Keluaran 7:10

7:10 When ¹  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw ²  down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ³ 

Keluaran 9:3

9:3 then the hand of the Lord will surely bring ⁴  a very terrible plague ⁵  on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, ⁶  the herds, and the flocks.

Keluaran 9:6

9:6 And the Lord did this ⁷  on the next day; ⁸  all ⁹  the livestock of the Egyptians ¹⁰  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died.

Keluaran 16:29

16:29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why ¹¹  he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; ¹²  let no one ¹³  go out of his place on the seventh day.”

Keluaran 19:10

19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them ¹⁴  today and tomorrow, and make them wash ¹⁵  their clothes

Keluaran 20:20

20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, ¹⁶  that the fear of him ¹⁷  may be before you so that you do not ¹⁸  sin.”

Keluaran 30:12-13

30:12 “When you take a census ¹⁹  of the Israelites according to their number, ²⁰  then each man is to pay a ransom ²¹  for his life to the Lord when you number them, ²²  so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. 30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered ²³  is to pay this: a half shekel ²⁴  according to the shekel of the sanctuary ²⁵  (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering ²⁶  to the Lord.

Keluaran 31:18

31:18 He gave Moses two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of God. ²⁷ 

Keluaran 33:4

33:4 When the people heard this troubling word ²⁸  they mourned; ²⁹  no one put on his ornaments.

Keluaran 36:2

36:2 Moses summoned ³⁰  Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom ³¹  the Lord had put skill – everyone whose heart stirred him ³²  to volunteer ³³  to do the work,

Keluaran 38:21

The Materials of the Construction

38:21 This is the inventory ³⁴  of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted ³⁵  by the order ³⁶  of Moses, being the work ³⁷  of the Levites under the direction ³⁸  of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

Keluaran 38:24

38:24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary ³⁹  (namely, ⁴⁰  the gold of the wave offering) was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, ⁴¹  according to the sanctuary shekel.

Keluaran 39:6

39:6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal ⁴²  with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁴³ 

Keluaran 39:25

39:25 They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates.

[7:10]  ¹ tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.

[7:10]  ² tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”

[7:10]  ³ tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.

[9:3]  ⁴ tn The form used here is הוֹיָה (hoyah), the Qal active participle, feminine singular, from the verb “to be.” This is the only place in the OT that this form occurs. Ogden shows that this form is appropriate with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) to stress impending divine action, and that it conforms to the pattern in these narratives where five times the participle is used in the threat to Pharaoh (7:17; 8:2; 9:3, 14; 10:4). See G. S. Ogden, “Notes on the Use of הויה in Exodus IX. 3,” VT 17 (1967): 483-84.

[9:3]  ⁵ tn The word דֶּבֶר (dever) is usually translated “pestilence” when it applies to diseases for humans. It is used only here and in Ps 78:50 for animals.

[9:3]  ⁶ sn The older view that camels were not domesticated at this time (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 70; W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 96; et. al.) has been corrected by more recently uncovered information (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 160-61).

[9:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ⁹ tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[16:29]  ¹¹ sn Noting the rabbinic teaching that the giving of the Sabbath was a sign of God’s love – it was accomplished through the double portion on the sixth day – B. Jacob says, “God made no request unless He provided the means for its execution” (Exodus, 461).

[16:29]  ¹² tn Heb “remain, a man where he is.”

[16:29]  ¹³ tn Or “Let not anyone go” (see GKC 445 §138.d).

[19:10]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.”

[20:20]  ¹⁶ tn נַסּוֹת (nassot) is the Piel infinitive construct; it forms the purpose of God’s coming with all the accompanying phenomena. The verb can mean “to try, test, prove.” The sense of “prove” fits this context best because the terrifying phenomena were intended to put the fear of God in their hearts so that they would obey. In other words, God was inspiring them to obey, not simply testing to see if they would.

[20:20]  ¹⁷ tn The suffix on the noun is an objective genitive, referring to the fear that the people would have of God (GKC 439 §135.m).

[20:20]  ¹⁸ tn The negative form לְבִלְתִּי (lÿvilti) is used here with the imperfect tense (see for other examples GKC 483 §152.x). This gives the imperfect the nuance of a final imperfect: that you might not sin. Others: to keep you from sin.

[30:12]  ¹⁹ tn The expression is “when you take [lift up] the sum [head] of the Israelites.”

[30:12]  ²⁰ tn The form is לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם (lifqudehem, “according to those that are numbered of/by them”) from the verb פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). But the idea of this word seems more to be that of changing or determining the destiny, and so “appoint” and “number” become clear categories of meaning for the word. Here it simply refers to the census, but when this word is used for a census it often involves mustering an army for a military purpose. Here there is no indication of a war, but it may be laying down the principle that when they should do this, here is the price. B. Jacob (Exodus, 835) uses Num 31 as a good illustration, showing that the warrior was essentially a murderer, if he killed anyone in battle. For this reason his blood was forfeit; if he survived he must pay a כֹּפֶר (kofer) because every human life possesses value and must be atoned for. The payment during the census represented a “presumptive ransom” so that they could not be faulted for what they might do in war.

[30:12]  ²¹ tn The “ransom” is כֹּפֶר (kofer), a word related to words translated “atone” and “atonement.” Here the noun refers to what is paid for the life. The idea is that of delivering or redeeming by a substitute – here the substitute is the money. If they paid the amount, their lives would be safe (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:473).

[30:12]  ²² tn The temporal clause uses a preposition, an infinitive construct, and then an accusative. The subject is supplied: “in numbering them” means “when [you] number them.” The verb could also be rendered “when you muster them.”

[30:13]  ²³ sn Each man was to pass in front of the counting officer and join those already counted on the other side.

[30:13]  ²⁴ sn The half shekel weight of silver would be about one-fifth of an ounce (6 grams).

[30:13]  ²⁵ sn It appears that some standard is in view for the amount of a shekel weight. The sanctuary shekel is sometimes considered to be twice the value of the ordinary shekel. The “gerah,” also of uncertain meaning, was mentioned as a reference point for the ancient reader to understand the value of the required payment. It may also be that the expression meant “a sacred shekel” and looked at the purpose more – a shekel for sanctuary dues. This would mean that the standard of the shekel weight was set because it was the traditional amount of sacred dues (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 333). “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams…Whether an official standard is meant [by ‘sanctuary shekel’] or whether the sanctuary shekel had a different weight than the ‘ordinary’ shekel is not known” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181).

[30:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “contribution” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah).

[31:18]  ²⁷ sn The expression “the finger of God” has come up before in the book, in the plagues (Exod 8:15) to express that it was a demonstration of the power and authority of God. So here too the commandments given to Moses on stone tablets came from God. It too is a bold anthropomorphism; to attribute such a material action to Yahweh would have been thought provoking to say the least. But by using “God” and by stating it in an obviously figurative way, balance is maintained. Since no one writes with one finger, the expression simply says that the Law came directly from God.

[33:4]  ²⁸ tn Or “bad news” (NAB, NCV).

[33:4]  ²⁹ sn The people would rather have risked divine discipline than to go without Yahweh in their midst. So they mourned, and they took off the ornaments. Such had been used in making the golden calf, and so because of their association with all of that they were to be removed as a sign of remorse.

[36:2]  ³⁰ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) plus the preposition “to” – “to call to” someone means “to summon” that person.

[36:2]  ³¹ tn Here there is a slight change: “in whose heart Yahweh had put skill.”

[36:2]  ³² tn Or “whose heart was willing.”

[36:2]  ³³ sn The verb means more than “approach” or “draw near”; קָרַב (qarav) is the word used for drawing near the altar as in bringing an offering. Here they offer themselves, their talents and their time.

[38:21]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew word is פְּקוּדֵי (pÿqude), which in a slavishly literal way would be “visitations of” the tabernacle. But the word often has the idea of “numbering” or “appointing” as well. Here it is an accounting or enumeration of the materials that people brought, so the contemporary term “inventory” is a close approximation. By using this Hebrew word there is also the indication that whatever was given, i.e., appointed for the tabernacle, was changed forever in its use. This is consistent with this Hebrew root, which does have a sense of changing the destiny of someone (“God will surely visit you”). The list in this section will also be tied to the numbering of the people.

[38:21]  ³⁵ tn The same verb is used here, but now in the Pual perfect tense, third masculine singular. A translation “was numbered” or “was counted” works. The verb is singular because it refers to the tabernacle as a unit. This section will list what made up the tabernacle.

[38:21]  ³⁶ tn Heb “at/by the mouth of.”

[38:21]  ³⁷ tn The noun is “work” or “service.” S. R. Driver explains that the reckonings were not made for the Levites, but that they were the work of the Levites, done by them under the direction of Ithamar (Exodus, 393).

[38:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[38:24]  ³⁹ tn These words form the casus pendens, or independent nominative absolute, followed by the apodosis beginning with the vav (ו; see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 469).

[38:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and it was.”

[38:24]  ⁴¹ sn There were 3000 shekels in a talent, and so the total weight here in shekels would be 87,730 shekels of gold. If the sanctuary shekel was 224 grs., then this was about 40,940 oz. troy. This is estimated to be a little over a ton (cf. NCV “over 2,000 pounds”; TEV “a thousand kilogrammes”; CEV “two thousand two hundred nine pounds”; NLT “about 2,200 pounds”), although other widely diverging estimates are also given.

[39:6]  ⁴² tn Or “as seals are engraved.”

[39:6]  ⁴³ sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.