Exodus 8:17

8:17 They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people ¹  and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:23

9:23 When Moses extended ²  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ³  sent thunder ⁴  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁵  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:13

10:13 So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord ⁶  brought ⁷  an east wind on the land all that day and all night. ⁸  The morning came, ⁹  and the east wind had brought up ¹⁰  the locusts!

Exodus 14:21

14:21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart ¹¹  by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided.

Exodus 14:27

14:27 So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state ¹²  when the sun began to rise. ¹³  Now the Egyptians were fleeing ¹⁴  before it, but the Lord overthrew ¹⁵  the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.

[8:17]  ¹ tn Heb “man,” but in the generic sense of “humans” or “people” (also in v. 18).

[9:23]  ² tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next clause in view of the emphasis put on the subject, Yahweh, by the disjunctive word order of that clause.

[9:23]  ³ tn By starting the clause with the subject (an example of disjunctive word order) the text is certainly stressing that Yahweh alone did this.

[9:23]  ⁴ tn The expression נָתַן קֹלֹת (natan qolot) literally means “gave voices” (also “voice”). This is a poetic expression for sending the thunder. Ps 29:3 talks about the “voice of Yahweh” – the God of glory thunders!

[9:23]  ⁵ sn This clause has been variously interpreted. Lightning would ordinarily accompany thunder; in this case the mention of fire could indicate that the lightning was beyond normal and that it was striking in such a way as to start fires on the ground. It could also mean that fire went along the ground from the pounding hail.

[10:13]  ³ tn The clause begins וַיהוָה (va’adonay [vayhvah], “Now Yahweh….”). In contrast to a normal sequence, this beginning focuses attention on Yahweh as the subject of the verb.

[10:13]  ⁴ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) means “drive, conduct.” It is elsewhere used for driving sheep, leading armies, or leading in processions.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and all the night.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tn The text does not here use ordinary circumstantial clause constructions; rather, Heb “the morning was, and the east wind carried the locusts.” It clearly means “when it was morning,” but the style chosen gives a more abrupt beginning to the plague, as if the reader is in the experience – and at morning, the locusts are there!

[10:13]  ⁷ tn The verb here is a past perfect, indicting that the locusts had arrived before the day came.

[14:21]  ⁴ tn Or “drove the sea back” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). The verb is simply the Hiphil of הָלַךְ (halakh, “to walk, go”). The context requires that it be interpreted along the lines of “go back, go apart.”

[14:27]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “at the turning of the morning”; NASB, NIV, TEV, CEV “at daybreak.”

[14:27]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The verb means “shake out” or “shaking off.” It has the significance of “throw downward.” See Neh 5:13 or Job 38:13.