Exodus 4:1

The Source of Sufficiency

4:1 ¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

Exodus 11:6

11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, ⁵  nor ever will be again. ⁶ 

Exodus 12:46

12:46 It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it.

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ⁷  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ⁸  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ⁹  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 20:17

20:17 “You shall not covet ¹⁰  your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” ¹¹ 

Exodus 21:8

21:8 If she does not please ¹²  her master, who has designated her ¹³  for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. ¹⁴  He has no right ¹⁵  to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully ¹⁶  with her.

Exodus 22:8

22:8 If the thief is not caught, ¹⁷  then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges ¹⁸  to see ¹⁹  whether he has laid ²⁰  his hand on his neighbor’s goods.

Exodus 22:25

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ²¹  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ²²  to him; do not charge ²³  him interest. ²⁴ 

Exodus 23:13

23:13 “Pay attention to do ²⁵  everything I have told you, and do not even mention ²⁶  the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips. ²⁷ 

Exodus 30:15

30:15 The rich are not to increase it, ²⁸  and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving ²⁹  the offering of the Lord, to make atonement ³⁰  for your lives.

Exodus 30:32

30:32 It must not be applied ³¹  to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.

[4:1]  ¹ sn In chap. 3, the first part of this extensive call, Yahweh promises to deliver his people. At the hesitancy of Moses, God guarantees his presence will be with him, and that assures the success of the mission. But with chap. 4, the second half of the call, the tone changes sharply. Now Moses protests his inadequacies in view of the nature of the task. In many ways, these verses address the question, “Who is sufficient for these things?” There are three basic movements in the passage. The first nine verses tell how God gave Moses signs in case Israel did not believe him (4:1-9). The second section records how God dealt with the speech problem of Moses (4:10-12). And finally, the last section records God’s provision of a helper, someone who could talk well (4:13-17). See also J. E. Hamlin, “The Liberator’s Ordeal: A Study of Exodus 4:1-9,” Rhetorical Criticism [PTMS], 33-42.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “and Moses answered and said.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Or “What if.” The use of הֵן (hen) is unusual here, introducing a conditional idea in the question without a following consequence clause (see Exod 8:22 HT [8:26 ET]; Jer 2:10; 2 Chr 7:13). The Greek has “if not” but adds the clause “what shall I say to them?”

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “listen to my voice,” so as to respond positively.

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “which like it there has never been.”

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

[20:7]  ⁹ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ¹⁰ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[20:17]  ¹³ tn The verb חָמַד (khamad) focuses not on an external act but on an internal mental activity behind the act, the motivation for it. The word can be used in a very good sense (Ps 19:10; 68:16), but it has a bad connotation in contexts where the object desired is off limits. This command is aimed at curtailing the greedy desire for something belonging to a neighbor, a desire that leads to the taking of it or the attempt to take it. It was used in the story of the Garden of Eden for the tree that was desired.

[20:17]  ¹⁴ sn See further G. Wittenburg, “The Tenth Commandment in the Old Testament,” Journal for Theology in South Africa 21 (1978): 3-17: and E. W. Nicholson, “The Decalogue as the Direct Address of God,” VT 27 (1977): 422-33.

[21:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, ra’ah) in the eyes of her master.”

[21:8]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”

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

[22:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “found.”

[22:8]  ²² tn Here again the word used is “the gods,” meaning the judges who made the assessments and decisions. In addition to other works, see J. R. Vannoy, “The Use of the Word ha’elohim in Exodus 21:6 and 22:7,8,” The Law and the Prophets, 225-41.

[22:8]  ²³ tn The phrase “to see” has been supplied.

[22:8]  ²⁴ tn The line says “if he has not stretched out his hand.” This could be the oath formula, but the construction here would be unusual, or it could be taken as “whether” (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:438). U. Cassuto (Exodus, 286) does not think the wording can possibly fit an oath; nevertheless, an oath would be involved before God (as he takes it instead of “judges”) – if the man swore, his word would be accepted, but if he would not swear, he would be guilty.

[22:25]  ²⁵ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ²⁶ sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ²⁸ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[23:13]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “to do” is added; in Hebrew word order the line says, “In all that I have said to you you will watch yourselves.” The verb for paying attention is a Niphal imperfect with an imperatival force.

[23:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “honor,” Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar). See also Exod 20:25; Josh 23:7; Isa 26:13.

[23:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[30:15]  ³³ tn Or “pay more.”

[30:15]  ³⁴ tn The form is לָתֵת (latet), the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed preposition. The infinitive here is explaining the preceding verbs. They are not to increase or diminish the amount “in paying the offering.” The construction approximates a temporal clause.

[30:15]  ³⁵ tn This infinitive construct (לְכַפֵּר, lÿkhapper) provides the purpose of the giving the offering – to atone.

[30:32]  ³⁷ tn Without an expressed subject, the verb may be treated as a passive. Any common use, as in personal hygiene, would be a complete desecration.