Exodus 8:20

The Fourth Blow: Flies

8:20 ¹ The Lord ²  said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Release my people that they may serve me!

Exodus 9:23

9:23 When Moses extended ³  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ⁴  sent thunder ⁵  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ⁶  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:1

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ⁷ The Lord said ⁸  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ⁹  these signs of mine before him, ¹⁰ 

Exodus 12:42

12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Lord to bring them out from the land of Egypt, ¹¹  and so ¹²  on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil ¹³  to the Lord for generations to come.

Exodus 13:9

13:9 ¹⁴  It ¹⁵  will be a sign ¹⁶  for you on your hand and a memorial ¹⁷  on your forehead, ¹⁸  so that the law of the Lord may be ¹⁹  in your mouth, ²⁰  for ²¹  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Exodus 17:9

17:9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our ²²  men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

Exodus 18:7

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ²³  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

Exodus 28:1

The Clothing of the Priests

28:1 ²⁴ “And you, bring near ²⁵  to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests ²⁶  – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

Exodus 32:29

32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated ²⁷  today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.” ²⁸ 

Exodus 35:22

35:22 They came, men and women alike, ²⁹  all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, ³⁰  and everyone came who waved ³¹  a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

Exodus 36:1

36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person ³²  in whom the Lord has put skill ³³  and ability ³⁴  to know how ³⁵  to do all the work for the service ³⁶  of the sanctuary are to do the work ³⁷  according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

Exodus 40:38

40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be ³⁸  on it at night, in plain view ³⁹  of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

[8:20]  ¹ sn The announcement of the fourth plague parallels that of the first plague. Now there will be flies, likely dogflies. Egypt has always suffered from flies, more so in the summer than in the winter. But the flies the plague describes involve something greater than any normal season for flies. The main point that can be stressed in this plague comes by tracing the development of the plagues in their sequence. Now, with the flies, it becomes clear that God can inflict suffering on some people and preserve others – a preview of the coming judgment that will punish Egypt but set Israel free. God is fully able to keep the dog-fly in the land of the Egyptians and save his people from these judgments.

[8:20]  ² tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[9:23]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[10:1]  ⁵ sn The Egyptians dreaded locusts like every other ancient civilization. They had particular gods to whom they looked for help in such catastrophes. The locust-scaring deities of Greece and Asia were probably looked to in Egypt as well (especially in view of the origins in Egypt of so many of those religious ideas). The announcement of the plague falls into the now-familiar pattern. God tells Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh but reminds Moses that he has hardened his heart. Yahweh explains that he has done this so that he might show his power, so that in turn they might declare his name from generation to generation. This point is stressed so often that it must not be minimized. God was laying the foundation of the faith for Israel – the sovereignty of Yahweh.

[10:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ⁷ tn The verb is שִׁתִי (shiti, “I have put”); it is used here as a synonym for the verb שִׂים (sim). Yahweh placed the signs in his midst, where they will be obvious.

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in his midst.”

[12:42]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn “and so” has been supplied.

[12:42]  ⁹ tn Heb “this night is for Yahweh a vigil for all Israelites for their generations.”

[13:9]  ⁹ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ¹⁰ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ¹² tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  ¹⁴ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ¹⁵ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ¹⁶ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[17:9]  ¹¹ tn This could be rendered literally “choose men for us.” But the lamed (ל) preposition probably indicates possession, “our men,” and the fact that Joshua was to choose from Israel, as well as the fact that there is no article on “men,” indicates he was to select some to fight.

[18:7]  ¹³ sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[28:1]  ¹⁵ sn Some modern scholars find this and the next chapter too elaborate for the wilderness experience. To most of them this reflects the later Zadokite priesthood of the writer’s (P’s) day that was referred to Mosaic legislation for authentication. But there is no compelling reason why this should be late; it is put late because it is assumed to be P, and that is assumed to be late. But both assumptions are unwarranted. This lengthy chapter could be divided this way: instructions for preparing the garments (1-5), details of the apparel (6-39), and a warning against deviating from these (40-43). The subject matter of the first part is that God requires that his chosen ministers reflect his holy nature; the point of the second part is that God requires his ministers to be prepared to fulfill the tasks of the ministry, and the subject matter of the third part is that God warns all his ministers to safeguard the holiness of their service.

[28:1]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the root קָרַב (qarav, “to draw near”). In the present stem the word has religious significance, namely, to present something to God, like an offering.

[28:1]  ¹⁷ tn This entire clause is a translation of the Hebrew לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִי (lÿkhahano-li, “that he might be a priest to me”), but the form is unusual. The word means “to be a priest” or “to act as a priest.” The etymology of the word for priest, כֹּהֵן (kohen), is uncertain.

[32:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Your hand was filled.” The phrase “fill your hands” is a familiar expression having to do with commissioning and devotion to a task that is earlier used in 28:41; 29:9, 29, 33, 35. This has usually been explained as a Qal imperative. S. R. Driver explains it “Fill your hand today,” meaning, take a sacrifice to God and be installed in the priesthood (Exodus, 355). But it probably is a Piel perfect, meaning “they have filled your hands today,” or, “your hand was filled today.” This was an expression meant to say that they had been faithful to God even though it turned them against family and friends – but God would give them a blessing.

[32:29]  ¹⁸ tn The text simply has “and to give on you today a blessing.” Gesenius notes that the infinitive construct seems to be attached with a vav (ו; like the infinitive absolute) as the continuation of a previous finite verb. He reads the verb “fill” as an imperative: “fill your hand today…and that to bring a blessing on you, i.e., that you may be blessed” (see GKC 351 §114.p). If the preceding verb is taken as perfect tense, however, then this would also be perfect – “he has blessed you today.”

[35:22]  ¹⁹ tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).

[35:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all gold utensils.”

[35:22]  ²¹ tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.

[36:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”

[36:1]  ²² tn Heb “wisdom.”

[36:1]  ²³ tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”

[36:1]  ²⁴ tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.

[36:1]  ²⁵ tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

[36:1]  ²⁶ tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.

[40:38]  ²³ tn Here is another imperfect tense of the customary nuance.

[40:38]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to the eyes of all”; KJV, ASV, NASB “in the sight of all”; NRSV “before the eyes of all.”