Keluaran 8:8

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹  Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray ²  to the Lord that he may take the frogs away ³  from me and my people, and I will release ⁴  the people that they may sacrifice ⁵  to the Lord.”

Keluaran 10:26

10:26 Our livestock must ⁶  also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take ⁷  these animals ⁸  to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.” ⁹ 

Keluaran 15:25

15:25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him ¹⁰  a tree. ¹¹  When Moses ¹²  threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord ¹³  made for them ¹⁴  a binding ordinance, ¹⁵  and there he tested ¹⁶  them.

Keluaran 16:32

16:32 Moses said, “This is what ¹⁷  the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept ¹⁸  for generations to come, ¹⁹  so that they may see ²⁰  the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”

Keluaran 31:17

31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ²¹  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ²² 

[8:8]  ¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has the meaning “to summon.”

[8:8]  ² tn The verb הַעְתִּירוּ (ha’tiru) is the Hiphil imperative of the verb עָתַר (’atar). It means “to pray, supplicate,” or “make supplication” – always addressed to God. It is often translated “entreat” to reflect that it is a more urgent praying.

[8:8]  ³ tn This form is the jussive with a sequential vav that provides the purpose of the prayer: pray…that he may turn away the frogs.

[8:8]  sn This is the first time in the conflict that Pharaoh even acknowledged that Yahweh existed. Now he is asking for prayer to remove the frogs and is promising to release Israel. This result of the plague must have been an encouragement to Moses.

[8:8]  ⁴ tn The form is the Piel cohortative וַאֲשַׁלְּחָה (va’ashallÿkhah) with the vav (ו) continuing the sequence from the request and its purpose. The cohortative here stresses the resolve of the king: “and (then) I will release.”

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Here also the imperfect tense with the vav (ו) shows the purpose of the release: “that they may sacrifice.”

[10:26]  ⁶ tn This is the obligatory imperfect nuance. They were obliged to take the animals if they were going to sacrifice, but more than that, since they were not coming back, they had to take everything.

[10:26]  ⁷ tn The same modal nuance applies to this verb.

[10:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “from it,” referring collectively to the livestock.

[10:26]  ⁹ sn Moses gives an angry but firm reply to Pharaoh’s attempt to control Israel; he makes it clear that he has no intention of leaving any pledge with Pharaoh. When they leave, they will take everything that belongs to them.

[15:25]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is וַיּוֹרֵהוּ (vayyorehu, “and he showed him”). It is the Hiphil preterite from יָרָה (yarah), which has a basic meaning of “to point, show, direct.” It then came to mean “to teach”; it is the verb behind the noun “Law” (תּוֹרָה, torah).

[15:25]  sn U. Cassuto notes that here is the clue to the direction of the narrative: Israel needed God’s instruction, the Law, if they were going to enjoy his provisions (Exodus, 184).

[15:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “a [piece of] wood” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV); NLT “a branch.”

[15:25]  sn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 143) follows some local legends in identifying this tree as one that is supposed to have – even to this day – the properties necessary for making bitter water sweet. B. Jacob (Exodus, 436) reports that no such tree has ever been found, but then he adds that this does not mean there was not such a bush in the earlier days. He believes that here God used a natural means (“showed, instructed”) to sweeten the water. He quotes Ben Sira as saying God had created these things with healing properties in them.

[15:25]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “there he”; the referent (the Lord) is supplied for clarity.

[15:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for him” (referring to Israel as a whole).

[15:25]  ¹⁵ tn This translation interprets the two nouns as a hendiadys: “a statute and an ordinance” becomes “a binding ordinance.”

[15:25]  ¹⁶ tn The verb נִסָּהוּ (nissahu, “and he tested him [them]”) is from the root נָסָה (nasah). The use of this word in the Bible indicates that there is question, doubt, or uncertainty about the object being tested.

[15:25]  sn The whole episode was a test from God. He led them there through Moses and let them go hungry and thirsty. He wanted to see how great their faith was.

[16:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “This is the thing that.”

[16:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for keeping.”

[16:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).

[16:32]  ²⁰ tn In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.

[31:17]  ²¹ tn The expression again forms an adverbial accusative of time.

[31:17]  ²² sn The word “rest” essentially means “to cease, stop.” So describing God as “resting” on the seventh day does not indicate that he was tired – he simply finished creation and then ceased or stopped. But in this verse is a very bold anthropomorphism in the form of the verb וַיִּנָּפַשׁ (vayyinnafash), a Niphal preterite from the root נָפַשׁ (nafash), the word that is related to “life, soul” or more specifically “breath, throat.” The verb is usually translated here as “he was refreshed,” offering a very human picture. It could also be rendered “he took breath” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 345). Elsewhere the verb is used of people and animals. The anthropomorphism is clearly intended to teach people to stop and refresh themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally on this day of rest.