Exodus 3:21

3:21 “I will grant this people favor with ¹  the Egyptians, so that when ²  you depart you will not leave empty-handed.

Exodus 4:30

4:30 Aaron spoke ³  all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people,

Exodus 9:8

The Sixth Blow: Boils

9:8 ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot ⁵  from a furnace, and have Moses throw it ⁶  into the air while Pharaoh is watching. ⁷ 

Exodus 13:16

13:16 It will be for a sign on your hand and for frontlets ⁸  on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” ⁹ 

Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ¹⁰  Pharaoh got closer, ¹¹  the Israelites looked up, ¹²  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ¹³  and they were terrified. ¹⁴  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ¹⁵ 

Exodus 15:27

15:27 Then they came to Elim, ¹⁶  where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

Exodus 19:11

19:11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Exodus 21:8

21:8 If she does not please ¹⁷  her master, who has designated her ¹⁸  for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. ¹⁹  He has no right ²⁰  to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully ²¹  with her.

Exodus 33:17

33:17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know ²²  you by name.”

Exodus 40:38

40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be ²³  on it at night, in plain view ²⁴  of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

[3:21]  ¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.” This idiom usually means that someone will be treated well by the observer. It is unlikely that it means here that the Egyptians will like the Hebrews. Rather, it means that the Egyptians will give things to the Hebrews free – gratis (see 12:35-36). Not only will God do mighty works to make the king yield, but also he will work in the minds of the Egyptian people so that they will be favorably disposed to give Israel wealth.

[3:21]  ² tn The temporal indicator (here future) with the particle ki (וְהָיָה כִּי, vÿhaya ki) introduces a temporal clause.

[4:30]  ³ tn Heb “And Aaron spoke.”

[9:8]  ⁵ sn This sixth plague, like the third, is unannounced. God instructs his servants to take handfuls of ashes from the Egyptians’ furnaces and sprinkle them heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. These ashes would become little particles of dust that would cause boils on the Egyptians and their animals. Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 101-3, suggests it is skin anthrax (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359). The lesson of this plague is that Yahweh has absolute control over the physical health of the people. Physical suffering consequent to sin comes to all regardless of their position and status. The Egyptians are helpless in the face of this, as now God begins to touch human life; greater judgments on human wickedness lie ahead.

[9:8]  ⁶ tn This word פִּיחַ (piakh) is a hapax legomenon, meaning “soot”; it seems to be derived from the verb פּוּחַ (puakh, “to breathe, blow”). The “furnace” (כִּבְשָׁן, kivshan) was a special kiln for making pottery or bricks.

[9:8]  ⁷ tn The verb זָרַק (zaraq) means “to throw vigorously, to toss.” If Moses tosses the soot into the air, it will symbolize that the disease is falling from heaven.

[9:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “before the eyes of Pharaoh.”

[13:16]  ⁷ tn The word is טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “frontlets”). The etymology is uncertain, but the word denotes a sign or an object placed on the forehead (see m. Shabbat 6:1). The Gemara interprets it as a band that goes from ear to ear. In the Targum to 2 Sam 1:10 it is an armlet worn by Saul (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 110). These bands may have resembled the Egyptian practice of wearing as amulets “forms of words written on folds of papyrus tightly rolled up and sewn in linen” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:384).

[13:16]  ⁸ sn The pattern of the passage now emerges more clearly; it concerns the grateful debt of the redeemed. In the first part eating the unleavened bread recalls the night of deliverance in Egypt, and it calls for purity. In the second part the dedication of the firstborn was an acknowledgment of the deliverance of the firstborn from bondage. They were to remember the deliverance and choose purity; they were to remember the deliverance and choose dedication. The NT will also say, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, therefore, glorify God” (1 Cor 6:20). Here too the truths of God’s great redemption must be learned well and retained well from generation to generation.

[14:10]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

[14:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “drew near.”

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

[14:10]  ¹² tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

[14:10]  ¹³ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

[14:10]  ¹⁴ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

[15:27]  ¹¹ sn Judging from the way the story is told they were not far from the oasis. But God had other plans for them, to see if they would trust him wholeheartedly and obey. They did not do very well this first time, and they will have to learn how to obey. The lesson is clear: God uses adversity to test his people’s loyalty. The response to adversity must be prayer to God, for he can turn the bitter into the sweet, the bad into the good, and the prospect of death into life.

[21:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, ra’ah) in the eyes of her master.”

[21:8]  ¹⁴ tn The verb יָעַד (ya’ad) does not mean “betroth, espouse” as some of the earlier translations had it, but “to designate.” When he bought the girl, he designated her for himself, giving her and her family certain expectations.

[21:8]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect with vav (ו) consecutive from פָדָה (padah, “to redeem”). Here in the apodosis the form is equivalent to an imperfect: “let someone redeem her” – perhaps her father if he can, or another. U. Cassuto says it can also mean she can redeem herself and dissolve the relationship (Exodus, 268).

[21:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”

[21:8]  ¹⁷ sn The deceit is in not making her his wife or concubine as the arrangement had stipulated.

[33:17]  ¹⁵ tn The verb in this place is a preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive, judging from the pointing. It then follows in sequence the verb “you have found favor,” meaning you stand in that favor, and so it means “I have known you” and still do (equal to the present perfect). The emphasis, however, is on the results of the action, and so “I know you.”

[40:38]  ¹⁷ tn Here is another imperfect tense of the customary nuance.

[40:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to the eyes of all”; KJV, ASV, NASB “in the sight of all”; NRSV “before the eyes of all.”