Exodus 6:26

6:26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” ¹ 

Exodus 12:41-42

12:41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments ²  of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt. 12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Lord to bring them out from the land of Egypt, ³  and so ⁴  on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil ⁵  to the Lord for generations to come.

Exodus 12:51

12:51 And on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.

Exodus 13:18

13:18 So God brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, ⁶  and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle. ⁷ 

Exodus 16:6

16:6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening ⁸  you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,

Exodus 29:46

29:46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the Lord their God.

Exodus 32:4

32:4 He accepted the gold ⁹  from them, ¹⁰  fashioned ¹¹  it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. ¹²  Then they said, “These are your gods, ¹³  O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Exodus 32:7

32:7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, ¹⁴  because your ¹⁵  people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly.

[6:26]  ¹ tn Or “by their hosts” or “by their armies.” Often translated “hosts” (ASV, NASB) or “armies” (KJV), צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) is a military term that portrays the people of God in battle array. In contemporary English, “regiment” is perhaps more easily understood as a force for battle than “company” (cf. NAB, NRSV) or “division” (NIV, NCV, NLT), both of which can have commercial associations. The term also implies an orderly departure.

[12:41]  ² sn This military term is used elsewhere in Exodus (e.g., 6:26; 7:4; 12:17, 50), but here the Israelites are called “the regiments of the Lord.”

[12:42]  ³ tn There is some ambiguity in לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַיהוָה (lel shimmurim hu’ la’adonay [layhveh]). It is likely that this first clause means that Yahweh was on watch for Israel to bring them out, as the next clause says. He was protecting his people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 102). Then, the night of vigil will be transferred to Israel, who now must keep it “to” him.

[12:42]  ⁴ tn “and so” has been supplied.

[12:42]  ⁵ tn Heb “this night is for Yahweh a vigil for all Israelites for their generations.”

[13:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf) cannot be a genitive (“wilderness of the Red Sea”) because it follows a noun that is not in construct; instead, it must be an adverbial accusative, unless it is simply joined by apposition to “the wilderness” – the way to the wilderness [and] to the Red Sea (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 217).

[13:18]  ⁵ tn The term חֲמֻשִׁים (khamushim) is placed first for emphasis; it forms a circumstantial clause, explaining how they went up. Unfortunately, it is a rare word with uncertain meaning. Most translations have something to do with “in battle array” or “prepared to fight” if need be (cf. Josh 1:14; 4:12). The Targum took it as “armed with weapons.” The LXX had “in the fifth generation.” Some have opted for “in five divisions.”

[16:6]  ⁵ tn The text simply has “evening, and you will know.” Gesenius notes that the perfect tense with the vav consecutive occurs as the apodosis to temporal clauses or their equivalents. Here the first word implies the idea “[when it becomes] evening” or simply “[in the] evening” (GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[32:4]  ⁶ tn Here “the gold” has been supplied.

[32:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “from their hand.”

[32:4]  ⁸ tn The verb looks similar to יָצַר (yatsar), “to form, fashion” by a plan or a design. That is the verb used in Gen 2:7 for Yahweh God forming the man from the dust of the ground. If it is here, it is the reverse, a human – the dust of the ground – trying to form a god or gods. The active participle of this verb in Hebrew is “the potter.” A related noun is the word יֵצֶּר (yetser), “evil inclination,” the wicked designs or intent of the human heart (Gen 6:5). But see the discussion by B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 555-56) on a different reading, one that links the root to a hollow verb meaning “to cast out of metal” (as in 1 Kgs 7:15).

[32:4]  ⁹ sn The word means a “young bull” and need not be translated as “calf” (although “calf” has become the traditional rendering in English). The word could describe an animal three years old. Aaron probably made an inner structure of wood and then, after melting down the gold, plated it. The verb “molten” does not need to imply that the image was solid gold; the word is used in Isa 30:22 for gold plating. So it was a young bull calf that was overlaid with gold, and the gold was fashioned with the stylus.

[32:4]  ¹⁰ tn The word could be singular here and earlier; here it would then be “this is your god, O Israel.” However, the use of “these” indicates more than one god was meant by the image. But their statement and their statue, although they do not use the holy name, violate the first two commandments.

[32:7]  ⁷ tn The two imperatives could also express one idea: “get down there.” In other words, “Make haste to get down.”

[32:7]  ⁸ sn By giving the people to Moses in this way, God is saying that they have no longer any right to claim him as their God, since they have shared his honor with another. This is God’s talionic response to their “These are your gods who brought you up.” The use of these pronoun changes also would form an appeal to Moses to respond, since Moses knew that God had brought them up from Egypt.