Keluaran 3:2

3:2 The angel of the Lord ¹  appeared ²  to him in ³  a flame of fire from within a bush. ⁴  He looked ⁵  – and ⁶  the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! ⁷ 

Keluaran 3:4

3:4 When the Lord ⁸  saw that ⁹  he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” ¹⁰  And Moses ¹¹  said, “Here I am.”

Keluaran 4:15

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth ¹²  and with his mouth, ¹³  and I will teach you both ¹⁴  what you must do. ¹⁵ 

Keluaran 7:16

7:16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, ¹⁶  “Release my people, that they may serve me ¹⁷  in the desert!” But until now ¹⁸  you have not listened. ¹⁹ 

Keluaran 8:1

8:1 (7:26) ²⁰  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Release my people in order that they may serve me!

Keluaran 9:1

The Fifth Blow: Disease

9:1 ²¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me!

Keluaran 13:14

13:14 ²² In the future, ²³  when your son asks you ²⁴  ‘What is this?’ ²⁵  you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand ²⁶  the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. ²⁷ 

Keluaran 19:3

19:3 Moses ²⁸  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 ²⁹  of Israel:

Keluaran 32:26

32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come ³⁰  to me.” ³¹  All the Levites gathered around him,

Keluaran 34:30

34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; ³²  and they were afraid to approach him.

[3:2]  ¹ sn The designation “the angel of the Lord” (Heb “the angel of Yahweh”) occurred in Genesis already (16:7-13; 21:17; 22:11-18). There is some ambiguity in the expression, but it seems often to be interchangeable with God’s name itself, indicating that it refers to the Lord.

[3:2]  ² tn The verb וַיֵּרָא (vayyera’) is the Niphal preterite of the verb “to see.” For similar examples of רָאָה (ra’ah) in Niphal where the subject “appears,” that is, allows himself to be seen, or presents himself, see Gen 12:7; 35:9; 46:29; Exod 6:3; and 23:17. B. Jacob notes that God appears in this way only to individuals and never to masses of people; it is his glory that appears to the masses (Exodus, 49).

[3:2]  ³ tn Gesenius rightly classifies this as a bet (ב) essentiae (GKC 379 §119.i); it would then indicate that Yahweh appeared to Moses “as a flame.”

[3:2]  ⁴ sn Fire frequently accompanies the revelation of Yahweh in Exodus as he delivers Israel, guides her, and purifies her. The description here is unique, calling attention to the manifestation as a flame of fire from within the bush. Philo was the first to interpret the bush as Israel, suffering under the persecution of Egypt but never consumed. The Bible leaves the interpretation open. However, in this revelation the fire is coming from within the bush, not from outside, and it represents the Lord who will deliver his people from persecution. See further E. Levine, “The Evolving Symbolism of the Burning Bush,” Dor le Dor 8 (1979): 185-93.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “And he saw.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn The text again uses the deictic particle with vav, וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh), traditionally rendered “and behold.” The particle goes with the intense gaze, the outstretched arm, the raised eyebrow – excitement and intense interest: “look, over there.” It draws the reader into the immediate experience of the subject.

[3:2]  ⁷ tn The construction uses the suffixed negative אֵינֶנּוּ (’enennu) to convey the subject of the passive verb: “It was not” consumed. This was the amazing thing, for nothing would burn faster in the desert than a thornbush on fire.

[3:4]  ⁸ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) is subordinated as a temporal clause to the main point of the verse, that God called to him. The language is anthropomorphic, as if God’s actions were based on his observing what Moses did.

[3:4]  ⁹ tn The particle כִּי (ki, “that”) introduces the noun clause that functions as the direct object of the verb “saw” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490).

[3:4]  ¹⁰ sn The repetition of the name in God’s call is emphatic, making the appeal direct and immediate (see also Gen 22:11; 46:2). The use of the personal name shows how specifically God directed the call and that he knew this person. The repetition may have stressed even more that it was indeed he whom the Lord wanted. It would have been an encouragement to Moses that this was in fact the Lord who was meeting him.

[3:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:15]  ¹² tn Or “I will help you speak.” The independent pronoun puts emphasis (“as for me”) on the subject (“I”).

[4:15]  ¹³ tn Or “and will help him speak.”

[4:15]  ¹⁴ tn The word “both” is supplied to convey that this object (“you”) and the subject of the next verb (“you must do”) are plural in the Hebrew text, referring to Moses and Aaron. In 4:16 “you” returns to being singular in reference to Moses.

[4:15]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect tense carries the obligatory nuance here as well. The relative pronoun with this verb forms a noun clause functioning as the direct object of “I will teach.”

[7:16]  ¹⁶ tn The form לֵאמֹר (le’mor) is the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. It is used so often epexegetically that it has achieved idiomatic status – “saying” (if translated at all). But here it would make better sense to take it as a purpose infinitive. God sent him to say these words.

[7:16]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect tense with the vav (וְיַעַבְדֻנִי, vÿya’avduni) following the imperative is in volitive sequence, showing the purpose – “that they may serve me.” The word “serve” (עָבַד, ’avad) is a general term to include religious observance and obedience.

[7:16]  ¹⁸ tn The final עַד־כֹּה (’ad-koh, “until now”) narrows the use of the perfect tense to the present perfect: “you have not listened.” That verb, however, involves more than than mere audition. It has the idea of responding to, hearkening, and in some places obeying; here “you have not complied” might catch the point of what Moses is saying, while “listen” helps to maintain the connection with other uses of the verb.

[7:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “complied” (שָׁמַעְתָּ, shama’ta).

[8:1]  ²⁰ sn Beginning with 8:1, the verse numbers through 8:32 in English Bibles differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 8:1 ET = 7:26 HT, 8:2 ET = 7:27 HT, 8:3 ET = 7:28 HT, 8:4 ET = 7:29 HT, 8:5 ET = 8:1 HT, etc., through 8:32 ET = 8:28 HT. Thus in English Bibles chapter 8 has 32 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 28 verses, with the four extra verses attached to chapter 7.

[9:1]  ²¹ sn This plague demonstrates that Yahweh has power over the livestock of Egypt. He is able to strike the animals with disease and death, thus delivering a blow to the economic as well as the religious life of the land. By the former plagues many of the Egyptian religious ceremonies would have been interrupted and objects of veneration defiled or destroyed. Now some of the important deities will be attacked. In Goshen, where the cattle are merely cattle, no disease hits, but in the rest of Egypt it is a different matter. Osiris, the savior, cannot even save the brute in which his own soul is supposed to reside. Apis and Mnevis, the ram of Ammon, the sheep of Sais, and the goat of Mendes, perish together. Hence, Moses reminds Israel afterward, “On their gods also Yahweh executed judgments” (Num 33:4). When Jethro heard of all these events, he said, “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods” (Exod 18:11).

[13:14]  ²² sn As with v. 8, the Law now requires that the children be instructed on the meaning of this observance. It is a memorial of the deliverance from bondage and the killing of the firstborn in Egypt.

[13:14]  ²³ tn Heb “tomorrow.”

[13:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and it will be when your son will ask you.”

[13:14]  ²⁵ tn The question is cryptic; it simply says, “What is this?” but certainly refers to the custom just mentioned. It asks, “What does this mean?” or “Why do we do this?”

[13:14]  ²⁶ tn The expression is “with strength of hand,” making “hand” the genitive of specification. In translation “strength” becomes the modifier, because “hand” specifies where the strength was. But of course the whole expression is anthropomorphic for the power of God.

[13:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “house of slaves.”

[19:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and Moses went up.”

[19:3]  ²⁹ 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.

[32:26]  ³⁰ tn “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.

[32:26]  ³¹ tn S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, 354).

[34:30]  ³² tn This clause is introduced by the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh); it has the force of pointing to something surprising or sudden.