Exodus 8:9

8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me ¹  – when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed ²  from you and your houses, so that ³  they will be left ⁴  only in the Nile?”

Exodus 8:28

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you ⁵  so that you may sacrifice ⁶  to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. ⁷  Do ⁸  pray for me.”

Exodus 10:17

10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only ⁹  take this death ¹⁰  away from me.”

Exodus 10:24

10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families ¹¹  may go with you.”

Exodus 21:19

21:19 and then ¹²  if he gets up and walks about ¹³  outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay ¹⁴  for the injured person’s ¹⁵  loss of time ¹⁶  and see to it that he is fully healed.

[8:9]  ¹ tn The expression הִתְפָּאֵר עָלַי (hitpa’er ’alay) is problematic. The verb would be simply translated “honor yourself” or “deck yourself with honor.” It can be used in the bad sense of self-exaltation. But here it seems to mean “have the honor or advantage over me” in choosing when to remove the frogs. The LXX has “appoint for me.” Moses is doing more than extending a courtesy to Pharaoh; he is giving him the upper hand in choosing the time. But it is also a test, for if Pharaoh picked the time it would appear less likely that Moses was manipulating things. As U. Cassuto puts it, Moses is saying “my trust in God is so strong you may have the honor of choosing the time” (Exodus, 103).

[8:9]  ² tn Or “destroyed”; Heb “to cut off the frogs.”

[8:9]  ³ tn The phrase “so that” is implied.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Or “survive, remain.”

[8:28]  ⁵ sn By changing from “the people” to “you” (plural) the speech of Pharaoh was becoming more personal.

[8:28]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).

[10:17]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[10:24]  ¹³ tn Or “dependents.” The term is often translated “your little ones,” but as mentioned before (10:10), this expression in these passages takes in women and children and other dependents. Pharaoh will now let all the people go, but he intends to detain the cattle to secure their return.

[21:19]  ¹⁷ tn “and then” has been supplied.

[21:19]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is a Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the sequence of the imperfect before it – “if he gets up and walks about.” This is proof of recovery.

[21:19]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense carries a nuance of obligatory imperfect because this is binding on the one who hit him.

[21:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the injured person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ²¹ tn The word appears to be the infinitive from the verb “to sit” with a meaning of “his sitting down”; some suggest it is from the verb “to rest” with a meaning “cease.” In either case the point in the context must mean compensation is due for the time he was down.