Exodus 3:12

3:12 He replied, ¹  “Surely I will be with you, ²  and this will be the sign ³  to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve ⁴  God on this mountain.”

Exodus 8:5

8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ⁵  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 12:3

12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each ⁶  must take a lamb ⁷  for themselves according to their families ⁸  – a lamb for each household. ⁹ 

Exodus 28:27

28:27 You are to make two more ¹⁰  gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod.

Exodus 32:26

32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come ¹¹  to me.” ¹²  All the Levites gathered around him,

Exodus 32:30

32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, ¹³  “You have committed a very serious sin, ¹⁴  but now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can make atonement ¹⁵  on behalf of your sin.”

Exodus 39:20

39:20 They made two more ¹⁶  gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Heb “And he said”; the word “replied” clarifies for English readers that speaker is God.

[3:12]  ² tn The particle כִּי (ki) has the asseverative use here, “surely, indeed,” which is frequently found with oaths (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449). The imperfect tense אֶהְיֶה (’ehyeh) could be rendered as the future tense, “I will be” or the present tense “I am” with you. The future makes the better sense in this case, since the subject matter is the future mission. But since it is a stative verb, the form will also lend itself nicely to explaining the divine name – he is the One who is eternally present – “I am with you always.”

[3:12]  ³ sn In view of Moses’ hesitancy, a sign is necessary to support the promise. A sign is often an unusual or miraculous event that introduces, authenticates, or illustrates the message. One expects a direct connection between the sign and the message (for a helpful discussion, see S. Porúbcan, “The Word ’OT in Isaia 7,14,” CBQ 22 [1960]: 144-49). In this passage the sign is a confirming one, i.e., when Israel worships at the mountain that will be the proof that God delivered them from Egypt. Thus, the purpose of the exodus that makes possible the worship will be to prove that it was God who brought it about. In the meantime, Moses will have to trust in Yahweh.

[3:12]  ⁴ tn The verb תַּעַבְדוּן (ta’avdun, “you will serve”) is one of the foremost words for worship in the Torah. Keeping the commandments and serving Yahweh usually sum up the life of faith; the true worshiper seeks to obey him. The highest title anyone can have in the OT is “the servant of Yahweh.” The verb here could be rendered interpretively as “worship,” but it is better to keep it to the basic idea of serving because that emphasizes an important aspect of worship, and it highlights the change from Israel’s serving Egypt, which has been prominent in the earlier chapters. The words “and they” are supplied to clarify for English readers that the subject of the verb is plural (Moses and the people), unlike the other second person forms in vv. 10 and 12, which are singular.

[8:5]  ⁵ sn After the instructions for Pharaoh (7:25-8:4), the plague now is brought on by the staff in Aaron’s hand (8:5-7). This will lead to the confrontation (vv. 8-11) and the hardening (vv. 12-15).

[12:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they will take for them a man a lamb.” This is clearly a distributive, or individualizing, use of “man.”

[12:3]  ¹⁰ tn The שֶּׂה (seh) is a single head from the flock, or smaller cattle, which would include both sheep and goats.

[12:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to the house of their fathers.” The expression “house of the father” is a common expression for a family.

[12:3]  ¹² tn Heb “house” (also at the beginning of the following verse).

[28:27]  ¹³ tn Here “more” has been supplied.

[32:26]  ¹⁷ tn “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.

[32:26]  ¹⁸ tn S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, 354).

[32:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “and it was on the morrow and Moses said to the people.”

[32:30]  ²² tn The text uses a cognate accusative: “you have sinned a great sin.”

[32:30]  ²³ tn The form אֲכַפְּרָה (’akhappÿrah) is a Piel cohortative/imperfect. Here with only a possibility of being successful, a potential imperfect nuance works best.

[39:20]  ²⁵ tn Here “more” has been supplied.