Exodus 2:23

The Call of the Deliverer

2:23 ¹ During ²  that long period of time ³  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁴  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁵  because of their slave labor went up to God.

Exodus 5:8

5:8 But you must require ⁶  of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. ⁷  Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. ⁸  That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’

Exodus 7:9

7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do ⁹  a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down ¹⁰  before Pharaoh,’ it will become ¹¹  a snake.”

Exodus 14:5

14:5 When it was reported ¹²  to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, ¹³  the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, ¹⁴  “What in the world have we done? ¹⁵  For we have released the people of Israel ¹⁶  from serving us!”

Exodus 14:25

14:25 He jammed ¹⁷  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ¹⁸  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ¹⁹  from Israel, for the Lord fights ²⁰  for them against Egypt!”

Exodus 28:35

28:35 The robe ²¹  is to be on Aaron as he ministers, ²²  and his sound will be heard ²³  when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he leaves, so that he does not die.

Exodus 30:16

30:16 You are to receive the atonement money ²⁴  from the Israelites and give it for the service ²⁵  of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial ²⁶  for the Israelites before the Lord, to make atonement ²⁷  for your lives.”

Exodus 30:20

30:20 When they enter ²⁸  the tent of meeting, they must wash with ²⁹  water so that they do not die. ³⁰  Also, when they approach ³¹  the altar to minister by burning incense ³²  as an offering made by fire ³³  to the Lord,

Exodus 31:17

31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ³⁴  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ³⁵ 

Exodus 39:1

The Making of the Priestly Garments

39:1 From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³⁶ 

Exodus 39:40

39:40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings ³⁷  for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting;

[2:23]  ¹ sn The next section of the book is often referred to as the “Call of Moses,” and that is certainly true. But it is much more than that. It is the divine preparation of the servant of God, a servant who already knew what his destiny was. In this section Moses is shown how his destiny will be accomplished. It will be accomplished because the divine presence will guarantee the power, and the promise of that presence comes with the important “I AM” revelation. The message that comes through in this, and other “I will be with you” passages, is that when the promise of God’s presence is correctly appropriated by faith, the servant of God can begin to build confidence for the task that lies ahead. It will no longer be, “Who am I that I should go?” but “I AM with you” that matters. The first little section, 2:23-25, serves as a transition and introduction, for it records the Lord’s response to Israel in her affliction. The second part is the revelation to Moses at the burning bush (3:1-10), which is one of the most significant theological sections in the Torah. Finally, the record of Moses’ response to the call with his objections (3:11-22), makes up the third part, and in a way, is a transition to the next section, where God supplies proof of his power.

[2:23]  ² tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “And it was” (cf. KJV, ASV “And it came to pass”). This has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[2:23]  ³ tn Heb “in those many days.”

[2:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

[2:23]  ⁵ tn “They cried out” is from זָעַק (za’aq), and “desperate cry” is from שַׁוְעָה (shava’h).

[5:8]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Qal imperfect of שִׂים (sim, “place, put”). The form could be an imperfect of instruction: “You will place upon them the quota.” Or, as here, it may be an obligatory imperfect: “You must place.”

[5:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “yesterday and three days ago” or “yesterday and before that” is idiomatic for “previously” or “in the past.”

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Or “loafers.” The form נִרְפִּים (nirpim) is derived from the verb רָפָה (rafah), meaning “to be weak, to let oneself go.” They had been letting the work go, Pharaoh reasoned, and being idle is why they had time to think about going to worship.

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn The verb is תְּנוּ (tÿnu), literally “give.” The imperative is followed by an ethical dative that strengthens the subject of the imperative: “you give a miracle.”

[7:9]  ¹² tn Heb “and throw it.” The direct object, “it,” is implied.

[7:9]  ¹³ tn The form is the jussive יְהִי ( yÿhi). Gesenius notes that frequently in a conditional clause, a sentence with a protasis and apodosis, the jussive will be used. Here it is in the apodosis (GKC 323 §109.h).

[14:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.

[14:5]  ¹⁷ tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.

[14:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.

[14:5]  ¹⁹ tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[14:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).

[14:25]  ²¹ tn The word in the text is וַיָּסַר (vayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, Smr, and Syriac suggests a root אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). The sense here might be “clogged – presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 120).

[14:25]  ²² tn The clause is וַיְנַהֲגֵהוּ בִּכְבֵדֻת (vaynahagehu bikhvedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is “heaviness” or “hardship”; it recalls the previous uses of related words to describe Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty.

[14:25]  ²³ tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian army. The word for “flee” is used when someone runs from fear of immanent danger and is a different word than the one used in 14:5.

[14:25]  ²⁴ tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement in v. 14.

[28:35]  ²⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the robe) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:35]  ²⁷ tn The form is a Piel infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition: “to minister” or “to serve.” It may be taken epexegetically here, “while serving,” although S. R. Driver takes it as a purpose, “in order that he may minister” (Exodus, 308). The point then would be that he dare not enter into the Holy Place without wearing it.

[28:35]  ²⁸ sn God would hear the bells and be reminded that this priest was in his presence representing the nation and that the priest had followed the rules of the sanctuary by wearing the appropriate robes with their attachments.

[30:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “the silver of the atonements.” The genitive here is the result (as in “sheep of slaughter”) telling what the money will be used for (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 11, §44).

[30:16]  ³² sn The idea of “service” is maintenance and care of the sanctuary and its service, meaning the morning and evening sacrifices and the other elements to be used.

[30:16]  ³³ sn S. R. Driver says this is “to keep Jehovah in continual remembrance of the ransom which had been paid for their lives” (Exodus, 334).

[30:16]  ³⁴ tn The infinitive could be taken in a couple of ways here. It could be an epexegetical infinitive: “making atonement.” Or it could be the infinitive expressing result: “so that atonement will be made for your lives.”

[30:20]  ³⁶ tn The form is an infinitive construct with the temporal preposition bet (ב), and a suffixed subjective genitive: “in their going in,” or, whenever they enter.

[30:20]  ³⁷ tn “Water” is an adverbial accusative of means, and so is translated “with water.” Gesenius classifies this with verbs of “covering with something.” But he prefers to emend the text with a preposition (see GKC 369 §117.y, n. 1).

[30:20]  ³⁸ tn The verb is a Qal imperfect with a nuance of final imperfect. The purpose/result clause here is indicated only with the conjunction: “and they do not die.” But clearly from the context this is the intended result of their washing – it is in order that they not die.

[30:20]  ³⁹ tn Here, too, the infinitive is used in a temporal clause construction. The verb נָגַשׁ (nagash) is the common verb used for drawing near to the altar to make offerings – the official duties of the priest.

[30:20]  ⁴⁰ tn The text uses two infinitives construct: “to minister to burn incense”; the first is the general term and expresses the purpose of the drawing near, and the second infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first infinitive.

[30:20]  ⁴¹ tn The translation “as an offering made by fire” is a standard rendering of the one word in the text that appears to refer to “fire.” Milgrom and others contend that it simply means a “gift” (Leviticus 1-16, 161).

[31:17]  ⁴¹ tn The expression again forms an adverbial accusative of time.

[31:17]  ⁴² sn The word “rest” essentially means “to cease, stop.” So describing God as “resting” on the seventh day does not indicate that he was tired – he simply finished creation and then ceased or stopped. But in this verse is a very bold anthropomorphism in the form of the verb וַיִּנָּפַשׁ (vayyinnafash), a Niphal preterite from the root נָפַשׁ (nafash), the word that is related to “life, soul” or more specifically “breath, throat.” The verb is usually translated here as “he was refreshed,” offering a very human picture. It could also be rendered “he took breath” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 345). Elsewhere the verb is used of people and animals. The anthropomorphism is clearly intended to teach people to stop and refresh themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally on this day of rest.

[39:1]  ⁴⁶ sn This chapter also will be almost identical to the instructions given earlier, with a few changes along the way.

[39:40]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “utensils, vessels.”