Exodus 8:8

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹  Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray ²  to the Lord that he may take the frogs away ³  from me and my people, and I will release ⁴  the people that they may sacrifice ⁵  to the Lord.”

Exodus 8:29

8:29 Moses said, “I am going to go out ⁶  from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again ⁷  by not releasing ⁸  the people to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Exodus 9:28

9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty ⁹  thunderings and hail are too much! ¹⁰  I will release you and you will stay no longer.” ¹¹ 

Exodus 10:17

10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only ¹²  take this death ¹³  away from me.”

Exodus 10:1

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ¹⁴ The Lord said ¹⁵  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ¹⁶  these signs of mine before him, ¹⁷ 

Exodus 13:6

13:6 For seven days ¹⁸  you must eat ¹⁹  bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be ²⁰  a festival to the Lord.

Ezra 6:10

6:10 so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family. ²¹ 

Ecclesiastes 6:10

The Futile Way Life Works

6:10 Whatever has happened was foreordained, ²² 

and what happens to a person ²³  was also foreknown.

It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate

because God is more powerful than he is. ²⁴ 

Acts 8:24

8:24 But Simon replied, ²⁵  “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to ²⁶  me.”

[8:8]  ¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has the meaning “to summon.”

[8:8]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Here also the imperfect tense with the vav (ו) shows the purpose of the release: “that they may sacrifice.”

[8:29]  ⁶ tn The deictic particle with the participle usually indicates the futur instans nuance: “I am about to…,” or “I am going to….” The clause could also be subordinated as a temporal clause.

[8:29]  ⁷ tn The verb תָּלַל (talal) means “to mock, deceive, trifle with.” The construction in this verse forms a verbal hendiadys. The Hiphil jussive אַל־יֹסֵף (’al-yosef, “let not [Pharaoh] add”) is joined with the Hiphil infinitive הָתֵל (hatel, “to deceive”). It means: “Let not Pharaoh deceive again.” Changing to the third person in this warning to Pharaoh is more decisive, more powerful.

[8:29]  ⁸ tn The Piel infinitive construct after lamed (ל) and the negative functions epexegetically, explaining how Pharaoh would deal falsely – “by not releasing.”

[9:28]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn The last clause uses a verbal hendiadys: “you will not add to stand,” meaning “you will no longer stay.”

[10:17]  ¹² sn Pharaoh’s double emphasis on “only” uses two different words and was meant to deceive. He was trying to give Moses the impression that he had finally come to his senses, and that he would let the people go. But he had no intention of letting them out.

[10:17]  ¹³ sn “Death” is a metonymy that names the effect for the cause. If the locusts are left in the land it will be death to everything that grows.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in his midst.”

[13:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Seven days.”

[13:6]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense functions with the nuance of instruction or injunction. It could also be given an obligatory nuance: “you must eat” or “you are to eat.” Some versions have simply made it an imperative.

[13:6]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “there is to be” has been supplied.

[6:10]  ²¹ tn Aram “for the life of the king and his sons.”

[6:10]  ²² tn Heb “already its name was called.”

[6:10]  ²³ tn Or “and what a person (Heb “man”) is was foreknown.”

[6:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he cannot contend with the one who is more powerful than him.” The referent of the “the one who is more powerful than he is” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The words “with God about his fate” have been added for clarity as well.

[8:24]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Simon answered and said.”

[8:24]  ²⁶ tn Grk “may come upon.”