Keluaran 18:4

18:4 and the other Eliezer (for Moses had said, ¹  “The God of my father has been my help ²  and delivered ³  me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

Keluaran 21:26-27

21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ⁴  he will let the servant ⁵  go free ⁶  as compensation for the eye. 21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant ⁷  go free as compensation for the tooth.

[18:4]  ¹ tn The referent (Moses) and the verb have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:4]  ² tn Now is given the etymological explanation of the name of Moses’ other son, Eliezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר, ’eli’ezer), which means “my God is a help.” The sentiment that explains this name is אֱלֹהֵי אָבִי בְּעֶזְרִי (’elohe ’avi bÿ’ezri, “the God of my father is my help”). The preposition in the sentiment is the bet (ב) essentiae (giving the essence – see GKC 379 §119.i). Not mentioned earlier, the name has become even more appropriate now that God has delivered Moses from Pharaoh again. The word for “help” is a common word in the Bible, first introduced as a description of the woman in the Garden. It means to do for someone what he or she cannot do for himself or herself. Samuel raised the “stone of help” (Ebenezer) when Yahweh helped Israel win the battle (1 Sam 7:12).

[18:4]  ³ sn The verb “delivered” is an important motif in this chapter (see its use in vv. 8, 9, and 10 with reference to Pharaoh).

[21:26]  ⁴ tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”

[21:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ⁶ sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.

[21:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.