Keluaran 1:22

1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons ¹  that are born you must throw ²  into the river, but all daughters you may let live.” ³ 

Keluaran 2:10

2:10 When the child grew older ⁴  she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. ⁵  She named him Moses, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.” ⁶ 

Keluaran 6:7

6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. ⁷  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to ⁸  the Egyptians.

Keluaran 8:28

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you ⁹  so that you may sacrifice ¹⁰  to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. ¹¹  Do ¹²  pray for me.”

Keluaran 10:10

10:10 He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you ¹³  if I release you and your dependents! ¹⁴  Watch out! ¹⁵  Trouble is right in front of you! ¹⁶ 

Keluaran 12:4

12:4 If any household is too small ¹⁷  for a lamb, ¹⁸  the man ¹⁹  and his next-door neighbor ²⁰  are to take ²¹  a lamb according to the number of people – you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat. ²² 

Keluaran 13:16

13:16 It will be for a sign on your hand and for frontlets ²³  on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” ²⁴ 

Keluaran 14:16

14:16 And as for you, ²⁵  lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that ²⁶  the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

Keluaran 14:19

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ²⁷  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

Keluaran 14:25

14:25 He jammed ²⁸  the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, ²⁹  and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee ³⁰  from Israel, for the Lord fights ³¹  for them against Egypt!”

Keluaran 14:31

14:31 When Israel saw ³²  the great power ³³  that the Lord had exercised ³⁴  over the Egyptians, they ³⁵  feared the Lord, and they believed in ³⁶  the Lord and in his servant Moses. ³⁷ 

Keluaran 19:23

19:23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us, ³⁸  ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’” ³⁹ 

Keluaran 21:2

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ⁴⁰ “If you buy ⁴¹  a Hebrew servant, ⁴²  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ⁴³  without paying anything. ⁴⁴ 

Keluaran 22:25

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ⁴⁵  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ⁴⁶  to him; do not charge ⁴⁷  him interest. ⁴⁸ 

Keluaran 23:16

23:16 “You are also to observe ⁴⁹  the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year ⁵⁰  when you have gathered in ⁵¹  your harvest ⁵²  out of the field.

Keluaran 23:19

23:19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. ⁵³ 

Keluaran 23:23

23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely. ⁵⁴ 

Keluaran 25:12

25:12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side.

Keluaran 25:19

25:19 Make ⁵⁵  one cherub on one end ⁵⁶  and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid ⁵⁷  you are to make the cherubim on the two ends.

Keluaran 25:35

25:35 with a bud under the first ⁵⁸  two branches from it, and a bud under the next ⁵⁹  two branches from it, and a bud under the third ⁶⁰  two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand.

Keluaran 26:37

26:37 You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be ⁶¹  gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them. ⁶² 

Keluaran 27:11

27:11 Likewise ⁶³  for its length on the north side, there are to be ⁶⁴  hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands ⁶⁵  on the posts.

Keluaran 28:8

28:8 The artistically woven waistband ⁶⁶  of the ephod that is on it is to be like it, of one piece with the ephod, ⁶⁷  of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

Keluaran 28:28

28:28 They are to tie the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it may be above the waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece will not be loose from the ephod.

Keluaran 28:38

28:38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, ⁶⁸  which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; ⁶⁹  it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance ⁷⁰  before the Lord.

Keluaran 29:33

29:33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made ⁷¹  to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else ⁷²  may eat them, for they are holy.

Keluaran 29:40

29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah ⁷³  of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin ⁷⁴  of oil from pressed olives, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

Keluaran 30:4

30:4 You are to make two gold rings for it under its border, on its two flanks; you are to make them on its two sides. ⁷⁵  The rings ⁷⁶  will be places ⁷⁷  for poles to carry it with.

Keluaran 30:6

30:6 “You are to put it in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the testimony (before the atonement lid that is over the testimony), where I will meet you.

Keluaran 30:15

30:15 The rich are not to increase it, ⁷⁸  and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving ⁷⁹  the offering of the Lord, to make atonement ⁸⁰  for your lives.

Keluaran 30:23

30:23 “Take ⁸¹  choice spices: ⁸²  twelve and a half pounds ⁸³  of free-flowing myrrh, ⁸⁴  half that – about six and a quarter pounds – of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six and a quarter pounds of sweet-smelling cane,

Keluaran 32:30

32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, ⁸⁵  “You have committed a very serious sin, ⁸⁶  but now I will go up to the Lord – perhaps I can make atonement ⁸⁷  on behalf of your sin.”

Keluaran 34:3

34:3 No one is to come up with you; do not let anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks or the herds may graze in front of that mountain.”

Keluaran 34:16

34:16 and you then take ⁸⁸  his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.

Keluaran 36:35

36:35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made ⁸⁹  it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer.

Keluaran 37:21

37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it. ⁹⁰ 

Keluaran 37:27

37:27 He also made ⁹¹  two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, ⁹²  as places ⁹³  for poles to carry it with.

Keluaran 38:1

The Making of the Altar for the Burnt Offering

38:1 He made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood seven feet six inches long and seven feet six inches wide – it was square – and its height was four feet six inches.

Keluaran 38:7

38:7 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar ⁹⁴  hollow, out of boards.

Keluaran 38:12

38:12 For the west side there were ⁹⁵  hangings seventy-five feet long, with ⁹⁶  their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.

Keluaran 38:17

38:17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. ⁹⁷ 

Keluaran 39:5

39:5 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it, ⁹⁸  of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Keluaran 39:14

39:14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of ⁹⁹  their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.

Keluaran 40:9

40:9 And take ¹⁰⁰  the anointing oil, and anoint ¹⁰¹  the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify ¹⁰²  it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy.

[1:22]  ¹ tn The substantive כֹּל (kol) followed by the article stresses the entirety – “all sons” or “all daughters” – even though the nouns are singular in Hebrew (see GKC 411 §127.b).

[1:22]  ² tn The form includes a pronominal suffix that reiterates the object of the verb: “every son…you will throw it.”

[1:22]  ³ tn The first imperfect has the force of a definite order, but the second, concerning the girls, could also have the nuance of permission, which may fit better. Pharaoh is simply allowing the girls to live.

[1:22]  sn Verse 22 forms a fitting climax to the chapter, in which the king continually seeks to destroy the Israelite strength. Finally, with this decree, he throws off any subtlety and commands the open extermination of Hebrew males. The verse forms a transition to the next chapter, in which Moses is saved by Pharaoh’s own daughter. These chapters show that the king’s efforts to destroy the strength of Israel – so clearly a work of God – met with failure again and again. And that failure involved the efforts of women, whom Pharaoh did not consider a threat.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn The verb is the preterite of גָּדַל (gadal), and so might be rendered “and he became great.” But the context suggests that it refers to when he was weaned and before he was named, perhaps indicating he was three or four years old (see Gen 21:8).

[2:10]  ⁵ tn The idiomatic expression literally reads: “and he was to her for a son.” In this there are two prepositions lamed. The first expresses possession: “he was to her” means “she had.” The second is part of the usage of the verb: הָיָה (haya) with the lamed (ל) preposition means “to become.”

[2:10]  ⁶ sn The naming provides the climax and summary of the story. The name of “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) is explained by “I have drawn him (מְשִׁיתִהוּ, mÿshitihu) from the water.” It appears that the name is etymologically connected to the verb in the saying, which is from מָשָׁה (mashah, “to draw out”). But commentators have found it a little difficult that the explanation of the name by the daughter of Pharaoh is in Hebrew when the whole background is Egyptian (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 20). Moreover, the Hebrew spelling of the name is the form of the active participle (“the one who draws out”); to be a precise description it should have been spelled מָשׁוּי (mashuy), the passive participle (“the one drawn out”). The etymology is not precise; rather, it is a wordplay (called paronomasia). Either the narrator merely attributed words to her (which is unlikely outside of fiction), or the Hebrew account simply translated what she had said into Hebrew, finding a Hebrew verb with the same sounds as the name. Such wordplays on names (also popular etymology) are common in the Bible. Most agree that the name is an Egyptian name. Josephus attempted to connect the biblical etymology with the name in Greek, Mouses, stating that Mo is Egyptian for water, and uses means those rescued from it (Ant. 2.9.6 [2.228]; see also J. Gwyn Griffiths, “The Egyptian Derivation of the Name Moses,” JNES 12 [1953]: 225). But the solution to the name is not to be derived from the Greek rendering. Due to the estimation Egyptians had of the Nile, the princess would have thought of the child from the river as a supernatural provision. The Egyptian hieroglyphic ms can be the noun “child” or the perfective verb “be born.” This was often connected with divine elements for names: Ptah-mose, “Ptah is born.” Also the name Rameses (R’-m-sw) means “[the god] Re’ is he who has born him.” If the name Moses is Egyptian, there are some philological difficulties (see the above article for their treatment). The significance of all this is that when the child was named by the princess, an Egyptian word related to ms was used, meaning something like “child” or “born.” The name might have even been longer, perhaps having a theophoric element (divine name) with it – “child of [some god].” The name’s motivation came from the fact that she drew him from the Nile, the source of life in Egypt. But the sound of the name recalled for the Hebrews the verb “to draw out” in their own language. Translating the words of the princess into Hebrew allowed for the effective wordplay to capture the significance of the story in the sound of the name. The implication for the Israelites is something to this effect: “You called him ‘born one’ in your language and after your custom, but in our language that name means ‘drawing out’ – which is what was to become of him. You drew him out of the water, but he would draw us out of Egypt through the water.” So the circumstances of the story show Moses to be a man of destiny, and this naming episode summarizes how divine providence was at work in Israel. To the Israelites the name forever commemorated the portent of this event in the early life of the great deliverer (see Isa 63:11).

[6:7]  ⁷ sn These covenant promises are being reiterated here because they are about to be fulfilled. They are addressed to the nation, not individuals, as the plural suffixes show. Yahweh was their God already, because they had been praying to him and he is acting on their behalf. When they enter into covenant with God at Sinai, then he will be the God of Israel in a new way (19:4-6; cf. Gen 17:7-8; 28:20-22; Lev 26:11-12; Jer 24:7; Ezek 11:17-20).

[6:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “from under the burdens of” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “from under the yoke of.”

[8:28]  ⁹ sn By changing from “the people” to “you” (plural) the speech of Pharaoh was becoming more personal.

[8:28]  ¹⁰ tn This form, a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, is equivalent to the imperfect tense that precedes it. However, it must be subordinate to the preceding verb to express the purpose. He is not saying “I will release…and you will sacrifice,” but rather “I will release…that you may sacrifice” or even “to sacrifice.”

[8:28]  ¹¹ tn The construction is very emphatic. First, it uses a verbal hendiadys with a Hiphil imperfect and the Qal infinitive construct: לֹא־תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת (lo’ tarkhiqu lalekhet, “you will not make far to go”), meaning “you will not go far.” But this prohibition is then emphasized with the additional infinitive absolute הַרְחֵק (harkheq) – “you will in no wise go too far.” The point is very strong to safeguard the concession.

[8:28]  ¹² tn “Do” has been supplied here to convey that this somewhat unexpected command is tacked onto Pharaoh’s instructions as his ultimate concern, which Moses seems to understand as such, since he speaks about it immediately (v. 29).

[10:10]  ¹³ sn Pharaoh is by no means offering a blessing on them in the name of Yahweh. The meaning of his “wish” is connected to the next clause – as he is releasing them, may God help them. S. R. Driver says that in Pharaoh’s scornful challenge Yahweh is as likely to protect them as Pharaoh is likely to let them go – not at all (Exodus, 80). He is planning to keep the women and children as hostages to force the men to return. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 125) paraphrases it this way: “May the help of your God be as far from you as I am from giving you permission to go forth with your little ones.” The real irony, Cassuto observes, is that in the final analysis he will let them go, and Yahweh will be with them.

[10:10]  ¹⁴ tn The context of Moses’ list of young and old, sons and daughters, and the contrast with the word for strong “men” in v. 11 indicates that טַפְּכֶם (tappÿkhem), often translated “little ones” or “children,” refers to dependent people, noncombatants in general.

[10:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “see.”

[10:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “before your face.”

[10:10]  sn The “trouble” or “evil” that is before them could refer to the evil that they are devising – the attempt to escape from Egypt. But that does not make much sense in the sentence – why would he tell them to take heed or look out about that? U. Cassuto (Exodus, 126) makes a better suggestion. He argues that Pharaoh is saying, “Don’t push me too far.” The evil, then, would be what Pharaoh was going to do if these men kept making demands on him. This fits the fact that he had them driven out of his court immediately. There could also be here an allusion to Pharaoh’s god Re’, the sun-deity and head of the pantheon; he would be saying that the power of his god would confront them.

[12:4]  ¹⁷ sn Later Judaism ruled that “too small” meant fewer than ten (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 88).

[12:4]  ¹⁸ tn The clause uses the comparative min (מִן) construction: יִמְעַט הַבַּיִת מִהְיֹת מִשֶּׂה (yim’at habbayit mihyot miseh, “the house is small from being from a lamb,” or “too small for a lamb”). It clearly means that if there were not enough people in the household to have a lamb by themselves, they should join with another family. For the use of the comparative, see GKC 430 §133.c.

[12:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he and his neighbor”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “who is near to his house.”

[12:4]  ²¹ tn The construction uses a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive after a conditional clause: “if the household is too small…then he and his neighbor will take.”

[12:4]  ²² tn Heb “[every] man according to his eating.”

[12:4]  sn The reference is normally taken to mean whatever each person could eat. B. Jacob (Exodus, 299) suggests, however, that the reference may not be to each individual person’s appetite, but to each family. Each man who is the head of a household was to determine how much his family could eat, and this in turn would determine how many families shared the lamb.

[13:16]  ²³ tn The word is טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “frontlets”). The etymology is uncertain, but the word denotes a sign or an object placed on the forehead (see m. Shabbat 6:1). The Gemara interprets it as a band that goes from ear to ear. In the Targum to 2 Sam 1:10 it is an armlet worn by Saul (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 110). These bands may have resembled the Egyptian practice of wearing as amulets “forms of words written on folds of papyrus tightly rolled up and sewn in linen” (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:384).

[13:16]  ²⁴ sn The pattern of the passage now emerges more clearly; it concerns the grateful debt of the redeemed. In the first part eating the unleavened bread recalls the night of deliverance in Egypt, and it calls for purity. In the second part the dedication of the firstborn was an acknowledgment of the deliverance of the firstborn from bondage. They were to remember the deliverance and choose purity; they were to remember the deliverance and choose dedication. The NT will also say, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, therefore, glorify God” (1 Cor 6:20). Here too the truths of God’s great redemption must be learned well and retained well from generation to generation.

[14:16]  ²⁵ tn The conjunction plus pronoun (“and you”) is emphatic – “and as for you” – before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 begins with “and as for me, I….”

[14:16]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav (ו) is sequential, coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity – “that they may go.”

[14:19]  ²⁷ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.

[14:25]  ²⁸ tn The word in the text is וַיָּסַר (vayyasar), which would be translated “and he turned aside” with the sense perhaps of removing the wheels. The reading in the LXX, Smr, and Syriac suggests a root אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). The sense here might be “clogged – presumably by their sinking in the wet sand” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 120).

[14:25]  ²⁹ tn The clause is וַיְנַהֲגֵהוּ בִּכְבֵדֻת (vaynahagehu bikhvedut). The verb means “to drive a chariot”; here in the Piel it means “cause to drive.” The suffix is collective, and so the verbal form can be translated “and caused them to drive.” The idea of the next word is “heaviness” or “hardship”; it recalls the previous uses of related words to describe Pharaoh’s heart. Here it indicates that the driving of the crippled chariots was with difficulty.

[14:25]  ³⁰ tn The cohortative has the hortatory use here, “Let’s flee.” Although the form is singular, the sense of it is plural and so hortatory can be used. The form is singular to agree with the singular subject, “Egypt,” which obviously means the Egyptian army. The word for “flee” is used when someone runs from fear of immanent danger and is a different word than the one used in 14:5.

[14:25]  ³¹ tn The form is the Niphal participle; it is used as the predicate here, that is, the verbal use: “the Lord is fighting.” This corresponds to the announcement in v. 14.

[14:31]  ³² tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces a clause that is subordinate to the main points that the verse is making.

[14:31]  ³³ tn Heb “the great hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for work or power. The word play using “hand” contrasts the Lord’s hand/power at work on behalf of the Israelites with the hand/power of Egypt that would have killed them.

[14:31]  ³⁴ tn Heb “did, made.”

[14:31]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and the people feared.”

[14:31]  ³⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil preterite of אָמַן (’aman).

[14:31]  sn S. R. Driver says that the belief intended here is not simply a crediting of a testimony concerning a person or a thing, but a laying firm hold morally on a person or a thing (Exodus, 122). Others take the Hiphil sense to be declarative, and that would indicate a considering of the object of faith trustworthy or dependable, and therefore to be acted on. In this passage it does not mean that here they came to faith, but that they became convinced that he would save them in the future.

[14:31]  ³⁷ sn Here the title of “servant” is given to Moses. This is the highest title a mortal can have in the OT – the “servant of Yahweh.” It signifies more than a believer; it describes the individual as acting on behalf of God. For example, when Moses stretched out his hand, God used it as his own (Isa 63:12). Moses was God’s personal representative. The chapter records both a message of salvation and of judgment. Like the earlier account of deliverance at the Passover, this chapter can be a lesson on deliverance from present troubles – if God could do this for Israel, there is no trouble too great for him to overcome. The passage can also be understood as a picture (at least) of the deliverance at the final judgment on the world. But the Israelites used this account for a paradigm of the power of God: namely, God is able to deliver his people from danger because he is the sovereign Lord of creation. His people must learn to trust him, even in desperate situations; they must fear him and not the situation. God can bring any threat to an end by bringing his power to bear in judgment on the wicked.

[19:23]  ³⁸ tn The construction is emphatic: “because you – you solemnly warned us.” Moses’ response to God is to ask how they would break through when God had already charged them not to. God knew them better than Moses did.

[19:23]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sanctify it.”

[21:2]  ⁴⁰ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ⁴¹ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ⁴² sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ⁴³ sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ⁴⁴ tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[22:25]  ⁴⁵ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ⁴⁶ sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ⁴⁸ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[23:16]  ⁴⁹ tn The words “you are also to observe” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ⁵⁰ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the going in of the year.” The word “year” is the subjective genitive, the subject of the clause.

[23:16]  ⁵¹ tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the ingathering of you.”

[23:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “gathered in your labors.” This is a metonymy of cause put for the effect. “Labors” are not gathered in, but what the labors produced – the harvest.

[23:19]  ⁵³ sn On this verse, see C. M. Carmichael, “On Separating Life and Death: An Explanation of Some Biblical Laws,” HTR 69 (1976): 1-7; J. Milgrom, “You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” BRev 1 (1985): 48-55; R. J. Ratner and B. Zuckerman, “In Rereading the ‘Kid in Milk’ Inscriptions,” BRev 1 (1985): 56-58; and M. Haran, “Seething a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk,” JJS 30 (1979): 23-35. Here and at 34:26, where this command is repeated, it ends a series of instructions about procedures for worship.

[23:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “will cut them off” (so KJV, ASV).

[25:19]  ⁵⁵ tn The text now shifts to use an imperative with the vav (ו) conjunction.

[25:19]  ⁵⁶ tn The use of זֶה (zeh) repeated here expresses the reciprocal ideas of “the one” and “the other” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 26, §132).

[25:19]  ⁵⁷ sn The angels were to form one piece with the lid and not be separated. This could be translated “of one piece with” the lid, but it is likely the angels were simply fastened to it permanently.

[25:35]  ⁵⁸ tn For clarity the phrase “the first” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ⁵⁹ tn For clarity the phrase “the next” has been supplied.

[25:35]  ⁶⁰ tn For clarity the phrase “the third” has been supplied.

[26:37]  ⁶¹ tn “will be” has been supplied.

[26:37]  ⁶² sn In all the details of this chapter the expositor should pay attention to the overall message rather than engage in speculation concerning the symbolism of the details. It is, after all, the divine instruction for the preparation of the dwelling place for Yahweh. The point could be said this way: The dwelling place of Yahweh must be prepared in accordance with, and by the power of, his divine word. If God was to fellowship with his people, then the center of worship had to be made to his specifications, which were in harmony with his nature. Everything was functional for the approach to God through the ritual by divine provisions. But everything also reflected the nature of God, the symmetry, the order, the pure wood, the gold overlay, or (closer to God) the solid gold. And the symbolism of the light, the table, the veil, the cherubim – all of it was revelatory. All of it reflected the reality in heaven. Churches today do not retain the pattern and furnishings of the old tabernacle. However, they would do well to learn what God was requiring of Israel, so that their structures are planned in accordance with the theology of worship and the theology of access to God. Function is a big part, but symbolism and revelation instruct the planning of everything to be used. Christians live in the light of the fulfillment of Christ, and so they know the realities that the old foreshadowed. While a building is not necessary for worship (just as Israel worshiped in places other than the sanctuary), it is practical, and if there is going to be one, then the most should be made of it in the teaching and worshiping of the assembly. This chapter, then, provides an inspiration for believers on preparing a functional, symbolical, ordered place of worship that is in harmony with the word of God. And there is much to be said for making it as beautiful and uplifting as is possible – as a gift of freewill offering to God. Of course, the most important part of preparing a place of worship is the preparing of the heart. Worship, to be acceptable to God, must be in Christ. He said that when the temple was destroyed he would raise it up in three days. While he referred to his own body, he also alluded to the temple by the figure. When they put Jesus to death, they were destroying the temple; at his resurrection he would indeed begin a new form of worship. He is the tent, the curtain, the atonement, that the sanctuary foreshadowed. And then, believers also (when they receive Christ) become the temple of the Lord. So the NT will take the imagery and teaching of this chapter in a number of useful ways that call for more study. This does not, however, involve allegorization of the individual tabernacle parts.

[27:11]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and thus.”

[27:11]  ⁶⁴ tn Here the phrase “there will be” has been supplied.

[27:11]  ⁶⁵ sn These bands have been thought by some to refer to connecting rods joining the tops of the posts. But it is more likely that they are bands or bind rings surrounding the posts at the base of the capitals (see 38:17).

[28:8]  ⁶⁶ tn This is the rendering of the word חֵשֶׁב (kheshev), cognate to the word translated “designer” in v. 6. Since the entire ephod was of the same material, and this was of the same piece, it is unclear why this is singled out as “artistically woven.” Perhaps the word is from another root that just describes the item as a “band.” Whatever the connection, this band was to be of the same material, and the same piece, as the ephod, but perhaps a different pattern (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 301). It is this sash that attaches the ephod to the priest’s body, that is, at the upper border of the ephod and clasped together at the back.

[28:8]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “from it” but meaning “of one [the same] piece”; the phrase “the ephod” has been supplied.

[28:38]  ⁶⁸ tn The construction “the iniquity of the holy things” is difficult. “Holy things” is explained in the passage by all the gifts the people bring and consecrate to Yahweh. But there will inevitably be iniquity involved. U. Cassuto explains that Aaron “will atone for all the transgressions committed in connection with the order of the service, the purity of the consecrated things, or the use of the holy gifts, for the declaration engraved on the plate will prove that everything was intended to be holy to the Lord, and if aught was done irregularly, the intention at least was good” (Exodus, 385).

[28:38]  ⁶⁹ tn The clause reads: “according to/by all the gifts of their holiness.” The genitive is an attributive genitive, the suffix on it referring to the whole bound construction – “their holy gifts.” The idea of the line is that the people will consecrate as holy things gifts they bring to the sanctuary.

[28:38]  ⁷⁰ tn This clause is the infinitive construct with the lamed preposition, followed by the prepositional phrase: “for acceptance for them.” This infinitive provides the purpose or result of the act of wearing the dedicatory frontlet – that they will be acceptable.

[29:33]  ⁷¹ tn The clause is a relative clause modifying “those things,” the direct object of the verb “eat.” The relative clause has a resumptive pronoun: “which atonement was made by them” becomes “by which atonement was made.” The verb is a Pual perfect of כִּפֵּר (kipper, “to expiate, atone, pacify”).

[29:33]  ⁷² tn The Hebrew word is “stranger, alien” (זָר, zar). But in this context it means anyone who is not a priest (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 324).

[29:40]  ⁷³ tn The phrase “of an ephah” has been supplied for clarity (cf. Num 28:5). The ephah was a commonly used dry measure whose capacity is now uncertain: “Quotations given for the ephah vary from ca. 45 to 20 liters” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 2:340-41).

[29:40]  ⁷⁴ tn “Hin” is a transliterated Hebrew word that seems to have an Egyptian derivation. The amount of liquid measured by a hin is uncertain: “Its presumed capacity varies from about 3,5 liters to 7,5 liters” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:550).

[30:4]  ⁷⁵ sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second clause clarifies that the rings should be on the sides, the right and the left, as you approach the altar.

[30:4]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “And it”; this refers to the rings collectively in their placement on the box, and so the word “rings” has been used to clarify the referent for the modern reader.

[30:4]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “for houses.”

[30:15]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “pay more.”

[30:15]  ⁷⁹ tn The form is לָתֵת (latet), the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed preposition. The infinitive here is explaining the preceding verbs. They are not to increase or diminish the amount “in paying the offering.” The construction approximates a temporal clause.

[30:15]  ⁸⁰ tn This infinitive construct (לְכַפֵּר, lÿkhapper) provides the purpose of the giving the offering – to atone.

[30:23]  ⁸¹ tn The construction uses the imperative “take,” but before it is the independent pronoun to add emphasis to it. After the imperative is the ethical dative (lit. “to you”) to stress the task to Moses as a personal responsibility: “and you, take to yourself.”

[30:23]  ⁸² tn Heb “spices head.” This must mean the chief spices, or perhaps the top spice, meaning fine spices or choice spices. See Song 4:14; Ezek 27:22.

[30:23]  ⁸³ tn Or “500 shekels.” Verse 24 specifies that the sanctuary shekel was the unit for weighing the spices. The total of 1500 shekels for the four spices is estimated at between 77 and 100 pounds, or 17 to 22 kilograms, depending on how much a shekel weighed (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:576).

[30:23]  ⁸⁴ sn Myrrh is an aromatic substance that flows from the bark of certain trees in Arabia and Africa and then hardens. “The hardened globules of the gum appear also to have been ground into a powder that would have been easy to store and would have been poured from a container” (J. Durham, Exodus [WBC], 3:406).

[32:30]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “and it was on the morrow and Moses said to the people.”

[32:30]  ⁸⁶ tn The text uses a cognate accusative: “you have sinned a great sin.”

[32:30]  ⁸⁷ tn The form אֲכַפְּרָה (’akhappÿrah) is a Piel cohortative/imperfect. Here with only a possibility of being successful, a potential imperfect nuance works best.

[34:16]  ⁸⁸ tn In the construction this verb would follow as a possible outcome of the last event, and so remain in the verbal sequence. If the people participate in the festivals of the land, then they will intermarry, and that could lead to further involvement with idolatry.

[36:35]  ⁸⁹ tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.

[37:21]  ⁹⁰ tn As in Exod 26:35, the translation of “first” and “next” and “third” is interpretive, because the text simply says “under two branches” in each of three places.

[37:27]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “and he made.”

[37:27]  ⁹² sn Since it was a small altar, it needed only two rings, one on either side, in order to be carried. The second mention of their location clarifies that they should be on the sides, the right and the left, as one approached the altar.

[37:27]  ⁹³ tn Heb “for houses.”

[38:7]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the altar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:12]  ⁹⁵ tn The phrase “there were” has been supplied.

[38:12]  ⁹⁶ tn The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.

[38:17]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “they were banded with silver.”

[39:5]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “from it” or the same.

[39:14]  ⁹⁹ tn The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.

[40:9]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “you will take” (perfect with vav, ו).

[40:9]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “and you will anoint” (perfect with vav, ו).

[40:9]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “and you will sanctify” (perfect with vav, ו).