Exodus 9:4

9:4 But the Lord will distinguish ¹  between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing ²  will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” ³ 

Exodus 9:6

9:6 And the Lord did this ⁴  on the next day; ⁵  all ⁶  the livestock of the Egyptians ⁷  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died.

Exodus 12:38

12:38 A mixed multitude ⁸  also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. ⁹ 

Exodus 34:19

34:19 “Every firstborn of the womb ¹⁰  belongs to me, even every firstborn ¹¹  of your cattle that is a male, ¹²  whether ox or sheep.

Exodus 9:3

9:3 then the hand of the Lord will surely bring ¹³  a very terrible plague ¹⁴  on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, ¹⁵  the herds, and the flocks.

Exodus 9:7

9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, ¹⁶  and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ¹⁷  and he did not release the people.

Exodus 9:20-21

9:20 Those ¹⁸  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ¹⁹  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ²⁰  who did not take ²¹  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ²²  in the field.

Exodus 9:19

9:19 So now, send instructions ²³  to gather ²⁴  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ²⁵  or animal caught ²⁶  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Exodus 10:26

10:26 Our livestock must ²⁷  also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take ²⁸  these animals ²⁹  to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.” ³⁰ 

Exodus 17:3

17:3 But the people were very thirsty ³¹  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ³²  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ³³ 

[9:4]  ¹ tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 11:7; 33:16.

[9:4]  ² tn There is a wordplay in this section. A pestilence – דֶּבֶר (dever) – will fall on Egypt’s cattle, but no thing – דָּבָר (davar) – belonging to Israel would die. It was perhaps for this reason that the verb was changed in v. 1 from “say” to “speak” (דִּבֶּר, dibber). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 111.

[9:4]  ³ tn The lamed preposition indicates possession: “all that was to the Israelites” means “all that the Israelites had.”

[9:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ⁶ tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[12:38]  ⁷ tn The “mixed multitude” (עֵרֶב רַב, ’erev rav) refers to a great “swarm” (see a possible cognate in 8:21[17]) of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos). The expression prepares for later references to riffraff who came along.

[12:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “and very much cattle.”

[34:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “everything that opens the womb.”

[34:19]  ¹¹ tn Here too: everything that “opens [the womb].”

[34:19]  ¹² tn The verb basically means “that drops a male.” The verb is feminine, referring to the cattle.

[9:3]  ¹³ tn The form used here is הוֹיָה (hoyah), the Qal active participle, feminine singular, from the verb “to be.” This is the only place in the OT that this form occurs. Ogden shows that this form is appropriate with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) to stress impending divine action, and that it conforms to the pattern in these narratives where five times the participle is used in the threat to Pharaoh (7:17; 8:2; 9:3, 14; 10:4). See G. S. Ogden, “Notes on the Use of הויה in Exodus IX. 3,” VT 17 (1967): 483-84.

[9:3]  ¹⁴ tn The word דֶּבֶר (dever) is usually translated “pestilence” when it applies to diseases for humans. It is used only here and in Ps 78:50 for animals.

[9:3]  ¹⁵ sn The older view that camels were not domesticated at this time (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 70; W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 96; et. al.) has been corrected by more recently uncovered information (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 160-61).

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Pharaoh sent.” The phrase “representatives to investigate” is implied in the context.

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[9:20]  ¹⁹ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ²² tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ²³ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[9:19]  ²⁵ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ²⁶ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[10:26]  ²⁸ tn This is the obligatory imperfect nuance. They were obliged to take the animals if they were going to sacrifice, but more than that, since they were not coming back, they had to take everything.

[10:26]  ²⁹ tn The same modal nuance applies to this verb.

[10:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from it,” referring collectively to the livestock.

[10:26]  ³¹ sn Moses gives an angry but firm reply to Pharaoh’s attempt to control Israel; he makes it clear that he has no intention of leaving any pledge with Pharaoh. When they leave, they will take everything that belongs to them.

[17:3]  ³¹ tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.

[17:3]  ³² tn The demonstrative pronoun is used as the enclitic form for special emphasis in the question; it literally says, “why is this you have brought us up?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[17:3]  ³³ sn Their words deny God the credit for bringing them out of Egypt, impugn the integrity of Moses and God by accusing them of bringing the people out here to die, and show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for them.