Exodus 5:21

5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, ¹  because you have made us stink ²  in the opinion of ³  Pharaoh and his servants, ⁴  so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” ⁵ 

Exodus 7:21

7:21 When the fish ⁶  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ⁷  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ⁸  everywhere in the land of Egypt!

Exodus 9:19

9:19 So now, send instructions ⁹  to gather ¹⁰  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ¹¹  or animal caught ¹²  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Exodus 10:12

10:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for ¹³  the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows ¹⁴  in the ground, everything that the hail has left.”

Exodus 14:27

14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ¹⁵  when the sun began to rise. ¹⁶  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ¹⁷  before it, but the Lord overthrew ¹⁸  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.

Exodus 15:9

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, ¹⁹  I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire ²⁰  will be satisfied on them.

I will draw ²¹  my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ ²² 

Exodus 22:6

22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads ²³  to thorn bushes, ²⁴  so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started ²⁵  the fire must surely make restitution.

Exodus 33:3

33:3 Go up ²⁶  to a land flowing with milk and honey. But ²⁷  I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you ²⁸  on the way.”

[5:21]  ¹ tn The foremen vented their anger on Moses and Aaron. The two jussives express their desire that the evil these two have caused be dealt with. “May Yahweh look on you and may he judge” could mean only that God should decide if Moses and Aaron are at fault, but given the rest of the comments it is clear the foremen want more. The second jussive could be subordinated to the first – “so that he may judge [you].”

[5:21]  ² tn Heb “you have made our aroma stink.”

[5:21]  ³ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[5:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the eyes of his servants.” This phrase is not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” The infinitive construct with the lamed (לָתֶת, latet) signifies the result (“so that”) of making the people stink. Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. The next infinitive could also be understood as expressing result: “put a sword in their hand so that they can kill us.”

[7:21]  ⁶ tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.

[7:21]  ⁷ tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.

[7:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there was blood.”

[9:19]  ¹¹ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ¹² tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[10:12]  ¹⁶ tn The preposition בְּ (bet) is unexpected here. BDB 91 s.v. (the note at the end of the entry) says that in this case it can only be read as “with the locusts,” meaning that the locusts were thought to be implicit in Moses’ lifting up of his hand. However, BDB prefers to change the preposition to לְ (lamed).

[10:12]  ¹⁷ tn The noun עֵשֶּׂב (’esev) normally would indicate cultivated grains, but in this context seems to indicate plants in general.

[14:27]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term לְאֵיתָנוֹ (lÿ’etano) means “to its place,” or better, “to its perennial state.” The point is that the sea here had a normal level, and now when the Egyptians were in the sea on the dry ground the water would return to that level.

[14:27]  ²² tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ²³ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”

[14:27]  ²⁴ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.

[15:9]  ²⁶ sn W. C. Kaiser observes the staccato phrases that almost imitate the heavy, breathless heaving of the Egyptians as, with what reserve of strength they have left, they vow, “I will…, I will…, I will…” (“Exodus,” EBC 2:395).

[15:9]  ²⁷ tn The form is נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”). But this word refers to the whole person, the body and the soul, or better, a bundle of appetites in a body. It therefore can figuratively refer to the desires or appetites (Deut 12:15; 14:26; 23:24). Here, with the verb “to be full” means “to be satisfied”; the whole expression might indicate “I will be sated with them” or “I will gorge myself.” The greedy appetite was to destroy.

[15:9]  ²⁸ tn The verb רִיק (riq) means “to be empty” in the Qal, and in the Hiphil “to empty.” Here the idea is to unsheathe a sword.

[15:9]  ²⁹ tn The verb is יָרַשׁ (yarash), which in the Hiphil means “to dispossess” or “root out.” The meaning “destroy” is a general interpretation.

[22:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “if a fire goes out and finds”; NLT “if a fire gets out of control.”

[22:6]  ³² sn Thorn bushes were used for hedges between fields, but thorn bushes also burned easily, making the fire spread rapidly.

[22:6]  ³³ tn This is a Hiphil participle of the verb “to burn, kindle” used substantivally. This is the one who caused the fire, whether by accident or not.

[33:3]  ³⁶ tn This verse seems to be a continuation of the command to “go up” since it begins with “to a land….” The intervening clauses are therefore parenthetical or relative. But the translation is made simpler by supplying the verb.

[33:3]  ³⁷ tn This is a strong adversative here, “but.”

[33:3]  ³⁸ tn The clause is “lest I consume you.” It would go with the decision not to accompany them: “I will not go up with you…lest I consume (destroy) you in the way.” The verse is saying that because of the people’s bent to rebellion, Yahweh would not remain in their midst as he had formerly said he would do. Their lives would be at risk if he did.