Exodus 22:27

22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. ¹  What else can he sleep in? ²  And ³  when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

Exodus 33:12

33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ ⁴  but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, ⁵  and also you have found favor in my sight.’

Exodus 34:7

34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, ⁶  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression ⁷  of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

[22:27]  ¹ tn Heb “his skin.”

[22:27]  ² tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.

[22:27]  ³ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[33:12]  ⁴ tn The Hiphil imperative is from the same verb that has been used before for bringing the people up from Egypt and leading them to Canaan.

[33:12]  ⁵ tn That is, “chosen you.”

[34:7]  ⁶ tn That is, “for thousands of generations.”

[34:7]  ⁷ sn As in the ten commandments (20:5-6), this expression shows that the iniquity and its punishment will continue in the family if left unchecked. This does not go on as long as the outcomes for good (thousands versus third or fourth generations), and it is limited to those who hate God.