Exodus 3:4

3:4 When the Lord 1  saw that 2  he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” 3  And Moses 4  said, “Here I am.”

Exodus 24:14

24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are 5  Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute 6  can approach 7  them.”

1 tn The preterite with the vav (ו) is subordinated as a temporal clause to the main point of the verse, that God called to him. The language is anthropomorphic, as if God’s actions were based on his observing what Moses did.

2 tn The particle כִּי (ki, “that”) introduces the noun clause that functions as the direct object of the verb “saw” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490).

3 sn The repetition of the name in God’s call is emphatic, making the appeal direct and immediate (see also Gen 22:11; 46:2). The use of the personal name shows how specifically God directed the call and that he knew this person. The repetition may have stressed even more that it was indeed he whom the Lord wanted. It would have been an encouragement to Moses that this was in fact the Lord who was meeting him.

4 tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

5 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh) calls attention to the presence of Aaron and Hur to answer the difficult cases that might come up.

6 tn Or “issues to resolve.” The term is simply דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, “words, things, matters”).

7 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of potential imperfect. In the absence of Moses and Joshua, Aaron and Hur will be available.

sn Attention to the preparation for Moses’ departure contributes to the weight of the guilt of the faithless Israelites (chap. 32) and of Aaron, to whom Moses had delegated an important duty.