Exodus 1:6

1:6 and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died.

Exodus 2:4

2:4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

Exodus 2:24

2:24 God heard their groaning, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,

Exodus 6:11

6:11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release the Israelites from his land.”

Exodus 7:23

7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this.

Exodus 8:32

8:32 But Pharaoh hardened 10  his heart this time also and did not release the people.

Exodus 18:24

18:24 Moses listened to 11  his father-in-law and did everything he had said.

Exodus 23:3

23:3 and you must not show partiality 12  to a poor man in his lawsuit.

Exodus 24:13

24:13 So Moses set out 13  with 14  Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God.

Exodus 29:7-8

29:7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 15  29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics

Exodus 30:19

30:19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it. 16 

Exodus 30:38

30:38 Whoever makes anything like it, to use as perfume, 17  will be cut off from his people.”

Exodus 33:4

33:4 When the people heard this troubling word 18  they mourned; 19  no one put on his ornaments.

Exodus 34:33

34:33 When Moses finished 20  speaking 21  with them, he would 22  put a veil on his face.

Exodus 40:14

40:14 You are to bring 23  his sons and clothe them with tunics

Exodus 40:31

40:31 Moses and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it.

tn The text simply uses the vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite, “and Joseph died.” While this construction shows sequence with the preceding verse, it does not require that the death follow directly the report of that verse. In fact, readers know from the record in Genesis that the death of Joseph occurred after a good number of years. The statement assumes the passage of time in the natural course of events.

tn The verse has a singular verb, “and Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.” Typical of Hebrew style the verb need only agree with the first of a compound subject.

sn Since the deaths of “Joseph and his brothers and all that generation” were common knowledge, their mention must serve some rhetorical purpose. In contrast to the flourishing of Israel, there is death. This theme will appear again: In spite of death in Egypt, the nation flourishes.

tn Or “stood.” The verb is the Hitpael preterite of יָצַב (yatsav), although the form is anomalous and perhaps should be spelled as in the Samaritan Pentateuch (see GKC 193 §71). The form yields the meaning of “take a stand, position or station oneself.” His sister found a good vantage point to wait and see what might become of the infant.

tn Heb “to know”; many English versions have “to see.”

tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it should be classified here as a historic future, future from the perspective of a point in a past time narrative.

sn The word for this painfully intense “groaning” appears elsewhere to describe a response to having two broken arms (Ezek 30:24).

sn The two verbs “heard” and “remembered,” both preterites, say far more than they seem to say. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’, “to hear”) ordinarily includes responding to what is heard. It can even be found in idiomatic constructions meaning “to obey.” To say God heard their complaint means that God responded to it. Likewise, the verb זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) means to begin to act on the basis of what is remembered. A prayer to God that says, “Remember me,” is asking for more than mere recollection (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], 1-8). The structure of this section at the end of the chapter is powerful. There are four descriptions of the Israelites, with a fourfold reaction from God. On the Israelites’ side, they groaned (אָנַח [’anakh], נְאָקָה [nÿaqah]) and cried out (זָעַק [zaaq], שַׁוְעָה [shavah]) to God. On the divine side God heard (שָׁמָע, shama’) their groaning, remembered (זָכַר, zakhar) his covenant, looked (רָאָה, raah) at the Israelites, and took notice (יָדַע, yada’) of them. These verbs emphasize God’s sympathy and compassion for the people. God is near to those in need; in fact, the deliverer had already been chosen. It is important to note at this point the repetition of the word “God.” The text is waiting to introduce the name “Yahweh” in a special way. Meanwhile, the fourfold repetition of “God” in vv. 24-25 is unusual and draws attention to the statements about his attention to Israel’s plight.

tn The form וִישַׁלַּח (vishallakh) is the Piel imperfect or jussive with a sequential vav; following an imperative it gives the imperative’s purpose and intended result. They are to speak to Pharaoh, and (so that as a result) he will release Israel. After the command to speak, however, the second clause also indirectly states the content of the speech (cf. Exod 11:2; 14:2, 15; 25:2; Lev 16:2; 22:2). As the next verse shows, Moses doubts that what he says will have the intended effect.

tn The text has וְלֹא־שָׁת לִבּוֹ גַּם־לָזֹאת (vÿlo-shat libbo gam-lazot), which literally says, “and he did not set his heart also to this.” To “set the heart” to something would mean “to consider it.” This Hebrew idiom means that he did not pay attention to it, or take it to heart (cf. 2 Sam 13:20; Ps 48:13; 62:10; Prov 22:17; 24:32). Since Pharaoh had not been affected by this, he did not consider it or its implications further.

10 tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

11 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” means “obey, comply with, heed.”

12 tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word הָדַר (hadar; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 237).

13 tn Heb “and he arose” meaning “started to go.”

14 tn Heb “and.”

15 sn The act of anointing was meant to set him apart for this holy service within the house of Yahweh. The psalms indicate that no oil was spared in this ritual, for it ran down his beard and to the hem of his garment. Oil of anointing was used for all major offices (giving the label with the passive adjective “mashiah” (or “messiah”) to anyone anointed. In the further revelation of Scripture, the oil came to signify the enablement as well as the setting apart, and often the Holy Spirit came on the person at the anointing with oil. The olive oil was a symbol of the Spirit in the OT as well (Zech 4:4-6). And in the NT “anointing” signifies empowerment by the Holy Spirit for service.

16 tn That is, from water from it.

17 tn Or to smell it, to use for the maker’s own pleasure.

18 tn Or “bad news” (NAB, NCV).

19 sn The people would rather have risked divine discipline than to go without Yahweh in their midst. So they mourned, and they took off the ornaments. Such had been used in making the golden calf, and so because of their association with all of that they were to be removed as a sign of remorse.

20 tn Heb “and Moses finished”; the clause is subordinated as a temporal clause to the next clause.

21 tn The Piel infinitive construct is the object of the preposition; the whole phrase serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

22 tn Throughout this section the actions of Moses and the people are frequentative. The text tells what happened regularly.

23 tn The verb is also “bring near” or “present.”