Exodus 4:24

4:24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, ¹  the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. ² 

Exodus 6:28

The Authentication of the Word

6:28 ³ When ⁴  the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

Exodus 12:49

12:49 The same law will apply ⁵  to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you.”

Exodus 20:3

20:3 “You shall have no ⁶  other gods before me. ⁷ 

Exodus 21:23

21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,

Exodus 25:15

25:15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it.

Exodus 28:16

28:16 It is to be square ⁸  when ⁹  doubled, nine inches ¹⁰  long and nine inches wide.

Exodus 29:45

29:45 I will reside ¹¹  among the Israelites, and I will be their God,

Exodus 36:7

36:7 Now the materials were more than enough ¹²  for them to do all the work. ¹³ 

[4:24]  ¹ tn Or “at a lodging place” or “at an inn.”

[4:24]  ² sn The next section (vv. 24-26) records a rather strange story. God had said that if Pharaoh would not comply he would kill his son – but now God was ready to kill Moses, the representative of Israel, God’s own son. Apparently, one would reconstruct that on the journey Moses fell seriously ill, but his wife, learning the cause of the illness, saved his life by circumcising her son and casting the foreskin at Moses’ feet (indicating that it was symbolically Moses’ foreskin). The point is that this son of Abraham had not complied with the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. No one, according to Exod 12:40-51, would take part in the Passover-exodus who had not complied. So how could the one who was going to lead God’s people not comply? The bold anthropomorphisms and the location at the border invite comparisons with Gen 32, the Angel wrestling with Jacob. In both cases there is a brush with death that could not be forgotten. See also, W. Dumbrell, “Exodus 4:24-25: A Textual Re-examination,” HTR 65 (1972): 285-90; T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15; and L. Kaplan, “And the Lord Sought to Kill Him,” HAR 5 (1981): 65-74.

[6:28]  ³ sn From here on the confrontation between Yahweh and Pharaoh will intensify until Pharaoh is destroyed. The emphasis at this point, though, is on Yahweh’s instructions for Moses to speak to Pharaoh. The first section (6:28-7:7) ends (v. 6) with the notice that Moses and Aaron did just as (כַּאֲשֶׁר, ka’asher) Yahweh had commanded them; the second section (7:8-13) ends with the note that Pharaoh refused to listen, just as (כַּאֲשֶׁר) Yahweh had said would be the case.

[6:28]  ⁴ tn The beginning of this temporal clause does not follow the normal pattern of using the preterite of the main verb after the temporal indicator and prepositional phrase, but instead uses a perfect tense following the noun in construct: וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר (vayÿhi bÿyom dibber). See GKC 422 §130.d. This verse introduces a summary (vv. 28-30) of the conversation that was interrupted when the genealogy began.

[12:49]  ⁵ tn Heb “one law will be to.”

[20:3]  ⁷ tn The possession is expressed here by the use of the lamed (ל) preposition and the verb “to be”: לֹא־יִהְיֶה לְךָ (lo’ yihyeh lÿkha, “there will not be to you”). The negative with the imperfect expresses the emphatic prohibition; it is best reflected with “you will not” and has the strongest expectation of obedience (see GKC 317 §107.o). As an additional way of looking at this line, U. Cassuto suggests that the verb is in the singular in order to say that they could not have even one other god, and the word “gods” is plural to include any gods (Exodus, 241).

[20:3]  ⁸ tn The expression עַל־פָּנָי (’al-panay) has several possible interpretations. S. R. Driver suggests “in front of me,” meaning obliging me to behold them, and also giving a prominence above me (Exodus, 193-94). W. F. Albright rendered it “You shall not prefer other gods to me” (From the Stone Age to Christianity, 297, n. 29). B. Jacob (Exodus, 546) illustrates it with marriage: the wife could belong to only one man while every other man was “another man.” They continued to exist but were not available to her. The point is clear from the Law, regardless of the specific way the prepositional phrase is rendered. God demands absolute allegiance, to the exclusion of all other deities. The preposition may imply some antagonism, for false gods would be opposed to Yahweh. U. Cassuto adds that God was in effect saying that anytime Israel turned to a false god they had to know that the Lord was there – it is always in his presence, or before him (Exodus, 241).

[28:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “four.”

[28:16]  ¹⁰ tn “when” is added for clarification (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 375).

[28:16]  ¹¹ tn The word זֶרֶת (zeret) is half a cubit; it is often translated “span.”

[29:45]  ¹¹ tn The verb has the root שָׁכַן (shakan), from which came the word for the dwelling place, or sanctuary, itself (מִשְׁכָּן, mishkan). It is also used for the description of “the Shekinah glory.” God is affirming that he will reside in the midst of his people.

[36:7]  ¹³ tn This part of the sentence comes from the final verb, the Hiphil infinitive – leave over, meaning, have more than enough (see BDB 451 s.v. יָתַר).

[36:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for all the work, to do it.”