Exodus 9:30

9:30 But as for you ¹  and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear ²  the Lord God.”

Exodus 12:34

12:34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, ³  with their kneading troughs bound up in their clothing on their shoulders.

Exodus 1:19

1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew ⁴  women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women ⁵  are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” ⁶ 

Exodus 10:7

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long ⁷  will this man be a menace ⁸  to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know ⁹  that Egypt is destroyed?”

[9:30]  ¹ tn The verse begins with the disjunctive vav to mark a strong contrastive clause to what was said before this.

[9:30]  ² tn The adverb טֶרֶם (terem, “before, not yet”) occurs with the imperfect tense to give the sense of the English present tense to the verb negated by it (GKC 314-15 §107.c). Moses is saying that he knew that Pharaoh did not really stand in awe of God, so as to grant Israel’s release, i.e., fear not in the religious sense but “be afraid of” God – fear “before” him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 76).

[12:34]  ³ tn The imperfect tense after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem) is to be treated as a preterite: “before it was leavened,” or “before the yeast was added.” See GKC 314-15 §107.c.

[1:19]  ⁵ sn See further N. Lemche, “‘Hebrew’ as a National Name for Israel,” ST 33 (1979): 1-23.

[1:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Hebrew women) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “before the midwife comes to them (and) they give birth.” The perfect tense with the vav consecutive serves as the apodosis to the preceding temporal clause; it has the frequentative nuance (see GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[10:7]  ⁷ sn The question of Pharaoh’s servants echoes the question of Moses – “How long?” Now the servants of Pharaoh are demanding what Moses demanded – “Release the people.” They know that the land is destroyed, and they speak of it as Moses’ doing. That way they avoid acknowledging Yahweh or blaming Pharaoh.

[10:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “snare” (מוֹקֵשׁ, moqesh), a word used for a trap for catching birds. Here it is a figure for the cause of Egypt’s destruction.

[10:7]  ⁹ tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).