Exodus 23:33

23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare ¹  to you.”

Exodus 34:12

34:12 Be careful not to make ²  a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare ³  among you.

Exodus 10:7

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long ⁴  will this man be a menace ⁵  to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know ⁶  that Egypt is destroyed?”

[23:33]  ¹ tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.

[34:12]  ² tn The exact expression is “take heed to yourself lest you make.” It is the second use of this verb in the duties, now in the Niphal stem. To take heed to yourself means to watch yourself, be sure not to do something. Here, if they failed to do this, they would end up making entangling treaties.

[34:12]  ³ sn A snare would be a trap, an allurement to ruin. See Exod 23:33.

[10:7]  ³ sn The question of Pharaoh’s servants echoes the question of Moses – “How long?” Now the servants of Pharaoh are demanding what Moses demanded – “Release the people.” They know that the land is destroyed, and they speak of it as Moses’ doing. That way they avoid acknowledging Yahweh or blaming Pharaoh.

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “snare” (מוֹקֵשׁ, moqesh), a word used for a trap for catching birds. Here it is a figure for the cause of Egypt’s destruction.

[10:7]  ⁵ tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).