| 1 | 1 And these are the names of the sons of Yisra’æl, those coming into Egypt with Ya‘aqōv̱, each man and his house who had come: 2 Re’ūv̱æn, Shimō̒n, Lēvi̱, and Yehūdah, 3 Yissashḳar, Zev̱ūlūn, and Binyami̱n, 4 Dan and Naphtali̱, Gad and A̓shær. |
| 5 | 5 Therefore, all the souls going out of the loins of Ya‘aqōv̱ were seventy souls, and Yōsæf had been in Egypt. 6 Then Yōsæf died, and all his brothers, and all that generation. |
| 7 | 7 And the sons of Yisra̓æl had been fruitful; therefore, they became a teeming multitude. Therefore, they multiplied; therefore, they became exceedingly powerful. Therefore, the land was filled with them. |
| 8 | 8 Then there arose a new king over Egypt, who had not known Yōsæf. 9 Then he said to his people, “Look, the people of the sons of Yisra’æl are more and mightier than us. 10 Come now! Let us wisen ourselves up to ¹him, lest he should multiply, and it will have been that, when war calls ²us, also he will have added himself to those hating us; and he will have been fighting against us, and he will have gone up out of the land.” |
| 11 | 11 Then they set over him bosses of forced labor, for the purpose of making him to be afflicted with their burdens. Then he built for Phara̒oh store-cities: Pitʰōm and Ra‘amsēs. 12 And as they afflicted him, so he multiplied and so he broke abroad; therefore, they felt a sick dread in the face of the sons of Yisra’æl. 13 Therefore, Egypt made the sons of Yisra’æl to serve in harshness; 14 therefore, they embittered their lives with hard service, in mortar and in bricks, and in every service in the field, along with every service of their’s, which they had served on them in harshness. |
| 15 | 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the second Pū‘ah. 16 Therefore, he said, “While bearing with the Hebrew women, and you have looked for the two stones—if he is a son, ¹then you will have killed him, and if she is a daughter, ²then she will have lived.” 17 Then the midwives feared the Almĭghty, and had not done according to what the king of Egypt had spoken. Therefore, they kept the boys alive. 18 Then the king of Egypt called for the midwives; then he said to them, “Why have you done this thing; therefore, you keep the boys alive!” 19 Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. For they are lively. Before the midwife comes to them, then¹ they have given birth.” 20 Then the Almĭghty was good to the midwives; therefore, the people multiplied; therefore, they grew very mighty.‡ 21 Therefore, it was, because the midwives feared the Almĭghty, then he made them ¹households. |
| 22 | 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son that is born, you shall cast him into the Nile river, and every daughter you shall keep alive.” |
| 1 | 1 Then there went a man of the house of Lēvi̱; then he took the †daughter of Lēvi̱. 2 Then the woman conceived; then she bore a son; then she saw him, that he was good; then, she hid him three moons. |
| 3 | 3 And she had not been able to hide him longer. Then she took for him an ark of bulrushes; then she tarred it with bituminous tar and with pitch; then she set the boy in it; then she set it in the reeds upon the lip¹ of the river. 4 Then his sister stood herself at a distance, to know what would be done to him. |
| 5 | 5 And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe at the river; and her girls were walking on the ¹hand of the river; then she saw the ark in the midst of the reeds; then she sent her maid servant; then she took it. 6 Then she opened it; then she saw him: the¹ boy! And behold, the lad was weeping. Then she took pity on him; then she said, “From the boys of the Hebrews is this one.” |
| 7 | 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go, and I will have called for you a nursing women from the Hebrews, and she will nurse the boy for you?” 8 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” Then the virgin† went; then she called the boy’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, “Lead† this boy, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” Then the woman took the boy; then she nursed it. |
| 10 | 10 Then the boy grew; then she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter; then he became her son. Then she called his name Mōshēh.† Then she said, “because I have drawn him from the waters.” 11 Then it was in those days, when¹ Mōshēh was grown up, then he went out to his brothers; then he looked on their burdens: then he saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man, |
| 13 |
13 Then he went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the Hebrews were struggling ¹together: then he said to the guilty² one, “Why do you strike your fellow?” 14 Then he said, “Who has set you up as a boss man and judger over us? Will |
| 15 | 15 Then Pharaoh heard this thing; then he sought to kill Mōshēh. Then Mōshēh fled from the face of Pharaoh; then he stayed¹ in the land of Midyan; then he sat down by a well. |
| 16 | 16 And the priest of Midyan had seven daughters: then they came; then they drew |
| 18 | 18 Then they came to Re‘ūæ̓l their father. Then he said, “For what reason have you been quick to come today?” 19 Then they said, “An Egyptian man has delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover drawing he has drawn for us; then he watered the flock!” 20 Then he said unto his daughters, “And where |
| 21 | 21 Then Mōshēh was †willing to dwell with the man; then he gave Tsippōrah¹ his daughter to Mōshēh. 22 Then she bore a son; then he called his name ¹Gærshōm, because he had said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” |
| 23 | 23 Then it was in those many days, then the king of Egypt died; then¹ the sons of Yisra’æl groaned because of ᵦslavery; then² they cried out; then their cry for help came up unto the Almĭghty because of ᵦslavery. 24 Then¹ the Almĭghty hears their groaning; then² the Almĭghty remembers his covenant with A̓v̱raham, with Yitsḥaq, and with Ya‘aqōv̱. 25 Then¹ the Almĭghty looks at the sons of Yisra’æl; then² the Almĭghty †notices. |
| 1 | 1 And Mōshēh had been shepherding the flock of ¹Yitʰrō his in-law, the priest of Midyan: then he drove the flock behind² the wilderness; then he came to the mountain of the Almĭghty, toward ³Ḥōræv̱. 2 Then the¹ Messenger of Yăhwēh was seen by him in a² flame of fire from the midst of a³ bush: then he saw, and, behold, the bush was burning in the fire, and the bush was not itself being consumed. |
| 3 | 3 Then Mōshēh said, “Let me turn aside please, and let me see this great sight, for what reason the bush cannot be ¹burnt.” 4 Then Yăhwēh saw that he had turned aside to see; then the Almĭghty called unto him out of the midst of the bush; then he said, “Mōshēh, Mōshēh.” Then he said, “Here I am”. |
| 5 |
5 Then he said, “You may not come near here: put off your sandals from on your feet, because |
| 7 |
7 7 Then Yăhwēh said, “Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and their cry I have heard in the face of his¹ ²taskmasters; because I have known his sorrows; 8 And I come down to deliver him from the hand of Egypt, and to bring him up from that land unto a good land and a wide one, unto a land flowing |
| 11 |
11 Then Mōshēh said unto the Almĭghty, “Who |
| 12 | 12 Then he said, “Certainly I will be with you; and this shall be the sign unto you, that I ¹myself have sent you: when you bring forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve the Almĭghty upon this² mountain.” |
| 13 | 13 Then Mōshēh said unto the Almĭghty, “Behold, I will have come unto the sons of Yisra’æl, and I will have said unto them, ‘The Almĭghty of your fathers has sent me unto you;’ and they will have said to me, ‘What is his †name?’ What shall I say unto them?” |
| 14 |
14 Then the Almĭghty said unto Mōshēh, “I make happen what I will to make happen:”† then he said, “Thus shall you say to the sons of Yisra’æl, ‘I make happen’‡ has sent me unto you. 15 Then the Almĭghty said again unto Mōshēh, “Thus shall you say unto the sons of Yisra’æl, ‘Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of your fathers, the Almĭghty of A̓v̱raham, the Almĭghty of Yitsḥaq, and the Almĭghty of Ya‘aqōv̱, has sent me unto you: this is my name† ¹forever, and this is my memorial‡ unto all generations.’ 16 Go, and you will have gathered the elders of Yisra’æl together, and you will have said unto them, ‘Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of your fathers has been seen by me, the Almĭghty of A̓v̱raham, of Yitsḥaq, and of Ya‘aqōv̱, saying, attending I will have attended you, and what is done to you in Egypt: 17 Therefore, I say, I will¹ bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Kena‘ani, and the Ḥitti̱, and the E̓mōri̱, and the Perizzi̱, and the Ḥivvi̱, and the Yevūsi̱, unto a land flowing² |
| 1 | 1 Then Mōshēh answered. Then he said, “And what ¹if they will not give² any support to me, nor³ listen to my voice; because they will say, ‘Yăhwēh has not been seen by you.’” |
| 2 |
2 Then Yăhwēh said unto him, “What |
| 10 |
10 Then Mōshēh said unto Yăhwēh, “As for me, A̓dōnai,¹ no man of words |
| 11 |
11 Then Yăhwēh said unto him, “Who has appointed a mouth for man? Or who can appoint a dumb one, or deaf one, or sighted one, or blind one? Is |
| 13 |
13 Then he said, “As for ¹me, A̓dōnai, send, please, by the hand of |
| 14 | 14 Then the anger of Yăhwēh burned against Mōshēh; then he said, “Is there not A̓harōn¹ your brother the Lēvi̱? I have known that a speech he can speak himself. And also, behold, he goes forth himself to call on you: and he will have seen you, and he will have become glad in his heart. 15 And you will have spoken unto him, and you will have put the words in his mouth: and I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and I will have taught you what you will ¹do! 16 And he will have spoken himself for you unto the people; and it will have been: he will be to you a mouth, and you shall be to him as the Almĭghty. 17 And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs.” |
| 18 |
18 Then Mōshēh went; then he returned unto ¹Yitʰrō his in-law; then he said unto him, “May I go, please, and may I return unto my brothers which are in Egypt, and may I see if yet they |
| 19 | 19 Then† Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh in Midyan, “Go, return to ¹Egypt; because all the men have died, those seeking your soul.” 20 Then Mōshēh took his wife and his sons, then he mounted them upon an ¹donkey; then he turned toward the land of Egypt. Then, Mōshēh took the rod of the Almĭghty in his hand. |
| 21 |
21 Then, Yăhwēh said unto Moshēh, “In your going to return to Egypt, keep in view† all the wonders which I have put in your hand. And you will have done them before the face of Pharaoh, and I will strengthen his heart and he will not ‡send the people. 22 Then you will have said unto Pharaoh, ‘Thus has said Yăhwēh, Yisra’æl |
| 24 | 24 Then it was on the way at the lodging-place, then Yăhwēh met him; then he sought to make him die.† 25 Then Tsippōrah took a flint; then she cut off the foreskin of her son; then she made it touch his feet; then she said, “Surely a bridegroom of blood you are to me.” 26 So he relented from him. Then she had said,“ A bridegroom of blood are you, concerning the circumcision.” |
| 27 |
27 And Yăhwēh said unto ‘A̓harōn, “Go into the wilderness to call on Mōshēh.” Then he went, and met up |
| 29 |
29 Then Mōshēh went and ‘A̓harōn and they gathered all the elders of the sons of Yisra’æl: 30 Then ‘A̓harōn spoke all the words which Yăhwēh had spoken unto Moshēh; then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 Then the people gave |
| 1 | 1 And afterward Mōshēh and ‘A̓harōn came; then said unto Pharaoh, “Thus has said Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of Yisra’æl, ‘Send my people, and let them keep a †feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 Then Pharaoh said, “Who is Yăhwēh, that I should listen to his voice to send Yisra’æl? I have not known¹ Yăhwēh, and also Yisra’æl I will not send.” 3 Then they said, “The Almĭghty of the Hebrews has been calling on us: let us go, please, a journey of three days in the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Yăhwēh our Almĭghty, lest he fall upon us with ¹plague, or with the² sword.” |
| 4 |
4 Then the king of Egypt said unto them, “Why Mōshēh and A̓harōn do you let loose the people from its work? Go to your burdens!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you¹ have made them rest² from their burdens.” 6 Then on that day Phara̒ōh commanded the taskmasters over the people, and its foremen, saying, 7 “You shall no more give ţhe people straw to make ţhe bricks, as yesterday, |
| 10 |
10 Then the taskmasters of the people went out; and its foremen; then they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus has said Pharaoh, ‘I |
| 14 |
14 Then the foremen of the sons of Yisra’ēl, which Phara̒ōh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, saying “Why have you not finished your quota for making bricks as yesterday |
| 17 |
17 Then he said, “You |
| 19 |
19 Then the foremen of the sons of Yisra’ēl saw they |
| 22 |
22 Then Moshēh returned unto Yăhwēh, and he said, “A̓dŏnai, why have you done badly to this people? why |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Now you will see what I will do to Phara̒ōh, because by a strong hand he will send them, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 Then the Almĭghty spoke unto Mōshēh; then he said unto him, “I |
| 4 |
4 “And also, I will have made stand my covenant with them, to give to them the land of Kena‘an, the land of their sojournings, that they have sojourned ¹in. 5 And also, I, I have heard the groaning of the sons of Yisra’ēl, because¹ Egypt |
| 6 |
6 “So say to the sons of Yisra’ēl, ‘I |
| 9 |
9 Then Mōshēh spoke ¹so, unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and they had not listened unto Mōshēh, because of shortness of spirit, and because of hard slavery. 10 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 11 “Go in, speak unto Phara̒ōh king of Egypt, ¹and may he send the sons of Yisra’ēl from his land.” 12 Then Mōshēh spoke before the face of Yăhwēh, saying, “Behold, the sons of Yisra’ēl have not listened unto me, and how will Phara̒ōh hear me? And I |
| 14a |
14a These |
| 14b |
14b The sons of Re’ūv̱ēn, the firstborn of Yisra’ēl: ¹Ḥanōḳ and ²Pallū̓, ³Hetsrōn and *Carmi̱; these |
| 15 |
15 And the sons of Shimō̒n: Yemū’ēl, and Yami̱n, and Ō̓had, and Yaḳi̱n, and Tsōḥar, and Sha’ūl, the son of a Kena‘ani̱t woman; these |
| 16 |
16 And these |
| 20 |
20 Then A̒mram took Yōḳev̱ed, his aunt for himself as a wife; then she bore to him A̓harōn and Mōshēh; and the years of the life of A̒mram |
| 23 | 23 Then A̓harōn took †E̓li̱shev̱a̒, the daughter of A̒mmi̱nadav̱, the sister of Naḥshōn for himself as a wife; then she bore to him Nadav̱ and A̓v̱i̱hū̓, E̓la̒zar and Ī̓tʰamar. |
| 24 |
24 And the sons of Qōraḥ: A̓ssi̱r, and E̓lqanah, and A̓v̱i̱a̓saph; these |
| 26 |
26 Such¹ |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “See, I have made¹ you |
| 6 |
6 Then did Mōshēh and A̓harōn. As that Yăhwēh had commanded them, so they had done. 7 And Mōshēh |
| 8 |
8 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh and unto A̓harōn, saying, 9 “When Phara̒ōh shall speak unto you, saying, ‘Provide a wonder for yourselves, then¹ you will have said unto A̓harōn, “Take your rod, and cast |
| 10 | 10 Then Mōshēh and A̓harōn went in unto Phara̒ōh. Then they did so, as that Yăhwēh had commanded. At that time, A̓harōn cast down his rod at the face of Phara̒ōh, and at the face of his servants. Then it became a serpent. |
| 11 | 11 Then Phara̒ōh also called for the wise men¹ and for the sorcerers. Then they, the diviners of Egypt, also did likewise, with their secret arts. 12 Then they cast down, each man, his rod; then they became serpents. Then the rod of A̓harōn swallowed up their rods. 13 Then Phara̒ōh’s heart became ¹strong, and he had not listened unto them, as that Yăhwēh had spoken. |
| 14 |
14 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Phara̒ōh’s heart |
| 19 |
19 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Say unto A̓harōn, ‘Take your rod, and stretch your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their marshes, and over all their catchments of water. Then¹ they will become blood, and there will have been blood in all the land of Egypt, and in |
| 20 |
20 Then Mōshēh and A̓harōn did so, as that Yăhwēh had commanded. At that time, he lifted with the rod. Then he struck the waters that |
| 23 |
23 Then Phara̒ōh turned. Then he went unto his house, and he had not taken to his heart even this. 24 Then they dug, all Egypt, round about the river |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Go in unto Phara̒ōh, and you will have said unto him, ‘Thus has said Yăhwēh, “Send my people, and let them serve me. 2 And if you |
| 5 | 5 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Say unto A̓harōn, ‘Stretch your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the marshes, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.” |
| 6 | 6 Then A̓harōn stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt. Then ¹frogs came up. Then they² covered the land of Egypt. 7 Then the diviners did likewise with their secret arts. Therefore, they brought up ¹frogs upon the land of Egypt. |
| 8 | 8 Then Phara̒ōh called to Mōshēh and to A̓harōn. Then he said, “Pray unto Yăhwēh, and let him turn away the frogs from me, and from my people, and let me send the people, and let them sacrifice unto Yăhwēh.” |
| 9 |
9 Then Mōshēh said to Phara̒ōh, “Take the honor over me, |
| 15 | 15 Then Phara̒ōh saw that there had been relief. Then he made his heart heavy, and he had not listened unto them, as that Yăhwēh had spoken. |
| 16 |
16 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Say unto A̓harōn, ‘Stretch your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, and it will have become gnats in all the land of Egypt. 17 Then they did so. Then A̓harōn stretched his hand with his rod. Then he struck the dust of the earth. Then it became gnats on man, and on beast. All the dust of the earth had became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 Then the diviners did so with their secret arts, |
| 19 |
19 Then the diviners said unto Phara̒ōh, “It |
| 20 |
20 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Rise up early in the daybreak, and stand before the face of Phara̒ōh. Behold, |
| 22 |
22 “And I will have distinguished in that day the land of Gōshen, that my people |
| 24 | 24 Then Yăhwēh did so. Then came heavy a̒rōv̱ into the house of Phara̒ōh, and the house of his servants, and in all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined in the face of the a̒rōv̱. 25 Then Phara̒ōh called unto Mōshēh and to A̓harōn. Then he said, “Go, sacrifice to your Almĭghty in the land. |
| 26 |
26 Then Mōshēh said, “ |
| 28 |
28 Then Phara̒ōh said, “I will send you, and you will have sacrificed to Yăhwēh your Almĭghty in the wilderness. Only wandering far, you shall not wander far |
| 29 |
29 Then Mōshēh said, “Behold, I |
| 30 | 30 Then Mōshēh went out from with Phara̒ōh. Then he prayed unto Yăhwēh. 31 Then Yăhwēh did according to the word of Mōshēh. Then he turned the a̒rōv̱ from Phara̒ōh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one had been left. 32 Then Phara̒ōh made his heart heavy at this time also, and he had not sent the people. |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Go in unto Phara̒ōh, and you will have spoken unto him, ‘Thus has said Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and let them serve me. 2 Because, if you |
| 5 | 5 Then Yăhwēh set an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow Yăhwēh will do this thing in the land.” 6 Then Yăhwēh did that thing in the tomorrow. Then all the cattle of Egypt died, and of the cattle of the sons of Yisra’ēl, not one died had died. 7 Then Phara̒ōh sent, and behold, not even one had died from the cattle of Yisra’ēl. Then the heart of Phara̒ōh became heavy, and he did not send the people. |
| 8 |
8 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh and unto A̓harōn, “Take for yourself handfuls of kiln soot, and Mōshēh will have sprinkled |
| 12 |
12 Then Yăhwēh strengthened¹ the heart of Phara̒ōh, and he had not listened unto them, as that Yăhwēh had spoken unto Mōshēh. 13 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Rise up early in the daybreak, and stand before the face of Phara̒ōh, and you will have said unto him, ‘Thus has said Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and let them serve me. 14 Because, I |
| 20 | 20 The one who feared the word of Yăhwēh, from the servants of Phara̒ōh, had made his servants flee, and his cattle, into the houses. 21 And the one which had not set his heart unto the word of Yăhwēh, then he left his servants and his cattle in the field. |
| 22 | 22 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Stretch your hand over the heavens, and let there be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” |
| 23 |
23 Then Mōshēh stretched out his rod over the heavens. And Yăhwēh had given thunder and hail. Then fire went earthward. Then Yăhwēh rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 And there was hail, and fire carried along in the midst of the hail, very heavy, which had not been the like of¹ in all the land of Egypt from the time it had became a nation. 25 Then the hail struck in all the land of Egypt, all that |
| 27 |
27 Then Phara̒ōh sent |
| 29 |
29 Then Mōshēh said unto him, “At my exiting the city, I will spread out my palms unto Yăhwēh. The thunders shall cease, and the hail will not come¹ again, so that you may know that the earth |
| 31 |
31 And the flax and the barley had been struck, because the barley was in the ‡ear, and the flax |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Go in unto Phara̒ōh, because I have made his heart heavy, and the heart of his servants, for the sake of putting these signs of mine in the midst of ¹it, 2 And so that you may recount in the ears of your son, and the son of your son, that which I have dealt severely on Egypt, and my signs which I have put among them. And you will have known that I |
| 3 |
3 Then Mōshēh and A̓harōn went in unto Phara̒ōh. Then they said unto him, “Thus has said Yăhwēh, the Almĭghty of the Hebrews, ‘Until when will you have refused to be humbled before my face? Send my people, and let them serve me. 4 Because, if you |
| 6 |
6 And they will have filled your houses, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all Egypt, |
| 7 | 7 Then the servants of Phara̒ōh said unto him, “Until when will this be a snare to us? Send the men. Let them serve Yăhwēh their Almĭghty. Do you not yet know that Egypt has been destroyed?” |
| 8 |
8 Then Mōshēh and A̓harōn were returned again unto Phara̒ōh. Then he said unto them, “Go, serve Yăhwēh your Almĭghty. Who and who |
| 10 |
10 Then he said unto them, “So may Yăhwēh be with you† |
| 12 | 12 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Stretch your hand over the land of Egypt for¹ ţhe locust, and let it come up upon the land of Egypt, and let it eat every plant of ţhe land, even all which ţhe hail has left.” |
| 13 |
13 Then Mōshēh stretched his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yăhwēh caused an east wind to be driven on the land all that day, and all ţhe night; |
| 16 | 16 Then Phara̒ōh made haste¹ to call for Mōshēh and for A̓harōn. Then he said, “I have sinned against Yăhwēh your Almĭghty, and against you. 17 And now forgive please my sin surely this once, and pray to Yăhwēh your Almĭghty, and may only he turn away from upon me this death.” |
| 18 | 18 Then he went out from with Phara̒ōh. Then he prayed unto Yăhwēh. 19 Then Yăhwēh turned about a very strong wind of the ¹sea. Then it lifted ţhe locust. Then it blew it into the †End Sea. There had not been left one locust in all the border of Egypt. |
| 20 | 20 Then Yăhwēh strengthened¹ the heart of Phara̒ōh, and he did not send the sons of Yisra’ēl. 21 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Stretch your hand over ţhe heavens, and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt, and let it feel the darkness.” |
| 22 | 22 Then Mōshēh stretched his hand over ţhe heavens. Then there was a murky darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 A man had not seen his brother. A man had not risen from his place three days, and for all the sons of Yisra’ēl there had been light in their settlements. |
| 24 |
24 Then Phara̒ōh called unto Mōshēh. Then he said, “Go, serve Yăhwēh. Only let your flocks and your herds be left in place. And your children may go with you.” 25 Then Mōshēh said, “Also you must give into our hands sacrifices and ascending-offerings, and we will have made |
| 27 | 27 Then Yăhwēh strengthened the heart of Phara̒ōh, and he had not been willing to send them. 28 Then Phara̒ōh said to him, “Go from over me, watch yourself for yourself. You may not again see my face, because in the day you see my face you shall die.” |
| 29 | 29 Then Mōshēh said, “Thus you have spoken. I will not come again to see your face.” |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Yet one plague |
| 3 |
3 Then Yăhwēh gave the people favor in the eyes of Egypt. Also the man Mōshēh |
| 4 |
4 Then Mōshēh †said, “Thus has said Yăhwēh, ‘About the middle of the night I |
| 9 | 9 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Phara̒ōh will not listen unto you, so that my wonders multiply in the land of Egypt. |
| 10 | 10 And Mōshēh and A̓harōn had done all these wonders in the face of Phara̒ōh. Then Yăhwēh strengthened the heart of Phara̒ōh, and he had not sent the sons of Yisra’ēl out of his land. |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh and unto A̓harōn in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “This month for you, |
| 4 |
4 ‘And if the house will be too small ¹for there to be¹ |
| 5 |
5 ‘A perfect male flock animal, the son of a year, it will be for you. From the sheep and from the goats you will take |
| 6 |
6 ‘And it will have been for you to watch¹ |
| 7 |
7 ‘And they will have taken from the blood, and they will have put |
| 8 |
8 ‘And they will have eaten the flesh that night, roasted with¹ fire. And |
| 9 |
9 ‘You shall not eat any from it raw or¹ boiled |
| 10 |
10 ‘And you shall not let remain |
| 11 |
11 ‘And this way, you shall eat it: |
| 12 |
12 ‘And I will have passed over in the land of Egypt on that night, and I will have struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man, and unto beast. And on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I |
| 13 |
13 ‘And the blood will have been a sign for you upon the houses where you live. And I will have seen the blood, and I will have passed over¹ you, and no plague will come on you to destroy |
| 14 |
14 ‘And this day will have become a remembrance† for you, and you will have feasted |
| 15 |
15 ‘Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, but on the day previous† you shall make Sabbath leavening from your houses.‡ For if anyone |
| 16 | 16 ‘And on the first day a holy †convocation, and on the seventh day a holy convocation will be for you. You will not do any work on them, but what will be eaten by every soul. That by itself may be prepared for you.’ |
| 17 | 17 ‘And you will have kept unleavened bread, because on this very day I will have brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. And you will have kept this day by your generations as an everlasting statute.’ |
| 18 |
18 ‘In the first |
| 19 |
19 ‘Seven days leavening will be not be found in your houses, because anyone eating |
| 20 | 20 ‘Anything made to be leavened you will not eat. In all your settlements you will eat unleavened bread.’” |
| 21 |
21 Then Mōshēh called for all the elders of Yisra’ēl. Then he said unto them, “Draw out and take for yourselves sheep according to your families, and slay the Passover. 22 And you will have taken a bunch of hyssop, and you will have dipped |
| 24 |
24 “And you shall have kept this word as a statute for you and for your sons ¹onward of time immemorial.¹ 25 And it will have been when you will enter unto the land which Yăhwēh will give to you, as that he has spoken, then you will have kept this service. 26 And it will have been that your sons will say unto you, ‘What |
| 28 | 28a Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28b Then they went. Then the sons of Yisra’ēl did so. As that Yăhwēh had commanded Mōshēh and A̓harōn, so they had done |
|
29 Then it was in the middle of the night, and Yăhwēh had struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Phara̒ōh, who |
|
| 33 |
33 Then Egypt prevailed upon the people to hurry, to send them out of the land, because they had said, “All of us |
| 34 |
34 Then the people carried its dough before it became¹ leavened, their kneading-bowls being bound in their cloaks upon their shoulders. 35 And the sons of Yisra’ēl ¹had done according to the word of Mōshēh. Then they asked from Egypt |
| 38 |
38 And also a mixed multitude had gone up with them, and flock |
| 39 |
39 Then they baked the dough, which they had brought out from Egypt, |
| 40 |
40 And the sojourn of the sons of Yisra’ēl† (who had dwelled in Egypt) was thirty year |
| 42 |
42 A night watch it |
| 43 |
43 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh and A̓harōn, “This |
| 49 |
49 One Law‡ shall be for the native, and for the sojourner, the |
| 50 |
50 Therefore did all the sons of Yisra’ēl. As that Yăhwēh had commanded Mōshēh and A̓harōn, so they had done. 51 Therefore, it was in that very day, |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 2 “Make to be specially set apart unto me all the firstborn, the opener of every womb among the sons of Yisra’ēl, of¹ man and of beast: to me it |
| 3 | 3 Then Mōshēh said unto the people, “Remember this day, that you have gone out from Egypt, out of the house of slaves, because by a strong hand Yăhwēh has brought you out from this place. And no leavened bread may be eaten. |
| 4 |
4 This day you |
| 5 |
5 And it will have been, when Yăhwēh will bring you into the land of the Kena‘ani̱, and the Ḥitti̱, and the E̓mōri̱, and the Ḥivvi̱, and the Yevūsi̱, which he swore himself to your fathers to give to you, a land flowing |
| 6 |
6 Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day |
| 8 |
8 And you will have declared to your son in that day, saying, “On account |
| 9 | 9 And it will have been to you as a sign upon your hand, and as a memorial between your eyes, in order that the law of Yăhwēh may be in your mouth, because with a strong hand Yăhwēh has brought you out of Egypt. |
| 10 | 10 And you will have kept this statute at its appointed time from days to days.† |
| 11 |
11 And it will have been, when Yăhwēh will bring you into the land of the Kena‘ani̱, as that he has sworn himself to you and to your fathers, and he will have given it to you, 12 then you will have made pass by for Yăhwēh every opener of the womb, and every opener of the young of a beast which will come to you. The males |
| 14 |
14 And it have been, when your son will ask you |
| 16 | 16 And it will have been as a sign upon your hand, and as circlets† between your eyes, because by strength of hand Yăhwēh had made us go forth from Egypt. |
| 17 |
17 Then it was, in Phara̒ōh’s sending the people, that the Almĭghty had not led them |
| 18 |
18 Then the Almĭghty turned the people around, |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 2 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl. And let them turn back and let them encamp at the face of Pi̱ Haḥi̱rōtʰ, between Migdōl and between the sea, at the face of Ba‘al Tsephōn. In front of it you shall camp by the sea. 3 And Phara̒ōh has said concerning the sons of Yisra’ēl, ‘They are confused in the land; the wilderness has shut upon them.’ 4 And I have strengthened the heart of Phara̒ōh, and he has pursued after them. And I will be glorified by Phara̒ōh, and by all his army. And Egypt will have known that I |
| 5 |
5 ¹Therefore |
| 8 |
8 Then Yăhwēh strengthened the heart of Phara̒ōh king of Egypt.† Then he pursued after the sons of Yisra’ēl, and the sons of Yisra’ēl |
| 11 |
11 Then they said unto Mōshēh, “ |
| 13 |
13 Then Mōshēh said unto the people, “May you not fear! Station yourselves, and see the salvation of Yăhwēh, which he will work for you today, because |
| 15 |
15 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Why do you cry unto me?† Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and let them pull out. 16 And you, raise your rod, and stretch your hand over the sea, and break it. Then the sons of Yisra’ēl shall go in the midst of the sea on dry ground. 17 And I, behold, I |
| 19 |
19 Then the Messenger of the Almĭghty, who |
| 21 |
21 Therefore |
| 24 |
24 Then it was in the watch of the daybreak.† Then Yăhwēh looked down into the formation¹ of Egypt in the pillar of fire and of cloud. Then he vexed the formation of Egypt. 25 Then, he took off the wheel |
| 26 |
26 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Stretch your hand over the sea. Then the waters will return, upon Egypt, upon his chariot |
| 28 |
28 Therefore |
| 30 | 30 Therefore, Yăhwēh saved Yisra’ēl on that day out of the hand of Egypt. Then Yisra’ēl saw Egypt dead upon the lip of the sea. |
| 31 |
31 Therefore, |
| 1 |
1 At that time¹ Mōshēh and the sons of Yisra’ēl sang this song to Yăhwēh. Then they said, saying, “Let me sing to Yăhwēh, because being exalted, he has been exalted. The horse and his rider he has cast in the sea. 2 Yăh |
| 10 |
10 You have blown with your wind. The sea has covered them. They have sunk as lead in the majestic waters. 11 Who |
| 16 |
16 Terror and dread falls upon them. By the greatness of your arm they are as silent as a stone until your people pass over, Yăhwēh, onward when this people pass over |
| 19 |
19 For the horse |
| 20 | 20 Then Miryam the prophetess, the sister of A̓harōn, took a tambourine in her hand. Then all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. 21 Then Miryam responded to them, “Sing to Yăhwēh, because being exalted, he has been exalted. The horse and his rider has he hurled into the sea.” |
| 22 |
22 Then Mōshēh pulled Yisra’ēl up from the End Sea. Then they went forth unto the wilderness of Shūr. Then they walked three days in the wilderness, and they had found no water. 23 Then they came to Marah, and they had not been able drink of the waters from Marah, because they |
| 24 |
24 Then the people were being complainers¹ against Mōshēh, saying, “What will we drink?” 25 Then he cried out unto Yăhwēh. Then Yăhwēh shot¹ him a tree. Then he cast |
| 26 |
26 Then he said, “If listening you will listen to the voice of Yăhwēh your Almĭghty, and you will do the right¹ |
| 27 |
27 Then they came to¹ Ē̓lim, and there |
| 1 |
1 Then they pulled up from Ē̓lim. Then came all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl unto the wilderness of Si̱n, which |
| 2 | 2 Then all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl lodged a complaint¹ against Mōshēh and against A̓harōn in the wilderness. 3 Then the sons of Yisra’ēl said unto them, “Who† can give us death by the hand of Yăhwēh in the land of Egypt, when we sat¹ over the flesh pot, when we ate² bread to the full, because you have made us go out unto this wilderness to kill³ all this congregation with hunger!”‡ |
| 4 |
4 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Behold, I |
| 6 |
6 Then Mōshēh and A̓harōn said unto all the sons of Yisra’ēl, “At setting, then you will have known that Yăhwēh has brought you out from the land of Egypt. 7 And |
| 8 |
8 Then Mōshēh said, “In Yăhwēh’s giving to you at the setting flesh to eat, and bread at the daybreak to the ¹full, because of† Yăhwēh’s listening to your lodged complaints which you |
| 9 | 9 Then Mōshēh said unto A̓harōn, “Say unto all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl, ‘Come near before the face of Yăhwēh, because he has heard your ¹complaints. 10 Then it was, as A̓harōn spoke unto all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl, then they turned toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of Yăhwēh had been seen in the cloud. |
| 11 |
11 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 12 “I have heard the complaints¹ of the sons of Yisra’ēl. Speak unto them, saying, ‘Between the settings you will eat flesh, and in the daybreak you shall be filled with bread. And you will have known that I |
| 13 |
13 Then it was in the setting, then the quail came up, then it covered the camp. And in the daybreak, a coating of dew had been round about the camp. 14 Then the coating of dew went up, and behold, upon the face of the wilderness a thin |
| 16 |
16 “This is the Word† which Yăhwēh has made to be commanded, “Gather from it each man according to the mouth¹ of his eating, an ō̒mer to the ‡head, according to the number of your souls, each man for whoever |
| 17 |
17 Then the sons of Yisra’ēl did so. They they gathered, the |
| 19 |
19 Then Mōshēh said unto them, “Let no man leave from it until daybreak.” 20 And they had not listened unto Mōshēh. Therefore |
| 22 |
22 Then it was, on the sixth day they had gathered double bread, two ō̒mer |
| 23 |
23 Then he said unto them, “It |
| 25 |
25 Then Mōshēh said, “Eat it today, because a rest |
| 27 |
27 Then it was on the seventh day, some had gone out from the people to gather, and they had found none. 28 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Until when will you have refused to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, since Yăhwēh has given to you the rest, consequently he |
| 31 |
31 Then the house of Yisra’ēl called the name of it †mǎn. And it |
| 32 |
32 (Therefore, Mōshēh said, “This |
| 35 |
35 And the sons of Yisra’ēl had eaten the mǎn forty year |
| 1 |
1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl pulled up from the wilderness of Si̱n, by their †pulling ups, according to the mouth of Yăhwēh. Then they encamped in Rephi̱di̱m, and |
| 3 |
3 Therefore |
| 4 |
4 Then Mōshēh cried unto Yăhwēh, saying, “What will I do for this people? |
| 5 |
5 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Pass by at the face of the people, and take with you |
| 7 | 7 Then he called the name of the place Massah, and Meri̱v̱ah, over the contention of the sons of Yisra’ēl, and over their testing Yăhwēh, saying, “Is Yăhwēh in the midst of us, or not?” |
| 8 |
8 Then came A̒malēq. Then he made¹ war against Yisra’ēl in Rephi̱di̱m. 9 Then Mōshēh said unto Yehōshūa̒, “Choose for us men, and go out, make¹ war against A̒malēq. Tomorrow I |
| 12 |
12 And the hands of Mōshēh |
| 13 | 13 Therefore, Yehōshūa̒ prostrated A̒malēq and his people with the mouth of the sword. |
| 14 |
14 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Write this |
| 1 | 1 Then Yitʰrō, the priest of Midyan, Mōshēh’s in-law, heard all which the Almĭghty had done for Mōshēh, and for Yisra’ēl his people, because Yăhwēh had brought Yisra’ēl out of Egypt. 2 Then Yitʰrō, Mōshēh’s in-law, took Tzippōrah, Mōshēh’s wife, after her being sent for, 3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gērshōm, because he had said, “A sojourner I have been in a foreign land,” 4 and the name of the other was E̓li̱‘ezer, “because the Almĭghty of my father, in helping me, then he delivered me from the sword of Phara̒ōh.” |
| 5 |
5 Then Yitʰrō, Mōshēh’s in-law, came, and his sons, and his wife unto Mōshēh, unto the wilderness which he |
| 8 |
8 Then Mōshēh recounted to his in-law all which Yăhwēh had done to Phara̒ōh and to Egypt on Yisra’ēl’s account, all the travail which had found them on the way. Then Yăhwēh delivered them. 9 Then Yitʰrō rejoiced over all the good which Yăhwēh had done for Yisra’ēl, |
| 10 | 10 Then Yitʰrō said, “Blessed be Yăhwēh, who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Phara̒ōh, who has delivered the people from under the hand of Egypt. 11 Now I have been knowing that Yăhwēh is greater than all gods. Yea, in the matter which they have dealt proudly against them.” |
| 12 | 12 Then Yitʰrō, Mōshēh’s in-law, took an ascending-offering and sacrifices for the Almĭghty. Then A̓harōn came, and all the elders of Yisra’ēl, to eat bread with Mōshēh’s in-law before the face of the Almĭghty. |
| 13 | 13 Then it was in the day after, then Mōshēh sat to judge the people. Then the people stood about Mōshēh from the daybreak unto the setting. 14 Then when Mōshēh’s in-law saw all which he was doing for the people, then he said, “What is this thing which you are doing for the people? For what reason are you sitting yourself alone, and all the people are standing about you from daybreak unto setting?” |
| 15 |
15 Then Mōshēh said to his in-law, “Because the people come unto me to inquire of the Almĭghty. 16 When there will be a matter² for them, it |
| 17 |
17 Then Mōshēh’s in-law said unto him, “The thing which you are doing is not good. 18 Wearing down you will wear down, even you, even this people which is with you, because the thing is heavier than you. You will not be able to perform it yourself alone. 19 Now listen to my voice. Let me give you counsel, and let the Almĭghty be with you. Be yourself for the people in front of the Almĭghty, and you will have brought yourself the matters unto the Almĭghty. 20 And you will have taught them the statutes and the instructions, and you will have made known to them the way they should walk ¹in, and the work which they must² do. 21 And you shall observe out of all the people able men, fearers of the Almĭghty, men of truth, haters of unjust gain, and you will have set over them, to be officials of thousands, officials of hundreds, officials of fifties, and officials of tens. 22 And they will have judged the people at all times, and it will have been, |
| 24 | 24 Then Mōshēh listened to the voice of his in-law. Then he did all which he had said. 25 Then Mōshēh chose able men out of all Yisra’ēl. Then he made them heads over the people, officials of thousands, officials of hundreds, officials of fifties, and officials of tens. 26 And they had judged the people at all times. The hard matters they brought unto Mōshēh, and every small matter they judged themselves. 27 Then Mōshēh sent his in-law away. Then he went for himself unto his land. |
| 1 | 1 In the third new moon† of the going out sons of Yisra’ēl from the land of Egypt, in that day, they had entered the wilderness of Si̱nai. |
| 2 |
2 Therefore |
| 3 |
3 And Mōshēh had ascended unto the Almĭghty. Then Yăhwēh called unto him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you will say to the house of Ya‘aqōv̱, and you will declare to the sons of Yisra’ēl. 4 You have seen what I have done to Egypt. Then I carried you on wings of eagles. Then I made you come unto me. 5 And now, if listening you will listen to¹ my voice, and you will have kept my covenant, then you will have become to me a possession from‡ all the peoples, because all the earth |
| 7 | 7 Then Mōshēh came. Then he called for the elders of the people. Then he set before their faces all these words which Yăhwēh had commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together. Then they said, “All that Yăhwēh has spoken we will do.” Then Mōshēh returned the words of the people unto Yăhwēh. |
| 9 |
9 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Behold, I |
| 10 | 10 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Go unto the people, and you will have made them to be holy, today and tomorrow.† And they will have washed their garments. 11 And they will have been ready for the third day, because on the third day Yăhwēh will descend before the eyes of all the people upon mount Si̱nai.” |
| 12 |
12 “And you will have set bounds¹ |
| 14 | 14 Then Mōshēh descended from the mountain unto the people. Then he made to be holy the people. Therefore, they made to be washed their garments. 15 Then he said unto the people, “Be readied for the third of the days. You may not draw near unto a woman.” |
| 16 |
16 Then it was, on the third day, at the coming of daybreak, then there were thunders† and lightnings, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound‡ of a very mighty trumpet. Then all the people trembled, that |
| 17 |
17 Then Mōshēh brought forth the people to meet the Almĭghty from the camp. Then they stationed themselves at the base of the mountain. 18 And mount Si̱nai had smoked, the whole of it, from the face of |
| 20 |
20 Therefore |
| 21 |
21 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Descend, give warning against the people, lest they break forth unto Yăhwēh, to see, and many from it, will have fallen. 22 And also the priests, |
| 23 | 23 Then Mōshēh said unto Yăhwēh, “The people are not able to ascend unto mount Si̱nai, because you have given warning on us, saying, “Make bounded the mountain. And you will have made it to be set apart.” |
| 24 | 24 Then Yăhwēh said unto him, “Go, descend. And you will have ascended, you, and A̓harōn with you. And the priests and the people do not let them break through to ascend unto Yăhwēh, lest he should break forth upon them.” |
| 25 |
25 Then Mōshēh descended unto the people. Then he said |
| 1 |
1 Then the Almĭghty spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I |
| 3 | 3 “There may not be to you other gods in my face.” |
| 4 |
4 “You may not make for yourself an idol, and any likeness which |
| 5 |
5 “You shall not bow yourself down to them, and you shall not serve them, because I Yăhwēh your Almĭghty |
| 7 |
7 “You may not carry the name of Yăhwēh your Almĭghty for nothing, because Yăhwēh will not acquit |
| 8 |
8 “Remember the day of the rest, to make it to be set apart. 9 Six days you may labor, and will have done all your work. 10 And the seventh day |
| 12 |
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the soil which Yăhwēh your Almĭghty |
| 13 | 13 “You may not murder.” |
| 14 | 14 “You may not commit adultery.” |
| 15 | 15 “You may not steal.” |
| 16 | 16 “You may not answer against your neighbor as a false witness.” |
| 17 |
17 “You may not desire the house of your neighbor. You may not desire the wife of your neighbor, and his man-servant, and his maid-servant, and his ox, and his donkey, and anything that |
| 18 |
18 And all the people |
| 19 |
19 Then they said unto Mōshēh, “You speak with us, and let us hear. And may the Almĭghty not speak with us, lest we should die.” 20 Then Mōshēh said unto the people, “You should not fear, because with a goal to test you, the Almĭghty has come, and with the goal |
| 21 |
21 Then the people stood afar off, and Mōshēh had drawn himself¹ near unto the murkiness where the Almĭghty |
| 22 | 22 Then Yăhwēh said unto Mōshēh, “Thus you will say unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, ‘You yourselves have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you. 23 You may not make alongside me gods of silver. And gods of gold, you may not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you may make for me, and you will have sacrificed upon it your ascending-offerings, and your peace-offerings, your sheep, and your cattle. In every place which I make remembered my name, I will come unto you and I will have made you to be blessed. 25 And if an altar of stones you may make me, you shall not build it of hewn stones. Since if you will have made swing your chisel¹ upon it, then you will defile it. 26 And you may not ascend by steps¹ upon mine altar, that your nakedness be not uncovered upon it.” |
| 1 | 1 “And these are the judgments which you will set before their faces.” |
| 2 |
2 “When you may buy a Hebrew man‡ servant, |
| 3 |
3 “If he should come by himself, he will go out by himself. If he |
| 4 |
4 “If his †Master should give him a wife, and she will have borne to him sons or daughters, |
| 5 | 5 And if the servant saying, he will say, “I have been loving my master, my wife, and my sons. I will not go out free,” 6 then his Master will have drawn him near unto the ‡Almĭghty. And he will have drawn him near unto the door, or unto the doorpost, and his Master will have pierced his ear with an awl, and he will have served him for ever.” |
| 7 | 7 “And when a man may sell his daughter as a †handmaid, she may not go out as the going out of the men-servants.” |
| 8 |
8 “If |
| 9 |
9 “And if one will appoint her for his son, |
| 10 |
10 “If one will take for himself another wife, |
| 12 |
12 “One striking a man, and he has died, death he will be made die. 13 And |
| 15 | 15 “And one striking his father, and his mother, death he will be made die.” |
| 16 | 16 “And and one stealing a man, and he has sold him, and he has been found in his hand, death he will be made die.” |
| 17 | 17 “And one cursing his father and his mother, death he will be made to die.” |
| 18 |
18 “And when men may contend, and a man has struck his fellow with a stone, or with a fist, and he does not die, and he has fallen into bed, 19 if he will rise, and has walked about on the outside upon his staff, then the one striking will have been acquitted. Only he shall compensate his resting, and healing he will make |
| 22 |
22 And when men struggle |
| 26 | 26 “And when a man strike the eye of his man servant, or the eye of his maid, and will have made it to be ruined, he shall send him out as ¹free for² his eye. 27 And if the tooth of his man servant or the tooth of his maid he will make to fall out, he will send him out as free for his tooth.” |
| 28 |
28 “And when an ox may gore a man or a woman and he will have died, |
| 32 | 32 “If the ox gores a man-servant or a maid, there will be given to his Master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” |
| 33 |
33 “And when a man may open a pit, or when a man may dig a pit and he may not cause it to be covered, and an ox or a donkey has fallen thitherward, 34 |
| 35 |
35 “And when a man’s ox may strike the ox of his fellow, and it will have died, then they will have sold the living ox, and they will have divided its silver, and also the dead |
| 36 |
36 “Or it has been known that the ox, a gorer he |
| 1 |
1 “When a man may steal an ox, or a sheep, and will have slaughtered it, or will have sold it, |
| 2 |
2 If while breaking in, the ¹thief is found, and he has been struck, and he has died, |
| 4 | 4 If being found, it shall be found, the theft in his hand alive, from an ox, even to a donkey, even to a sheep, twofold he will pay. |
| 5 |
5 When a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be grazed, and he shall have made to be sent his beast, and it will have ¹grazed in another field, |
| 6 |
6 When fire may go forth, and it will have found thorns, and will have been eaten a ¹stack, or the standing grain, or the field, |
| 7 |
7 When a man shall give unto his fellow silver or articles to watch, and it will have been stolen out of the house of the man, |
| 8 |
8 If the thief should not be found, then the master of the house shall have been drawn near unto the Almĭghty, |
| 9 |
9 Over every matter of transgression, over an ox, over a donkey, over a sheep, over clothing, over anything lost, which one will say that, “This |
| 10 | 10 When a man may give to his neighbor a donkey or ox or sheep, and any beast to guard, and it has died or it has been broken, or it has been taken captive |
| 15 |
15 The feast of unleavened bread you shall keep. A seven of days you shall eat unleavened bread as that I have commanded you, at the appointed time, |
| 22 |
22 And the feast of Shav̱ū‘ōt you shall do, the first fruits of the harvest of wheat, and the feast of the ingathering |
1:10¹ ^ Yisra’ēl is referred to as “him” in Hebrew in the following narrative. See Numbers 20:19 for an example of Edom being called “him.”
1:10² ^Read, upon grammatical grounds, תִּקְרָאֵֽנוּ for תִקְרֶאנָה: so Sam. LXX. Pesh. Vulg. Onk. Di. &c.; cf. G.-K. § 47k. The MT reads 3fp for a 3fs subject: מִלְחָמָה, i.e. “when war (3fs) they will call,” resulting in a disagreement of the number of the verb and the number of its subject.
1:16¹ ^ The Hebrew is waw conjunctive, “and”, but the use of if in the preceding clause requires discourse level English to require then to follow in the next.
1:19¹ ^ Hebrew: and; On condition A, then condition B. Hebrew states this as On condition A, and condition B, but it is necessary to translate “then” in English.
1:20‡ ^Let’s work out the average growth rate since the flood of world population. P = P0 x e^(rate x time). P = 7 billion in 2012. Time = 4495 years. P0 = 6 initial people. The answer is rate = 0.4645%. 7x10^9 = 6 x e^(0.4645% x 4495). World population is currently growing at 1.14% or more than double the average. Rates in some countries go higher than 5%. For example Niger’s birth rate was 51.08 per 1000. or 5.108%. Uganda was at 4.755% for 2010. If we suppose an average growth rate of 2% in the 852 years after the flood in 2483 BC until the exodus in 1632 BC, then world population will be: 150,844,410. Then Israel spent 210 years in Egypt starting with about 150 people (counting women). So P = 150*E^(5%*210) = 5,447,325. 5% might be a bit high. At 4.7% growth, P = 2,901,201, or about 3 million people at the same rate as Uganda in 2010. That would make the population of Israel at the time of the Exodus about 2% of the total world population. These are only rough figures to show that the increase in Egypt was reasonable against the overall world population growth rates.
1:21¹ ^ houses. At the time of the midwives, at least 80 years before the Exodus, the population of Israel was P = 150 x E^(4.7% x 130) = 67,551. This implies about 3174 births per year or 1587 per midwife. That is about 4-5 births per day/midwife. It is likely that the midwives had several apprentices each, or that they ran a school, and were the head midwives. If they each had 5 women working under them, then each midwife might only have to handle 1 birth each day. Or, more likely, most Hebrew women would not use a professional midwife, but simply resort to a relative to help. If 80% of Hebrew women did not make use of the professional midwife, then two midwives would have handled only 1 birth each day. The king could well believe that Hebrew women were not using the midwives, or that they were calling them late if they had to use them. And the Hebrew midwives could have serviced Egyptians as well.
2:1† ^ Yōḳev̱ed was a direct daughter of Lēvi̱. See Num. 26:59. The translations that call her here a Levite or say “a daughter of Levi” in an indefinite sense are incorrect (JPS, TNK, ESV, NIV, CJB!, NLT, NASB, KJV, HCSB, ISV, NET!). This matter is most important, as it fulfilled the promise of deliverance in the fourth generation, and these generations are 1. Ya‘aqov̱, 2. Lēvi̱, 3. Yōḳev̱ed, 4. Mōshēh. Not one of the translations I have inspected has it right except YLT. The Hebrew uses the definite direct object marker: אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִי. Ellicot’s Commentary, and the Pulpit Commentary declares it impossible because of the assumed 400 year chronology in Egypt. However, they were only in Egypt for 210 years. The translators and the traditions have voided the word of Gŏd here and denied Gen. 15:16.
2:3¹ ^ = bank, edge. Hebrew idiom. Anthropomorphism.
2:5¹ ^ = side, edge. Hebrew idiom. Anthropomorphism. Compare this with the English idiom, “eye of the storm” which indicates a location at the center of the storm. The hands are at the side of the body.
2:6¹ ^ אֶת־הַיֶּלֶד. Not generic. This is a special boy, a deliverer.
2:8† ^ הָעַלְמָה a̔lmah. The clinical Hebrew word for virgin is the same word as used in Isa. 7:14 for the virgin birth prophecy. The natural reaction of any sister would be to say “That’s my baby brother, let me take him!” The virgin girl by her quick thinking bears salvation, because by offering him up, she has saved him, and provided salvation to her house. It does not seem accidental that the man whose name means ‘Yăhwēh saves’ was born of a virgin whose name was Miryam. Just as Mōshēh saved his people, so also Messiah saves his people.
2:10† ^ מֹשֶׁ֔ה mōsheh = drawing. The name Mōsheh is the Qal participle of the verb root משׁה m-sh-h (cf. TWOT). The Qal present participle is spelled full as מוֹשֶׁה mōsheh. Although roots are often listed with vowels of the 3rd person singular perfect, i.e. מָשָׁה mashah =
If we suppose that the princess know no Hebrew, she did know the mother of Mōsheh. Vs. 9-10a imply that some time had passed between the princess drawing, מוֹשֶׁה, from the water. It is not impossible that a Hebrew name was suggested to her by Mōsheh’s mother, nor impossible that they had a talk afterward about what happened at the river
2:9† ^ הֵילִיכִי hæli̱ḳi̱: cause to walk!; the term implies that his mother is to bring him up and instruct him for as long as the princess wanted. Imperative, fem. singular.
2:11¹ ^ then.
2:12¹ ^ כֹּה וָכֹה kōh wa-kōh. Idiom, here and here.
2:13¹ ^ Niphal participle, reflexive. struggling themselves.
2:13² ^ רָשָׁע rasha̒; wicked, criminal.
2:14¹ ^ אַתָּה אֹמֵר a̓ttah o̓mær = you speaking. The style appears to be street language.
2:15¹ ^ The text does not say all the places that he stayed or went. It suffices to say that he stayed at least one other place in Midyan before coming upon the well.
2:17¹ ^ ם-: The Hebrew ending is 3mp. It appears that Hebrew does not require a perfect gender agreement here.
2:17† ^ Mōshēh is a type of Saviour, Messiah.
2:21† ^ As Messiah was willing to become a man and dwell with man.
2:21¹ ^ = bird, Birdy, Birdette.
2:22¹ ^ גֵּרְשֹׁם = sojourner there, from גֵּר and שָׁם.
2:23ᵦ ^ הָעֲבֹדָה = the slavery; generic article.
2:23¹ ^ Then next. The sequence is not denying that they groaned before the king died. But it is focusing on the groaning after he died. The sequence given here is a literary extraction out of a mass of events that were happening all at the same time. The author has chosen to focus on a particular sequential stream of events for which the waw consecutives hold true in the sense of “then next.”
2:23² ^ This crying out is after the groaning. After being in misery for a time, they directed their cries to Gŏd.
2:24¹ ^ The sequence given here is a sample of a much more complex situation. Logically hearing the cry comes after the cry.
2:24² ^ After hearing, he remembers.
2:25¹ ^ After remembering, he looks.
2:25² ^ After he looks, he notices their evil treatment. Of course this whole sequence played out at different times, and the author is just putting one example here as representative of the whole
2:25† ^ = then the Almĭghty knew; וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים wayyæda̒; the language here is not anthropomorphistic. An anthropomorphism is when a human body part or quality is used to mean something less than literally human. The text really does mean that he looked at their national misery and noticed their evil treatment. The Hebrew is the word for “know”: וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים = then the Almighty knew. The waw consecutive is a temporal adverb or states a conclusion. At that time, or then next he knew. Or if concluding, then therefore he knew (because he looked). The language used is not that of any recognized anthropomorphistic figure of speech, yet the theologians declare it so because they have assumed God does not really think inside time.
3:1¹ ^ = his excellence, his abundance. From the root יָתַר yatar = to abound, plus the 3ms pronoun ending. The name is properly a title. Therefore Yitʰrō is a title, “His excellence.”
3:1² ^ אַחַר = a̓ḥar = after part, backside. If people typically live on one side of a range of mountains, but not on the other, then the other side of the range is called the backside of the wilderness.
3:1³ ^ אֶל־הַר הָאֱלֹהִים חֹרֵבָה = e̓l-har ha-e̓lōhi̱m ḥōrævah. ḥōrævah = ḥōræv + ah (directional heh) = “the mountain of the Almĭghty, toward Ḥōræv̱.” The word Ḥōræv̱ means “be in ruins, be destroyed, dry up”; it is from the participle (חוֹרֵב) of the root חָרַב. Ḥōræv is the desolate mountain area in NW Arabia, on the east side of the Gulf of Aqaba. The texts says “toward Ḥōræv̱” using the directional heh. The specific mountain he was on is not identified as Ḥōræv̱, but it is in Ḥōræv̱, and the wilderness on the east side of the chain associated with Mt. Si̱nai̱ is called “the wilderness of Si̱nai̱”; it is still reckoned to be in Ḥōræv̱. The specific mountain is Si̱nai̱, derived from the word “bush” hence named after this encounter at the burning bush. According to Alfred Jones Si̱nai̱ means: “Bush of Y(ah)” from the word bush: סְנֶה seneh. The term “mountain of Gŏd” (which may be anachronistic) evokes connections to Æ̒den and the tree of life. Perhaps under this mountain chain was the ruined remnant of Æ̒den? See Ezek. 28:14-16. It also evokes connections to the Temple and Jerusalem. See Dan. 9:20; Rev. 21:10; Mic. 4:2. We may not say for certain that phrase “mountain of Gŏd” is here an anachronism, but it seems likely as far as the vernacular is concerned. In Gal. 4:25, Paul says that Mt. Si̱nai̱ lines up with Jerusalem (συστοιχεῖ). Indeed a heading of 358.92° (1.08° off of North) will go directly through the temple mount.
3:2¹ ^ the definite article is required in English because Messenger (מַלְאַךְ) is in construct followed by a definite noun (Yăhwēh). All proper nouns are definite. If the non-construct noun is definite in meaning, then the construct noun is also definite in meaning. Further, I capitalize Messenger, because this Messenger is in fact Yăhwēh himself.
3:2² ^ The absolute noun is the second noun in a construct phrase. The first noun is the construct noun. In the phrase “a flame of fire”, “flame” is construct, and “fire” is absolute. Since “fire” is indefinite, so also is “flame”, thus I translate with the indefinite article “a”.
3:2³ ^ The Hebrew has the definite article here: הַסְּנֶה = “the bush” has-seneh. But this bush has not been mentioned before. This usage is called generic, and only rarely exists in English, such as when we say “The horse runs fast.” We are not talking about any particular horse, but only the horse as a class. The sense might be approached by saying, “He is in the bush.” This means that someone is out in the backcountry.
3:3¹ ^ Read Piel: יְבֹעַר yiv̱ō‘ar = be made to be burned.
3:5¹ ^ Hebrew: on him (it).
3:5² ^ Hebrew: ground of holiness = holy ground. The construct state is often used in place of an adjective and a noun. In Joshua 5:15 it says, “because the place which you are standing on him (it), holy he (it) [is].” Here also it says, “which you are standing on him (it), ground of holiness, he (it) [is].” The construct could be used to avoid having to use the feminine pronoun “she” (הִיא hi̱’) to describe the ground, since ground is feminine in gender, and would require a feminine adjective, and be referred to with a feminine pronoun. Even if this is a bit speculative, the language does not lend itself to the notion of the sacredness of “mother earth.” The words are a divine utterance, and Yăhwēh could be expressing a subtle awareness to avoid making it easy for pagans to rationalise a sacred mother earth goddess.
3:7¹ ^ A typical Hebrew pronoun switch that English does not like. “His” refers to “Yisra’æl” and “my people”. The reader needs to put up with this awkwardness because the singular pronoun continues to be used.
3:7² ^ Hebrew: pressers.
3:7³ ^ Hebrew: his (its).
3:10¹ ^ The words “now come” don’t literally mean to come or go anywhere, but are used in the sense of the English, “Come on now” as an imperative to come to some sort of agreement. The paragogoic heh on the end of come (לְכָה) seems to make the interjection less imperative and more an effort at persuasion, like the heh left intact for jussives and cohortatives.
3:12¹ ^ = I sent I have you = I, I have sent you. The use of the pronoun with the verb makes it more emphatic. In English this would be expressed, “I myself.”
3:12² ^ Ḥōræv̱ was the general term for that mountain country. Mt. Si̱nai̱ was the name of the specific mountain in Ḥōræv̱ accessable from the east side of the range. The words עַל־הַר סִינָי a̒l har Si̱nai̱ appear in Ex. 19:11, 20; 24:16; Neh. 9:13. Ḥōræv̱ typically appears as “in Ḥōræv̱” בְּחֹרֵב be ḥōræv and never as “upon Ḥōræv̱”*; It therefore appears that Ḥōræv̱ is the whole mountain chain and associated wildernesses, and Si̱nai̱ is the specific mountain, and the wilderness of Si̱nai̱ is the specific desert next to the mountain.
3:13† ^ or “What is his reputation?” or “What is he known for?” The Hebrew conveys the idea of renown or fame, especially in a context like this. English once used “name” in this way: “Does he have a good name?” Yisra’ēl was beginning to wonder at this time what Gŏd had done for them. As far as most were concerned, he had abandoned them to misery and slavery. There were many gods in Egypt, and each one had a name, or fame, or reputation for overseeing some corner of the creation. They would be asking, “What can he do for us?”
3:14† ^ אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה e̓hyēh a̓sher e̓hyēh. The traditional MT Hebrew lends itself to several translations, “I will be who I will be;” “I am who I am.” “I am who I will be;” “I will be who I am;” “I be who I be.” The traditional rendition is at first an enigmatic answer, a puzzle. In terms of the question Mōshēh asked on behalf of Yisra’ēl, the answer is: my reputation is what my reputation is. This is somewhat of a non answer, since anyone can utter it. Everyone is who they are. Everyone will be what they will be, and is what they are. Any finite deity could make the same assertion, and it would be a philosopher giving lesser beings the run around. There is a more satisfying answer.
The Hebrew could be understood as Piel: אֲהַיֶּה אֲשֶׁר אֲהַיֶּה a̓hayyēh a̓sher a̓hayyēh. “I will make to be happening what I will make to be happening.” Or it could be undertood as Hiphil: אֲהַיֶּה אֲשֶׁר אֲהַיֶּה = ª̓hayyēh a̓sher ª̓hayyēh = I will make happen what I will make happen. It is only a matter of supplying different vowel points. This can be related to the Hiphil of the cognate verb הוה, in the third person: יַהֲוֶה אֲשֶׁריַהֲוֶה yahªwēh a̓sher yahªwēh = he makes happen what he will make happen. This can be related to the Hiphil of the first person in the same cognate root: אַהֲוֶה אֲשֶׁר אַהֲוֶה a̓hªwēh a̓sher a̓hªwēh = I will make happen what I will make happen. I explain the divine name as the Hiphil of הוה, suggested by W.F. Albright. So accordingly, it appears that the orginal statement was in the Hiphil: אֲהַיֶּה אֲשֶׁר אֲהַיֶּה = ª̓hayyēh a̓sher ª̓hayyēh = I make happen what I will make happen. The second half of this statement may be taken in the cohortative, “I want to make happen” or “I will to make happen” or “I wish to make happen.”
This answer is much more satisfying since Gŏd is now saying that he makes happen what he will make happen. He is in control of everything. He is the Creator. And that is is reputation. He is the one who makes things happen. He makes happen whatever he wishes to make happen. This is a full and complete answer to their question, without any enigma or begging the question, and circular philosophizing about his being. Contrary to commentators assertions, “I am that I am” is not an assertion of absolute independent existence or eternity.
I make here a few more remarks on the divine name. Firstly, it will have been spelled יהוה in the days of Mōshēh, with four consonants, and not four vowels. This is because all the root letters of the roots הוה and היה are consonants. Likewise the preformatives י and א in יהוה, אהיה, אהוה are consonants, which is the implied etymology of the text. Now the higher critics like to call this explanation “I will make become” a folk tale, just like the derivation of Mōshēh’s name. They dismiss the textual explanation, and thus free themselves to speculate about theories of ways the divine name “used to be” written. They then bring in theoretical linguistic theories, which by no means refute what I am saying (such theories can even be used to support it), but they add much confusion to it, because the premise of most of those theories is that Hebrew has radically changed since the days of Mōshēh. Therefore, we get proposals of all sorts of pre-hebrew vowel pointing and verb conjugations based on vowel pointing (but never changing the consonants). These proposals have some value in explaining how Hebrew may have developed in the Patriarchal period, but since Hebrew was never written with vowels, no one can say at which date such developments happened, or really how fast they happened. Archaeological incriptions really prove very little, since they are so few, and since they lack vowel points, but always have the consonants. And I will have to say that most of the developments happened prior the patriarchs going to Canaan, and that by Mōshēh’s time the basic verbal conjugations of Hebrew were standardized. There were certainly outside influences, but that Mōshēh spoke something as radically different as pre-Norman (anglo-saxon) English is to Modern English must be dismissed. It may also be that proto-Canaanite continued parallel to Yisra’ēli̱ Hebrew for some time. The best evidence of Mōshēh’s Hebrew is the Tōrah itself, and the tradition of the standard Hebrew verb paradigms as handed down by the Jews. Everything else is speculation, or involves a great deal more speculation. The tradition should be accepted unless you can prove from an older tradition or the text itself that a more recent tradition is incorrect.
The text suggests the divine name is based on הוה hwh. This is like “Eve” חַוָּה is based on חוה “to live,” ḥwh an Aramaic root borrowed by Hebrew; (Compare this with חיה ḥyh “to live.”) The connection is suggested by אַהֲיֶה אֲשֶׁר אַהֲיֶה and the root of the same meaning הוה and the third person imperfect Hiphil of this is: יַהֲוֶה Yahªwēh. The semi vowel is merely to make sure the medial heh is sounded as a consonant. An aspiration will do. Though the sounded heh can often disappear in rapid speach. For example: יִהְיֶה yihyēh “he will be”. The name means “he will make happen,” “he will make become,” and from this idea is connected “he will create.” The present tense is also an option, “he makes become,” “he creates.” I should add that “he who was, who is, who is to come” is a Greek illustration from the name, using the meaning of the Greek “to be”: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν = “I am who I am being.” Rev. 1:18 repeats the idea, “ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος,” “who is being, who was, and who is coming.” This also connects the name with the root היה hyh. The phrase translates: הַהֹוֶה וְהָיָה וְיָבוֹא ha-hōwēh wehayah weyav̱ō’. The borrowed Aramaic root shows up in the participle: הֹוֶה. hōwēh. The LXX translation does not really answer Yisra’ēl’s question. What is his name? What is his reputation? An assertion of reflexive (or circular) existence does not answer it. But “He will make happen what he will make happen” does. Revelation thus completes the idea with the word ὁ παντοκράτωρ, “the all powerful,” which then implies creation. It should be emphasized that the traditional interpretation “I am who I am being,” and “I am who I am,” “I will be who I will be” is not an assertion of everlasting existence. It thus lacks the power of both the Hiphil rendition I have given and the illustration from Revelation. Yisra’ēl was looking for a divine deliverer who could make things happen, and not a philosopher saying “I am myself.” It should be noted that in John 8:58, Yēshūa̒ is not interpreting Ex. 3:14 for us, but he either uses a perfect in Hebrew, הָיִיתִי hayi̱ti̱ I have been (before Αβραὰμ), or a participle: אֲנִי הֹוֶה A̓ni̱ hōwēh = “I being (before),” or he says אֲנִי אֶהְיֶה A̓ni̱ e̓hyeh = “I be,” it does not mean he is interpreting Ex. 3:14. The suggestive connection to the text is via the LXX usage of ἐγὼ εἰμί, and the traditional translation. However, it does not mean He was making this connection. The connection I believe he is making is that He was the “Messenger of Yăhwēh” who appeared to the Patriarchs. (I used to see it the other way, but have come to realize that it is based on the LXX interpretation of the text.) Either way, Messiah’s divinity is being asserted.
One of the more popular cultic forms of the name are “yahuah.” The middle root letter has completely disappeared, which never happens in the two verbs assocated with the name, הוה and היה, in any matching paradigm. It may then be said that “yahuah” is meaningless in Hebrew. Another form, probably to repair this problem that has been put forth is “yahuwah.” But this creates another problem. The the medial consonant has been turned into both a vowel and a consonant “uw”. This likewise never happens in a matching verb paradigm. In both these forms the /u/ suggests a problematic meaning, i.e. the Pual: yehūwweh, which means “he will be made to be”! That is not exactly a flattering theological statement. Also the use of the /a/ vowel at the end /ah/ suggests a perfect form, but the text and name clearly point to derivation from an imperfect.
So what is it with the insistence on a final /a/ vowel. It is possible that they are misinterpreting the way the name is spelled in the Hebrew text: יְהוָה yehwah, and then proceeding from there to make corrections based on יָהּ and יָהוּ־. Since neither the short form of the name, or the theophoric suffix version indicate the final vowel, they feel that the final /a/ represents a correct final vowel. But the tradition tells us that the final /a/ is merely an indication that the reader should substitute A̓dōnai. Also the name is written יְהוִה (cf. Deut. 3:24; 9:26; Jos. 7:7, etc), 271 times, most frequently after אֲדֹנָי. This is to clue the reader to say “A̓dōnai Elōhi̱m” instead of saying “A̓dōnai A̓dōnai” twice in a row. The /i/ appears in that form instead of /a/ because Elōhi̱m אֱלֹהִים has a final /iy/. Likewise, the way prepositions are attached to the divine name point to the traditional explanation. The prepositions usually appear לְ, בְּ, כְּ when prefixed to words, but when a semi-vowel occurs under a guttural letter, such as אֲ, then the vowel is barrowed by the preposition to prevent two shewa’s from occuring in a row at the start of a word, and therefore, the prepositions are spelled בַּ, כַּ, לַ in front of the divine name. According to Hebrew, however, a double shewa situation before a non-guttural letter should make the prepositions appear as: לִ, כִּ, בִּ. For example Yehūdah occurs without a preposition: יְהוּדָה. But with the preposition as: לִיהוּדָה. Following the rule with the divine name, supposing the vowels really belong to it, then יְהוָה must become לִיהוָה. But this never happens. And that it never happens confirms what we know. The vowels are to indicate the substituion of A̓dōnai or Elōhi̱m.
In some Hebrew texts the /ō/ appears over the divine name also: יְהֹוָה. This has given rise to the pronunciation, yehōvah, yehōwah, and jehōvah. The יְהֹוָה form appears 44x in Codex Lennigradensis. The vowels from A̓dōnai are /a/ /o/ /a/. Why then does the first vowel not appear, e.g. יֲהֹוָה? The reason the semi vowel is not written is that it would give rise to saying יַה־. By putting a shewa, the scribes are forstalling an attempt to pronounce the name with the vowels, which are only there to point to the proper substitution, and not there to indicate any kind of pronunciation of the name.
It has been suggested that the short form of the divine name יָהּ Yah, comes about by taking the first and last letters of יְהוָה yeilding יָ”ה yeilding יָהּ. This theory is blown out of the water by the suffix יָהוּ־ -yahū. It is also not parsimonious to make this suggestion since there is no evidence of it except speculation.
Why all this confusion. 1. Religious Jews do not want non-Jews to know the divine name. 2. Religious Jews generally hate it when a non-Jew knows Hebrew better than they do. 3. Religious Jews do not want non-Jews adopting Jewish customs or traditions, or even Torah. But they will take your monetary support, and at the same time make sure you are not threatening their traditions by giving. The only exception is that they want you to become a Jew first, and follow their traditions and authority. 4. Ultimately Jewish tradition has the answers contained in it, but Jews do not want non-Jews to have a full or proper knowledge of it so that non-Jews may decide for themselves what the oldest and most proper historical tradition is. Jews themselves are hiding from their own tradition, expecially the messianic interpretations of ancient Rabbis. 5. Non-Jews usually figure out that Jews are following errant traditions faster than they can figure out that real Jewish traditional knowledge contains almost all the answers. It is not hard to figure out that suppression of the name is a bogus tradition after reading Exodus 3:14-15. The Rabbi has written the text on the board, “יהוה”, and then says to the class. “This means do not read the name.” And all the class says, “Yes teacher, yes teacher, to hear is to obey.” Therefore, the non-Jew is left to his or her own resources, because suddenly the non-Jew knows more than the Rabbi. Well, the non-Jew does know more than the Rabbi here, because the non-Jew can see that scripture will not support the tradition. The non Jew can recognize the problem, but not its solution. Therefore theories abound. Speculation multiplies, and exploiters exploit, and confusion reigns. Very few non-Jews are willing to reinvent what is being hidden. It takes very close and accurate scientific study of language. Meanwhile, the non-Jew has many false emotional commitments to battle in being able to correctly see the true results of study. The usual commitment is that all his friends subscribe to a particularly incorrect theory. And among those friends is at least one spiritual bully leading the pack, near the top, who will bully the seeking non-Jew into agreeing with the incorrect position. It is not suprising that this happens. Seekers are bullied everywhere, by the Church, by the Rabbis, and by every dogmatic false prophet. It is hard not to be a bully. It is hard to show people the facts, and trust Gŏd to let them make up their own minds. The lack of knowledge creates bullies. True knowlegde eliminates them, and their ability to exploit you.
The explanation I have given I accept because it fits the context, answers Yisra’ēl’s question forthrightly, and is the only explantion that makes sense of the form of the tetragrammaton. It enjoys the support of Haupt, W.F. Albright, David Freedman and Frank Cross.
Notes: an interesting form in Ex. 30:15: יַרְבֶּה yarbēh = “(the rich one) will (not) make [it] large, (and the poor will not make it small). The same pattern fits יַהְוֶה.” (2) The Hiphil of hwy (to be) is in Syriac (b-hebrew). According to R. Payne Smith’s Syriac dictionary, the meaning for Syriac of the Aphel of hwy is “give existence, create” and is used in the expression “O Divine power who hast given existence to all things.” (3) Opponents of the Hiphil often suggest that it does not occur in Hebrew. This objection is not like saying a lexical meaning does not occur. It is more like saying a certain grammatical arrangement does not manifest elsewhere, but in theory is possible to say, and if said is intelligible. The argument that something cannot be said because it was not said somewhere else in one’s experience is rather circular. There is the tendency of different stems of hebrew to be treated like different lexical meanings, as if a new stem is a completely new word. I have found this approach to be wrong over and over again, and a result of not understanding the system of conjugations. The different stems are a matter of syntax augmenting lexical meanings with uses of “be” “make to be” “be made to be” “make” “make self to be” “be made.”
3:14‡ ^ Read: אֲהַיֶּה ª̓hayyēh. This form leads directly to the divine name: יַהֲוֶה yahªwēh. The semi vowel is a shewa, sounding like the “a” in about. The verb “to be” in Hebrew takes two forms: הוה and היה. The words here could be rendered as a cohortative, “Let me make happen.” Gŏd is asking to act for them. Or it could be as a promise, “I will make happen.”
3:15† ^ or “reputation”; “renown.”
3:15¹ ^ to obsurity, to time immemorial.
3:15‡ ^ or “remembrance”
3:17¹ ^ possibly cohortative, “Let me bring you up...”
3:17² ^ or “gushing.”
3:18¹ ^ The journey was three days once one crossed to the backside of Ḥōræv̱ and came into the wilderness of Si̱nai̱. The three day journey is part of the third day theme connecting to Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection.
3:19¹ ^ i.e. he will never give his consent, even when forced to do so, it will not be by his consent. Therefore the NIV, NAS, ESV and even YLT are incorrect here. What consent he gave was unwilling, and he took back every consent he gave and his army perished in the sea. All the power of Gŏd did not make him truly willing. The KJV, GWT,ASV, DBY, WEB and NET are actually correct.
3:22† ^ Very likely, these were not the same 12th dynasty Egyptians that would not eat with the Semites in the time of Yōsæf when Egypt was unified under one king. They were Asiatics like Yisra̓æl, under the Hyksos (dynasty 15) in the delta region. In their effort to subjugate Yisra̓æl they took their men off to labour under their taskmasters, and installed, as it appears, Egyptian women in the houses of Yisra̓æl to be served and to keep an eye on them. The houses belonged to Yisra̓æl but they were expropriated by Egypt, and their owners turned into slaves. This is why nearly every house had an Egyptian lady in it, who had possession of the household wealth. This level of subjugation was well after the time of Mōshēh. It does not seem likely that the foreigners in the houses of Yisra’ēl were servants. For they had to have access to the wealth. Nor can it be assumed that any pure blooded Egyptians were slaves.
3:22¹ ^ = made to be delivered; the idea here is that they delivered Egypt of its goods.
4:1¹ ^ הֵן hæn = behold if, look if. English discourse rules render literalness impossible here.
4:1² ^ יַאֲמִינוּ לִי ya’ami̱nū li̱ = (what if) they will (not) make support to me.
4:1³ ^ = and not they will (listen)
4:2¹ ^ מַזֶּה mazzeh. The full spelling is: מַה־זֶּה mah zzeh.
4:3¹ ^ = groundward.
4:3² ^ = becomes, became.
4:5¹ ^ = support, affirm; Hiph: give support, make support.
4:6¹ ^ “1. lower, outer front of the body where loved ones (infants and animals) are pressed closely, lap, region of the kidneys, 2. fold of the garment, above the belt where hands were placed and property kept” (HALOT).
4:6² ^ = the snow. Generic use of the article.
4:8¹ ^ = and not they will listen.
4:8² ^ = witness, testimony.
4:8³ ^ or “confirm.”
4:9¹ ^ = and not they will listen! The paragogic nun is possibly intensive, i.e. Aramaic plural.
4:9² ^ Hebrew: and. English discourse requires “then” to go with the “if.”
4:9³ ^ = stream, canal. Used of the Nile.
4:10¹ ^ = my Lŏrd. The generic Hebrew word for lord, with 1cs ending and intensive plural. The original spelling was: אֲדֹנַי A̓dōnai with a short vowel. The Masoretes rendered this with a long vowel: אֲדֹנָי, so as to make a distinction between “my lord” and “my Lŏrd” much like I do with the capital letter and the ̆ over the o.
4:10† ^ מִשִּׁלְשֹׁם = mishilshōm = “from third day”; a contraction of min + shalōsh + yōm. The mentions of the third day are too important to gloss over in the translation.
4:13¹ ^ בִּי bi̱ = in me. Equivalent to the English prefatory phrase, “As for me”; an emphatic, but polite calling of attention to oneself.
4:13† ^ or “you may send.” Mōshēh is using a subjunctive here. He is saying he is unqualified, as if he knows better than Gŏd. The LXX is more correct than most versions here: προχείρισαι δυνάμενον.
4:14¹ ^ = elevated high.
4:15¹ ^ The paragogic nun appears to make this more emphatic.
4:18¹ ^ יֶתֶר yeter. Repoint as: יִתְרֹ Yitʰrō = his excellency; abundance.
4:19† ^ He spoke to him again, this time telling him that those seeking his life were dead as an encouragement to go.
4:19¹ ^ Read: מִצְרַיְמָ mitsraymah? Possibly a directional heh was left off here in the vowel pointing.
4:20¹ ^ = the donkey. Generic use of article.
4:21† ^ keep in view = see!, consider, “of mental observation” (BDB). Gŏd probably said this because Mōshēh was still not totally committed to the plan, just as he encouraged him in vs. 19.
4:21‡ ^ send, יְשַׁלַּח yeshallaḥ = he will (not) make to be sent. That is, he will not send them to worship Yăhwēh. The Hebrew suggests a destination. And Mōshēh would state more than once that this was the object.
4:24† ^ A̓v̱raham no doubt circumcised the sons he had by his second wife, but he sent these sons east away from his son Yitsḥaq. After a few generations, circumcision began to be neglected by both Yisra’ēl in Egypt and the other nations descended from A̓v̱raham. We have to note that Gŏd did not seek to kill anyone of Yisra’ēl in Egypt, or anyone else. Circumcision would be renewed with Passover at the Exodus. He only sought to kill Mōshēh, which means in this case threatened to kill him. The reason for this is that Mōshēh was the appointed leader and deliverer, and also to be the lawgiver. And up to this point Mōshēh had to be proded into doing Gŏd’s will. Therefore, it was all the more imperative that he show by example that he was following the commandment. The words “sought to make him die” suggest the impending threat of death, which was probably the sudden onset of a high fever attended by the the visible presence of the Messenger of Yăhwēh. Clearly Tzippōrah had been informed of the necessity of circumcision. Tzippōrah was not about to have her husband die over the matter of circumcision, and perhaps too, she feared for her own life should Mōshēh lose his. Mōshēh had known he was supposed to circumcise all his sons, but he had neglected it no doubt because she had opposed it on the eighth day, and he wished to keep peace. “And the uncircumcised male, who will not be circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, even that soul will have been cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant” (Gen. 17:14). This appears to be a threat to the uncircumcised male child, and so it is, but where, when, and how such judgment is carried out is not clear. What is clear is that Gŏd held the party responsible for the neglect to the strictest judgment, Mōshēh, and not his son, though Tzippōrah may have supposed her son was next. It is not impossible that both father and son were afflicted with a fever. The divine threat was meant to get results (and so the impending consequence was not sudden, but escalated until it got results, and in this form of pressure is a measure of mercy), and it did get results, but the cost was high. At the same time the high cost was Gŏd’s risk in forcing her to comply. She complied, but it does not seem to have resulted in her faithful obedience. Tzippōrah was mortally offended at what she had to do. The older son had already been circumcised, though perhaps it was a late circumcision as seems to be practiced by the sons of Yishma‘æ̓l, or after the circumcision of the first son, she dug her heels in on the second. Mōshēh and Tzippōrah were separated after this. Mōshēh went to Egypt and she back to her father with her two sons. Tzippōrah did not have to touch the foreskin Mōshēh’s feet. The fact that her son was now circumcised was probably sufficient to save Mōshēh. What the text is expressing is her complete disagreement with the whole procedure.
“Then Yitʰrō, Mōshēh’s in-law and guardian in Mōshēsh’s absence, took Tzippōrah, the wife of Mōshēh—after her being summoned for, and her two sons, (of whom the name of the one was Gærshōm, because he had said, ‘A sojourner I have been in a foreign land,’ and the name of the other was E̓li̱‘ezer, ‘because the Almĭghty of my father, in helping me, then he delivered me from the sword of Phara̒ōh,’)—then Yitʰrō, Mōshēh’s in-law, came, and his sons, and his wife to Mōshēh unto the wilderness where he was camping at the mountain of the Almĭghty” (Ex. 18:2-5). Before the ten spies were sent out to spy out the land, a space of time less than two years after we find, “Then she spoke, Miryam (and A̓harōn) against Mōshēh about the circumstance of the Cūshi̱te woman which he had taken, because he had taken a C̣ūshi̱te woman” (Num. 12:1). At the same time Miryam was seeking authority in matters (Num. 12:2), and therefore, it was necessary to find a moral fault in Mōshēh to justify making the case for her own counsel (and that of A̓harōn). The ̣Cūshi̱te woman can hardly be Tzippōrah. No one can fault marriage to Tzippōrah, which was old news. The fault was found in this second women, whose name is not given, but only her ethnicity: a ̣Cūshi̱ woman. It does appear that there were great problems between him and Tzippōrah, but he does not want to say anything more negative than he has already recorded in Exodus 4:25-26. In Exodus 18:2 Tzippōrah is sent for, which is not the friendliest of narration. Mōshēh focuses on his sons. In the following narrative of greeting Tzippōrah is all but ignored. The next day Mōshēh spends the whole day judging the people. It is not unlikely that Tzippōrah asked for a divorce, and was granted one, and then went back with Yitʰrō to Midyan.
4:27† ^ The mountain was north of Yitʰrō’s home, and Mōshēh had to travel back North again to swing around Eliat to get back to Egypt. It was therefore not inconvienient to travel the arid east side of the range in going north, which would go past the mountain.
5:1† ^ This feast turned out to be Shav̱ū‘ōtʰ.
5:2¹ ^ or “acknowledged.”
5:3¹ ^ = the plague; generic article.
5:3² ^ a case where English allows the use of a generic article!
5:5¹ ^ = ye; plural.
5:5² ^ וְהִשְׁבַּתֶּם wehishebbattem. The root used here is the same as that for sabbath.
5:8¹ ^ = upon thus.
5:12¹ ^ “to stubble”: to bale leftover stalks from wheat and barley threshing.
5:13¹ ^ = of it.
5:13² ^ = in being
5:17¹ ^ = upon thus.
5:19¹ ^ = day of it.
5:20¹ ^ = in their going out.
5:21¹ ^ =
6:3† ^ Yăhwēh means “he makes become,” “He creates,” or “he causes to happen.” Therefore he is the Ē̓l Shaddai (The High Gŏd) who appeared before to the fathers. The structure is thus: because I am the Creator, therefore I am the Gŏd who appeared before. The divine name is the Hiphil of the verb: הוה hwh. In the third person imperfect this is: יַהֲוֶה yahªwēh. See note 3:14†.
6:3‡ ^ When Mōshēh compiled the Torah from the older patriarchal records, he replaced the older title Shaddai with Gŏd’s personal name in direct discourse (personal quotations), leaving only a few instances noted as “Ē̓l Shaddai.” This divinely sanctioned change in the patriarchal records is a strong argument that though they really did address Gŏd as Shaddai before, He now wanted to go by the name Yăhwēh. Evidence of the extensive use of Shaddai before Mōshēh remains in the book of Job. Ī̓yōv̱ clearly comes from E̓dōm, and the original record of his life must date before Mōshēh. It is most likely that Mōshēh wrote the intro to Job and added the divine name there, and replaced only four of Ī̓yōv̱’s uses of Shaddai with the divine name (Job 1:21, 3x; 12:9, 1x.). My guess is that Mōshēh correctly supposed that Job would be read less than the Torah, and therefore retaining Shaddai 23 times in the book would not be a threat to promoting the usage of the divine name, yet he edited the divine name four times into the two statements of Ī̓yōv̱ to show he was a follower of the true Gŏd. The usage in Job is simply the title שַׁדַּי Shaddai without the Ē̓l. This shows that Mōshēh marked the retained address Shaddai in Genesis with Ē̓l to introduce the term as a reference to deity. Since the word never appears with the definite article, it does appear that Shaddai was treated as a proper name, much like A̓dŏnai is treated today. The meaning of Shaddai is probably from the Akkadian word for mountain (cf. HALOT), and means one who dwells in the height, or simply high one, making it a synonym of Ē̓l E̒lyōn = Gŏd above-most = Gŏd most high. One possible reason for the obsoleting of the title Shaddai is possible corruption by increasingly idolatrous nations. For this reason also, a curse is placed on those who take the name Yăhwēh in vain. And even though many do so, Yăhwēh will defend his reputation.
6:4¹ ^ = in it.
6:5¹ ^ = in that.
6:8¹ ^ = to give it.
6:9¹ ^ = thus, in this manner.
6:11¹ וִישַׁלַּח< ^b>wi̱shallaḥ; jussive.
6:14¹ ^ = dedicated; trained.
6:14² ^ = being distinguished.
6:14³ ^ = “arrow of joy”, or “walled around”; disputed.
6:14* ^ = my vineyard.
6:22¹ ^ = “who that Gŏd”; or “who has asked” as from: מִישָׁאַל mi̱sha’al?
6:22² ^ = my Gŏd has hidden.
6:22³ ^ = he makes to be hidden me. Compare Piel: סִתְּרַֽנִי.
6:23† ^ אֱלִישֶׁבַע E̓li̱shev̱a̒ = “My Gŏd
6:26¹ ^ הוּא hū’ = he, it.
7:1¹ ^ = given.
7:5¹ ^ = in my stretching.
7:9¹ ^ = and; English discourse requires a then after a conditional statement; Hebrew does not.
7:11¹ ^ = ones.
7:13¹ ^ = bold, confident, stout.
7:14¹ ^ unmovable, stubborn.
7:15¹ ^ = bank.
7:17† ^ = He will make happen; he makes become; he creates. “I am he will make happen.”
7:19¹ ^ Read: וַיִּהְיוּ wayyihyū.
8:2¹ ^ = the frogs; generic article.
8:6¹ ^ = the frog; generic article.
8:6² ^ = it.
8:7¹ ^ = the frogs; generic article.
8:18¹ ^ = then.
8:21¹ ^ = on it.
8:21† ^ an unknown species of insect or creeping thing.
8:22¹ ^ = on it.
8:22² ^ = no being there a̒rōv̱.
8:23† ^ LXX: διαστολὴν = difference.
9:12¹ ^ i.e. gave him the self confidence to keep resisting.
9:14† ^ “I will . . . send all my plagues upon thine heart.—The naturally obdurate heart of Pharaoh, which he had further indurated by his own voluntary action (Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:32), and which God had begun to harden penally (Exodus 9:12), was now to be softened by a repetition of blow after blow, until it should finally succumb, and yield, and humble itself under the mighty hand of God, and consent to the departure of the whole people, with flocks, and herds, and ‘little ones’” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers).
9:16¹ ^ וְאוּלָם we’ūlam; it appears that this is a combination word meaning: however, but.
9:16² ^ = product.
9:18¹ ^ = of it.
9:24¹ ^ = of it.
9:29¹ ^ = become.
9:31‡ ^ אָבִיב a̓v̱i̱v̱; a green ear, or just edible kernal was forming, which was broken off or smashed. Plain grass could survive a smashing and would spring up again.
9:33¹ ^ Read: נִתָּךְ nittaḳ.
10:1¹ ^ = Egypt.
10:4¹ ^ = behold me bringing.
10:4² ^ = locust; singular.
10:5¹ ^ = it; refers to the locust.
10:5² ^ = heart, center.
10:10† ^ Pharaoh is being sarcastic, challenging Gŏd directly. An equivalent English expressing is, “You will need Gŏd’s help if I ever let you do that.”
10:11¹ ^ = it; Pharaoh is redefining what they want to suit him.
10:11² ^ Read: יְגָרֵשׁ yegarēsh, Piel = he causes to be driven out (them).
10:12¹ ^ = in.
10:15¹ ^ = then.
10:16¹ ^ = caused to be hastened.
10:19¹ ^ = west.
10:19† ^ = The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Both bodies of water may be called the End Sea since they are fingers with dead ends.
10:20¹ ^ He gave his heart a false sense of confidence.
11:2¹ ^ = from with.
11:2² ^ or companion, associate, fellow.
11:4† ^ Even though Pharaoh had threatened him with death, Mōshēh had gone into Pharaoh one more time (cf. 11:8). He had walked into the court backwards, and he had faced the servants of Pharaoh instead of the throne. This was of course taking liberty with the intent of Pharaoh’s words, but it did satisfy the legality. Pharaoh’s servants were, in any case, afraid to lift a hand against Mōshēh (cf. 11:8).
11:6¹ ^ Read Niphal: תִּוָּסֵף tiwwasēf, spelled defectively.
11:7¹ ^ paragogic nun adds emphasis.
12:2† ^This month for you, is the head of months. It is headmost for you, of the months of the year.† It is the headmost, or the first month of the year. This is the month of A̕v̱i̱v̱ (Nisan). The first day of the month is NOT new years day. This is a false doctrine of men. The moon signals the new month, but the sun defines the year. The year begins when the sun completes its cycle and begins it again. This does not happen on the new moon day, because the new moon is when the moon has completed its cycle, and begins it again. How then is the first month to be the first month of the year?
The first day of the first month of the year hardly ever lands on the new year day, because 12 lunar months do not divide the year equally. It is not called the first month because the new moon comes on the new year day. If this were so, then 12 lunar months would divide the year equally, but it is an astronomical fact that it does not divide the year equally. It is called the first month because it is the first month for which half of the month (or more than half of it) is in the new year, which is to say more precisely, the 16th day and onward has to be in the new year. Sunset at the end of the 15th day has to be in the new year for the month to be the first month. And if the new year begins after sunset at the end of the 15th day of the 13th month, then not enough of that month falls in the new year to name it the first month. It must become Second Adar.
So to determine the new year day, the sun must be watched to see when it repeats its cycle. If a new moon falls too far before the start of the year, then too much of the month assigned to that moon falls in the old year. And even though some days of that month may fall in the new year, they are not enough to make the month the first month of the year. The key point is that the Second Passover offering must be eaten in the new year, and the eating of this occurs between sunset at the end of Nisan 15 and daybreak on Nisan 16. The commandment is that three times in the year a feast shall be to Yăhwēh. Therefore, this feast must be in the new year, after the end of the days of the old year (cf. Ex. 13:10; Gen. 4:3).
The year begins on the first day that the apparent sunset reaches the due west point moving northward along the horizon in the spring. The sun changes location on the horizon about a whole diameter each day at this time, so the western setting is not hard to determine with good accuracy. The year is the number of days that it takes the sun to go through summer, fall, and winter, and to return to the western setting in the spring. It is thus 365 or 366 days long.
Each month has 29 or 30 days. Every month has a 15th day. The first month for which the following condition holds true just after winter is the first month: When sunset on the 15th day of a month falls due west or north of due west, then that month is the first month.
The first day of a month is the day following the visible sighting of a new moon. Local sighting is permitted, but sighting anywhere within the boundary of greater Israel is the preferred legal definition.
The modern Rabbinic calendar is in error on two points. Firstly, the western setting point upon which it is based was visibly observed sometime in the second or third century, and then calculations have been relied on ever since to determine the day on which every recurring western setting would occur. But the Rabbinically determined length of the year was not perfectly accurate. Therefore, their calculated beginning of the year occurs some seven days after the actual beginning of the year. This causes the first month to be skipped over about 1/4 of the time, and the second month to be incorrectly made into the first month on the Rabbinic calendar. This error translates through to all the festivals for a year in which it occurs.
The second Rabbinic error occurs due to the fact that the new moon is not determined by a simple visible sighting, but rather by a complex set of traditional rules finalized sometime between the years AD 900-1100. The effect of this error is that the new moon day is often a day too early, and also for the first and seventh months, it causes the feast days and Yom Kippur to fall on the wrong days.
The blessing of the tribe of Yehūdah, it should be noted, says, “The staff‡ shall not turn aside from Yehūdah, and one making rules from between his feet past that time he will come who belongs¹ to †it, and to him is the obedience of the peoples.” For good or for ill, Yehūdah is still making rules, but the obedience of Ephraim belongs to Messiah. So it is necessary to say no to the traditions of Yehūdah where they contradict Messiah’s commandments.
A Calendar Parable: One upon a time there were three streets that met at a ball field in a T intersection. They were West Street, East Street, and South Street. There was no North Street as the ball field was where a North street would have been. At the top of the T there was a sign on the curb. The west wing of the sign said West Street, and the east wing of the sign said East Street. Cars driving up south street would see the sign, and could be directed left or right by the sign. Now every Monday there was a huge ball game, and lots of vendors. One of the vendors wanted to promote his business, and so he decided to give away free sun glasses every week. To advertise this he hired the bat boy every week just before the game start to put flyers on the cars on East Street. Now on the first Monday he had to train his help. So he walked the bat boy over to the intersection of West and East Street, and said to him, “You see this car on East Street? This car for you is the first of the cars. It is first for you of the cars of the east street. You will put a flyer on every car on Monday before the game. And make sure the driver is on East Street. I don’t want to give any free glasses to drivers on West Street.”
Now the bat boy thought this was easy. He could see the first car pointed out to him. (The West-East street sign was lined up with the hood ornament on the car, but he did not notice this). He put flyers on all the cars on East street. The next Monday he was to do the job alone. The cars were packed along both streets bumper to bumper. Which car was the first car? He saw one next to the sign, and the sign this time was next to the radio antenna of the car positioned just a few inches in front of the windshield. He noticed a good part of the car was on West Street. He was puzzled. Which street is this car on? He went back to the vendor and said, “I can’t tell which car is the first car on the street. There is a car that straddles the sign.” And the vendor said to the boy, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Make sure the driver is on East Street.”
Then the bat boy understood. He went back to the street to begin his job, and he could clearly see that the driver’s position was on the East Street side of the sign. So that was the first car. The next week he was careful to notice the car straddling the sign. Only this time the sign was aligned with the trunk of the car. (I think they call this the boot in some countries.) “The driver’s seat is positioned on West Street” the boy thought. O.k. I put the first flyer on the next car, and avoid that one.
After that, the Vendor was happy because he got lots of business. The bat boy was happy because he got his spending money. And the drivers were happy with their sun glasses because they liked the sun and its light instead of being blinded by it.
One of the other vendors did not like all the business the first vendor was getting. He thought to himself. “Perhaps I can get the bat boy fired.” So he cooked up a crafty plan. First at home in his garage, he fixed up a replica of the West-East street sign on the front bumper of his car, so that wherever he parked it would look like the sign was exactly even with the front bumper of his car. Then he arrived early and parked a good way from the actual sign post, “just enough to get that bat boy” in trouble, he thought. Then he took out a huge banner add for his business and hung it from the street sign hiding the sign. “Sly’s Hot Dog Stand: free pork and beans” it read.
Will the bat boy be deceived?
12:3† ^ This is likely a one time precept for the first Passover, to ensure that everyone had a lamb, and that the lambs were perfect. There were no passover lamb services established at the first passover. “In future ages they did not begin the preparation till the thirteenth, the day before the passover” (Benson). This appears to be the case in the gospels. Lambs were acquired up to the last possible moment from expert providers, and this was much easier on pilgrims coming from afar. Yeshua’s disciples acquired their lamb after sunset at the end of the thirteenth day as that they were instructed by Messiah. So we have his example that the 10th day pertains to Egypt and the Messianic type, and that it is no sin to acquire it just before it is needed at the Temple. It is very probable that the lamb for the offering was kept in readiness at the last supper, the night before the Passover. Circumstances would soon render it impossible for them to keep it at that time, in which case the lamb was kept ready until the second month, or a new one acquired then. The Scripture does not record how they handled the extraordinary circumstance because it is not particularly relevant to the general audience, and from the existing precepts it can be well guessed from those finding themselves in similar circumstances. John records how Yeshua did many things that are not recorded. He had come back to Jerusalem at his ascension. We may well suppose that he and the eleven quietly kept the second Passover. Yeshua’s words, “For I say to you that I will by no means eat it until it may be fulfilled in the kingdom of Gŏd” (Luke 22:16) appear to be simply saying that the Messianic type must be fulfilled in his death before he would eat it. Since he would be dead at the ordinary time, it could be kept after the resurrection in the second month as he was still on earth for 40 days, as a memorial of his sacrificial death. The question arises, “Does the Passover apply while on a journey?” The answer is no. While on a journey, however long, or while in exile, however long, it is not required to make the sacrifice. It also appears that war or other circumstances create an exemption, as the infant Yeshua was taken to Egypt, and his father and mother certainly missed the next Passover. So at his ascension Yeshua began a long journey until the age to come. If one eats in these circumstances at the time of Passover, it is still the law to abstain from leaven wherever one is.
12:3¹ ^ Read: וַיִּקְּחוּ wayyiqḥū.
12:4¹ ^ = from being
12:6† ^ בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם bēi̱n ha‘arbayim = between the settings. Between noon and sunset, as is proved from the precepts for the daily offering and the prayer times, is about 3 p.m., the 9th hour of the day. Yeshua died at the 9th hour, the hour of incense (cf. Mat. 27:46; Luke 1:10) and prayer, being also the 9th hour (cf. Acts 3:1). See also Exodus 30:8 where “between the settings” is likewise used to designate the time that the incense is burned. Also, according to Numbers 28:4, the second daily offering was burned “between the settings” on the same day as the first offering at daybreak. History places this at the 9th hour of the day, and explains why worship and prayer was conducted at this hour (cf. Acts 10:3; 30).
12:7¹ ^ = in them.
12:7† ^ This precept was clearly a one time command for the Passover in Egypt. In the wilderness they had no doorposts or lintel at the entrances to their tents, and neither was there a threat of the firstborn dying after the first Passover.
12:8¹ ^ = of; construct.
12:8† ^ ^ or “upon”. Also the LXX. This can be accomplished by making a small sandwich with bitter herbs and lamb between the unleavened bread layers. However, the usage also appears in 12:9 where it means “with” or “in addition to,” and this is the more likely meaning.
12:8‡ ^ All these precepts were practiced at the Passover memorial while there was an altar at the Sanctuary. Later precepts regulating sacrifice forbid offerings except at the Temple. For this reason no Passover offering is made in the exile, or while on a journey at the time of Passover. In the exile, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs are eaten, but no sacrificial lamb.
12:9¹ ^ = and; Hebrew often uses “and” where English would prefer “or”.
12:9² ^
12:9³ ^ = roasted of fire = fire roasted.
12:11¹ ^ i.e. tied up, sashed, or belted in such a way that the person is ready to go. Sometimes this meant tying on a sword belt, a pack, or other carrying apparatus. The “hips” or loins in Hebrew covers the region from the knees to the middle of the back. Animals would have been used for heavy packs, so only light items would be carried by the traveler.
12:6¹ ^ Hebrew often leaves off a simple pronoun after a verb where the English requires
12:13¹ ^ פָסַחתִּי pasaḥti̱. The word Passover is used as a noun and also a verb, “to leap over”, “to spring over”
12:14† ^ or “a memorial.”
12:15† ^ הָרִאשׁוֹן ha ri̱’shōn = the headmost, i.e. on the headmost day, בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן. Then ending וֹן ōn is an Aramaic intensive ending or plural, making the word superlative, like -est in English: firstest, foremost. The Hebrew noun רֹאשׁ rō̓sh means “head”; putting the two together: headmost, header. The same sense applies to Matthew and Mark where it says “the first day of unleavened bread;” such is a mistranslation. It should say “the headmost day of unleavened bread,” namely the beginning of the 14th of Nisan.
12:15‡ ^ Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, but on the day previous† you shall make rest leavening from your houses.‡ See 13:7† and 13:7‡ on the distinction between leavened things and leavening.
The words “make rest” here are the verb form of the word Sabbath, תַּשְׁבִּ֥יתוּ. The noun Sabbath means a “cessation” or a “stopping,” and the verb form merely means to make something cease or stop. That the word is applied here to making leaven cease on the first day of unleavened bread, and not work on the seventh day, shows that the root of the noun Sabbath may be applied to any type of ceasing. It can be a ceasing from only ordinary labor, or it can be a ceasing from all labor. Or it can be a ceasing from leaven.
12:16† ^ מִקְרָא miqra̓ = a making to be called, i.e. con vocation = call together. The holy days are set apart for a purpose. The purpose of the rest is to have time for worship and a sacred assembly. The Hebrew root קָרַא qara̓ also means “to read” and so reading of the Scriptures is also properly done during an assembly.
12:18† ^ A day is counted from daybreak to daybreak. Therefore, each day has only one setting, i.e. when the sun goes down at sunset. Leaven is forbidden from sunset at the end of the day part of the 14th of Nisan until sunset at the end of the day part of the 21st of Nisan. It is recommended that everyone cease from eating leavened things by noon on the 14th of Nisan, and that new leaven should not be consumed until full dark at the end of the 21st day of Nisan. Practically this means the next day since bread would have to be made and baked first, or bought.
12:24¹ ^ עַד־עוֹלָם a̒d ō̒lam = past obscurity.
12:29¹ ^ Hebrew idiom: dungeon.
12:30¹ ^ Read: מֵת mæt. Qal perfect 3ms.
12:34¹ ^ Read: יֵחָמֵץ yēḥamēts. Niphal.
12:35¹ ^ This perfect is from the narrator’s perspective writing afterward.
12:36¹ ^ וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם wayyashi̓lūm = then they made asked them.
12:39¹ ^ Pual: גֹרְשׁוּ gōrshū = they had been caused to be driven.
12:40† ^ This dates back to A̓v̱raham’s departure from his homeland in Northwest Mesopotamia, which was 30 years before the birth of Yitsḥaq, and five years prior to his departure from Ḥaran. A̓v̱raham, Yitsḥaq, and Ya‘aqōv̱ are included here under the national name “sons of Yisra’ēl.” This usage makes the phrase “sons of Yisra’ēl” a national and spiritual status to which those who are not literal sons can be adopted. The three patriarchs are adopted into the national name. This usage can be seen in other Hebrew idioms, “sons of the prophets,” which are not offspring of prophets, but they are prophets themselves. The “Sons of Liberty” where not sons of someone named Liberty. The “sons of the foreigner” are “foreign sons”, i.e. the sons are foreigners themsleves, and not just sons of foreigners. The neglect of this idiom has led superficial readers to assume that “sons of Yisra’ēl” excluded the three patriarchs, who began their sojourn when A̓v̱raham left his birth land of Northwest Mesopotamia. The phrase, which I have placed in parenthesis “(who had sojourned in Egypt)” does not define the whole sojourning, but only part of it. The literal “sons of Yisra’ēl” were only in Egypt for 210 years. From Yitsḥaq’s birth to the Exodus is 400 years (Gen. 15:13). Yitsḥaq lived 60 years and begot Ya‘aqōv̱. Ya‘aqōv̱ arrived in Egypt in his 130th year, i.e. 190 years after the birth of Yitsḥaq. The balance of 210 years was spent in Egypt making 400 years. And the 210 years can only span four generations: Ya‘aqōv̱, Lēvi̱, Yōḳev̱ed, Mōshēh. The four generations must stretch to the entry into the land, and so we must add 40 years for the wilderness, i.e. 250 years. Lēvi̱ lived 137 years, and begot Yōḳev̱ed, who bore Mōshēh, who lived 120 years. Lēvi̱ was 44 when he went to Egypt, and therefore lived 137-44+1 = 94 years in Egypt; there is a 35 year gap between the death of Lēvi̱, Mōshēh’s grandfather, and the birth of Mōshēh. Counting his birth year, Mōshēh was in the midst of his 121st year when he died (having lived 120 years). Therefore: 94 + 35 + 121 = 250. See The Scroll of Biblical Chronology for more details. If the 210 years in Egypt are increased to 400 or 430, then the gap between Lēvi̱ and Mōshēh changes to 225 or 255 years, which can no longer be spanned by the life of Yōḳev̱ed, since the male lifespan of the time was 130-150 years, almost 100 years short of what is needed to span the gap, and some must be added to allow the life of Yōḳev̱ed to overlap Lēvi̱, and her son Mōshēh. Furthermore, A̒mram lived 137 years and his father Qehatʰ lived 133 years. Qehatʰ was born before the removal to Egypt. Mōshēh lived 80 years in Egypt. With no overlaps: 133 + 137 + 80 = 350 which is less than 400. It is not possible to span 400 years without contradiction of the texts.
12:42† ^ A night watch it is for Yăhwēh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This night, it is for Yăhwēh, a watch for all the sons of Yisra’ēl by their generations.† Yăhwēh kept watch over them on the night of the 15th of the month. They spent the day part of the 15th marching out in the sight of the Egyptians, who were burying their dead. The night following the 15th day is the night for the 15th, since a day is counted from daybreak to daybreak. Now they finished going out of Egypt during this night (Deut. 16:1) because they could not leave their houses till daybreak after the night of the Passover.
It is not possible that they went out on the night after the 14th, because it says, “And you, you will not go out, each, from the door of his house until the daybreak” (Exodus 12:22b). But it says in Deut. 16:1, “”
12:43¹ ^ i.e. “foreign son”
12:43² ^ in it.
12:44¹ ^ in it.
12:45† ^ תּוֹשָׁב tōshav̱. The word for sojourner has a flexible meaning. It can mean someone who is merely a temporary resisdent for economic reasons, who agrees not to worship foreign gods while sojourning, and to respect biblical law, even though he has made no agreement to believe it. This one cannot eat the Passover. On the other hand, the word sojorner can denote a permenant settler, who has chosen to join with Israel. This one is required to keep the Passover, and to have himself, and all his males circumcised.
12:45¹ ^ in it.
12:46¹ ^ in it.
12:47† ^ συναγωγὴ = עֲדַת a̒dat. The LXX uses here the Greek word for synagogue, showing the oldest meaning, that word is simply congregation, without a connotation of being a building, a meeting place, or a Jewish meeting place. It means a collection of people. Toward the end of the first century, the word took on a connotation of a Jewish meeting place, and the followers of Yēshūa̒ generally disused the word in favor of εκκλησια, קְהִלָה qəhilah, another word meaning assembly, which had not been corrupted in the schism between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.
12:48† ^ אֶזְרַח e̓zraḥ = full citizen.
12:49‡ ^ This is the general statement for everyone who dwells in Israel, and pertains to enforcement, whether they agree with the Law or not, and whether they are a temporary resident for economic reasons or not. The person who has adopted the faith of Israel in their heart is classed as a native of the land, even though they are a settler in the other sense of the word. Sojourner, in this case means everyone else. These foreign sojourners will be required to outwardly respect the Torah in every way, while they are in the midst of Israel, though it will not be required that they believe it in their heart. But they may not participate in the Passover sacrifice, unless they are first circumcised. This part of the law is the exception, the part that was left up to their choice. Being circumcised was the act or event that signified they were comitting their hearts to Yăhwēh as well as to conform because it was required of them. Now since this signal purpose of circumcision later became disconnected from a heart decision, and because it was involuntary for slaves and sons, and because society later became more inidividualistic, and because women could be independent, the act signalling a commitment to Yăhwēh, i.e. to trust him for salvation, and to keep His laws, was later reinforced by baptism (immersion). This was a divine addition to the Torah, and not a human one, recommended by John the Immerser, and formally made a commandment by Yēshūa̒, because circumcision had proved too corruptible for the purpose. We may say that after 2000 years of baptism, that it also has become corruptible in that it does not declare for most that they are becoming faithful to Messiah. No divine alternative is available, so the problem can only be corrected by teaching. While the Temple still stood and Israel still lived in the land, conversion of a pagan gentile involved a public declaration of faithfulness through, 1. circumcision, 2. baptism, and 3. a sin offering. In the exile, the offering is not possible, but acceptance of Messiah’s offering will be reckoned sufficient. With regard to the omission of circumcision or baptism, the serverity of such a sin depends is in accord with the lack of teaching or errant teaching the person has recevied. With regard to baptism of those born into the faith, we practice adult baptism, when they have reached an age sufficient to understand and make a public confession.
13:2¹ ^ in man, and in beast.
13:4† ^ = the ear. An ear is an English idiom for heads of grain, a metaphor related to a human or animal ear. The Hebrew word is not the common word for ear, but a specialized word meaning a fresh or green head of grain, and again we have in English only two metaphors with this sense, “head” and “ear” of grain. The definition of the word a̓v̱i̱v̱ is based on Exodus 9:31, where it is grain in such a state as may be destroyed by hail, and Lev. 2:14, where it is grain such as may be roasted in fire, אָבִיב קָלוּי בָּאֵשׁ a̓v̱i̱v̱ qalūi̱ ba’ēsh, “a̓v̱i̱v̱ being roasted in fire.” The word occurs in the singular and with the definite article, “the A̓v̱i̱v̱”, and the phrase may be reasonably explained as “the month of the fresh ear.”
The word חֹדֶשׁ, ḥōdesh, which may sometimes mean “new moon” does not here mean that. It means “month,” and this is simply proved by the context in that they came out on the 15th day of the month, and not on the new moon day. The naming of a month for an agricultural characteristic leads us to expect that the suggested agricultural phenomenon will normally be prominent in the so named month. If extraordinary conditions prevail and headed barley does not appear in A̓v̱i̱v̱, then this is not to affect the timing of the month, as the Karaites claim. See Exodus 13:10.
13:7¹ ^ אֵת שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים = ē̓t shiv̱a̒t hayami̱m = “the seven of the days,” or “the week of the days.” The meaning is synonymous with שָׁבוּעַ shav̱ūa̒.
13:7† ^ חָמֵץ ḥamēts. Ḥamēts is a fermentable grain (including wheat, barley, oats, spelt, rye) to which water has been added along with a leavening agent, such as yeast, or some dough already leavened, or left sufficiently exposed to the yeast in the air. The definition can be summed up: something leavened. The leaving agent itself, raw yeast, or yeast floating around in air, is not ḥamēts (but it is a leavening, which is also prohibited by the term שְׂאֹר se’ōr). The mixture of water, a fermentable grain, and yeast is ḥamēts.
A fermentable grain, to which water has been added, may become ḥamēts from the yeast in the air after sitting for as little as 18 minutes. Therefore traditional rules require such a mixture to be baked inside of 15 minutes to prevent this. However, it is quite evident that the sons of Yisra’ēl had their dough for about 24 hours before baking, and it was not ḥamēts. This is because ordinarily the process of natural leavening from the air is very slow.
13:7‡ ^ שְׂאֹר se’ōr. This word means “leavening”, i.e. any leavening agent. The root is unknown, but it is thought to come from שׁאר because שׂ is sometimes exchanged for שׁ. The proposed root means “left over” and may refer originally to left over dough used to start the leaving of new dough. As such it is a leaving agent. As time went on people learned to to concentrate leavening agents into dry yeast or yeast rich additives, and therefore שְׂאֹר become more generally a leavening agent, and not just what was “left over” from a previous batch.
13:10† ^ מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה mi̱yyami̱m yami̱mah = from days to days. It is not from “year to year,” a phrase which goes שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה shanah beshanah (cf. 1 Sam. 1:7). “Days to days” is put so that we should know what the definition of a year is. A year is 365 or 366 days, and the idiom means from one set up such days to the next set of such days. The movements of the sun go in a cycle and fix the number of days in a year. When the visible sun sets due west, or the day on which it first sets due west, or just north of due west, in going from winter to spring, is the first day of spring. This point occurs on the western horizon exactly between the winter solstice and the summar solstice. It is also called the equinox. A year is the time it takes the sun to move from one equinox to the next. For after one such cycle, it simply repeats all of its movements.
The language is from the geocentric point of view, not because it is the only point of view on motion, but because it makes the most convenient frame of reference from which human language can describe astronomical motion. The coordinate systems of different frames are functionally equivalent, and may be mathematically translated into each other.
The days of one year end at the equinox, and the days of the next begin. The equinoctal point itself is included at the head of the new year, on the first day of it. The Latin term
A good deal of time has been spent by Karaite Jews trying to demonize the term equinox, because they wish to fix the first month solely by the observation of barley. But the concept is included in the Hebrew term תְּקוּפָה teqūfah, meaning a circuit. The term is used for both the whole circuit of the sun, and for the turning points, or inflexion points, which are the two solstices and the two equinoxes. Also the phrase מִקֵּץ יָמִים miqēts yami̱m “at the end of days” is used to denote the equinox.
The Karaites demonize the term equinox suggesting that it is pagan and foreign. This is but superstition, because the term merely describes a scientific concept referring to Yăhwēh’s creation. The motions of the sun were ordained by the Almĭghty, and the terms merely describe or refer to those motions.
There are several different modern definitions of “equinox” and these can cause confusion. The modern definition is when a line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the earth intersects the equator of the earth making a perpendicular angle at the moment of the equinox. This defintion is based on complex mathematical calculations that ancient people’s did not know how to do. There are also other ancient defintions. One such method marks the middle date in time between the dates of the solstices, which is bound to be inaccurate due to the non circular orbit of the earth. Another method bisects the winter solstice and the summer sostices on the western horizon. This method is gemetrically unsound, and the ancients would have avoided it.
The correct method is to bisect the angle of the summer sostice at sunrise and sunset, or the winter solstice at sunrise and sunset. This will find the true north and south line. Finding the line at a right angle to north south will then determine the east west line. This line will be the line of sighting for the equinox. Since the ancients did not know about refraction, the equinox determined in biblical times, was when the apparent sun lined up with due west at sunset or just north of it, since the sun might have passed the equinox point sometime between two sunsets, and have moved slightly north.
Another method was the use of the equinox ring or sundial. The noon shadow was marked at the winter and summer solstice, and then a disk was set at the half angle such that at the equinox the disk cast only a thin line. This method could be invalidated by earth movements or defects in the disk.
In ancient times, basic astronomy was conducted by the use of placing stones on a flat surface in a ring marking various points in the heavens. This agrees well with the western observational method, as a stone would be placed such that an observer would see sunset over the stone on the first day of the year. In ancient times, astronomical knowledge was the domain of priests, and therefore the science of the matter was often combined with pagan practices. But the Levitical Priests certainly used similar methods to determine the year without the paganism. We only need look at the discipline of modern astronomy to see how it is mixed up often with evolution, and cosmological philosophy. This fault, however, does not invalidate scientific observations made by astronomers. The sun moon and stars mark times and seasons, and in order to use them, they must be accurately observed.
Once the first day of the year is determined, then it is determined that the first month is such a month wherein the equinox occurs before sunset on the 15th day of the month. The first month where this is possible is the first month. It should not be delayed for humanitarian reasons, and the equinox must not occur after the anniversary of the Exodus, lest it be observed twice in one year and not at all in the next.
13:14¹ ^ מָחָר maḥar = time to come.
13:16† ^ טוֹטָפֹת tōtafōt. See Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: “טטף TWOT 804 ( perh. √ of foll.; meaning dub. ; Dl Pr 46 comp. Assyrian ṭaṭâpu , surround, encircle; Thes Di prop. √ טוף ( cf. Arabic طَافَ ( ṭāfa ) go around ), whence טוטפות = טפטפות ; Kn ., foll. by Klein JPTh 1881, 673 al. , assumes √ טפף tap, strike , comp. στίγµα , and thinks of actual sign or mark in the flesh as orig. meant ) .”
It is clear that the comparison with
13:18¹ ^ חֲמֻשִׁים ḥamūshi̱m = being in fives. But from other contexts, Josh. 1:14; 4:12-13, the meaning appears to be a battle array, ranks, or formation for war. This might be the modern equivalent of divisions or battalions, but based on the number five. The text is not claiming that the people were armed for war or that they were trained in war. In fact, the route which the Almĭghty took them implies they were not ready for war, except for a very small number of Israelites. This notation only means that they went up in orderly and organized divisions in their march.
14:5¹ ^ = Then, concluding.
14:5² ^ But the king himself had sent them, and they had not fled, nor even exceeded the three day limit. But this was a false report that motivated Phara̒ōh, such as he and his servants wanted to believe.
14:7† ^ cf. 2Sam. 23:8 “head of the three rankers.” An Egyptian designation of a corp of captains, like a three star general.
14:8† ^ After he hardened his own heart in vs. 5, Yăhwēh strengthens it further to ensure his destruction.
14:8‡ ^ The pursuit began almost at once. The king of Egypt was just a few days behind Yisra’ēl, but did not catch them for almost a week because Yisra’ēl had marched by night as well as by day.
14:9¹ ^ kept pursuing, literally “pursues;” Hebrew style is different than English here. Hebrew repeats the matter to indicate the continuing of the same action.
14:10† ^ It appears that Yisra’ēl did not realize there was a pursuit until they saw it, but Mōshēh had only told them where to camp, and had not disclosed his knowledge of the pursuit by Egypt.
14:11¹ ^ בְּלִי beli̱ = wearing out. The idea is that with all the recent deaths in Egypt that the tombs were overused, or worn out from too much use.
14:14† ^ Mōshēh clearly knows that Yăhwēh has a plan, but he does not know exactly what it is. He knows it will glorify Yăhwēh and finish Phara̒ōh off for good.
14:15† ^ Mōshēh almost certainly was not crying for Yăhwēh to do what he promised at this point, but he was complaining about their lack of faith and their accusations to Yăhwēh.
14:19† ^ See 14:24¹. The formation of Yisra’ēl was on the move as they were generally looking forward. The use of the word camp in English describes a static encampment in a fixed placed, and is therefore incorrect, and leaves the incorrect impression that Yisra’ēl waited all night for the sea to open while the Egyptians waited behind the cloud. The crossing of the sea happened in the night leaving Egypt in the sea at daybreak. Both formations moved with the cloud in between during the night lighting the way for Yisra’ēl. See 14:24.
The word “them” at the end of vs. 19 refers to both the Messenger of the Almĭghty and to the formation of Yisra’ēl. The arrangement is thus: first the Messenger moved behind the formation of Yisra’ēl. Then the cloud moved behind the Messenger of the Almĭghty. The Messenger was between the cloud and Yisra’ēl, or on a side of the cloud nearer to Yisra’ēl. The cloud created darkness for Egypt, and the Messenger Himself lighted the side of the cloud near to Yisra’ēl.
14:20¹ ^ זֶה אֶל־זֶה zeh e̓l zeh = this unto this. An idiom meaning “the one unto the other one.”
Vs. 20 repeats the arrangement in vs. 19. First “He”, the Messenger, comes between the formations, and then the cloud came between the Messenger and Egypt. Then He, the Messenger lighted the night on the side of the cloud near to Yisra’ēl.
14:24† ^ It appears that in vs. 21 the sea opened up immediately, and that the sea floor was turned into dry land almost immediately, but the maintaining force of the wind lasted all night. Therefore, the sons of Yisra’ēl did not wait all night to enter the sea. They entered it right away. Therefore, they were nearly through the sea by the daybreak watch.
14:24¹ ^ מַחֲנֵה maḥanēh. Meaning a body or company of people, bunched together, or ranked in movement. Used for a battle formation even in the midst of battle.
14:25¹ ^ = Egypt’s chariots.
14:25² ^ = Egypt.
14:19‡ ^ מַחֲנֵה maḥanēh. Meaning a body or company of people, bunched together, or ranked in movement. Used for a battle formation even in the midst of battle. Also it means a camp of people in place with tents set up. The command to move the camp was given in vs. 15. So we know that the camp pulled out and was on the move. This extension to the word camp in not normally part of English, though we might think of a general speaking of his train of provisions in wagons as a camp. “We have marched far. The camp will not catch up for a day. Hunt game, and eat rations.” Therefore, I thought it better to use the word “formation.” However, the concordance of the usages of מַחֲנֵה maḥanēh is not unimportant. The feat of concordance is difficult to achieve in translation. That is why some people need to learn Hebrew and mine its gems. The usage of “camp” in translations leaves the English reader that the idea that they stayed in place all night.
14:23¹ ^ Literally, “Then Egypt pursues.” Hebrew indicates the continuation of an action by repeating it. English style is confused by mere repetition since English always uses words to express continuance like, kept on, continued, renewed the pursuit, hastened the pursuit, etc. Without these words, English assumes a break in the action, and a new instance of the action.
The effect of the cloud behind the formation of Yisra’ēl had been to delay or slow down the Egyptian pursuit. The Messenger could control Egypt by letting some light through to their side of the cloud, and by keeping their hearts bold.
14:27† ^ or boil, be in violent commotion, stir up, shake out, shake off (BDB).
14:31‡ ^ or “faithfully trusted.” They trusted and became loyal. But this loyalty was to be later tested (cf. Deut. 8:1-4). No one can say this loyalty was not genuine at this time, because the same words that are used for faithfully trusting in Messiah are used here (cf. Gen. 15:6). Mōshēh, his servant, is a type of the coming servant of Yăhwēh, who is the Messiah.
15:1¹ ^ אָז a̓z = then, at that time; equivalent to the waw consecutive; = then sings.
15:2¹ ^ = then.
15:2² ^ וְאַנְוֵהוּ wea̓nvēhū = and I will glorify, or beautify.
15:2³ ^ Read: וָאֲרֹמְמֶנְהוּ wa-. Waw consecutive. With energic nun = greatly.
15:9¹ ^ = empty my sword, i.e. empty the sword from its sheath.
15:13† ^ נֵהַלְתָּ from nahal = guided via streams, to lead gently by way of the water courses.
15:15¹ ^ ^ waw consecutive equivalent. See 15:1¹.
15:26¹ ^ הַיָּשָׁר hayashar = the straight thing, the level thing, the upright thing, the plumb thing.
15:26² ^ חֹק ḥōq. Same word as “statutes.”
15:27¹ ^ Ē̓limward, toward Ē̓lim.
15:15² ^ אַלּוּפֵי a̓lūphēi = commanders over a thousand; chiliarch.
15:18† ^ לְעֹלָם = to obscurity of time. עֶד = onward, past.
15:24¹ ^ יִלֹּנוּ yillonū. Niphal. It appears the Niphal is indicating a state of being a complainer, because of their lack of trust in Yăhwēh, and not just a simple complaint, or lodging of a complaint. It is o.k. to complain if one has an unmet need, but faulting Gŏd is faithlessness.
15:25¹ ^ “shot him a tree” as shooting or aiming as with a finger or bow. The tree here represents Messiah, which purifies the bitter waters on the third day. The verb suggests the tree was hunted with an arrow, i.e. pierced. The verb also means to “point out”, i.e. “pointed out [to] him, a tree.” The sense “to teach” is based on indicating truth by pointing it out, i.e. by demonstration of the truth. The verb is the root of the word תּוֹרָה torah.
15:25² ^ A Niphal makes more sense here, hence: וַיִּמָּתְקוּ wayyimmateqū.
15:25³ ^ The pronoun refers to the people. The polluted waters represent the people, whose hearts were bitter with complaint.
15:25‡ ^ Messiah is a rock of testing, and a sign of judgment, in that he recieved Gŏd’s judgment for our sin, in that he will bring judgment to those who do not receive him. Messiah is the prescription for the bitterness of sin. The noun חֹק ḥōq means a prespription, or something prescribed. The waters of life that are poisoned by sin, are being made pure by Messiah.
16:1¹ ^ If the reader hasn’t noticed yet, Hebrew almost always repeats the word “between” where English does not.
16:1† ^ The 15th day of the second month was the first day of the week in the year of the Exodus. See calendar below. The text does not say what day they pulled up from Ē̓lim, but it does say what day they came to “wilderness of Si̱n.” It was the 15th day of the 2nd month. The trip from Ē̓lim to Si̱n had to include an intermediate campsite at the Red Sea. After leaving Ē̓lim, there was a camp at the Red Sea (Num. 33:10), and then they left that camp and came to Si̱n (Num. 33:11). The narrative does not always mention all the stages of the journey. So it is clear that the narrative only gives the arrival date in the wilderness of Si̱n.
Month: II ZIV, 1632 BC 2508 A.M. Sab. Cyc: 2. Jub. Cyc: 9 Cycle No: 51
Q1: 1.375 A Q2: -0.328 F LG: 93m W: 1.042' AL: 21.3 AV: 19.7
New Moon calculated for longitude: 34.59 and latitude 28.68
Location of calculations: Near Rephidim Author: Daniel Gregg
I II III IV V VI VII
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↑ │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │
│New Moon │ APR 28 │ │ │ │ │ │
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│ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │ 11 │ 12 │ 13 │ 14 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
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│ ♦15● │◊ 16 │ 17 │ 18 │ 19 │ 20 │ ♦♦21 │
│ MAY 11 │ │ │ │ │ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~█████▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒
│ 22 │ 23 │ 24 │ 25 │ 26 │ 27 │ 28 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒
│ 29 ↑ │
│ MAY 25 │
Please note that in vs. 5 the mention of the sixth day does not mean they had manna that first week for six days, but it only means the sixth day of the week. The manna began at dawn on the second day of the week that year, and that first week of it. The quail arrived on the 15th day of the month, marked by the bullet ● above. And the manna arrived at the point marked ◊, at dawn on the 16th day of the month. The arrived and pitched camp at the point marked ♦. The following rest day, mentioned in the narrative is marked ♦♦. It is possible that they pulled up from the Red Sea camp when the Sabbath was over at unsset on the 14th, and then went all night until midmorning on the 15th day.
Legend: days are marked ~~~~~. Nights are marked: ▒▒▒▒▒. The new moon appears at the ↑. And the new moon day is marked “New Moon.” The Sabbath is marked █████ for the night part, and ▀▀▀▀▀ for the day part. Days are delimited by │ from daybreak to daybreak, according to the daily offerings (cf. Lev. 6:9-10), and Genesis reckoning of a day. Sabbaths begin with the night before its day part.
16:2¹ ^ Written: וַיַּלִּינוּ wayyalli̱nū =
16:3† ^ This impossible wish is expressed as a sarcastic request.
16:3¹ ^ = in sitting us.
16:3² ^ = in eating us.
16:3³ ^ = to make die.
16:3‡ ^ The complaint was made by “all the congregation,” because they were legitimately hungry. It is that everyone complained, but that only the rebells made the baseless charges in vs. 3, where the word “all” is dropped. They failed the test, and proved their faithlessness.
16:4‡ ^ דְּבַר dev̱ar = word, matter, thing. The Hebrew phrase דְּבַר־יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ dev̱ar yōm beyōmō is idiomatic for “an alloted portion, day by day of it” (cf. Ex. 5:13,19). The quota is gathered according to a “word” or commandment. There is a spiritual lesson in the choice of the word “word” used in this idiom, in this place. And that is that Messiah is the Word of Yăhwēh, the bread of life from heaven.
16:4¹ ^ The pronoun refers to “the people.”
16:4† ^ The test was not a temptation or inducement to do evil, but a test of their faithfulness, to see if they would continue to be faithful. For they had all complained, because they were hungry, but not all of them had rebelled against Him. But minority was certainly at work trying to undo the redemptive activity of Yăhwēh. Yăhwēh is addressing the legitimate needs of the people as a whole here. He is slow to anger, and does not punish the whole people for the complaints of the rebells.
It should be noted that the test here is so that the outcome may be known. See Deut. 8:2. A person may have faithfulness, but the question remains if that faithfulness to Gŏd is more important to them than the demands of the flesh. Does the Almĭghty come first in one’s life, or does he give way to the flesh when a test comes? It should not be thought that the failure of one test is the last test of one’s faith. For if one recommits and passes the new tests, then the old failure will be forgotten, and the old failure will serve as a reminder that faithfulness must be steadfast against the desire of sin.
16:7¹ ^ = “complaints lodged.”
16:7² ^ = “complaint lodgers.” The written text here is Niphal: תַלּוֹנוּ tallōnū = you are being complaint lodgers, a state of being complainers. The margin suggests the reading Hiphil: תַלִּינוּ talli̱nū = you are making (lodging) a complaint. The context, I believe favors the written. I see no compelling reason for the Hiphil. The subtle difference between the Niphal and the Hiphil is that in the Niphal the persons are complainers, whereas in the Hiphil they only make a complaint.
16:8¹ ^ Read: לָשֹׂבַע lasōv̱a̒ = to the full, to the point of being sated.
16:8† ^ בִּשְׁמֹעַ יַהְוֶה bi̱shemo‘a Yăhwēh = in hearing (of) Yăhwēh, in listening of Yăhwēh. The point is that Yăhwēh was the one responsible for providing, and not Mōshēh. Therefore, the complaint lodged at Mōshēh and his brother, is in fact lodged at Yăhwēh. Yăhwēh’s response in providing proves where the complaints end up.
16:9¹ ^ = lodgings.
16:12¹ ^ = lodgings.
16:12² ^ Read: תִּשָּׂבְעוּ tisav̱ū̒. Niphal, “be sated, be full.”
16:15† ^ מָן הוּא man hū’. BDB: “etym. of מָן ‘manna,’ based upon the late Aram.
16:15† ^ or “He” is more literal, which makes an illustration refering to Messiah possible.
16:16† ^ Again, this can illustrate Messiah. He says, “I am the bread of life.”
16:16¹ ^ or “capacity.” A standard idiom.
16:16‡ ^ גֻּלְגֹּלֶת gūlgōlet. This word is related to the Aramaic: גּוּלְגַּלְתָּא gūlgalta̓. From it comes the word “Golgotha” found in the gospels. The word means a poll or head counting.
16:18¹ ^ = they had gathered.
16:23‡ ^ The phrase implies that the command for the Sabbath was given earlier, as evidenced by the rulers knowing what to do in vs. 22. The language suggests that the Sabbath command was given on the seventh day after six days of creation, and that which Yăhwēh had spoken at some point earlier in that week was to remind them of it.
16:31† ^ מָן man. The popular term “manna” comes from Aramaic מַנָא mana̓. The Greek borrowed its term from Aramaic, and not the Hebrew, hence the Greek is μαννα in the LXX and NT in all places except where the LXX translated more literally Μαν in Exodus 16.
16:36‡ ^ The commandment given here, to keep the manna in a container before the ark of the Testimony was given after the construction of the tabernacle. The testimony refers to the ark. “At the face of the Testimony” does not mean in the ark, or in the most holy place, but just outside the curtain separating the most holy place from the holy place. The section is placed in parenthesis since it refers to a later time. However, it is appended to the account of the manna because it relates to the same subject.
17:1† ^ or “decampings.” The idea is that it took several decampments to get from this wilderness and to Rephi̱di̱m. See Num. 33:12-13. It was in fact two.
17:5¹ ^ = on it.
17:8¹ ^ = made there to be war, Niphal = Piel.
17:9¹ ^ = make to be war, Niphal = Piel.
17:10¹ ^ = to make to be war, Niphal = Piel.
17:12† ^ מִזֶּה אֶחָד וּמִזֶּה אֶחָד mizzeh e̓ḥad ūmizzeh e̓ḥad = from this one, from this one.
17:12‡ ^ אֱמוּנָה e̓mūnah = were supported. This word also means “faithful” and “faithfulness.” We may ask why did Yăhwēh allow A̒malēq to make war against Yisra’ēl. It is because many had been unfaithful in trusting Yăhwēh to provide, and therefore, he gave a visible demonstration during this battle of dependence on him. Mōshēh supported the rod. A̓harōn and Ḥūr supported Mōshēh, and therefore Yăhwēh was supported by their faith, and so he supported Yisra’ēl.
17:15‡ ^ וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יְהוָה נִסִּי wayyiqra̓ shemō Yăhwēh nissi̱ = Then he proclaimed His name “Yăhwēh my banner.” Or “Then he invoked (called upon) his name: Yăhwēh my banner.” The notion that he called the altar Yăhwēh is completely wrong, and translators have followed Rabbinic Judaism in corrupting this passage without thinking, along with a good number of other passages. Every time an altar is built, it is the name of Yăhwēh that is called on, or proclaimed, and not the name of the altar, object, or place, viz. Gen. 22:14: Then Av̱raham proclaimed the renown of that place, “Yăhwēh-himself will see, which is said today, “On the mount Yăhwēh himself will see.”¹ Or Gen. 33:20: Then he erected there an altar. Then he called out to Him, “´Ēl Elohæy Yisra´ēl.”†
18:5¹ ^ = there.
18:5† ^ הַר har = mountain country, hill country. See BDB. Holladay: mountain range.
18:6† ^LXX, Sam. Pent., Syriac, הִנֵּה; MT אני; ואמר...הנה cf. Gen. 48:1.
18:16¹ ^ Hebrew: and. English discourse requires “then” to follow a contingiency.
18:16² ^ דָּבָר dav̱ar = word, matter, thing. It means here a word to give, an instruction, a case to decide, or a decision to make.
18:20¹ ^ = in it.
18:20² ^ The paragogic nun appears to make this emphatic.
19:1† ^ The word חֹדֶשׁ ḥōdesh, has here, the sense of “new moon” since the context qualifies the word with “in that day.” More often, the word means “month.”
19:2† ^ They pulled out from Rephi̱di̱m on the second day of the week, and went a day’s walk. Then they camped in the wilderness overnight. Then they went a day’s walk. Then they camped in the wilderness overnight. On the fourth day of the week, they arrived at the camp in front of the mountain, so that their journey in the wilderness was three days, as that Mōshēh had said. The phrase, “Then they camped in the wilderness” is but a summary of the camps they had on the way. The summary in Num. 33:15 is equally terse, and does not even mention the mountain.
19:5¹ ^ = in, on.
19:5‡ ^ מִכָּל־הָעַמִּים mikol ha‘ammi̱m = from all the peoples. This phrase omits the word “among”, and also the preposition does not have to mean “above” or “more than.” Though, it may mean that, it also means “out of” or “from” in the sense of “taken from all the peoples.” There is therefore, a hint in the text of Yăhwēh’s grand plan to save people from every nation, and to make them a part of his special nation, as is strongly hinted in other promises. The final phrase, “because all the earth
19:6† ^ I have chosen here the word “ministers” because the Hebrew word כֹּהֲנִים kōhahni̱m has a broader sense than the Levitical Priests. It can also mean administrators or ministers, even to the extent that members of government are called ministers. As such the term is a promise that applies to all the sons of Yisra’ēl.
19:9‡ ^ Mōshēh is acting as a type of the Messiah here, to whom belongs ultimate loyalty, faithful support, and trust.
19:10† ^ The fourth day of the week, and the fifth day of the week were for their sanctification. They were to be ready for the third day, which began at dawn on the sixth day of the week, and was the fifth day of the month. Near setting time, at the beginning of the Shabbat, was when Yăhwēh planned to come down.
We may now learn a lesson from this chronology. Messiah died on the fourth day of the week to forgive our sin, and to set us apart, and to make us holy, and then he rose again on the seventh day of the week, and was seen then by the disciples, and he ate and drank with them, and they lived to tell the story.
19:12¹ ^ = And you will have made bounded the people around.
19:13‡ ^ They people generally are not allowed to go up “on the mountain,” but certain persons, noted as “they” are here allowed to go up on the mountain at the designated time. It may be that Mōshēh was on the verge of asking about Yehōshūa̒ and his brother, and never got to ask the question, because Yăhwēh answered it as soon as he thought it. Anyone in that generation and the upcoming generation would the more easily know who “they” was, and so no further explanation is given in the written text. The better commentators agree with this explanation, and I hope I have shown a bit of justification for it.
19:16† ^ קֹלֹת qōlōt. The same word means “voices,” “sounds,” or “thunders.” The context with lightning certainly means thunderings, but in this case it is not improbable that intelligent beings, i.e. messengers of Gŏd are making the sounds, and that “voices” is also equally correct.
19:16‡ ^ or “voice of a mighty trumpet.” It is not certain that it was an actual ram’s horn, but it was a sound (or voice) very much like it.
19:19† ^ or “voice.” See 19:16† and 19:16‡.
19:19‡ ^ Again the word “voice” קוֹל qōl. The answer was with a “thunder voice” or the “sound of a thunderous voice.” The same Hebrew word means sound, voice, and thunder.
20:5‡ ^I Yăhwēh your Almĭghty am a jealous Gŏd, attending to the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, upon the third, and upon the fourth generation of those hating me. This is the first of two places in the ten commandments were judgment is announced upon the evil doer. This judgment is aimed at idolatry in the context, and in a broader sense at all iniquity. This judgment is expanded in Deut. 27:2ff which explains that the iniquity is attended to via divine curses on the evil doer down to the third and fourth generation.
2:7‡ ^You may not carry the name of Yăhwēh your Almĭghty for nothing, because Yăhwēh will not acquit
20:18† ^ How does one “see the voice” or “sound”? We expect that voices and sounds may be heard, and not seen. But it is possible to see a voice. It means seeing the one making the sounds or speaking. The people were catching glimpses of the myriads of messengers that were making the sounds and the lights. The word “torch” is an apt metaphor for a messenger making a burning point of light in the cloud. They began to see the beings making the sounds and the lights, including the voice making the trumpeting sound, or “speaking with the sound of a trumpet.”
20:21¹ ^ נִגַּשׁ niggash = had drawn himself near. The need for the reflexive is proved since only Mōshēh can be the subject
20:25¹ ^ חֶרֶב ḥerev̱ = sword, cutting instrument, knife, dagger, flint knife, chisel (see Holladay).
20:26¹ ^ = you may not ascend by ascenders.
21:3† ^ If he is married when he is sold, then the Master also assumes the responsibility of supporting the entire family. But the entire family becomes his servants, and the entire family goes free in six years.
21:4† ^ אֲדֹנָיו A̓dōnaiw = his Master. The word “Master” is capitalized here because it is plural in Hebrew.
21:4‡ ^ = will be. If the wife was a Hebrew, then she would have to serve out her full six years. She does not automatically go out when the husband does, and still belongs to the Master. If the wife was foreign, then the marriage gives her the status of a Hebrew, and she goes free six years after her marriage date. This was actually a great economic help to the free husband, because the Master would end up supporting the wife and minor children until the wife went free. If, however, the husband did not want the eventual obligations of support, and did not want to face a temporary separation from his wife and children (due to seeking work elsewhere), then he could become a bondservant. If he became a bondservant, and trusted his Master to take care of him, then his wife would automatically be a bondservant also. The children could be free after six years, but the Master could not impose freedom on them until adulthood.
21:6‡ ^ הָאֱלֹהִים ha E̓lōhi̱m. The term does not mean “judges,” but refers to Gŏd, whose presence dwelt in the Sanctuary. The Master is to take the servant there, in view of the holy place, where the servant will repeat his desire to remain a perpetual servant before Gŏd, and in the presence of witnesses. The decision is irrevocable, and therefore must by done before Gŏd and officially confirmed so that the Master is not held liable for failure to release said servant if the servant should change his mind. It is also to ensure that the servant knows his status will be perpetual.
21:7† ^ Handmaid (אָמָה a̓mah) in this case is a daughter sold into an involuntary marriage. Her parents collect whatever bride price they set for it, and she remains the purchaser’s wife for life, and the Master incurs all the obligations of having a wife. Some Masters might wish for such an involuntary wife to depart on the same terms as men after she has borne sons, which would leave the woman destitute.
21:8† ^ רָעָה בְּעֵינֵי ra‘ah be‘ēinē =
21:8‡ ^ Because the marriage was involuntary, he shall pay the full bride price back to the woman, and immediately free her.
21:8¹ ^ A common custom is now stated to be illegal in connection with the grevious case of the hated handmaid. In such cases, a common practice was to sell the hated servant into foreign slavery, because he or she did not please the Master. Often the sale was at a discount so that the Master could simply be rid of the servant. Only foreign servants could be bonded for life. In the case of a Hebrew servant, the bond was only six years. If a servant was resold after three years, then only three years of service remains. It is therefore unlawful to sell a bonded Hebrew to a foreign entity that is not submitted to the jursidiction of Torah. However, since the handmaid was bonded for life, based on the status of her being married to the Master, then an evil Master, who divorces her, might be tempted to use that permenant status against her, and sell her to a foreigner.
21:10† ^ She becomes free from the marriage, and her servant status. She would owe him no money. And if need be, she could sell herself to another Master as a common servant, save the purchase price, and be free and economically independent in six years. In any case, her former Master’s treatment of her is evil, and this is her last recourse. The difference between this case, and the one in vs. 8 is probably sudden hatred (vs. 8) vs. gradual neglect (vs. 10), and which is the case would have to be determined by the judges.
21:22‡ ^ Read: נְגָפוֹ negafō = one has injured (a pregnant woman). The MT reads: נָגְפוּ nagfū = they have injured (a pregnant woman). The MT vowel pointing serves to confuse the passage. It is clear from the following singular verb, “fined he will be fined” that only one person who hit the woman is being considered.
21:22† ^ The intent of this last clause “with the judges,” or “by the judges” is that the two men should not meet again. There is an implicit restraining order. The husband will tell the judges what the fine is, and the judges will collect it from the offender and turn it over to the husband.
21:23† ^ If either the woman or her unborn children are injured, then the penalty is to the extent of the injury. Liberal commentators have striven with the text to make it seem that if the woman miscarries, then only a fine is imposed. This impossible opinion is based on the attempt to translate the words וְיָצְאוּ יְלָדֶיהָ weyatsū̓ yeladeiha to mean “miscarriage” or “aborts.” The words mean “and her children have been made to go out.” An aborted child is a dead child. A miscarried child is also a dead child. “And her children have been made to go out, and there happens no harm,” means exactly what it says. The birth was premature, but there was no harm.
The text I have translated as literally as possible. Let the reader judge if the children come out dead when they should be born alive if no harm has occurred. The following translations are lying about the text, or are very compromised: KJV, “her fruit depart from her”; the use of the word “depart” evokes death in English. KJV 2000, “miscarriage” (lying). Jubilee 2000 “so that she aborts” (lying). American King James Version (same problem as KJV). ASV, same problem as KJV. Douay-Rheims Bible, “and she miscarry indeed, but live herself” (a total and utter lie of a translation!). Versions acquitted: NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB, HCSB. I have found that nearly every commentator on one popular bible commentary site is on the wrong side of the truth on this passage.
22:5¹ ^ = made to be grazed.
22:6¹ ^ i.e. a stack of sheaves, shocks of grain.
22:9† ^ The verb is plural, “they will make wicked.” The matter was taken to the Almĭghty to swear an oath
"22:10a"23:16† ^ After the summer solstice when the days are getting shorter.
34:22† ^ After the summer solstice, when the days start to get shorter.