Keluaran 1:18

1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned ¹  the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” ² 

Keluaran 2:18

2:18 So when they came home ³  to their father Reuel, ⁴  he asked, “Why have you come home so early ⁵  today?”

Keluaran 17:4

17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with ⁶  this people? – a little more ⁷  and they will stone me!” ⁸ 

Keluaran 32:21

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”

[1:18]  ¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the lamed (ל) preposition has here the nuance of “summon.” The same construction is used later when Pharaoh summons Moses.

[1:18]  ² tn The second verb in Pharaoh’s speech is a preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. It may indicate a simple sequence: “Why have you done…and (so that you) let live?” It could also indicate that this is a second question, “Why have you done …[why] have you let live?”

[2:18]  ³ tn The verb means “to go, to come, to enter.” In this context it means that they returned to their father, or came home.

[2:18]  ⁴ sn The name “Reuel” is given here. In other places (e.g., chap. 18) he is called Jethro (cf. CEV, which uses “Jethro” here). Some suggest that this is simply a confusion of traditions. But it is not uncommon for ancients, like Sabean kings and priests, to have more than one name. Several of the kings of Israel, including Solomon, did. “Reuel” means “friend of God.”

[2:18]  ⁵ tn The sentence uses a verbal hendiadys construction: מִהַרְתֶּן בֹּא (miharten bo’, “you have made quick [to] come”). The finite verb functions as if it were an adverb modifying the infinitive, which becomes the main verb of the clause.

[2:18]  sn Two observations should be made at this point. First, it seems that the oppression at the well was a regular part of their routine because their father was surprised at their early return, and their answer alluded to the shepherds rather automatically. Secondly, the story is another meeting-at-the-well account. Continuity with the patriarchs is thereby kept in the mind of the reader (cf. Gen 24; 29:1-12).

[17:4]  ⁶ tn The preposition lamed (ל) is here specification, meaning “with respect to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 49, §273).

[17:4]  ⁷ tn Or “they are almost ready to stone me.”

[17:4]  ⁸ tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive almost develops an independent force; this is true in sentences where it follows an expression of time, as here (see GKC 334 §112.x).