Keluaran 3:7

3:7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen ¹  the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ² 

Keluaran 4:5

4:5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Keluaran 4:8

4:8 “If ³  they do not believe you or pay attention to ⁴  the former sign, then they may ⁵  believe the latter sign. ⁶ 

Keluaran 4:11

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ⁷  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ⁸ 

Keluaran 4:27

4:27 The Lord said ⁹  to Aaron, “Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God ¹⁰  and greeted him with a kiss. ¹¹ 

Keluaran 7:10

7:10 When ¹²  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw ¹³  down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ¹⁴ 

Keluaran 8:5

8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff ¹⁵  over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’”

Keluaran 8:16

The Third Blow: Gnats

8:16 ¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become ¹⁷  gnats ¹⁸  throughout all the land of Egypt.’”

Keluaran 9:8

The Sixth Blow: Boils

9:8 ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot ²⁰  from a furnace, and have Moses throw it ²¹  into the air while Pharaoh is watching. ²² 

Keluaran 9:22

9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky ²³  that there may be ²⁴  hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, ²⁵  and on everything that grows ²⁶  in the field in the land of Egypt.”

Keluaran 10:1

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ²⁷ The Lord said ²⁸  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ²⁹  these signs of mine before him, ³⁰ 

Keluaran 14:26

14:26 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sea, so that the waters may flow ³¹  back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!”

Keluaran 17:1

Water at Massa and Meribah

17:1 ³² The whole community ³³  of the Israelites traveled on their journey ³⁴  from the Desert of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. ³⁵  Now ³⁶  there was no water for the people to drink. ³⁷ 

Keluaran 19:8-10

19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ³⁸  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

19:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come ³⁹  to you in a dense cloud, ⁴⁰  so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” ⁴¹  And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

19:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them ⁴²  today and tomorrow, and make them wash ⁴³  their clothes

Keluaran 19:21

19:21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn ⁴⁴  the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. ⁴⁵ 

Keluaran 20:22

The Altar

20:22 ⁴⁶ The Lord said ⁴⁷  to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

Keluaran 33:17

33:17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know ⁴⁸  you by name.”

Keluaran 34:4

34:4 So Moses ⁴⁹  cut out two tablets of stone like the first; ⁵⁰  early in the morning he went up ⁵¹  to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

Keluaran 39:5

39:5 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it, ⁵²  of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Keluaran 40:29

40:29 He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[3:7]  ¹ tn The use of the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense intensifies the statement: I have surely seen – there is no doubt that I have seen and will do something about it.

[3:7]  ² sn Two new words are introduced now to the report of suffering: “affliction” and “pain/suffering.” These add to the dimension of the oppression of God’s people.

[4:8]  ³ tn Heb “and it will be if.”

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “listen to the voice of,” meaning listen so as to respond appropriately.

[4:8]  ⁵ tn The nuance of this perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive will be equal to the imperfect of possibility – “they may believe.”

[4:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “believe the voice of the latter sign,” so as to understand and accept the meaning of the event.

[4:11]  ⁷ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

[4:11]  sn The argumentation by Moses is here met by Yahweh’s rhetorical questions. They are intended to be sharp – it is reproof for Moses. The message is twofold. First, Yahweh is fully able to overcome all of Moses’ deficiencies. Second, Moses is exactly the way that God intended him to be. So the rhetorical questions are meant to prod Moses’ faith.

[4:11]  ⁸ sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

[4:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[4:27]  ¹⁰ tn S. R. Driver considers that this verse is a continuation of vv. 17 and 18 and that Aaron met Moses before Moses started back to Egypt (Exodus, 33). The first verb, then, might have the nuance of a past perfect: Yahweh had said.

[4:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and kissed him.”

[7:10]  ¹² tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.

[7:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”

[7:10]  ¹⁴ tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.

[8:5]  ¹⁵ sn After the instructions for Pharaoh (7:25-8:4), the plague now is brought on by the staff in Aaron’s hand (8:5-7). This will lead to the confrontation (vv. 8-11) and the hardening (vv. 12-15).

[8:16]  ¹⁶ sn The third plague is brief and unannounced. Moses and Aaron were simply to strike the dust so that it would become gnats. Not only was this plague unannounced, but also it was not duplicated by the Egyptians.

[8:16]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, meaning “and it will be.” When הָיָה (hayah) is followed by the lamed (ל) proposition, it means “become.”

[8:16]  ¹⁸ tn The noun is כִּנִּים (kinnim). The insect has been variously identified as lice, gnats, ticks, flies, fleas, or mosquitoes. “Lice” follows the reading in the Peshitta and Targum (and so Josephus, Ant. 2.14.3 [2.300]). Greek and Latin had “gnats.” By “gnats” many commentators mean “mosquitoes,” which in and around the water of Egypt were abundant (and the translators of the Greek text were familiar with Egypt). Whatever they were they came from the dust and were troublesome to people and animals.

[9:8]  ¹⁹ sn This sixth plague, like the third, is unannounced. God instructs his servants to take handfuls of ashes from the Egyptians’ furnaces and sprinkle them heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. These ashes would become little particles of dust that would cause boils on the Egyptians and their animals. Greta Hort, “The Plagues of Egypt,” ZAW 69 [1957]: 101-3, suggests it is skin anthrax (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:359). The lesson of this plague is that Yahweh has absolute control over the physical health of the people. Physical suffering consequent to sin comes to all regardless of their position and status. The Egyptians are helpless in the face of this, as now God begins to touch human life; greater judgments on human wickedness lie ahead.

[9:8]  ²⁰ tn This word פִּיחַ (piakh) is a hapax legomenon, meaning “soot”; it seems to be derived from the verb פּוּחַ (puakh, “to breathe, blow”). The “furnace” (כִּבְשָׁן, kivshan) was a special kiln for making pottery or bricks.

[9:8]  ²¹ tn The verb זָרַק (zaraq) means “to throw vigorously, to toss.” If Moses tosses the soot into the air, it will symbolize that the disease is falling from heaven.

[9:8]  ²² tn Heb “before the eyes of Pharaoh.”

[9:22]  ²³ tn Or “the heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[9:22]  ²⁴ tn The jussive with the conjunction (וִיהִי, vihi) coming after the imperative provides the purpose or result.

[9:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “on man and on beast.”

[9:22]  ²⁶ tn The noun refers primarily to cultivated grains. But here it seems to be the general heading for anything that grows from the ground, all vegetation and plant life, as opposed to what grows on trees.

[10:1]  ²⁷ sn The Egyptians dreaded locusts like every other ancient civilization. They had particular gods to whom they looked for help in such catastrophes. The locust-scaring deities of Greece and Asia were probably looked to in Egypt as well (especially in view of the origins in Egypt of so many of those religious ideas). The announcement of the plague falls into the now-familiar pattern. God tells Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh but reminds Moses that he has hardened his heart. Yahweh explains that he has done this so that he might show his power, so that in turn they might declare his name from generation to generation. This point is stressed so often that it must not be minimized. God was laying the foundation of the faith for Israel – the sovereignty of Yahweh.

[10:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ²⁹ tn The verb is שִׁתִי (shiti, “I have put”); it is used here as a synonym for the verb שִׂים (sim). Yahweh placed the signs in his midst, where they will be obvious.

[10:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in his midst.”

[14:26]  ³¹ tn The verb, “and they will return,” is here subordinated to the imperative preceding it, showing the purpose of that act.

[17:1]  ³² sn This is the famous story telling how the people rebelled against Yahweh when they thirsted, saying that Moses had brought them out into the wilderness to kill them by thirst, and how Moses with the staff brought water from the rock. As a result of this the name was called Massa and Meribah because of the testing and the striving. It was a challenge to Moses’ leadership as well as a test of Yahweh’s presence. The narrative in its present form serves an important point in the argument of the book. The story turns on the gracious provision of God who can give his people water when there is none available. The narrative is structured to show how the people strove. Thus, the story intertwines God’s free flowing grace with the sad memory of Israel’s sins. The passage can be divided into three parts: the situation and the complaint (1-3), the cry and the miracle (4-6), and the commemoration by naming (7).

[17:1]  ³³ tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[17:1]  ³⁴ tn The text says that they journeyed “according to their journeyings.” Since the verb form (and therefore the derived noun) essentially means to pull up the tent pegs and move along, this verse would be saying that they traveled by stages, or, from place to place.

[17:1]  ³⁵ sn The location is a bit of a problem. Exod 19:1-2 suggests that it is near Sinai, whereas it is normally located near Kadesh in the north. Without any details provided, M. Noth concludes that two versions came together (Exodus [OTL], 138). S. R. Driver says that the writer wrote not knowing that they were 24 miles apart (Exodus, 157). Critics have long been bothered by this passage because of the two names given at the same place. If two sources had been brought together, it is not possible now to identify them. But Noth insisted that if there were two names there were two different locations. The names Massah and Meribah occur alone in Scripture (Deut 9:22, and Num 20:1 for examples), but together in Ps 95 and in Deut 33:8. But none of these passages is a clarification of the difficulty. Most critics would argue that Massah was a secondary element that was introduced into this account, because Exod 17 focuses on Meribah. From that starting point they can diverge greatly on the interpretation, usually having something to do with a water test. But although Num 20 is parallel in several ways, there are major differences: 1) it takes place 40 years later than this, 2) the name Kadesh is joined to the name Meribah there, and 3) Moses is punished there. One must conclude that if an event could occur twice in similar ways (complaint about water would be a good candidate for such), then there is no reason a similar name could not be given.

[17:1]  ³⁶ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a parenthetical clause that is essential for this passage – there was no water.

[17:1]  ³⁷ tn Here the construction uses a genitive after the infinitive construct for the subject: “there was no water for the drinking of the people” (GKC 353-54 §115.c).

[19:8]  ³⁸ tn The verb is an imperfect. The people are not being presumptuous in stating their compliance – there are several options open for the interpretation of this tense. It may be classified as having a desiderative nuance: “we are willing to do” or, “we will do.”

[19:9]  ³⁹ tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany.

[19:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the thickness of the cloud”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “in a thick cloud.”

[19:9]  ⁴¹ tn Since “and also in you” begins the clause, the emphasis must be that the people would also trust Moses. See Exod 4:1-9, 31; 14:31.

[19:10]  ⁴² tn This verb is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the force of the imperative preceding it. This sanctification would be accomplished by abstaining from things that would make them defiled or unclean, and then by ritual washings and ablutions.

[19:10]  ⁴³ tn The form is a perfect 3cpl with a vav (ו) consecutive. It is instructional as well, but now in the third person it is like a jussive, “let them wash, make them wash.”

[19:21]  ⁴⁴ tn The imperative הָעֵד (ha’ed) means “charge” them – put them under oath, or solemnly warn them. God wished to ensure that the people would not force their way past the barriers that had been set out.

[19:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and fall”; NAB “be struck down.”

[20:22]  ⁴⁶ sn Based on the revelation of the holy sovereign God, this pericope instructs Israel on the form of proper worship of such a God. It focuses on the altar, the centerpiece of worship. The point of the section is this: those who worship this holy God must preserve holiness in the way they worship – they worship where he permits, in the manner he prescribes, and with the blessings he promises. This paragraph is said to open the Book of the Covenant, which specifically rules on matters of life and worship.

[20:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[33:17]  ⁴⁸ tn The verb in this place is a preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive, judging from the pointing. It then follows in sequence the verb “you have found favor,” meaning you stand in that favor, and so it means “I have known you” and still do (equal to the present perfect). The emphasis, however, is on the results of the action, and so “I know you.”

[34:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified here and the name “Moses,” which occurs later in this verse, has been replaced with the pronoun (“he”), both for stylistic reasons.

[34:4]  ⁵⁰ sn Deuteronomy says that Moses was also to make an ark of acacia wood before the tablets, apparently to put the tablets in until the sanctuary was built. But this ark may not have been the ark built later; or, it might be the wood box, but Bezalel still had to do all the golden work with it.

[34:4]  ⁵¹ tn The line reads “and Moses got up early in the morning and went up.” These verbs likely form a verbal hendiadys, the first one with its prepositional phrase serving in an adverbial sense.

[39:5]  ⁵² tn Heb “from it” or the same.