Keluaran 13:9

13:9 ¹  It ²  will be a sign ³  for you on your hand and a memorial ⁴  on your forehead, ⁵  so that the law of the Lord may be ⁶  in your mouth, ⁷  for ⁸  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Keluaran 13:19

13:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph ⁹  had made the Israelites solemnly swear, ¹⁰  “God will surely attend ¹¹  to you, and you will carry ¹²  my bones up from this place with you.”

Keluaran 14:13

14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! ¹³  Stand firm ¹⁴  and see ¹⁵  the salvation ¹⁶  of the Lord that he will provide ¹⁷  for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. ¹⁸ 

Keluaran 18:22

18:22 They will judge ¹⁹  the people under normal circumstances, ²⁰  and every difficult case ²¹  they will bring to you, but every small case ²²  they themselves will judge, so that ²³  you may make it easier for yourself, ²⁴  and they will bear the burden ²⁵  with you.

Keluaran 20:25

20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it ²⁶  of stones shaped with tools, ²⁷  for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. ²⁸ 

Keluaran 31:14

31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ²⁹  must surely be put to death; indeed, ³⁰  if anyone does ³¹  any ³²  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ³³  people.

[13:9]  ¹ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ² tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ³ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  sn That these festivals and consecrations were to be signs and memorials is akin to the expressions used in the book of Proverbs (Prov 3:3, “bind them around your neck…write them on your heart”). The people were to use the festivals as outward and visible tokens to remind them to obey what the Law required.

[13:9]  ⁶ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ⁷ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ⁸ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[13:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “solemnly swear, saying” (so NASB). The construction uses the Hiphil infinitive absolute with the Hiphil perfect to stress that Joseph had made them take a solemn oath to carry his bones out of Egypt. “Saying” introduces the content of what Joseph said.

[13:19]  ¹¹ sn This verb appears also in 3:16 and 4:31. The repetition here is a reminder that God was doing what he had said he would do and what Joseph had expected.

[13:19]  ¹² tn The form is a Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it follows in the sequence of the imperfect tense before it, and so is equal to an imperfect of injunction (because of the solemn oath). Israel took Joseph’s bones with them as a sign of piety toward the past and as a symbol of their previous bond with Canaan (B. Jacob, Exodus, 380).

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

[14:13]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).

[14:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.

[14:13]  ¹⁸ 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).

[18:22]  ¹⁹ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.

[18:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[18:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “great thing.”

[18:22]  ²² tn Heb “thing.”

[18:22]  ²³ tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

[18:22]  ²⁴ tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vÿhaqel me’aleykha) means literally “and make it light off yourself.” The word plays against the word for “heavy” used earlier – since it was a heavy or burdensome task, Moses must lighten the load.

[18:22]  ²⁵ tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.

[20:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “them” referring to the stones.

[20:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “of hewn stones.” Gesenius classifies this as an adverbial accusative – “you shall not build them (the stones of the altar) as hewn stones.” The remoter accusative is in apposition to the nearer (GKC 372 §117.kk).

[20:25]  ²⁸ tn The verb is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. It forms the apodosis in a conditional clause: “if you lift up your tool on it…you have defiled it.”

[31:14]  ²⁹ tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.

[31:14]  ³⁰ tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

[31:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “the one who does.”

[31:14]  ³² tn “any” has been supplied.

[31:14]  ³³ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).