Exodus 3:3

3:3 So Moses thought, ¹  “I will turn aside to see ²  this amazing ³  sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” ⁴ 

Exodus 20:26

20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’ ⁵ 

Exodus 25:40

25:40 Now be sure to make ⁶  them according to the pattern you were shown ⁷  on the mountain. ⁸ 

Exodus 31:2

31:2 “See, I have chosen ⁹  Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,

Exodus 32:9

32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. ¹⁰  Look ¹¹  what a stiff-necked people they are! ¹² 

Exodus 33:20

33:20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can ¹³  see me and live.” ¹⁴ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And Moses said.” The implication is that Moses said this to himself.

[3:3]  ² tn The construction uses the cohortative אָסֻרָה־נָּא (’asura-nna’) followed by an imperfect with vav (וְאֶרְאֶה, vÿ’er’eh) to express the purpose or result (logical sequence): “I will turn aside in order that I may see.”

[3:3]  ³ tn Heb “great.” The word means something extraordinary here. In using this term Moses revealed his reaction to the strange sight and his anticipation that something special was about to happen. So he turned away from the flock to investigate.

[3:3]  ⁴ tn The verb is an imperfect. Here it has the progressive nuance – the bush is not burning up.

[20:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “uncovered” (so ASV, NAB).

[25:40]  ⁹ tn The text uses two imperatives: “see and make.” This can be interpreted as a verbal hendiadys, calling for Moses and Israel to see to it that they make these things correctly.

[25:40]  ¹⁰ tn The participle is passive, “caused to see,” or, “shown.”

[25:40]  ¹¹ sn The message of this section surely concerns access to God. To expound this correctly, though, since it is an instruction section for building the lampstand, the message would be: God requires that his people ensure that light will guide the way of access to God. The breakdown for exposition could be the instructions for preparation for light (one lamp, several branches), then instructions for the purpose and maintenance of the lamps, and then the last verse telling the divine source for the instructions. Naturally, the metaphorical value of light will come up in the study, especially from the NT. So in the NT there is the warning that if churches are unfaithful God will remove their lampstand, their ministry (Rev 2-3).

[31:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “called by name.” This expression means that the person was specifically chosen for some important task (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 342). See the expression with Cyrus in Isa 45:3-4.

[32:9]  ¹⁷ sn This is a bold anthropomorphism; it is as if God has now had a chance to get to know these people and has discovered how rebellious they are. The point of the figure is that there has been discernible evidence of their nature.

[32:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and behold” or “and look.” The expression directs attention in order to persuade the hearer.

[32:9]  ¹⁹ sn B. Jacob says the image is that of the people walking before God, and when he called to them the directions, they would not bend their neck to listen; they were resolute in doing what they intended to do (Exodus, 943). The figure describes them as refusing to submit, but resisting in pride.

[33:20]  ²¹ tn In view of the use of the verb “can, be able to” in the first clause, this imperfect tense is given a potential nuance.

[33:20]  ²² tn Gesenius notes that sometimes a negative statement takes the place of a conditional clause; here it is equal to “if a man sees me he does not live” (GKC 498 §159.gg). The other passages that teach this are Gen 32:30; Deut 4:33, 5:24, 26; Judg 6:22, 13:22, and Isa 6:5.