Keluaran 2:1

The Birth of the Deliverer

2:1 ¹ A man from the household ²  of Levi married ³  a woman who was a descendant of Levi. ⁴ 

Keluaran 32:26-29

32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come ⁵  to me.” ⁶  All the Levites gathered around him, 32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Each man fasten ⁷  his sword on his side, and go back and forth ⁸  from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” ⁹ 

32:28 The Levites did what Moses ordered, ¹⁰  and that day about three thousand men of the people died. ¹¹  32:29 Moses said, “You have been consecrated ¹²  today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.” ¹³ 

[2:1]  ¹ sn The chapter records the exceptional survival of Moses under the decree of death by Pharaoh (vv. 1-10), the flight of Moses from Pharaoh after killing the Egyptian (vv. 11-15), the marriage of Moses (vv. 16-22), and finally a note about the Lord’s hearing the sighing of the people in bondage (vv. 23-25). The first part is the birth. The Bible has several stories about miraculous or special births and deliverances of those destined to lead Israel. Their impact is essentially to authenticate the individual’s ministry. If the person’s beginning was providentially provided and protected by the Lord, then the mission must be of divine origin too. In this chapter the plot works around the decree for the death of the children – a decree undone by the women. The second part of the chapter records Moses’ flight and marriage. Having introduced the deliverer Moses in such an auspicious way, the chapter then records how this deliverer acted presumptuously and had to flee for his life. Any deliverance God desired had to be supernatural, as the chapter’s final note about answering prayer shows.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “house.” In other words, the tribe of Levi.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “went and took”; NASB “went and married.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “a daughter of Levi.” The word “daughter” is used in the sense of “descendant” and connects the new account with Pharaoh’s command in 1:22. The words “a woman who was” are added for clarity in English.

[2:1]  sn The first part of this section is the account of hiding the infant (vv. 1-4). The marriage, the birth, the hiding of the child, and the positioning of Miriam, are all faith operations that ignore the decree of Pharaoh or work around it to preserve the life of the child.

[32:26]  ⁵ tn “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.

[32:26]  ⁶ tn S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, 354).

[32:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “put.”

[32:27]  ⁸ tn The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys: “pass over and return,” meaning, “go back and forth” throughout the camp.

[32:27]  ⁹ tn The phrases have “and kill a man his brother, and a man his companion, and a man his neighbor.” The instructions were probably intended to mean that they should kill leaders they knew to be guilty because they had been seen or because they failed the water test – whoever they were.

[32:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “did according to the word of Moses.”

[32:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fell.”

[32:29]  ¹² tn Heb “Your hand was filled.” The phrase “fill your hands” is a familiar expression having to do with commissioning and devotion to a task that is earlier used in 28:41; 29:9, 29, 33, 35. This has usually been explained as a Qal imperative. S. R. Driver explains it “Fill your hand today,” meaning, take a sacrifice to God and be installed in the priesthood (Exodus, 355). But it probably is a Piel perfect, meaning “they have filled your hands today,” or, “your hand was filled today.” This was an expression meant to say that they had been faithful to God even though it turned them against family and friends – but God would give them a blessing.

[32:29]  ¹³ tn The text simply has “and to give on you today a blessing.” Gesenius notes that the infinitive construct seems to be attached with a vav (ו; like the infinitive absolute) as the continuation of a previous finite verb. He reads the verb “fill” as an imperative: “fill your hand today…and that to bring a blessing on you, i.e., that you may be blessed” (see GKC 351 §114.p). If the preceding verb is taken as perfect tense, however, then this would also be perfect – “he has blessed you today.”