Exodus 17:6

17:6 I will be standing ¹  before you there on ²  the rock in Horeb, and you will strike ³  the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” ⁴  And Moses did so in plain view ⁵  of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 20:18

20:18 All the people were seeing ⁶  the thundering and the lightning, and heard ⁷  the sound of the horn, and saw ⁸  the mountain smoking – and when ⁹  the people saw it they trembled with fear ¹⁰  and kept their distance. ¹¹ 

[17:6]  ¹ tn The construction uses הִנְנִי עֹמֵד (hinni ’omed) to express the futur instans or imminent future of the verb: “I am going to be standing.”

[17:6]  ² tn Or “by” (NIV, NLT).

[17:6]  ³ tn The form is a Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the future nuance of the participle and so is equivalent to an imperfect tense nuance of instruction.

[17:6]  ⁴ tn These two verbs are also perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive: “and [water] will go out…and [the people] will drink.” But the second verb is clearly the intent or the result of the water gushing from the rock, and so it may be subordinated.

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[20:18]  ⁶ tn The participle is used here for durative action in the past time (GKC 359 §116.o).

[20:18]  ⁷ tn The verb “to see” (רָאָה, ra’ah) refers to seeing with all the senses, or perceiving. W. C. Kaiser suggests that this is an example of the figure of speech called zeugma because the verb “saw” yokes together two objects, one that suits the verb and the other that does not. So, the verb “heard” is inserted here to clarify (“Exodus,” EBC 2:427).

[20:18]  ⁸ tn The verb “saw” is supplied here because it is expected in English (see the previous note on “heard”).

[20:18]  ⁹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated as a temporal clause to the following clause, which receives the prominence.

[20:18]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of נוּעַ (nua’) is “to shake, sway to and fro” in fear. Compare Isa 7:2 – “and his heart shook…as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”

[20:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they stood from/at a distance.”