Keluaran 3:4

3:4 When the Lord ¹  saw that ²  he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” ³  And Moses ⁴  said, “Here I am.”

Keluaran 3:11

3:11 Moses said ⁵  to God, ⁶  “Who am I, that I should go ⁷  to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Keluaran 5:15

5:15 ⁸ The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating ⁹  your servants this way?

Keluaran 5:22

The Assurance of Deliverance

5:22 ¹⁰ Moses returned ¹¹  to the Lord, and said, “Lord, ¹²  why have you caused trouble for this people? ¹³  Why did you ever ¹⁴  send me?

Keluaran 25:1

The Materials for the Sanctuary

25:1 ¹⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses:

Keluaran 25:29

25:29 You are to make its plates, ¹⁶  its ladles, ¹⁷  its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; ¹⁸  you are to make them of pure gold.

Keluaran 29:18

29:18 and burn ¹⁹  the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering ²⁰  to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire ²¹  to the Lord. ²² 

Keluaran 31:8

31:8 the table with its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,

Keluaran 32:31

32:31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, ²³  and they have made for themselves gods of gold.

Keluaran 33:15

33:15 And Moses ²⁴  said to him, “If your presence does not go ²⁵  with us, ²⁶  do not take us up from here. ²⁷ 

Keluaran 40:5

40:5 You are to put ²⁸  the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

[3:4]  ¹ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) is subordinated as a temporal clause to the main point of the verse, that God called to him. The language is anthropomorphic, as if God’s actions were based on his observing what Moses did.

[3:4]  ² tn The particle כִּי (ki, “that”) introduces the noun clause that functions as the direct object of the verb “saw” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490).

[3:4]  ³ sn The repetition of the name in God’s call is emphatic, making the appeal direct and immediate (see also Gen 22:11; 46:2). The use of the personal name shows how specifically God directed the call and that he knew this person. The repetition may have stressed even more that it was indeed he whom the Lord wanted. It would have been an encouragement to Moses that this was in fact the Lord who was meeting him.

[3:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “And Moses said.”

[3:11]  ⁶ sn When he was younger, Moses was confident and impulsive, but now that he is older the greatness of the task makes him unsure. The remainder of this chapter and the next chapter record the four difficulties of Moses and how the Lord answers them (11-12, 13-22; then 4:1-9; and finally 4:10-17).

[3:11]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense אֵלֵךְ (’elekh) carries the modal nuance of obligatory imperfect, i.e., “that I should go.” Moses at this point is overwhelmed with the task of representing God, and with his personal insufficiency, and so in honest humility questions the choice.

[5:15]  ⁸ sn The last section of this event tells the effect of the oppression on Israel, first on the people (15-19) and then on Moses and Aaron (20-21). The immediate reaction of Israel was to cry to Pharaoh – something they would learn should be directed to God. When Pharaoh rebuffed them harshly, they turned bitterly against their leaders.

[5:15]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense should be classified here with the progressive imperfect nuance, because the harsh treatment was a present reality.

[5:22]  ¹⁰ sn In view of the apparent failure of the mission, Moses seeks Yahweh for assurance. The answer from Yahweh not only assures him that all is well, but that there will be a great deliverance. The passage can be divided into three parts: the complaint of Moses (5:22-23), the promise of Yahweh (6:1-9), and the instructions for Moses (6:10-13). Moses complains because God has not delivered his people as he had said he would, and God answers that he will because he is the sovereign covenant God who keeps his word. Therefore, Moses must keep his commission to speak God’s word. See further, E. A. Martens, “Tackling Old Testament Theology,” JETS 20 (1977): 123-32. The message is very similar to that found in the NT, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Pet 3:4). The complaint of Moses (5:22-23) can be worded with Peter’s “Where is the promise of his coming?” theme; the assurance from Yahweh (6:1-9) can be worded with Peter’s “The Lord is not slack in keeping his promises” (2 Pet 3:9); and the third part, the instructions for Moses (6:10-13) can be worded with Peter’s “Prepare for the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Pet 3:12). The people who speak for God must do so in the sure confidence of the coming deliverance – Moses with the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, and Christians with the deliverance from this sinful world.

[5:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Moses returned.”

[5:22]  ¹² tn The designation in Moses’ address is “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) – the term for “lord” or “master” but pointed as it would be when it represents the tetragrammaton.

[5:22]  ¹³ tn The verb is הֲרֵעֹתָה (hare’otah), the Hiphil perfect of רָעַע (ra’a’). The word itself means “to do evil,” and in this stem “to cause evil” – but evil in the sense of pain, calamity, trouble, or affliction, and not always in the sense of sin. Certainly not here. That God had allowed Pharaoh to oppose them had brought greater pain to the Israelites.

[5:22]  sn Moses’ question is rhetorical; the point is more of a complaint or accusation to God, although there is in it the desire to know why. B. Jacob (Exodus, 139) comments that such frank words were a sign of the man’s closeness to God. God never has objected to such bold complaints by the devout. He then notes how God was angered by his defenders in the book of Job rather than by Job’s heated accusations.

[5:22]  ¹⁴ tn The demonstrative pronoun serves for emphasis in the question (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118). This second question continues Moses’ bold approach to God, more chiding than praying. He is implying that if this was the result of the call, then God had no purpose calling him (compare Jeremiah’s similar complaint in Jer 20).

[25:1]  ¹⁵ sn Now begin the detailed instructions for constructing the tabernacle of Yahweh, with all its furnishings. The first paragraph introduces the issue of the heavenly pattern for the construction, calls for the people to make willing offerings (vv. 2-7), and explains the purpose for these offerings (vv. 8-9). The message here is that God calls his people to offer of their substance willingly so that his sanctuary may be made.

[25:29]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a deep gold dish.” The four nouns in this list are items associated with the table and its use.

[25:29]  ¹⁷ tn Or “cups” (NAB, TEV).

[25:29]  ¹⁸ tn The expression “for pouring out offerings” represents Hebrew אֲשֶׁר יֻסַּךְ בָּהֵן (’asher yussakh bahen). This literally says, “which it may be poured out with them,” or “with which [libations] may be poured out.”

[29:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “turn to sweet smoke.”

[29:18]  ²⁰ sn According to Lev 1 the burnt offering (often called whole burnt offering, except that the skins were usually given to the priests for income) was an atoning sacrifice. By consuming the entire animal, God was indicating that he had completely accepted the worshiper, and as it was a sweet smelling fire sacrifice, he was indicating that he was pleased to accept it. By offering the entire animal, the worshiper was indicating on his part a complete surrender to God.

[29:18]  ²¹ tn The word אִשֶּׁה (’isheh) has traditionally been translated “an offering made with fire” or the like, because it appears so obviously connected with fire. But further evidence from Ugaritic suggests that it might only mean “a gift” (see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, 161).

[29:18]  ²² sn These sections show that the priest had to be purified or cleansed from defilement of sin and also be atoned for and accepted by the Lord through the blood of the sacrifice. The principles from these two sacrifices should be basic to anyone seeking to serve God.

[32:31]  ²³ tn As before, the cognate accusative is used; it would literally be “this people has sinned a great sin.”

[33:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:15]  ²⁵ tn The construction uses the active participle to stress the continual going of the presence: if there is not your face going.

[33:15]  ²⁶ tn “with us” has been supplied.

[33:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “from this.”

[40:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “give” (also four additional times in vv. 6-8).