Keluaran 18:6

18:6 He said ¹  to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.”

Keluaran 21:7

21:7 “If a man sells his daughter ²  as a female servant, ³  she will not go out as the male servants do.

Keluaran 24:13

24:13 So Moses set out ⁴  with ⁵  Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God.

Keluaran 28:7

28:7 It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be joined together. ⁶ 

Keluaran 36:16

36:16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves.

[18:6]  ¹ sn This verse may seem out of place, since the report has already been given that they came to the desert. It begins to provide details of the event that the previous verse summarizes. The announcement in verse 6 may have come in advance by means of a messenger or at the time of arrival, either of which would fit with the attention to formal greetings in verse 7. This would suit a meeting between two important men; the status of Moses has changed. The LXX solves the problem by taking the pronoun “I” as the particle “behold” and reads it this way: “one said to Moses, ‘Behold, your father-in-law has come….’”

[21:7]  ² sn This paragraph is troubling to modern readers, but given the way that marriages were contracted and the way people lived in the ancient world, it was a good provision for people who might want to find a better life for their daughter. On the subject in general for this chapter, see W. M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women, 31-64.

[21:7]  ³ tn The word אָמָה (’amah) refers to a female servant who would eventually become a concubine or wife; the sale price included the amount for the service as well as the bride price (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 621). The arrangement recognized her honor as an Israelite woman, one who could be a wife, even though she entered the household in service. The marriage was not automatic, as the conditions show, but her treatment was safeguarded come what may. The law was a way, then, for a poor man to provide a better life for a daughter.

[24:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he arose” meaning “started to go.”

[24:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and.”

[28:7]  ⁶ tn Here the Pual perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive provides the purpose clause (equal to a final imperfect); the form follows the use of the active participle, “attached” or more Heb “joining.”