Exodus 5:9

5:9 Make the work harder ¹  for the men so they will keep at it ²  and pay no attention to lying words!” ³ 

Exodus 12:26

12:26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ⁴  –

Exodus 2:23

The Call of the Deliverer

2:23 ⁵ During ⁶  that long period of time ⁷  the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites ⁸  groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry ⁹  because of their slave labor went up to God.

Exodus 12:25

12:25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe ¹⁰  this ceremony.

Exodus 36:5

36:5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than ¹¹  is needed for the completion ¹²  of the work which the Lord commanded us to do!” ¹³ 

Exodus 39:42

39:42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Exodus 13:5

13:5 When ¹⁴  the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, ¹⁵  then you will keep ¹⁶  this ceremony ¹⁷  in this month.

Exodus 35:24

35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as ¹⁸  an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood ¹⁹  for any work of the service brought it. ²⁰ 

[5:9]  ¹ tn Heb “let the work be heavy.”

[5:9]  ² tn The text has וְיַעֲשׂוּ־בָהּ (vÿya’asu-vah, “and let them work in it”) or the like. The jussive forms part of the king’s decree that the men not only be required to work harder but be doing it: “Let them be occupied in it.”

[5:9]  ³ sn The words of Moses are here called “lying words” (דִבְרֵי־שָׁקֶר, divre-shaqer). Here is the main reason, then, for Pharaoh’s new policy. He wanted to discredit Moses. So the words that Moses spoke Pharaoh calls false and lying words. The world was saying that God’s words were vain and deceptive because they were calling people to a higher order. In a short time God would reveal that they were true words.

[12:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is this service to you?”

[2:23]  ⁷ sn The next section of the book is often referred to as the “Call of Moses,” and that is certainly true. But it is much more than that. It is the divine preparation of the servant of God, a servant who already knew what his destiny was. In this section Moses is shown how his destiny will be accomplished. It will be accomplished because the divine presence will guarantee the power, and the promise of that presence comes with the important “I AM” revelation. The message that comes through in this, and other “I will be with you” passages, is that when the promise of God’s presence is correctly appropriated by faith, the servant of God can begin to build confidence for the task that lies ahead. It will no longer be, “Who am I that I should go?” but “I AM with you” that matters. The first little section, 2:23-25, serves as a transition and introduction, for it records the Lord’s response to Israel in her affliction. The second part is the revelation to Moses at the burning bush (3:1-10), which is one of the most significant theological sections in the Torah. Finally, the record of Moses’ response to the call with his objections (3:11-22), makes up the third part, and in a way, is a transition to the next section, where God supplies proof of his power.

[2:23]  ⁸ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “And it was” (cf. KJV, ASV “And it came to pass”). This has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[2:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “in those many days.”

[2:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

[2:23]  ¹¹ tn “They cried out” is from זָעַק (za’aq), and “desperate cry” is from שַׁוְעָה (shava’h).

[12:25]  ¹⁰ tn The verb used here and at the beginning of v. 24 is שָׁמַר (shamar); it can be translated “watch, keep, protect,” but in this context the point is to “observe” the religious customs and practices set forth in these instructions.

[36:5]  ¹³ tn The construction uses the verbal hendiadys: מַרְבִּים לְהָבִיא (marbim lÿhavi’) is the Hiphil participle followed (after the subject) by the Hiphil infinitive construct. It would read, “they multiply…to bring,” meaning, “they bring more” than is needed.

[36:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for the service” (so KJV, ASV).

[36:5]  ¹⁵ tn The last clause is merely the infinitive with an object – “to do it.” It clearly means the skilled workers are to do it.

[13:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and it will be when.”

[13:5]  ¹⁷ tn See notes on Exod 3:8.

[13:5]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is וְעָבַדְתָּ (vÿ’avadta), the Qal perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is the equivalent of the imperfect tense of instruction or injunction; it forms the main point after the temporal clause – “when Yahweh brings you out…then you will serve.”

[13:5]  ¹⁹ tn The object is a cognate accusative for emphasis on the meaning of the service – “you will serve this service.” W. C. Kaiser notes how this noun was translated “slavery” and “work” in the book, but “service” or “ceremony” for Yahweh. Israel was saved from slavery to Egypt into service for God as remembered by this ceremony (“Exodus,” EBC 2:383).

[35:24]  ¹⁹ tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said.

[35:24]  ²⁰ sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents.

[35:24]  ²¹ tn Here “it” has been supplied.