Keluaran 1:8

1:8 Then a new king, ¹  who did not know about ²  Joseph, came to power ³  over Egypt.

Keluaran 4:24

4:24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, ⁴  the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. ⁵ 

Keluaran 9:17

9:17 You are still exalting ⁶  yourself against my people by ⁷  not releasing them.

Keluaran 24:9

24:9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, ⁸ 

Keluaran 28:23

28:23 and you are to make for the breastpiece two gold rings and attach ⁹  the two rings to the upper ¹⁰  two ends of the breastpiece.

Keluaran 31:7

31:7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings ¹¹  of the tent,

Keluaran 37:2

37:2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border ¹²  of gold for it.

Keluaran 39:16

39:16 and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper ¹³  two ends of the breastpiece.

Keluaran 40:23

40:23 And he set the bread in order on it ¹⁴  before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[1:8]  ¹ sn It would be difficult to identify who this “new king” might be, since the chronology of ancient Israel and Egypt is continually debated. Scholars who take the numbers in the Bible more or less at face value would place the time of Jacob’s going down to Egypt in about 1876 b.c. This would put Joseph’s experience in the period prior to the Hyksos control of Egypt (1720-1570’s), and everything in the narrative about Joseph points to a native Egyptian setting and not a Hyksos one. Joseph’s death, then, would have been around 1806 b.c., just a few years prior to the end of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt. This marked the end of the mighty Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The relationship between the Hyksos (also Semites) and the Israelites may have been amicable, and the Hyksos then might very well be the enemies that the Egyptians feared in Exodus 1:10. It makes good sense to see the new king who did not know Joseph as either the founder (Amosis, 1570-1546) or an early king of the powerful 18th Dynasty (like Thutmose I). Egypt under this new leadership drove out the Hyksos and reestablished Egyptian sovereignty. The new rulers certainly would have been concerned about an increasing Semite population in their territory (see E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 49-55).

[1:8]  ² tn The relative clause comes last in the verse in Hebrew. It simply clarifies that the new king had no knowledge about Joseph. It also introduces a major theme in the early portion of Exodus, as a later Pharaoh will claim not to know who Yahweh is. The Lord, however, will work to make sure that Pharaoh and all Egypt will know that he is the true God.

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “arose.”

[4:24]  ⁴ tn Or “at a lodging place” or “at an inn.”

[4:24]  ⁵ sn The next section (vv. 24-26) records a rather strange story. God had said that if Pharaoh would not comply he would kill his son – but now God was ready to kill Moses, the representative of Israel, God’s own son. Apparently, one would reconstruct that on the journey Moses fell seriously ill, but his wife, learning the cause of the illness, saved his life by circumcising her son and casting the foreskin at Moses’ feet (indicating that it was symbolically Moses’ foreskin). The point is that this son of Abraham had not complied with the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. No one, according to Exod 12:40-51, would take part in the Passover-exodus who had not complied. So how could the one who was going to lead God’s people not comply? The bold anthropomorphisms and the location at the border invite comparisons with Gen 32, the Angel wrestling with Jacob. In both cases there is a brush with death that could not be forgotten. See also, W. Dumbrell, “Exodus 4:24-25: A Textual Re-examination,” HTR 65 (1972): 285-90; T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15; and L. Kaplan, “And the Lord Sought to Kill Him,” HAR 5 (1981): 65-74.

[9:17]  ⁶ tn מִסְתּוֹלֵל (mistolel) is a Hitpael participle, from a root that means “raise up, obstruct.” So in the Hitpael it means to “raise oneself up,” “elevate oneself,” or “be an obstructionist.” See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 116.

[9:17]  ⁷ tn The infinitive construct with lamed here is epexegetical; it explains how Pharaoh has exalted himself – “by not releasing the people.”

[24:9]  ⁸ tn The verse begins with “and Moses went up, and Aaron….” This verse may supply the sequel to vv. 1-2. At any rate, God was now accepting them into his presence.

[24:9]  sn This next section is extremely interesting, but difficult to interpret. For some of the literature, see: E. W. Nicholson, “The Interpretation of Exodus 24:9-11,” VT 24 (1974): 77-97; “The Antiquity of the Tradition in Exodus 24:9-11,” VT 26 (1976): 148-60; and T. C. Vriezen, “The Exegesis of Exodus 24:9-11,” OTS 17 (1967): 24-53.

[28:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “give, put.”

[28:23]  ¹⁰ tn Here “upper” has been supplied.

[31:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the vessels of the tent.”

[37:2]  ¹² tn Or “molding.”

[39:16]  ¹³ tn Here “upper” has been supplied.

[40:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb uses a cognate accusative construction, “he arranged the arrangement.”