Exodus 17:4

17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with ¹  this people? – a little more ²  and they will stone me!” ³ 

Exodus 19:13

19:13 No hand will touch him ⁴  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ⁵  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ⁶  go up on the mountain.”

Exodus 21:28

Laws about Animals

21:28 ⁷ “If an ox ⁸  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ⁹  then the ox must surely ¹⁰  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

Exodus 21:32

21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner ¹¹  must pay thirty shekels of silver, ¹²  and the ox must be stoned. ¹³ 

Exodus 8:26

8:26 But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do, ¹⁴  for the sacrifices we make ¹⁵  to the Lord our God would be an abomination ¹⁶  to the Egyptians. ¹⁷  If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, ¹⁸  will they not stone us? ¹⁹ 

Exodus 21:29

21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, ²⁰  and he did not take the necessary precautions, ²¹  and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.

[17:4]  ¹ tn The preposition lamed (ל) is here specification, meaning “with respect to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 49, §273).

[17:4]  ² tn Or “they are almost ready to stone me.”

[17:4]  ³ tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive almost develops an independent force; this is true in sentences where it follows an expression of time, as here (see GKC 334 §112.x).

[19:13]  ⁴ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

[19:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:13]  ⁶ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.

[21:28]  ⁷ sn The point that this section of the laws makes is that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling the circumstances.

[21:28]  ⁸ tn Traditionally “ox,” but “bull” would also be suitable. The term may refer to one of any variety of large cattle.

[21:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he dies”; KJV “that they die”; NAB, NASB “to death.”

[21:28]  ¹⁰ tn The text uses סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל (saqol yissaqel), a Qal infinitive absolute with a Niphal imperfect. The infinitive intensifies the imperfect, which here has an obligatory nuance or is a future of instruction.

[21:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ¹¹ sn A shekel was a unit for measure by means of a scale. Both the weight and the value of a shekel of silver are hard to determine. “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181). Over four hundred years earlier, Joseph was sold into Egypt for 20 shekels. The free Israelite citizen was worth about 50 shekels (Lev 27:3f.).

[21:32]  ¹² sn See further B. S. Jackson, “The Goring Ox Again [Ex. 21,28-36],” JJP 18 (1974): 55-94.

[8:26]  ¹³ tn The clause is a little unusual in its formation. The form נָכוֹן (nakhon) is the Niphal participle from כּוּן (kun), which usually means “firm, fixed, steadfast,” but here it has a rare meaning of “right, fitting, appropriate.” It functions in the sentence as the predicate adjective, because the infinitive לַעֲשּׂוֹת (la’asot) is the subject – “to do so is not right.”

[8:26]  ¹⁴ tn This translation has been smoothed out to capture the sense. The text literally says, “for the abomination of Egypt we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God.” In other words, the animals that Israel would sacrifice were sacred to Egypt, and sacrificing them would have been abhorrent to the Egyptians.

[8:26]  ¹⁵ tn An “abomination” is something that is off-limits, something that is tabu. It could be translated “detestable” or “loathsome.”

[8:26]  ¹⁶ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 109) says there are two ways to understand “the abomination of the Egyptians.” One is that the sacrifice of the sacred animals would appear an abominable thing in the eyes of the Egyptians, and the other is that the word “abomination” could be a derogatory term for idols – we sacrifice what is an Egyptian idol. So that is why he says if they did this the Egyptians would stone them.

[8:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians [or “of Egypt”] before their eyes.”

[8:26]  ¹⁸ tn The interrogative clause has no particle to indicate it is a question, but it is connected with the conjunction to the preceding clause, and the meaning of these clauses indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[21:29]  ¹⁶ tn The Hophal perfect has the idea of “attested, testified against.”

[21:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he was not keeping it” or perhaps guarding or watching it (referring to the ox).