Keluaran 6:13

6:13 The Lord spoke ¹  to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge ²  for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

Keluaran 8:26

8:26 But Moses said, “That would not be the right thing to do, ³  for the sacrifices we make ⁴  to the Lord our God would be an abomination ⁵  to the Egyptians. ⁶  If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, ⁷  will they not stone us? ⁸ 

Keluaran 9:22

9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky ⁹  that there may be ¹⁰  hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, ¹¹  and on everything that grows ¹²  in the field in the land of Egypt.”

Keluaran 10:12

10:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for ¹³  the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows ¹⁴  in the ground, everything that the hail has left.”

Keluaran 10:14

10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory ¹⁵  of Egypt. It was very severe; ¹⁶  there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again. ¹⁷ 

Keluaran 11:3

11:3 (Now the Lord granted the people favor with ¹⁸  the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.) ¹⁹ 

Keluaran 14:12

14:12 Isn’t this what we told you ²⁰  in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, ²¹  because it is better for us to serve ²²  the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’” ²³ 

[6:13]  ¹ tn Heb “And Yahweh spoke.”

[6:13]  ² tn The term וַיְצַוֵּם (vayÿtsavvem) is a Piel preterite with a pronominal suffix on it. The verb צָוָה (tsavah) means “to command” but can also have a much wider range of meanings. In this short summary statement, the idea of giving Moses and Aaron a commission to Israel and to Pharaoh indicates that come what may they have their duty to perform.

[8:26]  ³ tn The clause is a little unusual in its formation. The form נָכוֹן (nakhon) is the Niphal participle from כּוּן (kun), which usually means “firm, fixed, steadfast,” but here it has a rare meaning of “right, fitting, appropriate.” It functions in the sentence as the predicate adjective, because the infinitive לַעֲשּׂוֹת (la’asot) is the subject – “to do so is not right.”

[8:26]  ⁴ tn This translation has been smoothed out to capture the sense. The text literally says, “for the abomination of Egypt we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God.” In other words, the animals that Israel would sacrifice were sacred to Egypt, and sacrificing them would have been abhorrent to the Egyptians.

[8:26]  ⁵ tn An “abomination” is something that is off-limits, something that is tabu. It could be translated “detestable” or “loathsome.”

[8:26]  ⁶ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 109) says there are two ways to understand “the abomination of the Egyptians.” One is that the sacrifice of the sacred animals would appear an abominable thing in the eyes of the Egyptians, and the other is that the word “abomination” could be a derogatory term for idols – we sacrifice what is an Egyptian idol. So that is why he says if they did this the Egyptians would stone them.

[8:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians [or “of Egypt”] before their eyes.”

[8:26]  ⁸ tn The interrogative clause has no particle to indicate it is a question, but it is connected with the conjunction to the preceding clause, and the meaning of these clauses indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[9:22]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn The jussive with the conjunction (וִיהִי, vihi) coming after the imperative provides the purpose or result.

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “on man and on beast.”

[9:22]  ¹² 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.

[10:12]  ¹³ tn The preposition בְּ (bet) is unexpected here. BDB 91 s.v. (the note at the end of the entry) says that in this case it can only be read as “with the locusts,” meaning that the locusts were thought to be implicit in Moses’ lifting up of his hand. However, BDB prefers to change the preposition to לְ (lamed).

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn The noun עֵשֶּׂב (’esev) normally would indicate cultivated grains, but in this context seems to indicate plants in general.

[10:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “border.”

[10:14]  ¹⁶ tn This is an interpretive translation. The clause simply has כָּבֵד מְאֹד (kaved mÿ’od), the stative verb with the adverb – “it was very heavy.” The description prepares for the following statement about the uniqueness of this locust infestation.

[10:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “after them.”

[11:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[11:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people.” In the translation the word “Egyptian” has been supplied to clarify that the Egyptians and not the Israelites are meant here.

[11:3]  sn The presence of this clause about Moses, which is parenthetical in nature, further indicates why the Egyptians gave rather willingly to the Israelites. They were impressed by Moses’ miracles and his power with Pharaoh. Moses was great in stature – powerful and influential.

[14:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Is not this the word that we spoke to you.”

[14:12]  ²¹ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) explains this statement by the people as follows: “The question appears surprising at first, for we have not read previously that such words were spoken to Moses. Nor is the purport of the protest of the Israelite foremen (v 21 [5:21]) identical with that of the words uttered now. However, from a psychological standpoint the matter can be easily explained. In the hour of peril the children of Israel remember that remonstrance, and now it seems to them that it was of a sharper character and flowed from their foresight, and that the present situation justifies it, for death awaits them at this moment in the desert.” This declaration that “we told you so,” born of fright, need not have been strictly accurate or logical.

[14:12]  ²² tn Heb “better for us to serve.”

[14:12]  ²³ tn Since Hebrew does not use quotation marks to indicate the boundaries of quotations, there is uncertainty about whether the Israelites’ statement in Egypt includes the end of v. 12 or consists solely of “leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians.” In either case, the command to Moses to leave them alone rested on the assumption, spoken or unspoken, that serving Egypt would be less risky than what Moses was proposing. Now with the Egyptian army on the horizon, the Israelites are sure that their worst predictions are about to take place.