Job 41:25

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ¹ 

Genesis 35:2-3

35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ²  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ³  35:3 Let us go up at once ⁴  to Bethel. Then I will make ⁵  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ⁶  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁷ 

Exodus 19:10

19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them ⁸  today and tomorrow, and make them wash ⁹  their clothes

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ¹⁰ In the third month after the Israelites went out ¹¹  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ¹²  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 16:5

16:5 On the sixth day ¹³  they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.” ¹⁴ 

Nehemiah 12:30

12:30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

John 11:55

11:55 Now the Jewish feast of Passover ¹⁵  was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem ¹⁶  from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually. ¹⁷ 

[41:25]  ¹ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”

[35:2]  ² tn Heb “which are in your midst.”

[35:2]  ³ sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.

[35:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

[35:3]  ⁵ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

[35:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

[35:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

[19:10]  ⁸ tn This verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the force of the imperative preceding it. This sanctification would be accomplished by abstaining from things that would make them defiled or unclean, and then by ritual washings and ablutions.

[19:10]  ⁹ tn The form is a perfect 3cpl with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is instructional as well, but now in the third person it is like a jussive, “let them wash, make them wash.”

[19:1]  ¹⁰ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ¹² tn Heb “on this day.”

[16:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will be on the sixth day.”

[16:5]  ¹⁴ sn There is a question here concerning the legislation – the people were not told why to gather twice as much on the sixth day. In other words, this instruction seems to presume that they knew about the Sabbath law. That law will be included in this chapter in a number of ways, suggesting to some scholars that this chapter is out of chronological order, placed here for a purpose. Some argue that the manna episode comes after the revelation at Sinai. But it is not necessary to take such a view. God had established the Sabbath in the creation, and if Moses has been expounding the Genesis traditions in his teachings then they would have known about that.

[11:55]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the Passover of the Jews.” This is the final Passover of Jesus’ ministry. The author is now on the eve of the week of the Passion. Some time prior to the feast itself, Jerusalem would be crowded with pilgrims from the surrounding districts (ἐκ τῆς χώρας, ek th" cwra") who had come to purify themselves ceremonially before the feast.

[11:55]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:55]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to purify themselves” (to undergo or carry out ceremonial cleansing before participating in the Passover celebration).