Exodus 8:27

8:27 We must go ¹  on a three-day journey ²  into the desert and sacrifice ³  to the Lord our God, just as he is telling us.” ⁴ 

Exodus 14:3

14:3 Pharaoh will think ⁵  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ⁶  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ⁷ 

Exodus 16:2

16:2 The entire company ⁸  of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert.

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁹ In the third month after the Israelites went out ¹⁰  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ¹¹  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

[8:27]  ¹ tn The verb נֵלֵךְ (nelekh) is a Qal imperfect of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). Here it should be given the modal nuance of obligation: “we must go.”

[8:27]  ² tn This clause is placed first in the sentence to stress the distance required. דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) is an adverbial accusative specifying how far they must go. It is in construct, so “three days” modifies it. It is a “journey of three days,” or, “a three day journey.”

[8:27]  ³ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it follows in the sequence: we must go…and then [must] sacrifice.”

[8:27]  ⁴ tn The form is the imperfect tense. It could be future: “as he will tell us,” but it also could be the progressive imperfect if this is now what God is telling them to do: “as he is telling us.”

[14:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will say.”

[14:3]  ⁶ sn The word translated “wandering around confused” indicates that Pharaoh thought the Israelites would be so perplexed and confused that they would not know which way to turn in order to escape – and they would never dream of crossing the sea (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 115).

[14:3]  ⁷ tn The expression has also been translated “the desert has shut [the way] for them,” and more freely “[the Israelites are] hemmed in by the desert.”

[16:2]  ⁹ tn Or “community” or “assembly.”

[19:1]  ¹³ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “on this day.”