Exodus 2:17

2:17 When some ¹  shepherds came and drove them away, ²  Moses came up and defended them ³  and then watered their flock.

Exodus 5:15

5:15 ⁴ The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating ⁵  your servants this way?

Exodus 14:22-23

14:22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall ⁶  for them on their right and on their left.

14:23 The Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea – all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Exodus 19:2

19:2 After they journeyed ⁷  from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ⁸ 

Exodus 14:16-17

14:16 And as for you, ⁹  lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that ¹⁰  the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹¹  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ¹²  they will come after them, that I may be honored ¹³  because ¹⁴  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Exodus 15:23

15:23 Then they came to Marah, ¹⁵  but they were not able to drink ¹⁶  the waters of Marah, because ¹⁷  they were bitter. ¹⁸  (That is ¹⁹  why its name was ²⁰  Marah.)

Exodus 15:27

15:27 Then they came to Elim, ²¹  where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

Exodus 16:22

16:22 And ²²  on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers ²³  per person; ²⁴  and all the leaders ²⁵  of the community ²⁶  came and told ²⁷  Moses.

Exodus 18:7

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ²⁸  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

Exodus 36:4

36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work ²⁹  they were doing

Exodus 16:1

The Provision of Manna

16:1 ³⁰ When ³¹  they journeyed from Elim, the entire company ³²  of Israelites came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus ³³  from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 35:21-22

35:21 Everyone ³⁴  whose heart stirred him to action ³⁵  and everyone whose spirit was willing ³⁶  came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ³⁷  35:22 They came, men and women alike, ³⁸  all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, ³⁹  and everyone came who waved ⁴⁰  a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

[2:17]  ¹ tn The definite article here is the generic use; it simply refers to a group of shepherds.

[2:17]  ² tn The actions of the shepherds are subordinated to the main statement about what Moses did.

[2:17]  ³ sn The verb used here is וַיּוֹשִׁעָן (vayyoshi’an, “and he saved them”). The word means that he came to their rescue and delivered them. By the choice of words the narrator is portraying Moses as the deliverer – he is just not yet ready to deliver Israel from its oppressors.

[5:15]  ⁴ sn The last section of this event tells the effect of the oppression on Israel, first on the people (15-19) and then on Moses and Aaron (20-21). The immediate reaction of Israel was to cry to Pharaoh – something they would learn should be directed to God. When Pharaoh rebuffed them harshly, they turned bitterly against their leaders.

[5:15]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense should be classified here with the progressive imperfect nuance, because the harsh treatment was a present reality.

[14:22]  ⁷ tn The clause literally reads, “and the waters [were] for them a wall.” The word order in Hebrew is disjunctive, with the vav (ו) on the noun introducing a circumstantial clause.

[19:2]  ¹⁰ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, “and they journeyed.” It is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause. But since the action of this temporal clause preceded the actions recorded in v. 1, a translation of “after” will keep the sequence in order. Verse 2 adds details to the summary in v. 1.

[19:2]  ¹¹ sn The mountain is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, the place where God had met and called Moses and had promised that they would be here to worship him. If this mountain is Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Sinai, then the plain in front of it would be Er-Rahah, about a mile and a half long by half a mile wide, fronting the mountain on the NW side (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 169). The plain itself is about 5000 feet above sea level. A mountain on the west side of the Arabian Peninsula has also been suggested as a possible site.

[14:16]  ¹³ tn The conjunction plus pronoun (“and you”) is emphatic – “and as for you” – before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 begins with “and as for me, I….”

[14:16]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav (ו) is sequential, coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity – “that they may go.”

[14:17]  ¹⁶ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

[14:17]  ¹⁷ tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

[14:17]  ¹⁸ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

[14:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

[15:23]  ¹⁹ sn The Hebrew word “Marah” means “bitter.” This motif will be repeated four times in this passage to mark the central problem. Earlier in the book the word had been used for the “bitter herbs” in the Passover, recalling the bitter labor in bondage. So there may be a double reference here – to the bitter waters and to Egypt itself – God can deliver from either.

[15:23]  ²⁰ tn The infinitive construct here provides the direct object for the verb “to be able,” answering the question of what they were not able to do.

[15:23]  ²¹ tn The causal clause here provides the reason for their being unable to drink the water, as well as a clear motivation for the name.

[15:23]  ²² sn Many scholars have attempted to explain these things with natural phenomena. Here Marah is identified with Ain Hawarah. It is said that the waters of this well are notoriously salty and brackish; Robinson said it was six to eight feet in diameter and the water about two feet deep; the water is unpleasant, salty, and somewhat bitter. As a result the Arabs say it is the worst tasting water in the area (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:398). But that would not be a sufficient amount of water for the number of Israelites in the first place, and in the second, they could not drink it at all. But third, how did Moses change it?

[15:23]  ²³ tn The עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken) formula in the Pentateuch serves to explain to the reader the reason for the way things were. It does not necessarily mean here that Israel named the place – but they certainly could have.

[15:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “one called its name,” the expression can be translated as a passive verb if the subject is not expressed.

[15:27]  ²² sn Judging from the way the story is told they were not far from the oasis. But God had other plans for them, to see if they would trust him wholeheartedly and obey. They did not do very well this first time, and they will have to learn how to obey. The lesson is clear: God uses adversity to test his people’s loyalty. The response to adversity must be prayer to God, for he can turn the bitter into the sweet, the bad into the good, and the prospect of death into life.

[16:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and it happened/was.”

[16:22]  ²⁶ tn This construction is an exception to the normal rule for the numbers 2 through 10 taking the object numbered in the plural. Here it is “two of the omer” or “the double of the omer” (see GKC 433 §134.e).

[16:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “for one.”

[16:22]  ²⁸ tn The word suggests “the ones lifted up” above others, and therefore the rulers or the chiefs of the people.

[16:22]  ²⁹ tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[16:22]  ³⁰ sn The meaning here is probably that these leaders, the natural heads of the families in the clans, saw that people were gathering twice as much and they reported this to Moses, perhaps afraid it would stink again (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 197).

[18:7]  ²⁸ sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[36:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “a man, a man from his work”; or “each one from his work.”

[16:1]  ³⁴ sn Exod 16 plays an important part in the development of the book’s theme. It is part of the wider section that is the prologue leading up to the covenant at Sinai, a part of which was the obligation of obedience and loyalty (P. W. Ferris, Jr., “The Manna Narrative of Exodus 16:1-10,” JETS 18 [1975]: 191-99). The record of the wanderings in the wilderness is selective and not exhaustive. It may have been arranged somewhat topically for instructional reasons. U. Cassuto describes this section of the book as a didactic anthology arranged according to association of both context and language (Exodus, 187). Its themes are: lack of vital necessities, murmuring, proving, and providing. All the wilderness stories reiterate the same motifs. So, later, when Israel arrived in Canaan, they would look back and be reminded that it was Yahweh who brought them all the way, in spite of their rebellions. Because he is their Savior and their Provider, he will demand loyalty from them. In the Manna Narrative there is murmuring over the lack of bread (1-3), the disputation with Moses (4-8), the appearance of the glory and the promise of bread (9-12), the provision (13-22), the instructions for the Sabbath (23-30), and the memorial manna (31-36).

[16:1]  ³⁵ tn The sentence begins with a preterite and vav (ו) consecutive, which can be subordinated to the next clause with the preterite and vav consecutive. Here it has been treated as a temporal clause.

[16:1]  ³⁶ tn The word is often rendered “congregation” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but the modern perception of a congregation is not exactly what is in mind in the desert. Another possible rendering is “community” (NAB, NIV, NCV, TEV) or “assembly.” The Hebrew word is used of both good and bad groups (Judg 14:8; Ps 1:5; 106:17-18).

[16:1]  ³⁷ tn The form in the text is לְצֵאתָם (lÿtse’tam, “after their going out”). It clearly refers to their deliverance from Egypt, and so it may be vividly translated.

[35:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “man.”

[35:21]  ³⁸ tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.

[35:21]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).

[35:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.

[35:22]  ⁴⁰ tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).

[35:22]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “all gold utensils.”

[35:22]  ⁴² tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.