Keluaran 4:24-26

4:24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, ¹  the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. ²  4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses’ feet, ³  and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood ⁴  to me.” 4:26 So the Lord ⁵  let him alone. (At that time ⁶  she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to ⁷  the circumcision.)

Keluaran 12:15

12:15 For seven days ⁸  you must eat ⁹  bread made without yeast. ¹⁰  Surely ¹¹  on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast ¹²  from the first day to the seventh day will be cut off ¹³  from Israel.

Keluaran 12:19

12:19 For seven days ¹⁴  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ¹⁵  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ¹⁶  or one born in the land.

Keluaran 30:33

30:33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts any of it on someone not a priest ¹⁷  will be cut off ¹⁸  from his people.’”

Keluaran 30:38

30:38 Whoever makes anything like it, to use as perfume, ¹⁹  will be cut off from his people.”

Imamat 7:20-21

7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness persists ²⁰  will be cut off from his people. ²¹  7:21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) ²²  and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’” ²³ 

Imamat 7:25

7:25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people. ²⁴ 

Imamat 7:27

7:27 Any person who eats any blood – that person will be cut off from his people.’” ²⁵ 

Imamat 18:29

18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. ²⁶ 

Imamat 19:8

19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity ²⁷  because he has profaned ²⁸  what is holy to the Lord. ²⁹  That person will be cut off from his people. ³⁰ 

Bilangan 15:30-31

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ³¹  who acts defiantly, ³²  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ³³  the Lord. ³⁴  That person ³⁵  must be cut off ³⁶  from among his people. 15:31 Because he has despised ³⁷  the word of the Lord and has broken ³⁸  his commandment, that person ³⁹  must be completely cut off. ⁴⁰  His iniquity will be on him.’” ⁴¹ 

Yosua 5:2-12

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ⁴²  5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ⁴³  5:4 This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ⁴⁴  5:5 Now ⁴⁵  all the men ⁴⁶  who left were circumcised, but all the sons ⁴⁷  born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised. 5:6 Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. ⁴⁸  For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, ⁴⁹  a land rich in ⁵⁰  milk and honey. 5:7 He replaced them with their sons, ⁵¹  whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. 5:8 When all the men ⁵²  had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. 5:9 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away ⁵³  the disgrace ⁵⁴  of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal ⁵⁵  even to this day.

5:10 So the Israelites camped in Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho. ⁵⁶  5:11 They ate some of the produce of the land the day after the Passover, including unleavened bread and roasted grain. ⁵⁷  5:12 The manna stopped appearing the day they ate ⁵⁸  some of the produce of the land; the Israelites never ate manna again. ⁵⁹ 

[4:24]  ¹ tn Or “at a lodging place” or “at an inn.”

[4:24]  ² 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.

[4:25]  ³ tn Heb “to his feet.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The LXX has “and she fell at his feet” and then “the blood of the circumcision of my son stood.” But it is clear that she caused the foreskin to touch Moses’ feet, as if the one were a substitution for the other, taking the place of the other (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 60).

[4:25]  ⁴ sn U. Cassuto explains that she was saying, “I have delivered you from death, and your return to life makes you my bridegroom a second time, this time my blood bridegroom, a bridegroom acquired through blood” (Exodus, 60-61).

[4:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:26]  ⁶ tn Or “Therefore.” The particle אָז (’az) here is not introducing the next item in a series of events. It points back to the past (“at that time,” see Gen 4:26) or to a logical connection (“therefore, consequently”).

[4:26]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew simply has לַמּוּלֹת (lammulot, “to the circumcision[s]”). The phrase explains that the saying was in reference to the act of circumcision. Some scholars speculate that there was a ritual prior to marriage from which this event and its meaning derived. But it appears rather that if there was some ancient ritual, it would have had to come from this event. The difficulty is that the son is circumcised, not Moses, making the comparative mythological view untenable. Moses had apparently not circumcised Eliezer. Since Moses was taking his family with him, God had to make sure the sign of the covenant was kept. It may be that here Moses sent them all back to Jethro (18:2) because of the difficulties that lay ahead.

[12:15]  ⁸ tn This expression is an adverbial accusative of time. The feast was to last from the 15th to the 21st of the month.

[12:15]  ⁹ tn Or “you will eat.” The statement stresses their obligation – they must eat unleavened bread and avoid all leaven.

[12:15]  ¹⁰ tn The etymology of מַצּוֹת (matsot, “unleavened bread,” i.e., “bread made without yeast”) is uncertain. Suggested connections to known verbs include “to squeeze, press,” “to depart, go out,” “to ransom,” or to an Egyptian word “food, cake, evening meal.” For a more detailed study of “unleavened bread” and related matters such as “yeast” or “leaven,” see A. P. Ross, NIDOTTE 4:448-53.

[12:15]  ¹¹ tn The particle serves to emphasize, not restrict here (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 15).

[12:15]  ¹² tn Heb “every eater of leavened bread.” The participial phrase stands at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens, that is, it stands grammatically separate from the sentence. It names a condition, the contingent occurrences of which involve a further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[12:15]  ¹³ tn The verb וְנִכְרְתָה (vÿnikhrÿtah) is the Niphal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is a common formula in the Law for divine punishment. Here, in sequence to the idea that someone might eat bread made with yeast, the result would be that “that soul [the verb is feminine] will be cut off.” The verb is the equivalent of the imperfect tense due to the consecutive; a translation with a nuance of the imperfect of possibility (“may be cut off”) fits better perhaps than a specific future. There is the real danger of being cut off, for while the punishment might include excommunication from the community, the greater danger was in the possibility of divine intervention to root out the evildoer (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). Gesenius lists this as the use of a perfect with a vav consecutive after a participle (a casus pendens) to introduce the apodosis (GKC 337 §112.mm).

[12:15]  sn In Lev 20:3, 5-6, God speaks of himself as cutting off a person from among the Israelites. The rabbis mentioned premature death and childlessness as possible judgments in such cases, and N. M. Sarna comments that “one who deliberately excludes himself from the religious community of Israel cannot be a beneficiary of the covenantal blessings” (Exodus [JPSTC], 58).

[12:19]  ¹⁴ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

[12:19]  ¹⁵ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

[12:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

[30:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a stranger,” meaning someone not ordained a priest.

[30:33]  ¹⁸ sn The rabbinic interpretation of this is that it is a penalty imposed by heaven, that the life will be cut short and the person could die childless.

[30:38]  ¹⁹ tn Or to smell it, to use for the maker’s own pleasure.

[7:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and his unclean condition is on him.”

[7:20]  ²¹ sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits (cf. TEV, CEV), or his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation), etc. See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 100; J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:457-60; and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 241-42 for further discussion.

[7:21]  ²² sn For these categories of unclean animals see Lev 11.

[7:21]  ²³ sn For the interpretation of this last clause see the note on Lev 7:20.

[7:25]  ²⁴ sn See the note on Lev 7:20.

[7:27]  ²⁵ sn See the note on Lev 7:20.

[18:29]  ²⁶ sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[19:8]  ²⁷ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[19:8]  ²⁸ sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[19:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the holiness of the Lord.”

[19:8]  ³⁰ sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[15:30]  ³¹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ³² tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the Lord said. It is as if the sinner was about to attack God, or at least lifting his hand against God. The implication of the expression is that it was done in full knowledge of the Law (especially since this contrasts throughout with the sins of ignorance). Blatant defiance of the word of the Lord is dealt with differently. For similar expressions, see Exod 14:8 and Num 33:3.

[15:30]  ³³ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ³⁴ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ³⁵ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ³⁶ tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.

[15:31]  ³⁷ tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.

[15:31]  ³⁸ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

[15:31]  ³⁹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:31]  ⁴⁰ tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.

[15:31]  ⁴¹ sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.

[5:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.

[5:3]  ⁴³ tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.

[5:3]  sn The name given to the place, Hill of the Foreskins was an obvious reminder of this important event.

[5:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “All the people who went out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the desert in the way when they went out from Egypt.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “indeed.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “all the people.”

[5:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, came to an end.”

[5:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Some Hebrew mss, as well as the Syriac version, support this reading. Most ancient witnesses read “us.”

[5:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “flowing with.”

[5:6]  sn The word picture a land rich in milk and honey depicts the land as containing many grazing areas (which would produce milk) and flowering plants (which would support the bees that produced honey).

[5:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “their sons he raised up in their place.”

[5:8]  ⁵² tn Heb “nation.”

[5:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “rolled away.”

[5:9]  ⁵⁴ sn One might take the disgrace of Egypt as a reference to their uncircumcised condition (see Gen 34:14), but the generation that left Egypt was circumcised (see v. 5). It more likely refers to the disgrace they experienced in Egyptian slavery. When this new generation reached the promised land and renewed their covenantal commitment to the Lord by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the Lord’s deliverance of his people from slavery, which had begun with the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, reached its climax. See T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 59.

[5:9]  ⁵⁵ sn The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb “roll away” (גַּלַל, galal).

[5:10]  ⁵⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[5:11]  ⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “on this same day.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

[5:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the day after, when they ate.” The present translation assumes this means the day after the Passover, though it is possible it refers to the day after they began eating the land’s produce.

[5:12]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and the sons of Israel had no more manna.”