14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! 1 Stand firm 2 and see 3 the salvation 4 of the Lord that he will provide 5 for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. 6
1 tn The use of אַל (’al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).
2 tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.
3 tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.
4 tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).
5 tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.
6 tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”) – “you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”
sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) notes that the antithetical parallelism between seeing salvation and seeing the Egyptians, as well as the threefold repetition of the word “see” cannot be accidental; so too the alliteration of the last three words beginning with ayin (ע).
7 tn The Hebrew term וַיּוֹשַׁע (vayyosha’) is the key summation of the chapter, and this part of the book: “So Yahweh saved Israel.” This is the culmination of all the powerful works of God through these chapters.
8 tn Heb “the hand,” with “hand” being a metonymy for power.
9 tn The participle “dead” is singular, agreeing in form with “Egypt.”