Exodus 3:20

3:20 So I will extend my hand ¹  and strike Egypt with all my wonders ²  that I will do among them, and after that he will release you. ³ 

Exodus 7:21

7:21 When the fish ⁴  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ⁵  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ⁶  everywhere in the land of Egypt!

Exodus 9:9

9:9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester ⁷  on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 9:16

9:16 But ⁸  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ⁹  to show you ¹⁰  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ¹¹  in all the earth.

Exodus 9:24

9:24 Hail fell ¹²  and fire mingled ¹³  with the hail; the hail was so severe ¹⁴  that there had not been any like it ¹⁵  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

Exodus 10:22

10:22 So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness ¹⁶  throughout the land of Egypt for three days. ¹⁷ 

Exodus 11:6

11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, ¹⁸  nor ever will be again. ¹⁹ 

Exodus 13:7

13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten ²⁰  for seven days; ²¹  no bread made with yeast shall be seen ²²  among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

Exodus 18:26

18:26 They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring ²³  to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.

Exodus 40:38

40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be ²⁴  on it at night, in plain view ²⁵  of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

[3:20]  ¹ sn The outstretched arm is a bold anthropomorphism. It describes the power of God. The Egyptians will later admit that the plagues were by the hand of God (Exod 8:19).

[3:20]  ² tn The word נִפְלְאֹתַי (niflÿ’otay) does not specify what the intervention will be. As the text unfolds it will be clear that the plagues are intended. Signs and portents could refer to things people might do, but “wonders” only God could do. The root refers to that which is extraordinary, surpassing, amazing, difficult to comprehend. See Isa 9:6; Gen 18:14; Ps 139:6.

[3:20]  ³ sn The two uses of the root שָׁלָח (shalakh) in this verse contribute to its force. When the Lord “sends” (Qal) his hand, Pharaoh will “send” (Piel) the Israelites out of Egypt.

[7:21]  ⁴ tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.

[7:21]  ⁵ tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.

[7:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and there was blood.”

[9:9]  ⁷ tn The word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin) means “boils.” It may be connected to an Arabic cognate that means “to be hot.” The illness is associated with Job (Job 2:7-8) and Hezekiah (Isa 38:21); it has also been connected with other skin diseases described especially in the Law. The word connected with it is אֲבַעְבֻּעֹת (’ava’bu’ot); this means “blisters, pustules” and is sometimes translated as “festering.” The etymology is debated, whether from a word meaning “to swell up” or “to overflow” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359).

[9:16]  ¹⁰ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ¹¹ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ¹² tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:24]  ¹³ tn The verb is the common preterite וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which is normally translated “and there was” if it is translated at all. The verb הָיָה (hayah), however, can mean “be, become, befall, fall, fall out, happen.” Here it could be simply translated “there was hail,” but the active “hail fell” fits the point of the sequence better.

[9:24]  ¹⁴ tn The form מִתְלַקַּחַת (mitlaqqakhat) is a Hitpael participle; the clause reads, “and fire taking hold of itself in the midst of the hail.” This probably refers to lightning flashing back and forth. See also Ezek 1:4. God created a great storm with flashing fire connected to it.

[9:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.

[9:24]  ¹⁶ tn A literal reading of the clause would be “which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt.” The relative pronoun must be joined to the resumptive pronoun: “which like it (like which) there had not been.”

[10:22]  ¹⁶ tn The construction is a variation of the superlative genitive: a substantive in the construct state is connected to a noun with the same meaning (see GKC 431 §133.i).

[10:22]  ¹⁷ sn S. R. Driver says, “The darkness was no doubt occasioned really by a sand-storm, produced by the hot electrical wind…which blows in intermittently…” (Exodus, 82, 83). This is another application of the antisupernatural approach to these texts. The text, however, is probably describing something that was not a seasonal wind, or Pharaoh would not have been intimidated. If it coincided with that season, then what is described here is so different and so powerful that the Egyptians would have known the difference easily. Pharaoh here would have had to have been impressed that this was something very abnormal, and that his god was powerless. Besides, there was light in all the dwellings of the Israelites.

[11:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “which like it there has never been.”

[11:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and like it it will not add.”

[13:7]  ²² tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.

[13:7]  ²³ tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).

[13:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “visible to you” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 366).

[18:26]  ²⁵ tn This verb and the verb in the next clause are imperfect tenses. In the past tense narrative of the verse they must be customary, describing continuous action in past time.

[40:38]  ²⁸ tn Here is another imperfect tense of the customary nuance.

[40:38]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to the eyes of all”; KJV, ASV, NASB “in the sight of all”; NRSV “before the eyes of all.”