Exodus 7:11

7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, ¹  and the magicians ²  of Egypt by their secret arts ³  did the same thing.

Exodus 8:25

8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” ⁴ 

Exodus 10:16

10:16 ⁵ Then Pharaoh quickly ⁶  summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned ⁷  against the Lord your God and against you!

Exodus 19:7

19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him,

Exodus 1:18

1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned ⁸  the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” ⁹ 

Exodus 9:27

9:27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! ¹⁰  The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. ¹¹ 

Exodus 10:24

10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families ¹²  may go with you.”

Exodus 12:31

12:31 Pharaoh ¹³  summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out ¹⁴  from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! ¹⁵ 

Exodus 8:8

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹⁶  Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray ¹⁷  to the Lord that he may take the frogs away ¹⁸  from me and my people, and I will release ¹⁹  the people that they may sacrifice ²⁰  to the Lord.”

Exodus 12:21

12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select ²¹  for yourselves a lamb or young goat ²²  for your families, and kill the Passover animals. ²³ 

Exodus 19:20

19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Exodus 36:2

36:2 Moses summoned ²⁴  Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom ²⁵  the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him ²⁶  to volunteer ²⁷  to do the work,

[7:11]  ¹ sn For information on this Egyptian material, see D. B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (VTSup), 203-4.

[7:11]  ² tn The חַרְטֻּמִּים (kharttummim) seem to have been the keepers of Egypt’s religious and magical texts, the sacred scribes.

[7:11]  ³ tn The term בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם (bÿlahatehem) means “by their secret arts”; it is from לוּט (lut, “to enwrap”). The Greek renders the word “by their magic”; Tg. Onq. uses “murmurings” and “whispers,” and other Jewish sources “dazzling display” or “demons” (see further B. Jacob, Exodus, 253-54). They may have done this by clever tricks, manipulation of the animals, or demonic power. Many have suggested that Aaron and the magicians were familiar with an old trick in which they could temporarily paralyze a serpent and then revive it. But here Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes.

[8:25]  ⁴ sn After the plague is inflicted on the land, then Pharaoh makes an appeal. So there is the familiar confrontation (vv. 25-29). Pharaoh’s words to Moses are an advancement on his previous words. Now he uses imperatives: “Go, sacrifice to your God.” But he restricts it to “in the [this] land.” This is a subtle attempt to keep them as a subjugated people and prevent their absolute allegiance to their God. This offered compromise would destroy the point of the exodus – to leave Egypt and find a new allegiance under the Lord.

[10:16]  ⁷ sn The third part of the passage now begins, the confrontation that resulted from the onslaught of the plague. Pharaoh goes a step further here – he confesses he has sinned and adds a request for forgiveness. But his acknowledgment does not go far enough, for this is not genuine confession. Since his heart was not yet submissive, his confession was vain.

[10:16]  ⁸ tn The Piel preterite וַיְמַהֵר (vaymaher) could be translated “and he hastened,” but here it is joined with the following infinitive construct to form the hendiadys. “He hurried to summon” means “He summoned quickly.”

[10:16]  ⁹ sn The severity of the plague prompted Pharaoh to confess his sin against Yahweh and them, now in much stronger terms than before. He also wants forgiveness – but in all probability what he wants is relief from the consequences of his sin. He pretended to convey to Moses that this was it, that he was through sinning, so he asked for forgiveness “only this time.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has here the nuance of “summon.” The same construction is used later when Pharaoh summons Moses.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn The second verb in Pharaoh’s speech is a preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. It may indicate a simple sequence: “Why have you done…and (so that you) let live?” It could also indicate that this is a second question, “Why have you done …[why] have you let live?”

[9:27]  ¹³ sn Pharaoh now is struck by the judgment and acknowledges that he is at fault. But the context shows that this penitence was short-lived. What exactly he meant by this confession is uncertain. On the surface his words seem to represent a recognition that he was in the wrong and Yahweh right.

[9:27]  ¹⁴ tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) can mean “ungodly, wicked, guilty, criminal.” Pharaoh here is saying that Yahweh is right, and the Egyptians are not – so they are at fault, guilty. S. R. Driver says the words are used in their forensic sense (in the right or wrong standing legally) and not in the ethical sense of morally right and wrong (Exodus, 75).

[10:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “dependents.” The term is often translated “your little ones,” but as mentioned before (10:10), this expression in these passages takes in women and children and other dependents. Pharaoh will now let all the people go, but he intends to detain the cattle to secure their return.

[12:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:31]  ²⁰ tn The urgency in Pharaoh’s words is caught by the abrupt use of the imperatives – “get up, go” (קוּמוּ צְּאוּ, qumu tsÿ’u), and “go, serve” (וּלְכוּ עִבְדוּ, ulÿkhu ’ivdu) and “take” and “leave/go” (וָלֵכוּ…קְחוּ, qÿkhu...valekhu).

[12:31]  ²¹ tn Heb “as you have said.” The same phrase also occurs in the following verse.

[8:8]  ²² tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has the meaning “to summon.”

[8:8]  ²³ tn The verb הַעְתִּירוּ (ha’tiru) is the Hiphil imperative of the verb עָתַר (’atar). It means “to pray, supplicate,” or “make supplication” – always addressed to God. It is often translated “entreat” to reflect that it is a more urgent praying.

[8:8]  ²⁴ tn This form is the jussive with a sequential vav that provides the purpose of the prayer: pray…that he may turn away the frogs.

[8:8]  ²⁵ tn The form is the Piel cohortative וַאֲשַׁלְּחָה (va’ashallÿkhah) with the vav (ו) continuing the sequence from the request and its purpose. The cohortative here stresses the resolve of the king: “and (then) I will release.”

[8:8]  ²⁶ tn Here also the imperfect tense with the vav (ו) shows the purpose of the release: “that they may sacrifice.”

[12:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “draw out and take.” The verb has in view the need “to draw out” a lamb or goat selected from among the rest of the flock.

[12:21]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew noun is singular and can refer to either a lamb or a goat. Since English has no common word for both, the phrase “a lamb or young goat” is used in the translation.

[12:21]  ²⁷ tn The word “animals” is added to avoid giving the impression in English that the Passover festival itself is the object of “kill.”

[36:2]  ²⁸ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.

[36:2]  ²⁹ tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”

[36:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “whose heart was willing.”

[36:2]  ³¹ sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.