Exodus 17:11

17:11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, ¹  then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest ²  his hands, then Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 21:13

21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, ³  but it happens by accident, ⁴  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Exodus 30:33

30:33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest ⁵  will be cut off ⁶  from his people.’”

Exodus 32:35

32:35 And the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf ⁷  – the one Aaron made. ⁸ 

[17:11]  ¹ tn The two verbs in the temporal clauses are by וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר (vÿhaya ka’asher, “as long as” or, “and it was that whenever”). This indicates that the two imperfect tenses should be given a frequentative translation, probably a customary imperfect.

[17:11]  ² tn Or “lower.”

[21:13]  ³ tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).

[21:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.

[30:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “a stranger,” meaning someone not ordained a priest.

[30:33]  ⁶ sn The rabbinic interpretation of this is that it is a penalty imposed by heaven, that the life will be cut short and the person could die childless.

[32:35]  ⁷ tn The verse is difficult because of the double reference to the making of the calf. The NJPS’s translation tries to reconcile the two by reading “for what they did with the calf that Aaron had made.” B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 557) explains in some detail why this is not a good translation based on syntactical grounds; he opts for the conclusion that the last three words are a clumsy secondary addition. It seems preferable to take the view that both are true, Aaron is singled out for his obvious lead in the sin, but the people sinned by instigating the whole thing.

[32:35]  ⁸ sn Most commentators have difficulty with this verse. W. C. Kaiser says the strict chronology is not always kept, and so the plague here may very well refer to the killing of the three thousand (“Exodus,” EBC 2:481).