Exodus 13:7

13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten ¹  for seven days; ²  no bread made with yeast shall be seen ³  among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ⁴ Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁵  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ⁶  into the desert, and found no water.

Exodus 22:30

22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Exodus 24:16

24:16 The glory of the Lord resided ⁷  on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. ⁸  On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.

Exodus 29:30

29:30 The priest who succeeds him ⁹  from his sons, when he first comes ¹⁰  to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days. ¹¹ 

Exodus 29:37

29:37 For seven days ¹²  you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. ¹³  Anything that touches the altar will be holy. ¹⁴ 

Exodus 34:21

34:21 “On six days ¹⁵  you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; ¹⁶  even at the time of plowing and of harvest ¹⁷  you are to rest. ¹⁸ 

[13:7]  ¹ tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.

[13:7]  ² tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).

[13:7]  ³ tn Or “visible to you” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 366).

[15:22]  ⁴ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ⁵ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ⁶ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[24:16]  ⁷ sn The verb is וַיִּשְׁכֹּן (vayyishkon, “and dwelt, abode”). From this is derived the epithet “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory (B. Jacob, Exodus, 749). The verb, according to U. Cassuto (Exodus, 316), also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan). The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them, a completion that is authenticated with the miraculous. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the NT the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds.

[24:16]  ⁸ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[29:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “after him”; NCV, NLT “after Aaron.”

[29:30]  ¹¹ tn The text just has the relative pronoun and the imperfect tense. It could be translated “who comes/enters.” But the context seems to indicate that this would be when he first comes to the tent to begin his tenure as High Priest, and so a temporal clause makes this clear. “First” has been supplied.

[29:30]  ¹² tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time. The ritual of ordination is to be repeated for seven days, and so they are to remain there in the court in full dress.

[29:37]  ¹³ tn Once again this is an adverbial accusative of time. Each day for seven days the ritual at the altar is to be followed.

[29:37]  ¹⁴ tn The construction is the superlative genitive: “holy of holies,” or “most holy.”

[29:37]  ¹⁵ sn This line states an unusual principle, meant to preserve the sanctity of the altar. S. R. Driver explains it this way (Exodus, 325): If anything comes in contact with the altar, it becomes holy and must remain in the sanctuary for Yahweh’s use. If a person touches the altar, he likewise becomes holy and cannot return to the profane regions. He will be given over to God to be dealt with as God pleases. Anyone who was not qualified to touch the altar did not dare approach it, for contact would have meant that he was no longer free to leave but was God’s holy possession – and might pay for it with his life (see Exod 30:29; Lev 6:18b, 27; and Ezek 46:20).

[34:21]  ¹⁶ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[34:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “cease” (i.e., from the labors).

[34:21]  ¹⁸ sn See M. Dahood, “Vocative lamed in Exodus 2,4 and Merismus in 34,21,” Bib 62 (1981): 413-15.

[34:21]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense expresses injunction or instruction.