Exodus 12:35-36

12:35 Now the Israelites had done ¹  as Moses told them – they had requested from the Egyptians ²  silver and gold items and clothing. 12:36 The Lord ³  gave the people favor ⁴  in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatever they wanted, ⁵  and so they plundered Egypt. ⁶ 

Exodus 3:22

3:22 Every ⁷  woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying ⁸  in her house for items of silver and gold ⁹  and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters – thus you will plunder Egypt!” ¹⁰ 

Exodus 11:2

11:2 Instruct ¹¹  the people that each man and each woman is to request ¹²  from his or her neighbor ¹³  items of silver and gold.” ¹⁴ 

Exodus 13:14

13:14 ¹⁵ In the future, ¹⁶  when your son asks you ¹⁷  ‘What is this?’ ¹⁸  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ¹⁹  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ²⁰ 

Exodus 18:7

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ²¹  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

Exodus 22:14

22:14 “If a man borrows an animal ²²  from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it ²³  will surely pay.

[12:35]  ¹ tn The verbs “had done” and then “had asked” were accomplished prior to the present narrative (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 99). The verse begins with disjunctive word order to introduce the reminder of earlier background information.

[12:35]  ² tn Heb “from Egypt.” Here the Hebrew text uses the name of the country to represent the inhabitants (a figure known as metonymy).

[12:36]  ³ tn The holy name (“Yahweh,” represented as “the Lord” in the translation) has the vav disjunctive with it. It may have the force: “Now it was Yahweh who gave the people favor….”

[12:36]  ⁴ sn God was destroying the tyrant and his nobles and the land’s economy because of their stubborn refusal. But God established friendly, peaceful relations between his people and the Egyptians. The phrase is used outside Exod only in Gen 39:21, referring to Joseph.

[12:36]  ⁵ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם (vayyash’ilum) is a Hiphil form that has the root שָׁאַל (sha’al), used earlier in Qal with the meaning “requested” (12:35). The verb here is frequently translated “and they lent them,” but lending does not fit the point. What they gave the Israelites were farewell gifts sought by demanding or asking for them. This may exemplify a “permissive” use of the Hiphil stem, in which “the Hiphil designates an action that is agreeable to the object and allowed by the subject” (B. T. Arnold and J. H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 52).

[12:36]  ⁶ sn See B. Jacob, “The Gifts of the Egyptians; A Critical Commentary,” Journal of Reformed Judaism 27 (1980): 59-69.

[3:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “a woman,” one representing all.

[3:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the sojourner.” Both the “neighbor” and the “sojourner” (“one who happens to be staying in her house”) are feminine. The difference between them seems to be primarily that the second is temporary, “a lodger” perhaps or “visitor,” while the first has permanent residence.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “vessels of silver and vessels of gold.” These phrases both use genitives of material, telling what the vessels are made of.

[3:22]  ⁸ sn It is clear that God intended the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians, as they might a defeated enemy in war. They will not go out “empty.” They will “plunder” Egypt. This verb (וְנִצַּלְתֶּם [vÿnitsaltem] from נָצַל [natsal]) usually means “rescue, deliver,” as if plucking out of danger. But in this stem it carries the idea of plunder. So when the text says that they will ask (וְשָׁאֲלָה, vÿsha’alah) their neighbors for things, it implies that they will be making many demands, and the Egyptians will respond like a defeated nation before victors. The spoils that Israel takes are to be regarded as back wages or compensation for the oppression (see also Deut 15:13). See further B. Jacob, “The Gifts of the Egyptians, a Critical Commentary,” Journal of Reformed Judaism 27 (1980): 59-69; and T. C. Vriezen, “A Reinterpretation of Exodus 3:21-22 and Related Texts,” Ex Oriente Lux 23 (1975): 389-401.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “Speak now in the ears of the people.” The expression is emphatic; it seeks to ensure that the Israelites hear the instruction.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn The verb translated “request” is וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ (vÿyish’alu), the Qal jussive: “let them ask.” This is the point introduced in Exod 3:22. The meaning of the verb might be stronger than simply “ask”; it might have something of the idea of “implore” (see also its use in the naming of Samuel, who was “asked” from Yahweh [1 Sam 1:20]).

[11:2]  ⁹ tn “each man is to request from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor.”

[11:2]  ¹⁰ sn See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[13:14]  ⁹ sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ¹³ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[18:7]  ¹¹ sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[22:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “if a man asks [an animal] from his neighbor” (see also Exod 12:36). The ruling here implies an animal is borrowed, and if harm comes to it when the owner is not with it, the borrower is liable. The word “animal” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who borrowed the animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.