Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ¹  Pharaoh got closer, ²  the Israelites looked up, ³  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ⁴  and they were terrified. ⁵  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ⁶ 

Exodus 14:31

14:31 When Israel saw ⁷  the great power ⁸  that the Lord had exercised ⁹  over the Egyptians, they ¹⁰  feared the Lord, and they believed in ¹¹  the Lord and in his servant Moses. ¹² 

Exodus 34:30

34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; ¹³  and they were afraid to approach him.

[14:10]  ¹ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

[14:10]  ² tn Heb “drew near.”

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

[14:10]  ⁴ tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

[14:10]  ⁵ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

[14:10]  ⁶ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

[14:31]  ⁷ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.

[14:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power. The word play using “hand” contrasts the Lord’s hand/power at work on behalf of the Israelites with the hand/power of Egypt that would have killed them.

[14:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “did, made.”

[14:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the people feared.”

[14:31]  ¹¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).

[14:31]  ¹² sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT – the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier account of deliverance at the Passover, this chapter can be a lesson on deliverance from present troubles – if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be understood as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm of the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.

[34:30]  ¹³ tn This clause is introduced by the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh); it has the force of pointing to something surprising or sudden.