Keluaran 1:1

Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

1:1 ¹ These ²  are the names ³  of the sons of Israel ⁴  who entered Egypt – each man with his household ⁵  entered with Jacob:

Keluaran 1:15

1:15 The king of Egypt said ⁶  to the Hebrew midwives, ⁷  one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ⁸ 

Keluaran 1:17

1:17 But ⁹  the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. ¹⁰ 

Keluaran 6:5

6:5 I ¹¹  have also heard ¹²  the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, ¹³  and I have remembered my covenant. ¹⁴ 

Keluaran 6:23

6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Keluaran 8:11

8:11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”

Keluaran 8:13

8:13 The Lord did as Moses asked ¹⁵  – the ¹⁶  frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields.

Keluaran 9:15

9:15 For by now I could have stretched out ¹⁷  my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed ¹⁸  from the earth.

Keluaran 10:4

10:4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring ¹⁹  locusts ²⁰  into your territory ²¹  tomorrow.

Keluaran 12:9-10

12:9 Do not eat it raw ²²  or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 12:10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning.

Keluaran 12:33

12:33 The Egyptians were urging ²³  the people on, in order to send them out of the land quickly, ²⁴  for they were saying, “We are all dead!”

Keluaran 14:24

14:24 In the morning watch ²⁵  the Lord looked down ²⁶  on the Egyptian army ²⁷  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ²⁸  into a panic. ²⁹ 

Keluaran 21:16

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ³⁰  and sells him, ³¹  or is caught still holding him, ³²  must surely be put to death.

Keluaran 25:9

25:9 According to all that I am showing you ³³  – the pattern of the tabernacle ³⁴  and the pattern of all its furnishings – you ³⁵  must make it exactly so. ³⁶ 

Keluaran 25:17

25:17 “You are to make an atonement lid ³⁷  of pure gold; ³⁸  its length is to be three feet nine inches, and its width is to be two feet three inches.

Keluaran 25:26

25:26 You are to make four rings of gold for it and attach ³⁹  the rings at the four corners where its four legs are. ⁴⁰ 

Keluaran 25:34

25:34 On the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms,

Keluaran 27:3

27:3 You are to make its pots for the ashes, ⁴¹  its shovels, its tossing bowls, ⁴²  its meat hooks, and its fire pans – you are to make all ⁴³  its utensils of bronze.

Keluaran 27:8

27:8 You are to make the altar hollow, out of boards. Just as it was shown you ⁴⁴  on the mountain, so they must make it. ⁴⁵ 

Keluaran 28:14

28:14 and two braided chains of pure gold, like a cord, and attach the chains to the settings.

Keluaran 28:22

28:22 “You are to make for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,

Keluaran 28:36

28:36 “You are to make a plate ⁴⁶  of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: ⁴⁷  “Holiness to the Lord.” ⁴⁸ 

Keluaran 29:26

29:26 You are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration; you are to wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it is to be your share.

Keluaran 29:29

29:29 “The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed ⁴⁹  in them and consecrated ⁵⁰  in them.

Keluaran 29:32

29:32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Keluaran 29:43

29:43 There I will meet ⁵¹  with the Israelites, and it will be set apart as holy by my glory. ⁵² 

Keluaran 30:21

30:21 they must wash ⁵³  their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this ⁵⁴  will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants ⁵⁵  throughout their generations.” ⁵⁶ 

Keluaran 30:37

30:37 And the incense that you are to make, you must not make for yourselves using the same recipe; it is to be most holy to you, belonging to the Lord.

Keluaran 31:3

31:3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God ⁵⁷  in skill, ⁵⁸  in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds ⁵⁹  of craftsmanship,

Keluaran 36:13

36:13 He made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit. ⁶⁰ 

Keluaran 37:1

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches.

Keluaran 37:12

37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame.

Keluaran 39:2

The Ephod

39:2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

Keluaran 39:15

39:15 They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold,

Keluaran 39:30

39:30 They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.”

Keluaran 40:19

40:19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[1:1]  ¹ sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the Lord God, but calling for faith every step of the way. See also D. W. Wicke, “The Literary Structure of Exodus 1:2–2:10,” JSOT 24 (1982): 99-107.

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.

[1:1]  ³ sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[1:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the king of Egypt said.”

[1:15]  ⁷ sn The word for “midwife” is simply the Piel participle of the verb יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth”). So these were women who assisted in the childbirth process. It seems probable that given the number of the Israelites in the passage, these two women could not have been the only Hebrew midwives, but they may have been over the midwives (Rashi). Moreover, the LXX and Vulgate do not take “Hebrew” as an adjective, but as a genitive after the construct, yielding “midwives of/over the Hebrews.” This leaves open the possibility that these women were not Hebrews. This would solve the question of how the king ever expected Hebrew midwives to kill Hebrew children. And yet, the two women have Hebrew names.

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “who the name of the first [was] Shiphrah, and the name of the second [was] Puah.”

[1:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they [fem. pl.] feared”; the referent (the midwives) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Piel preterite of חָיָה (khaya, “to live”). The Piel often indicates a factitive nuance with stative verbs, showing the cause of the action. Here it means “let live, cause to live.” The verb is the exact opposite of Pharaoh’s command for them to kill the boys.

[6:5]  ¹¹ tn The addition of the independent pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “I”) emphasizes the fact that it was Yahweh himself who heard the cry.

[6:5]  ¹² tn Heb “And also I have heard.”

[6:5]  ¹³ tn The form is the Hiphil participle מַעֲבִדִים (ma’avidim, “causing to serve”). The participle occurs in a relative clause that modifies “the Israelites.” The clause ends with the accusative “them,” which must be combined with the relative pronoun for a smooth English translation. So “who the Egyptians are enslaving them,” results in the translation “whom the Egyptians are enslaving.”

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn As in Exod 2:24, this remembering has the significance of God’s beginning to act to fulfill the covenant promises.

[8:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to the word of Moses” (so KJV, NASB). Just as Moses had told Pharaoh “according to your word” (v. 10), now the Lord does “according to the word” of Moses.

[8:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the frogs died.”

[9:15]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is the Qal perfect שָׁלַחְתִּי (shalakhti), but a past tense, or completed action translation does not fit the context at all. Gesenius lists this reference as an example of the use of the perfect to express actions and facts, whose accomplishment is to be represented not as actual but only as possible. He offers this for Exod 9:15: “I had almost put forth” (GKC 313 §106.p). Also possible is “I should have stretched out my hand.” Others read the potential nuance instead, and render it as “I could have…” as in the present translation.

[9:15]  ¹⁸ tn The verb כָּחַד (kakhad) means “to hide, efface,” and in the Niphal it has the idea of “be effaced, ruined, destroyed.” Here it will carry the nuance of the result of the preceding verbs: “I could have stretched out my hand…and struck you…and (as a result) you would have been destroyed.”

[10:4]  ¹⁹ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle מֵבִיא (mevi’) is the imminent future construction: “I am about to bring” or “I am going to bring” – precisely, “here I am bringing.”

[10:4]  ²⁰ tn One of the words for “locusts” in the Bible is אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh), which comes from רָבָה (ravah, “to be much, many”). It was used for locusts because of their immense numbers.

[10:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “within your border.”

[12:9]  ²² sn This ruling was to prevent their eating it just softened by the fire or partially roasted as differing customs might prescribe or allow.

[12:33]  ²³ tn The verb used here (חָזַק, khazaq) is the same verb used for Pharaoh’s heart being hardened. It conveys the idea of their being resolved or insistent in this – they were not going to change.

[12:33]  ²⁴ tn The phrase uses two construct infinitives in a hendiadys, the first infinitive becoming the modifier.

[14:24]  ²⁵ tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ²⁶ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ²⁹ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[21:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ³¹ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ³² tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[25:9]  ³³ tn The pronoun is singular.

[25:9]  ³⁴ sn The expression “the pattern of the tabernacle” (תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּן, tavnit hammiskan) has been the source of much inquiry. The word rendered “pattern” is related to the verb “to build”; it suggests a model. S. R. Driver notes that in ancient literature there is the account of Gudea receiving in a dream a complete model of a temple he was to erect (Exodus, 267). In this passage Moses is being shown something on the mountain that should be the pattern of the earthly sanctuary. The most plausible explanation of what he was shown comes from a correlation with comments in the Letter to the Hebrews and the book of Revelation, which describe the heavenly sanctuary as the true sanctuary, and the earthly as the copy or shadow. One could say that Moses was allowed to see what John saw on the island of Patmos, a vision of the heavenly sanctuary. That still might not explain what it was, but it would mean he saw a revelation of the true tent, and that would imply that he learned of the spiritual and eternal significance of all of it. The fact that Israel’s sanctuary resembled those of other cultures does not nullify this act of revelation; rather, it raises the question of where the other nations got their ideas if it was not made known early in human history. One can conclude that in the beginning there was much more revealed to the parents in the garden than Scripture tells about (Cain and Abel did know how to make sacrifices before Leviticus legislated it). Likewise, one cannot but guess at the influence of the fallen Satan and his angels in the world of pagan religion. Whatever the source, at Sinai God shows the true, and instructs that it all be done without the pagan corruptions and additions. U. Cassuto notes that the existence of these ancient parallels shows that the section on the tabernacle need not be dated in the second temple period, but fits the earlier period well (Exodus, 324).

[25:9]  ³⁵ tn The pronoun is plural.

[25:9]  ³⁶ sn Among the many helpful studies on the tabernacle, include S. M. Fish, “And They Shall Build Me a Sanctuary,” Gratz College of Jewish Studies 2 (1973): 43-59; I. Hart, “Preaching on the Account of the Tabernacle,” EvQ 54 (1982): 111-16; D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42; S. McEvenue, “The Style of Building Instructions,” Sem 4 (1974): 1-9; M. Ben-Uri, “The Mosaic Building Code,” Creation Research Society Quarterly 19 (1982): 36-39.

[25:17]  ³⁷ tn The noun is כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet), translated “atonement lid” or “atonement plate.” The traditional translation “mercy-seat” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) came from Tyndale in 1530 and was also used by Luther in 1523. The noun is formed from the word “to make atonement.” The item that the Israelites should make would be more than just a lid for the ark. It would be the place where atonement was signified. The translation of “covering” is probably incorrect, for it derives from a rare use of the verb, if the same verb at all (the evidence shows “cover” is from another root with the same letters as this). The value of this place was that Yahweh sat enthroned above it, and so the ark essentially was the “footstool.” Blood was applied to the lid of the box, for that was the place of atonement (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 269-270).

[25:17]  ³⁸ tn After verbs of making or producing, the accusative (like “gold” here) may be used to express the material from which something is made (see GKC 371 §117.hh).

[25:26]  ³⁹ tn Heb “give.”

[25:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “which [are] to four of its feet.”

[27:3]  ⁴¹ sn The word is literally “its fat,” but sometimes it describes “fatty ashes” (TEV “the greasy ashes”). The fat would run down and mix with the ashes, and this had to be collected and removed.

[27:3]  ⁴² sn This was the larger bowl used in tossing the blood at the side of the altar.

[27:3]  ⁴³ tn The text has “to all its vessels.” This is the lamed (ל) of inclusion according to Gesenius, meaning “all its utensils” (GKC 458 §143.e).

[27:8]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb is used impersonally; it reads “just as he showed you.” This form then can be made a passive in the translation.

[27:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “thus they will make.” Here too it could be given a passive translation since the subject is not expressed. But “they” would normally refer to the people who will be making this and so can be retained in the translation.

[27:8]  sn Nothing is said about the top of the altar. Some commentators suggest, in view of the previous instruction for making an altar out of earth and stone, that when this one was to be used it would be filled up with dirt clods and the animal burnt on the top of that. If the animal was burnt inside it, the wood would quickly burn. A number of recent scholars think this was simply an imagined plan to make a portable altar after the pattern of Solomon’s – but that is an unsatisfactory suggestion. This construction must simply represent a portable frame for the altar in the courtyard, an improvement over the field altar. The purpose and function of the altar are not in question. Here worshipers would make their sacrifices to God in order to find forgiveness and atonement, and in order to celebrate in worship with him. No one could worship God apart from this; no one could approach God apart from this. So too the truths that this altar communicated form the basis and center of all Christian worship. One could word an applicable lesson this way: Believers must ensure that the foundation and center of their worship is the altar, i.e., the sacrificial atonement.

[28:36]  ⁴⁶ tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).

[28:36]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.

[28:36]  ⁴⁸ sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the Lord (Heb “Yahweh”), that all the clothing, the furnishings, and the activities were to come under that description. This corresponded to the symbolism for the whole nation of binding the law between the eyes. It was to be a perpetual reminder of commitment.

[29:29]  ⁴⁹ tn The construction is an infinitive construct with a lamed (ל) preposition. The form simply means “for anointing,” but it serves to express the purpose or result of their inheriting the sacred garments.

[29:29]  ⁵⁰ tn This form is a Piel infinitive construct with a lamed (ל) preposition. It literally reads “for filling the hands,” the idiom used throughout this chapter for ordination or installation. Here too it has a parallel use of purpose or result.

[29:43]  ⁵¹ tn The verb now is a Niphal perfect from the same root, with a vav (ו) consecutive. It simply continues the preceding verb, announcing now that he would meet the people.

[29:43]  ⁵² tn Or “will be sanctified by my glory” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[29:43]  sn The tabernacle, as well as the priests and the altar, will be sanctified by the power of Yahweh’s presence. The reference here is to when Yahweh enters the sanctuary in all his glory (see Exod 40:34f.).

[30:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and [then] they will wash.”

[30:21]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb is “it will be.”

[30:21]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “for his seed.”

[30:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “for generations to come”; it literally is “to their generations.”

[30:21]  sn The symbolic meaning of washing has been taught throughout the ages. This was a practical matter of cleaning hands and feet, but it was also symbolic of purification before Yahweh. It was an outward sign of inner spiritual cleansing, or forgiveness. Jesus washed the disciples feet (Jn 13) to show this same teaching; he asked the disciples if they knew what he had done (so it was more than washing feet). In this passage the theological points for the outline would be these: I. God provides the means of cleansing; II. Cleansing is a prerequisite for participating in the worship, and III. (Believers) priests must regularly appropriate God’s provision of cleansing.

[31:3]  ⁵⁷ sn The expression in the Bible means that the individual was given special, supernatural enablement to do what God wanted done. It usually is said of someone with exceptional power or ability. The image of “filling” usually means under the control of the Spirit, so that the Spirit is the dominant force in the life.

[31:3]  ⁵⁸ sn The following qualities are the ways in which the Spirit’s enablement will be displayed. “Skill” is the ability to produce something valuable to God and the community, “understanding” is the ability to distinguish between things, to perceive the best way to follow, and “knowledge” is the experiential awareness of how things are done.

[31:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and in all work”; “all” means “all kinds of” here.

[36:13]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “one.”