Exodus 18:6

18:6 He said ¹  to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.”

Exodus 27:7

27:7 The poles are to be put ²  into the rings so that the poles will be on two sides of the altar when carrying it. ³ 

Exodus 28:9

28:9 “You are to take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, ⁴ 

Exodus 29:38

29:38 “Now this is what you are to prepare ⁵  on the altar every day continually: two lambs a year old.

[18:6]  ¹ sn This verse may seem out of place, since the report has already been given that they came to the desert. It begins to provide details of the event that the previous verse summarizes. The announcement in verse 6 may have come in advance by means of a messenger or at the time of arrival, either of which would fit with the attention to formal greetings in verse 7. This would suit a meeting between two important men; the status of Moses has changed. The LXX solves the problem by taking the pronoun “I” as the particle “behold” and reads it this way: “one said to Moses, ‘Behold, your father-in-law has come….’”

[27:7]  ² tn The verb is a Hophal perfect with vav consecutive: וְהוּבָא (vÿhuva’, “and it will be brought”). The particle אֶת (’et) here introduces the subject of the passive verb (see a similar use in 21:28, “and its flesh will not be eaten”).

[27:7]  ³ tn The construction is the infinitive construct with bet (ב) preposition: “in carrying it.” Here the meaning must be that the poles are not left in the rings, but only put into the rings when they carried it.

[28:9]  ³ tn Although this is normally translated “Israelites,” here a more literal translation is clearer because it refers to the names of the twelve tribes – the actual sons of Israel.

[29:38]  ⁴ tn The verb is “you will do,” “you will make.” It clearly refers to offering the animals on the altar, but may emphasize all the preparation that was involved in the process.