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.’”

Imamat 7:20

7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness persists ¹⁹  will be cut off from his people. ²⁰ 

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. ²¹ 

Imamat 17:4

17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent ²²  to present it as ²³  an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people. ²⁴ 

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. ²⁵ 

Imamat 19:8

19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity ²⁶  because he has profaned ²⁷  what is holy to the Lord. ²⁸  That person will be cut off from his people. ²⁹ 

Imamat 20:17

20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with ³⁰  his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. ³¹  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ³² 

Bilangan 9:13

9:13 But ³³  the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails ³⁴  to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. ³⁵  Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin. ³⁶ 

Bilangan 15:30

Deliberate Sin

15:30 “‘But the person ³⁷  who acts defiantly, ³⁸  whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults ³⁹  the Lord. ⁴⁰  That person ⁴¹  must be cut off ⁴²  from among his people.

Bilangan 19:13

19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, ⁴³  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

Ulangan 17:12

17:12 The person who pays no attention ⁴⁴  to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel.

Yosua 5:2-8

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ⁴⁵  5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ⁴⁶  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. ⁴⁷  5:5 Now ⁴⁸  all the men ⁴⁹  who left were circumcised, but all the sons ⁵⁰  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. ⁵¹  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, ⁵²  a land rich in ⁵³  milk and honey. 5:7 He replaced them with their sons, ⁵⁴  whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. 5:8 When all the men ⁵⁵  had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed.

Ayub 38:15

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence ⁵⁶  is broken. ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ⁵⁸  justice,

and never abandons ⁵⁹  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ⁶⁰ 

but the children ⁶¹  of evil men are wiped out. ⁶² 

[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.

[7:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his unclean condition is on him.”

[7:20]  ²⁰ 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.

[7:25]  ²¹ sn See the note on Lev 7:20.

[17:4]  ²² tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord for your acceptance as a soothing aroma, and slaughters it outside, and at the doorway of the tent of meeting has not brought it.”

[17:4]  ²³ tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.

[17:4]  ²⁴ sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean (1) that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, (2) that he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits, or (3) that his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation). See also the note on Lev 7:20.

[18:29]  ²⁵ sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[19:8]  ²⁶ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[19:8]  ²⁷ sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[19:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the holiness of the Lord.”

[19:8]  ²⁹ sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV).

[20:17]  ³¹ tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ³² tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[9:13]  ³³ tn The disjunctive vav (ו) signals a contrastive clause here: “but the man” on the other hand….

[9:13]  ³⁴ tn The verb חָדַל (khadal) means “to cease; to leave off; to fail.” The implication here is that it is a person who simply neglects to do it. It does not indicate that he forgot, but more likely that he made the decision to leave it undone.

[9:13]  ³⁵ sn The pronouncement of such a person’s penalty is that his life will be cut off from his people. There are at least three possible interpretations for this: physical death at the hand of the community (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 84-85), physical and/or spiritual death at the hand of God (J. Milgrom, “A Prolegomenon to Lev 17:11,” JBL 90 [1971]: 154-55), or excommunication or separation from the community (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 109). The direct intervention of God seem to be the most likely in view of the lack of directions for the community to follow. Excommunication from the camp in the wilderness would have been tantamount to a death sentence by the community, and so there really are just two views.

[9:13]  ³⁶ tn The word for “sin” here should be interpreted to mean the consequences of his sin (so a metonymy of effect). Whoever willingly violates the Law will have to pay the consequences.

[15:30]  ³⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”

[15:30]  ⁴⁰ tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the Lord such a person insults.

[15:30]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “soul.”

[15:30]  ⁴² 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.

[19:13]  ⁴³ sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.

[17:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).

[5:2]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “indeed.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “people.”

[5:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “all the people.”

[5:6]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² tn Some Hebrew mss, as well as the Syriac version, support this reading. Most ancient witnesses read “us.”

[5:6]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “their sons he raised up in their place.”

[5:8]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “nation.”

[38:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[38:15]  ⁵⁷ sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).

[37:28]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ⁵⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ⁶¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ⁶² tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.