Exodus 20:2

20:2 “I, ¹  the Lord, am your God, ²  who brought you ³  from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ⁴ 

Exodus 13:14

13:14 ⁵ In the future, ⁶  when your son asks you ⁷  ‘What is this?’ ⁸  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ⁹  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ¹⁰ 

Exodus 13:3

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember ¹¹  this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, ¹²  for the Lord brought you out of there ¹³  with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ¹⁴ 

[20:2]  ¹ sn The revelation of Yahweh here begins with the personal pronoun. “I” – a person, a living personality, not an object or a mere thought. This enabled him to address “you” – Israel, and all his people, making the binding stipulations for them to conform to his will (B. Jacob, Exodus, 544).

[20:2]  ² tn Most English translations have “I am Yahweh your God.” But the preceding chapters have again and again demonstrated how he made himself known to them. Now, the emphasis is on “I am your God” – and what that would mean in their lives.

[20:2]  ³ tn The suffix on the verb is second masculine singular. It is this person that will be used throughout the commandments for the whole nation. God addresses them all as his people, but he addresses them individually for their obedience. The masculine form is not, thereby, intended to exclude women.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of slaves” meaning “the land of slavery.”

[13:14]  ⁵ sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ⁸ tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ⁹ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[13:3]  ⁹ tn The form is the infinitive absolute of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”). The use of this form in place of the imperative (also found in the Decalogue with the Sabbath instruction) stresses the basic meaning of the root word, everything involved with remembering (emphatic imperative, according to GKC 346 §113.bb). The verb usually implies that there will be proper action based on what was remembered.

[13:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from a house of slaves.” “House” is obviously not meant to be literal; it indicates a location characterized by slavery, a land of slaves, as if they were in a slave house. Egypt is also called an “iron-smelting furnace” (Deut 4:20).

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from this” [place].

[13:3]  ¹² tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it could be rendered “must not be eaten” in the nuance of the instruction or injunction category, but permission fits this sermonic presentation very well – nothing with yeast may be eaten.