Exodus 16:7

16:7 and in the morning you will see ¹  the glory of the Lord, because he has heard ²  your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, ³  that you should murmur against us?”

Exodus 2:14

2:14 The man ⁴  replied, “Who made you a ruler ⁵  and a judge over us? Are you planning ⁶  to kill me like you killed that ⁷  Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, ⁸  “Surely what I did ⁹  has become known.”

Exodus 3:18

3:18 “The elders ¹⁰  will listen ¹¹  to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met ¹²  with us. So now, let us go ¹³  three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice ¹⁴  to the Lord our God.’

Exodus 5:3

5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹⁵  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ¹⁶  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ¹⁷ 

Exodus 16:8

16:8 Moses said, “You will know this ¹⁸  when the Lord gives you ¹⁹  meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? ²⁰  Your murmurings are not against us, ²¹  but against the Lord.”

[16:7]  ¹ tn Heb “morning, and you will see.”

[16:7]  ² tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. It forms an adverbial clause, usually of time, but here a causal clause.

[16:7]  ³ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers. The next verse repeats the question to further press the seriousness of what the Israelites are doing.

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Who placed you for a man, a ruler and a judge over us?” The pleonasm does not need to be translated. For similar constructions see Lev 21:9; Judg 6:8; 2 Sam 1:13; Esth 7:6.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn The line reads “[is it] to kill me you are planning?” The form אֹמֵר (’omer) is the active participle used verbally; it would literally be “[are you] saying,” but in this context it conveys the meaning of “thinking, planning.” The Qal infinitive then serves as the object of this verbal form – are you planning to kill me?

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Egyptian.” Here the Hebrew article functions in an anaphoric sense, referring back to the individual Moses killed.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn The verb form is “and he said.” But the intent of the form is that he said this within himself, and so it means “he thought, realized, said to himself.” The form, having the vav consecutive, is subordinated to the main idea of the verse, that he was afraid.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn The term הַדָּבָר (haddavar, “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done. For clarity this has been specified in the translation with the phrase “what I did.”

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “And they will listen”; the referent (the elders) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ⁸ tn This is the combination of the verb שָׁמַע (shama’) followed by לְקֹלֶךָ (lÿqolekha), an idiomatic formation that means “listen to your voice,” which in turn implies a favorable response.

[3:18]  ⁹ tn The verb נִקְרָה (niqra) has the idea of encountering in a sudden or unexpected way (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 25).

[3:18]  ¹⁰ tn The form used here is the cohortative of הָלַךְ (halakh). It could be a resolve, but more likely before Pharaoh it is a request.

[3:18]  ¹¹ tn Here a cohortative with a vav (ו) follows a cohortative; the second one expresses purpose or result: “let us go…in order that we may.”

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn The word “journey” is an adverbial accusative telling the distance that Moses wanted the people to go. It is qualified by “three days.” It is not saying that they will be gone three days, but that they will go a distance that will take three days to cover (see Gen 31:22-23; Num 10:33; 33:8).

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn The purpose clause here is formed with a second cohortative joined with a vav (ו): “let us go…and let us sacrifice.” The purpose of the going was to sacrifice.

[5:3]  ¹² sn The last clause of this verse is rather unexpected here: “lest he meet [afflict] us with pestilence or sword.” To fail to comply with the summons of one’s God was to invite such calamities. The Law would later incorporate many such things as the curses for disobedience. Moses is indicating to Pharaoh that there is more reason to fear Yahweh than Pharaoh.

[16:8]  ¹³ tn “You will know this” has been added to make the line smooth. Because of the abruptness of the lines in the verse, and the repetition with v. 7, B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 273) thinks that v. 8 is merely a repetition by scribal error – even though the versions render it as the MT has it. But B. Jacob (Exodus, 447) suggests that the contrast with vv. 6 and 7 is important for another reason – there Moses and Aaron speak, and it is smooth and effective, but here only Moses speaks, and it is labored and clumsy. “We should realize that Moses had properly claimed to be no public speaker.”

[16:8]  ¹⁴ tn Here again is an infinitive construct with the preposition forming a temporal clause.

[16:8]  ¹⁵ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers.

[16:8]  ¹⁶ tn The word order is “not against us [are] your murmurings.”