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember ⁶  this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, ⁷  for the Lord brought you out of there ⁸  with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ⁹ 

Exodus 21:28

Laws about Animals

21:28 ¹⁰ “If an ox ¹¹  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ¹²  then the ox must surely ¹³  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

[12:16]  ¹ sn This refers to an assembly of the people at the sanctuary for religious purposes. The word “convocation” implies that the people were called together, and Num 10:2 indicates they were called together by trumpets.

[12:16]  ² tn Heb “all/every work will not be done.” The word refers primarily to the work of one’s occupation. B. Jacob (Exodus, 322) explains that since this comes prior to the fuller description of laws for Sabbaths and festivals, the passage simply restricts all work except for the preparation of food. Once the laws are added, this qualification is no longer needed. Gesenius translates this as “no manner of work shall be done” (GKC 478-79 §152.b).

[12:48]  ³ tn Both the participle “foreigner” and the verb “lives” are from the verb גּוּר (gur), which means “to sojourn, to dwell as an alien.” This reference is to a foreigner who settles in the land. He is the protected foreigner; when he comes to another area where he does not have his clan to protect him, he must come under the protection of the Law, or the people. If the “resident alien” is circumcised, he may participate in the Passover (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 104).

[12:48]  ⁴ tn The infinitive absolute functions as the finite verb here, and “every male” could be either the object or the subject (see GKC 347 §113.gg and 387 §121.a).

[12:48]  ⁵ tn אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh) refers to the native-born individual, the native Israelite as opposed to the “stranger, alien” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 104); see also W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 127, 210.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn The form is the infinitive absolute of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”). The use of this form in place of the imperative (also found in the Decalogue with the Sabbath instruction) stresses the basic meaning of the root word, everything involved with remembering (emphatic imperative, according to GKC 346 §113.bb). The verb usually implies that there will be proper action based on what was remembered.

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “from a house of slaves.” “House” is obviously not meant to be literal; it indicates a location characterized by slavery, a land of slaves, as if they were in a slave house. Egypt is also called an “iron-smelting furnace” (Deut 4:20).

[13:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “from this” [place].

[13:3]  ⁸ tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it could be rendered “must not be eaten” in the nuance of the instruction or injunction category, but permission fits this sermonic presentation very well – nothing with yeast may be eaten.

[21:28]  ⁷ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

[21:28]  ⁸ tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ¹⁰ tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.