Genesis 21:22

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ¹  in all that you do.

Genesis 39:2

39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ²  and lived ³  in the household of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 39:21

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. ⁴  He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. ⁵ 

Exodus 3:12

3:12 He replied, ⁶  “Surely I will be with you, ⁷  and this will be the sign ⁸  to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve ⁹  God on this mountain.”

Exodus 3:1

3:1 Now Moses ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ¹² 

Exodus 17:8

Victory over the Amalekites

17:8 ¹³ Amalek came ¹⁴  and attacked ¹⁵  Israel in Rephidim.

Matthew 28:20

28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, ¹⁶  I am with you ¹⁷  always, to the end of the age.” ¹⁸ 

[21:22]  ¹ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[39:2]  ² tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

[39:2]  ³ tn Heb “and he was.”

[39:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”

[39:21]  ⁵ tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).

[3:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “And he said”; the word “replied” clarifies for English readers that speaker is God.

[3:12]  ⁷ tn The particle כִּי (ki) has the asseverative use here, “surely, indeed,” which is frequently found with oaths (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449). The imperfect tense אֶהְיֶה (’ehyeh) could be rendered as the future tense, “I will be” or the present tense “I am” with you. The future makes the better sense in this case, since the subject matter is the future mission. But since it is a stative verb, the form will also lend itself nicely to explaining the divine name – he is the One who is eternally present – “I am with you always.”

[3:12]  ⁸ sn In view of Moses’ hesitancy, a sign is necessary to support the promise. A sign is often an unusual or miraculous event that introduces, authenticates, or illustrates the message. One expects a direct connection between the sign and the message (for a helpful discussion, see S. Porúbcan, “The Word ’OT in Isaia 7,14,” CBQ 22 [1960]: 144-49). In this passage the sign is a confirming one, i.e., when Israel worships at the mountain that will be the proof that God delivered them from Egypt. Thus, the purpose of the exodus that makes possible the worship will be to prove that it was God who brought it about. In the meantime, Moses will have to trust in Yahweh.

[3:12]  ⁹ tn The verb תַּעַבְדוּן (ta’avdun, “you will serve”) is one of the foremost words for worship in the Torah. Keeping the commandments and serving Yahweh usually sum up the life of faith; the true worshiper seeks to obey him. The highest title anyone can have in the OT is “the servant of Yahweh.” The verb here could be rendered interpretively as “worship,” but it is better to keep it to the basic idea of serving because that emphasizes an important aspect of worship, and it highlights the change from Israel’s serving Egypt, which has been prominent in the earlier chapters. The words “and they” are supplied to clarify for English readers that the subject of the verb is plural (Moses and the people), unlike the other second person forms in vv. 10 and 12, which are singular.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[17:8]  ¹³ sn This short passage gives the first account of Israel’s holy wars. The war effort and Moses’ holding up his hands go side by side until the victory is won and commemorated. Many have used this as an example of intercessory prayer – but the passage makes no such mention. In Exodus so far the staff of God is the token of the power of God; when Moses used it, God demonstrated his power. To use the staff of God was to say that God did it; to fight without the staff was to face defeat. Using the staff of God was a way of submitting to and depending on the power of God in all areas of life. The first part of the story reports the attack and the preparation for the battle (8,9). The second part describes the battle and its outcome (10-13). The final section is the preservation of this event in the memory of Israel (14-16).

[17:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Amalek came”; NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV “the Amalekites.”

[17:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “fought with.”

[28:20]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).

[28:20]  ¹⁷ sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.

[28:20]  ¹⁸ tc Most mss (A^c Θ Ë¹³ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of v. 20. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, no good reason exists for the omission of the particle in significant and early witnesses such as א A* B D W ˹ 33 al lat sa.