Keluaran 2:12

2:12 He looked this way and that ¹  and saw that no one was there, ²  and then he attacked ³  the Egyptian and concealed the body ⁴  in the sand.

Keluaran 9:31-32

9:31 (Now the ⁵  flax and the barley were struck ⁶  by the hail, ⁷  for the barley had ripened ⁸  and the flax ⁹  was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt ¹⁰  were not struck, for they are later crops.) ¹¹ 

Keluaran 15:27

15:27 Then they came to Elim, ¹²  where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

[2:12]  ¹ tn The text literally says, “and he turned thus and thus” (וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, vayyifen koh vakhoh). It may indicate that he turned his gaze in all directions to ascertain that no one would observe what he did. Or, as B. Jacob argues, it may mean that he saw that there was no one to do justice and so he did it himself (Exodus, 37-38, citing Isa 59:15-16).

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “he saw that there was no man.”

[2:12]  ³ sn The verb וַיַּךְ (vayyakh) is from the root נָכָה (nakhah, “to smite, attack”) which is used in v. 11. This new attack is fatal. The repetition of the verb, especially in Exodus, anticipates the idea of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” The problem is, however, that Moses was not authorized to take this matter into his own hands in this way. The question the next day was appropriate: “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” The answer? No one – yet.

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “him”; for stylistic reasons the referent has been specified as “the body.”

[9:31]  ⁵ tn A disjunctive vav introduces the two verses that provide parenthetical information to the reader. Gesenius notes that the boldness of such clauses is often indicated by the repetition of nouns at the beginning (see GKC 452 §141.d). Some have concluded that because they have been put here rather than back after v. 25 or 26, they form part of Moses’ speech to Pharaoh, explaining that the crops that were necessary for humans were spared, but those for other things were destroyed. This would also mean that Moses was saying there is more that God can destroy (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 279).

[9:31]  ⁶ tn The unusual forms נֻכָּתָה (nukkatah) in v. 31 and נֻכּוּ (nukku) in v. 32 are probably to be taken as old Qal passives. There are no attested Piel uses of the root.

[9:31]  ⁷ tn The words “by the hail” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied from context.

[9:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “was in the ear” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “had headed.”

[9:31]  ⁹ sn Flax was used for making linen, and the area around Tanis was ideal for producing flax. Barley was used for bread for the poor people, as well as beer and animal feed.

[9:32]  ¹⁰ tn The word כֻּסֶּמֶת (kussemet) is translated “spelt”; the word occurs only here and in Isa 28:25 and Ezek 4:9. Spelt is a grain closely allied to wheat. Other suggestions have been brought forward from the study of Egyptian crops (see a brief summary in W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363-64).

[9:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for they are late.”

[15:27]  ¹² sn Judging from the way the story is told they were not far from the oasis. But God had other plans for them, to see if they would trust him wholeheartedly and obey. They did not do very well this first time, and they will have to learn how to obey. The lesson is clear: God uses adversity to test his people’s loyalty. The response to adversity must be prayer to God, for he can turn the bitter into the sweet, the bad into the good, and the prospect of death into life.