Genesis 17:3

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ¹  and God said to him, ² 

Exodus 3:6

3:6 He added, “I am the God of your father, ³  the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look ⁴  at God.

Exodus 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ⁵  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ⁶  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ⁷ 

Exodus 19:13

19:13 No hand will touch him ⁸  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ⁹  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ¹⁰  go up on the mountain.”

Psalms 89:7

89:7 a God who is honored ¹¹  in the great angelic assembly, ¹² 

and more awesome than ¹³  all who surround him?

[17:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ² tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ³ sn This self-revelation by Yahweh prepares for the revelation of the holy name. While no verb is used here, the pronoun and the predicate nominative are a construction used throughout scripture to convey the “I am” disclosures – “I [am] the God of….” But the significant point here is the naming of the patriarchs, for this God is the covenant God, who will fulfill his promises.

[3:6]  ⁴ tn The clause uses the Hiphil infinitive construct with a preposition after the perfect tense: יָרֵא מֵהַבִּיט (yare’ mehabbit, “he was afraid from gazing”) meaning “he was afraid to gaze.” The preposition min (מִן) is used before infinitives after verbs like the one to complete the verb (see BDB 583 s.v. 7b).

[3:1]  ⁵ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

[3:1]  ⁷ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.

[19:13]  ⁸ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

[19:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:13]  ¹⁰ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.

[89:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “feared.”

[89:7]  ¹² tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”

[89:7]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “feared by.”