Keluaran 1:17

1:17 But ¹  the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. ² 

Keluaran 2:6

2:6 opened it, ³  and saw the child ⁴  – a boy, ⁵  crying! ⁶  – and she felt compassion ⁷  for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Keluaran 19:3

19:3 Moses ⁸  went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people ⁹  of Israel:

Keluaran 21:5

21:5 But if the servant should declare, ¹⁰  ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out ¹¹  free,’

Keluaran 28:11-12

28:11 You are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a seal; ¹²  you are to have them set ¹³  in gold filigree ¹⁴  settings. 28:12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial. ¹⁵ 

Keluaran 28:21

28:21 The stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of ¹⁶  their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like ¹⁷  the engravings of a seal.

Keluaran 28:29

28:29 Aaron will bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of decision over his heart ¹⁸  when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

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

[1:17]  ² 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.

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “and she opened.”

[2:6]  ⁴ tn The grammatical construction has a pronominal suffix on the verb as the direct object along with the expressed object: “and she saw him, the child.” The second object defines the previous pronominal object to avoid misunderstanding (see GKC 425 §131.m).

[2:6]  ⁵ tn The text has נַעַר (na’ar, “lad, boy, young man”), which in this context would mean a baby boy.

[2:6]  ⁶ tn This clause is introduced with a disjunctive vav and the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold” in the KJV). The particle in this kind of clause introduces the unexpected – what Pharaoh’s daughter saw when she opened the basket: “and look, there was a baby boy crying.” The clause provides a parenthetical description of the child as she saw him when she opened the basket and does not advance the narrative. It is an important addition, however, for it puts readers in the position of looking with her into the basket and explains her compassion.

[2:6]  ⁷ tn The verb could be given a more colloquial translation such as “she felt sorry for him.” But the verb is stronger than that; it means “to have compassion, to pity, to spare.” What she felt for the baby was strong enough to prompt her to spare the child from the fate decreed for Hebrew boys. Here is part of the irony of the passage: What was perceived by many to be a womanly weakness – compassion for a baby – is a strong enough emotion to prompt the woman to defy the orders of Pharaoh. The ruler had thought sparing women was safe, but the midwives, the Hebrew mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Miriam, all work together to spare one child – Moses (cf. 1 Cor 1:27-29).

[19:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Moses went up.”

[19:3]  ⁹ tn This expression is normally translated as “Israelites” in this translation, but because in this place it is parallel to “the house of Jacob” it seemed better to offer a fuller rendering.

[21:5]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect with the infinitive absolute means that the declaration is unambiguous, that the servant will clearly affirm that he wants to stay with the master. Gesenius says that in a case like this the infinitive emphasizes the importance of the condition on which some consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[21:5]  ¹¹ tn Or taken as a desiderative imperfect, it would say, “I do not want to go out free.”

[28:11]  ¹² sn Expert stone or gem engravers were used to engrave designs and names in identification seals of various sizes. It was work that skilled artisans did.

[28:11]  ¹³ tn Or “you will mount them” (NRSV similar).

[28:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “rosettes,” shield-like frames for the stones. The Hebrew word means “to plait, checker.”

[28:12]  ¹⁵ sn This was to be a perpetual reminder that the priest ministers on behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their names would always be borne by the priests.

[28:21]  ¹⁶ tn For clarity the words “the number of” have been supplied.

[28:21]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase translated “the engravings of a seal” is an adverbial accusative of manner here.

[28:29]  ¹⁸ sn So Aaron will have the names of the tribes on his shoulders (v. 12) which bear the weight and symbol of office (see Isa 9:6; 22:22), and over his heart (implying that they have a constant place in his thoughts [Deut 6:6]). Thus he was to enter the presence of God as the nation’s representative, ever mindful of the nation’s interests, and ever bringing the remembrance of it before God (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 306).