Exodus 12:49

12:49 The same law will apply ¹  to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you.”

Exodus 16:28

16:28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse ²  to obey my commandments and my instructions?

Exodus 18:16

18:16 When they have a dispute, ³  it comes to me and I decide ⁴  between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the decrees of God and his laws.” ⁵ 

Exodus 18:20

18:20 warn ⁶  them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk ⁷  and the work they must do. ⁸ 

Exodus 13:9

13:9 ⁹  It ¹⁰  will be a sign ¹¹  for you on your hand and a memorial ¹²  on your forehead, ¹³  so that the law of the Lord may be ¹⁴  in your mouth, ¹⁵  for ¹⁶  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Exodus 16:4

16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain ¹⁷  bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out ¹⁸  and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. ¹⁹  Will they will walk in my law ²⁰  or not?

Exodus 24:12

24:12 ²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets ²²  with ²³  the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” ²⁴ 

[12:49]  ¹ tn Heb “one law will be to.”

[16:28]  ² tn The verb is plural, and so it is addressed to the nation and not to Moses. The perfect tense in this sentence is the characteristic perfect, denoting action characteristic, or typical, of the past and the present.

[18:16]  ³ tn Or “thing,” “matter,” “issue.”

[18:16]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁפַט (shafat) means “to judge”; more specifically, it means to make a decision as an arbiter or umpire. When people brought issues to him, Moses decided between them. In the section of laws in Exodus after the Ten Commandments come the decisions, the מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim).

[18:16]  ⁵ tn The “decrees” or “statutes” were definite rules, stereotyped and permanent; the “laws” were directives or pronouncements given when situations arose. S. R. Driver suggests this is another reason why this event might have taken place after Yahweh had given laws on the mountain (Exodus, 165).

[18:20]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) continues the sequence of instruction for Moses. He alone was to be the mediator, to guide them in the religious and moral instruction.

[18:20]  ⁵ tn The verb and its following prepositional phrase form a relative clause, modifying “the way.” The imperfect tense should be given the nuance of obligatory imperfect – it is the way they must walk.

[18:20]  ⁶ tn This last part is parallel to the preceding: “work” is also a direct object of the verb “make known,” and the relative clause that qualifies it also uses an obligatory imperfect.

[13:9]  ⁵ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ⁶ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  ¹⁰ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ¹¹ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ¹² tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[16:4]  ⁶ tn The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle indicates the imminent future action: “I am about to rain.”

[16:4]  ⁷ tn This verb and the next are the Qal perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives; they follow the sequence of the participle, and so are future in orientation. The force here is instruction – “they will go out” or “they are to go out.”

[16:4]  ⁸ tn The verb in the purpose/result clause is the Piel imperfect of נָסָה (nasah), אֲנַסֶּנוּ (’anassenu) – “in order that I may prove them [him].” The giving of the manna will be a test of their obedience to the detailed instructions of God as well as being a test of their faith in him (if they believe him they will not gather too much). In chap. 17 the people will test God, showing that they do not trust him.

[16:4]  ⁹ sn The word “law” here properly means “direction” at this point (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 146), but their obedience here would indicate also whether or not they would be willing to obey when the Law was given at Sinai.

[24:12]  ⁷ sn Now the last part is recorded in which Moses ascends to Yahweh to receive the tablets of stone. As Moses disappears into the clouds, the people are given a vision of the glory of Yahweh.

[24:12]  ⁸ sn These are the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments would be written. This is the first time they are mentioned. The commandments were apparently proclaimed by God first and then proclaimed to the people by Moses. Now that they have been formally agreed on and ratified, they will be written by God on stone for a perpetual covenant.

[24:12]  ⁹ tn Or “namely”; or “that is to say.” The vav (ו) on the noun does not mean that this is in addition to the tablets of stone; the vav is explanatory. Gesenius has “to wit”; see GKC 484-85 §154.a, n. 1(b).

[24:12]  ¹⁰ tn The last word of the verse is לְהוֹרֹתָם (lÿhorotam), the Hiphil infinitive construct of יָרָה (yarah). It serves as a purpose clause, “to teach them,” meaning “I am giving you this Law and these commands in order that you may teach them.” This duty to teach the Law will be passed especially to parents (Deut 6:6-9, 20-25) and to the tribe of Levi as a whole (Deut 33:9-10; Mal 2:1-9).