Keluaran 4:21

4:21 The Lord said ¹  to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, ²  see that you ³  do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. ⁴  But I will harden ⁵  his heart ⁶  and ⁷  he will not let the people go.

Keluaran 9:19

9:19 So now, send instructions ⁸  to gather ⁹  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ¹⁰  or animal caught ¹¹  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Keluaran 11:8

11:8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down ¹²  to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow ¹³  you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses ¹⁴  went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

Keluaran 12:22

12:22 Take a branch of hyssop, ¹⁵  dip it in the blood that is in the basin, ¹⁶  and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out ¹⁷  the door of his house until morning.

Keluaran 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹⁸  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ¹⁹  they will come after them, that I may be honored ²⁰  because ²¹  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Keluaran 16:3

16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died ²²  by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by ²³  the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, ²⁴  for you have brought us out into this desert to kill ²⁵  this whole assembly with hunger!”

Keluaran 18:22

18:22 They will judge ²⁶  the people under normal circumstances, ²⁷  and every difficult case ²⁸  they will bring to you, but every small case ²⁹  they themselves will judge, so that ³⁰  you may make it easier for yourself, ³¹  and they will bear the burden ³²  with you.

Keluaran 23:31

23:31 I will set ³³  your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, ³⁴  for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

Keluaran 27:21

27:21 In the tent of meeting ³⁵  outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from evening ³⁶  to morning before the Lord. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come. ³⁷ 

Keluaran 29:9

29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons ³⁸  and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate ³⁹  Aaron and his sons.

[4:21]  ¹ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[4:21]  ² tn The construction may involve a verbal hendiadys using the two infinitive forms: “when you go to return” (בְּלֶכְתְּךָ לָשׁוּב, bÿlekhtÿkha lashuv). The clause is temporal, subordinated to the instruction to do the signs. Therefore, its focus cannot be on going to return, i.e., preparing or beginning to return.

[4:21]  ³ tn The two verb forms in this section are the imperative (רְאֵה, rÿ’eh) followed by the perfect with the vav (וַעֲשִׂיתָם, va’asitam). The second could be coordinated and function as a second command: “see…and [then] do”; or it could be subordinated logically: “see…so that you do.” Some commentators who take the first option suggest that Moses was supposed to contemplate these wonders before doing them before Pharaoh. That does not seem as likely as the second interpretation reflected in the translation.

[4:21]  ⁴ tn Or “in your power”; Heb “in your hand.”

[4:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “strengthen” (in the sense of making stubborn or obstinate). The text has the expression וַאֲנִי אֲחַזֵּק אֶת־לִבּוֹ (va’ani ’akhazzeq ’et-libbo), “I will make strong his will,” or “I will strengthen his resolve,” recognizing the “heart” as the location of decision making (see Prov 16:1, 9).

[4:21]  ⁶ sn Here is the first mention of the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh. God first tells Moses he must do the miracles, but he also announces that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, as if working against Moses. It will help Moses to know that God is bringing about the resistance in order to bring a greater victory with greater glory. There is a great deal of literature on this, but see among the resources F. W. Danker, “Hardness of Heart: A Study in Biblical Thematic,” CTM 44 (1973): 89-100; R. R. Wilson, “The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart,” CBQ 41 (1979): 18-36; and R. B. Chisholm Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34.

[4:21]  ⁷ tn Or “so that.”

[9:19]  ⁸ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ⁹ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[11:8]  ¹² sn Moses’ anger is expressed forcefully. “He had appeared before Pharaoh a dozen times either as God’s emissary or when summoned by Pharaoh, but he would not come again; now they would have to search him out if they needed help” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 289-90).

[11:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “that are at your feet.”

[11:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:22]  ¹⁵ sn The hyssop is a small bush that grows throughout the Sinai, probably the aromatic herb Origanum Maru L., or Origanum Aegyptiacum. The plant also grew out of the walls in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 4:33). See L. Baldensperger and G. M. Crowfoot, “Hyssop,” PEQ 63 (1931): 89-98. A piece of hyssop was also useful to the priests because it worked well for sprinkling.

[12:22]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek and the Vulgate translate סַף (saf, “basin”) as “threshold.” W. C. Kaiser reports how early traditions grew up about the killing of the lamb on the threshold (“Exodus,” EBC 2:376).

[12:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and you, you shall not go out, a man from the door of his house.” This construction puts stress on prohibiting absolutely everyone from going out.

[14:17]  ¹⁸ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

[14:17]  ¹⁹ tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

[14:17]  ²⁰ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

[14:17]  ²¹ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

[16:3]  ²² tn The text reads: מִי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ (mi-yitten mutenu, “who will give our dying”) meaning “If only we had died.” מוּתֵנוּ is the Qal infinitive construct with the suffix. This is one way that Hebrew expresses the optative with an infinitive construct. See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 91-92, §547.

[16:3]  ²³ tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct used in a temporal clause, and the verb “when we ate” has the same structure.

[16:3]  ²⁴ sn That the complaint leading up to the manna is unjustified can be seen from the record itself. They left Egypt with flocks and herds and very much cattle, and about 45 days later they are complaining that they are without food. Moses reminded them later that they lacked nothing (Deut 3:7; for the whole sermon on this passage, see 8:1-20). Moreover, the complaint is absurd because the food of work gangs was far more meager than they recall. The complaint was really against Moses. They crave the eating of meat and of bread and so God will meet that need; he will send bread from heaven and quail as well.

[16:3]  ²⁵ tn לְהָמִית (lÿhamit) is the Hiphil infinitive construct showing purpose. The people do not trust the intentions or the plan of their leaders and charge Moses with bringing everyone out to kill them.

[18:22]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[18:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “great thing.”

[18:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “thing.”

[18:22]  ³⁰ tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

[18:22]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.

[23:31]  ³³ tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.

[23:31]  ³⁴ tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.

[27:21]  ³⁵ tn The LXX has mistakenly rendered this name “the tent of the testimony.”

[27:21]  ³⁶ sn The lamps were to be removed in the morning so that the wicks could be trimmed and the oil replenished (30:7) and then lit every evening to burn through the night.

[27:21]  ³⁷ sn This is the first of several sections of priestly duties. The point is a simple one here: those who lead the worship use the offerings of the people to ensure that access to God is illumined regularly. The NT will make much of the symbolism of light.

[29:9]  ³⁸ tc Hebrew has both the objective pronoun “them” and the names “Aaron and his sons.” Neither the LXX nor Leviticus 8:13 has “Aaron and his sons,” suggesting that this may have been a later gloss in the text.

[29:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and you will fill the hand” and so “consecrate” or “ordain.” The verb draws together the individual acts of the process.