Exodus 12:38

12:38 A mixed multitude ¹  also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. ² 

Exodus 8:24

8:24 The Lord did so; a ³  thick ⁴  swarm of flies came into ⁵  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ⁶  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ⁷  because of the swarms of flies.

Exodus 16:6

16:6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening ⁸  you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Exodus 8:22

8:22 But on that day I will mark off ⁹  the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, ¹⁰  so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. ¹¹ 

Exodus 18:14

18:14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this ¹²  that you are doing for the people? ¹³  Why are you sitting by yourself, and all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”

[12:38]  ¹ tn The “mixed multitude” (עֵרֶב רַב, ’erev rav) refers to a great “swarm” (see a possible cognate in 8:21[17]) of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos). The expression prepares for later references to riffraff who came along.

[12:38]  ² tn Heb “and very much cattle.”

[8:24]  ³ tn Heb “and there came a….”

[8:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “heavy,” or “severe.”

[8:24]  ⁵ tn Here, and in the next phrase, the word “house” has to be taken as an adverbial accusative of termination.

[8:24]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has the singular here.

[8:24]  ⁷ tc Concerning the connection of “the land was ruined” with the preceding, S. R. Driver (Exodus, 68) suggests reading with the LXX, Smr, and Peshitta; this would call for adding a conjunction before the last clause to make it read, “into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was…”

[16:6]  ⁵ tn The text simply has “evening, and you will know.” Gesenius notes that the perfect tense with the vav consecutive occurs as the apodosis to temporal clauses or their equivalents. Here the first word implies the idea “[when it becomes] evening” or simply “[in the] evening” (GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[8:22]  ⁷ tn Or “distinguish.” וְהִפְלֵיתִי (vÿhifleti) is the Hiphil perfect of פָּלָה (palah). The verb in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” God was going to keep the flies away from Goshen – he was setting that apart. The Greek text assumed that the word was from פָּלֵא (pale’), and translated it something like “I will marvelously glorify.”

[8:22]  ⁸ tn The relative clause modifies the land of Goshen as the place “in which my people are dwelling.” But the normal word for “dwelling” is not used here. Instead, עֹמֵד (’omed) is used, which literally means “standing.” The land on which Israel stood was spared the flies and the hail.

[8:22]  ⁹ tn Or “of the earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB).

[18:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “what is this thing.”

[18:14]  ¹⁰ sn This question, “what are you doing for the people,” is qualified by the next question. Sitting alone all day and the people standing around all day showed that Moses was exhibiting too much care for the people – he could not do this.