Keluaran 8:23

8:23 I will put a division ¹  between my people and your people. This sign will take place ²  tomorrow.”’”

Keluaran 9:5-6

9:5 The Lord set ³  an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this ⁴  in the land.” 9:6 And the Lord did this ⁵  on the next day; ⁶  all ⁷  the livestock of the Egyptians ⁸  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died.

Keluaran 14:13

14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! ⁹  Stand firm ¹⁰  and see ¹¹  the salvation ¹²  of the Lord that he will provide ¹³  for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. ¹⁴ 

Keluaran 16:12

16:12 “I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening ¹⁵  you will eat meat, ¹⁶  and in the morning you will be satisfied ¹⁷  with bread, so that you may know ¹⁸  that I am the Lord your God.’” ¹⁹ 

[8:23]  ¹ tn The word in the text is פְדֻת (pÿdut, “redemption”). This would give the sense of making a distinction by redeeming Israel. The editors wish to read פְלֻת (pÿlut) instead – “a separation, distinction” to match the verb in the preceding verse. For another view, see G. I. Davies, “The Hebrew Text of Exodus VIII 19 [English 23]: An Emendation,” VT 24 (1974): 489-92.

[8:23]  ² tn Heb “this sign will be tomorrow.”

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “and Yahweh set.”

[9:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ⁷ tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[14:13]  ⁹ tn The use of אַל (’al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.

[14:13]  ¹² tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).

[14:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.

[14:13]  ¹⁴ tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”) – “you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”

[14:13]  sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) notes that the antithetical parallelism between seeing salvation and seeing the Egyptians, as well as the threefold repetition of the word “see” cannot be accidental; so too the alliteration of the last three words beginning with ayin (ע).

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “during the evenings”; see Exod 12:6.

[16:12]  ¹⁶ sn One of the major interpretive difficulties is the comparison between Exod 16 and Num 11. In Numbers we find that the giving of the manna was about 24 months after the Exod 16 time (assuming there was a distinct time for this chapter), that it was after the erection of the tabernacle, that Taberah (the Burning) preceded it (not in Exod 16), that the people were tired of the manna (not that there was no bread to eat) and so God would send the quail, and that there was a severe tragedy over it. In Exod 16 both the manna and the quail are given on the same day, with no mention of quail on the following days. Contemporary scholarship generally assigns the accounts to two different sources because complete reconciliation seems impossible. Even if we argue that Exodus has a thematic arrangement and “telescopes” some things to make a point, there will still be difficulties in harmonization. Two considerations must be kept in mind: 1) First, they could be separate events entirely. If this is true, then they should be treated separately as valid accounts of things that appeared or occurred during the period of the wanderings. Similar things need not be the same thing. 2) Secondly, strict chronological order is not always maintained in the Bible narratives, especially if it is a didactic section. Perhaps Exod 16 describes the initiation of the giving of manna as God’s provision of bread, and therefore placed in the prologue of the covenant, and Num 11 is an account of a mood which developed over a period of time in response to the manna. Num 11 would then be looking back from a different perspective.

[16:12]  ¹⁷ tn The verb means “to be sated, satisfied”; in this context it indicates that they would have sufficient bread to eat – they would be full.

[16:12]  ¹⁸ tn The form is a Qal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is in sequence with the imperfect tenses before it, and so this is equal to an imperfect nuance. But, from the meanings of the words, it is clear that this will be the outcome of their eating the food, a divinely intended outcome.

[16:12]  ¹⁹ sn This verse supports the view taken in chap. 6 concerning the verb “to know.” Surely the Israelites by now knew that Yahweh was their God. Yes, they did. But they had not experienced what that meant; they had not received the fulfillment of the promises.