Exodus 5:11

5:11 You ¹  go get straw for yourselves wherever you can ²  find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’”

Exodus 8:2

8:2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague ³  all your territory with frogs. ⁴ 

Exodus 9:30

9:30 But as for you ⁵  and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear ⁶  the Lord God.”

Exodus 10:4

10:4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring ⁷  locusts ⁸  into your territory ⁹  tomorrow.

Exodus 10:25

10:25 But Moses said, “Will you also ¹⁰  provide us ¹¹  with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them ¹²  to the Lord our God?

Exodus 18:17

18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What ¹³  you are doing is not good!

[5:11]  ¹ tn The independent personal pronoun emphasizes that the people were to get their own straw, and it heightens the contrast with the king. “You – go get.”

[5:11]  ² tn The tense in this section could be translated as having the nuance of possibility: “wherever you may find it,” or the nuance of potential imperfect: “wherever you are able to find any.”

[8:2]  ³ tn The construction here uses the deictic particle and the participle to convey the imminent future: “I am going to plague/about to plague.” The verb נָגַף (nagaf) means “to strike, to smite,” and its related noun means “a blow, a plague, pestilence” or the like. For Yahweh to say “I am about to plague you” could just as easily mean “I am about to strike you.” That is why these “plagues” can be described as “blows” received from God.

[8:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “plague all your border with frogs.” The expression “all your border” is figurative for all the territory of Egypt and the people and things that are within the borders (also used in Exod 10:4, 14, 19; 13:7).

[9:30]  ⁵ tn The verse begins with the disjunctive vav to mark a strong contrastive clause to what was said before this.

[9:30]  ⁶ tn The adverb טֶרֶם (terem, “before, not yet”) occurs with the imperfect tense to give the sense of the English present tense to the verb negated by it (GKC 314-15 §107.c). Moses is saying that he knew that Pharaoh did not really stand in awe of God, so as to grant Israel’s release, i.e., fear not in the religious sense but “be afraid of” God – fear “before” him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 76).

[10:4]  ⁷ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle מֵבִיא (mevi’) is the imminent future construction: “I am about to bring” or “I am going to bring” – precisely, “here I am bringing.”

[10:4]  ⁸ tn One of the words for “locusts” in the Bible is אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh), which comes from רָבָה (ravah, “to be much, many”). It was used for locusts because of their immense numbers.

[10:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “within your border.”

[10:25]  ⁹ tn B. Jacob (Exodus, 287) shows that the intent of Moses in using גַּם (gam) is to make an emphatic rhetorical question. He cites other samples of the usage in Num 22:33; 1 Sam 17:36; 2 Sam 12:14, and others. The point is that if Pharaoh told them to go and serve Yahweh, they had to have animals to sacrifice. If Pharaoh was holding the animals back, he would have to make some provision.

[10:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “give into our hand.”

[10:25]  ¹¹ tn The form here is וְעָשִּׂינוּ (vÿ’asinu), the Qal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive – “and we will do.” But the verb means “do” in the sacrificial sense – prepare them, offer them. The verb form is to be subordinated here to form a purpose or result clause.

[18:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the thing.”