Exodus 18:15

18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire ¹  of God.

Exodus 21:3

21:3 If he came ²  in by himself ³  he will go out by himself; if he had ⁴  a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.

Exodus 18:23

18:23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, ⁵  then you will be able ⁶  to endure, ⁷  and all these people ⁸  will be able to go ⁹  home ¹⁰  satisfied.” ¹¹ 

Exodus 29:30

29:30 The priest who succeeds him ¹²  from his sons, when he first comes ¹³  to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days. ¹⁴ 

Exodus 22:9

22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ¹⁵  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ¹⁶  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ¹⁷  and the one whom ¹⁸  the judges declare guilty ¹⁹  must repay double to his neighbor.

[18:15]  ¹ tn The form is לִדְרֹשׁ (lidrosh), the Qal infinitive construct giving the purpose. To inquire of God would be to seek God’s will on a matter, to obtain a legal decision on a matter, or to settle a dispute. As a judge Moses is speaking for God, but as the servant of Yahweh Moses’ words will be God’s words. The psalms would later describe judges as “gods” because they made the right decisions based on God’s Law.

[21:3]  ² tn The tense is imperfect, but in the conditional clause it clearly refers to action that is anterior to the action in the next clause. Heb “if he comes in single, he goes out single,” that is, “if he came in single, he will go out single.”

[21:3]  ³ tn Heb “with his back” meaning “alone.”

[21:3]  ⁴ tn The phrase says, “if he was the possessor of a wife”; the noun בַּעַל (ba’al) can mean “possessor” or “husband.” If there was a wife, she shared his fortunes or his servitude; if he entered with her, she would accompany him when he left.

[18:23]  ³ tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.

[18:23]  ⁴ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive now appears in the apodosis of the conditional sentence – “if you do this…then you will be able.”

[18:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “to stand.” B. Jacob (Exodus, 501) suggests that there might be a humorous side to this: “you could even do this standing up.”

[18:23]  ⁶ tn Literally “this people.”

[18:23]  ⁷ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.

[18:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “his place.”

[18:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “in peace.”

[29:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “after him”; NCV, NLT “after Aaron.”

[29:30]  ⁵ tn The text just has the relative pronoun and the imperfect tense. It could be translated “who comes/enters.” But the context seems to indicate that this would be when he first comes to the tent to begin his tenure as High Priest, and so a temporal clause makes this clear. “First” has been supplied.

[29:30]  ⁶ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time. The ritual of ordination is to be repeated for seven days, and so they are to remain there in the court in full dress.

[22:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ⁶ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ⁸ tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ⁹ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.