18:2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back,
18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What 1 you are doing is not good!
18:24 Moses listened to 2 his father-in-law and did everything he had said.
21:15 “Whoever strikes 3 his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
21:17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully 4 must surely be put to death.
1 tn Heb “the thing.”
2 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” means “obey, comply with, heed.”
3 sn This is the same construction that was used in v. 12, but here there is no mention of the parents’ death. This attack, then, does not lead to their death – if he killed one of them then v. 12 would be the law. S. R. Driver says that the severity of the penalty was in accord with the high view of parents (Exodus, 216).
4 tn The form is a Piel participle from קָלַל (qalal), meaning in Qal “be light,” in Piel “treat lightly, curse, revile, declare contemptible, treat shamefully.” (See its use in Lev 19:14; Josh 24:9; Judg 9:26-28; 1 Sam 3:13; 17:43; 2 Sam 16:5-13; Prov 30:10-11; Eccl 7:21-22; 10:20.) It is opposite of “honor” (כָּבֵד, kaved; Qal “be heavy”; Piel “honor,” as in 20:12) and of “bless.” This verse then could refer to any act contrary to the commandment to honor the parents. B. Jacob (Exodus, 640) cites parallels in Sumerian where people were severely punished for publicly disowning their parents. “21:15, 17 taken together evoke the picture of parents who, physically and verbally, are forcibly turned out of the house (cf. Prov. 19:26)” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:148).