Discovery BoxExodus 39:6
Context39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal 1 with the names of the sons of Israel. 2
Exodus 28:9
Context28:9 “You are to take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 3
Exodus 28:36
Context28:36 “You are to make a plate 4 of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: 5 “Holiness to the Lord.” 6
Exodus 2:6
Context2:6 opened it, 7 and saw the child 8 – a boy, 9 crying! 10 – and she felt compassion 11 for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
Exodus 21:33
Context21:33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
Exodus 28:11
Context28:11 You are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a seal; 12 you are to have them set 13 in gold filigree 14 settings.
[39:6] 1 tn Or “as seals are engraved.”
[39:6] 2 sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.
[28:9] 3 tn Although this is normally translated “Israelites,” here a more literal translation is clearer because it refers to the names of the twelve tribes – the actual sons of Israel.
[28:36] 5 tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).
[28:36] 6 tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.
[28:36] 7 sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the
[2:6] 7 tn Heb “and she opened.”
[2:6] 8 tn The grammatical construction has a pronominal suffix on the verb as the direct object along with the expressed object: “and she saw him, the child.” The second object defines the previous pronominal object to avoid misunderstanding (see GKC 425 §131.m).
[2:6] 9 tn The text has נַעַר (na’ar, “lad, boy, young man”), which in this context would mean a baby boy.
[2:6] 10 tn This clause is introduced with a disjunctive vav and the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold” in the KJV). The particle in this kind of clause introduces the unexpected – what Pharaoh’s daughter saw when she opened the basket: “and look, there was a baby boy crying.” The clause provides a parenthetical description of the child as she saw him when she opened the basket and does not advance the narrative. It is an important addition, however, for it puts readers in the position of looking with her into the basket and explains her compassion.
[2:6] 11 tn The verb could be given a more colloquial translation such as “she felt sorry for him.” But the verb is stronger than that; it means “to have compassion, to pity, to spare.” What she felt for the baby was strong enough to prompt her to spare the child from the fate decreed for Hebrew boys. Here is part of the irony of the passage: What was perceived by many to be a womanly weakness – compassion for a baby – is a strong enough emotion to prompt the woman to defy the orders of Pharaoh. The ruler had thought sparing women was safe, but the midwives, the Hebrew mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Miriam, all work together to spare one child – Moses (cf. 1 Cor 1:27-29).
[28:11] 9 sn Expert stone or gem engravers were used to engrave designs and names in identification seals of various sizes. It was work that skilled artisans did.
[28:11] 10 tn Or “you will mount them” (NRSV similar).
[28:11] 11 tn Or “rosettes,” shield-like frames for the stones. The Hebrew word means “to plait, checker.”
