Exodus 18:13

18:13 On the next day ¹  Moses sat to judge ²  the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening.

Exodus 23:33

23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare ³  to you.”

Exodus 34:12

34:12 Be careful not to make ⁴  a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare ⁵  among you.

Exodus 34:15

34:15 Be careful ⁶  not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when ⁷  they prostitute themselves ⁸  to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, ⁹  you will eat from his sacrifice;

[18:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and it was/happened on the morrow.”

[18:13]  ² sn This is a simple summary of the function of Moses on this particular day. He did not necessarily do this every day, but it was time now to do it. The people would come to solve their difficulties or to hear instruction from Moses on decisions to be made. The tradition of “sitting in Moses’ seat” is drawn from this passage.

[23:33]  ³ tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.

[34:12]  ⁵ tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.

[34:12]  ⁶ sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.

[34:15]  ⁷ tn The sentence begins simply “lest you make a covenant”; it is undoubtedly a continuation of the imperative introduced earlier, and so that is supplied here.

[34:15]  ⁸ tn The verb is a perfect with a vav consecutive. In the literal form of the sentence, this clause tells what might happen if the people made a covenant with the inhabitants of the land: “Take heed…lest you make a covenant…and then they prostitute themselves…and sacrifice…and invite…and you eat.” The sequence lays out an entire scenario.

[34:15]  ⁹ tn The verb זָנָה (zanah) means “to play the prostitute; to commit whoredom; to be a harlot” or something similar. It is used here and elsewhere in the Bible for departing from pure religion and engaging in pagan religion. The use of the word in this figurative sense is fitting, because the relationship between God and his people is pictured as a marriage, and to be unfaithful to it was a sin. This is also why God is described as a “jealous” or “impassioned” God. The figure may not be merely a metaphorical use, but perhaps a metonymy, since there actually was sexual immorality at the Canaanite altars and poles.

[34:15]  ¹⁰ tn There is no subject for the verb. It could be rendered “and one invites you,” or it could be made a passive.