Exodus 8:28

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you ¹  so that you may sacrifice ²  to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. ³  Do ⁴  pray for me.”

Exodus 9:28

9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty ⁵  thunderings and hail are too much! ⁶  I will release you and you will stay no longer.” ⁷ 

Genesis 27:34

27:34 When Esau heard ⁸  his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. ⁹  He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”

Genesis 27:38

27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” ¹⁰  Then Esau wept loudly. ¹¹ 

[8:28]  ¹ sn By changing from “the people” to “you” (plural) the speech of Pharaoh was becoming more personal.

[8:28]  ² tn This form, a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, is equivalent to the imperfect tense that precedes it. However, it must be subordinate to the preceding verb to express the purpose. He is not saying “I will release…and you will sacrifice,” but rather “I will release…that you may sacrifice” or even “to sacrifice.”

[8:28]  ³ tn The construction is very emphatic. First, it uses a verbal hendiadys with a Hiphil imperfect and the Qal infinitive construct: לֹא־תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת (lo’ tarkhiqu lalekhet, “you will not make far to go”), meaning “you will not go far.” But this prohibition is then emphasized with the additional infinitive absolute הַרְחֵק (harkheq) – “you will in no wise go too far.” The point is very strong to safeguard the concession.

[8:28]  ⁴ tn “Do” has been supplied here to convey that this somewhat unexpected command is tacked onto Pharaoh’s instructions as his ultimate concern, which Moses seems to understand as such, since he speaks about it immediately (v. 29).

[9:28]  ⁵ sn The text has Heb “the voices of God.” The divine epithet can be used to express the superlative (cf. Jonah 3:3).

[9:28]  ⁶ tn The expression וְרַב מִהְיֹת (vÿrav mihyot, “[the mighty thunder and hail] is much from being”) means essentially “more than enough.” This indicates that the storm was too much, or, as one might say, “It is enough.”

[9:28]  ⁷ tn The last clause uses a verbal hendiadys: “you will not add to stand,” meaning “you will no longer stay.”

[27:34]  ⁸ tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.

[27:34]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”

[27:38]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:38]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”