Exodus 4:11

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ¹  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ² 

Exodus 12:19

12:19 For seven days ³  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ⁴  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ⁵  or one born in the land.

Exodus 33:11

33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, ⁶  the way a person speaks ⁷  to a friend. Then Moses ⁸  would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. ⁹ 

Exodus 38:26

38:26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, ¹⁰  according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, ¹¹  603,550 in all. ¹² 

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¹ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

sn The argumentation by Moses is here met by Yahweh’s rhetorical questions. They are intended to be sharp – it is reproof for Moses. The message is twofold. First, Yahweh is fully able to overcome all of Moses’ deficiencies. Second, Moses is exactly the way that God intended him to be. So the rhetorical questions are meant to prod Moses’ faith.

² sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

³ tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

⁴ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

⁵ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

⁶ tn “Face to face” is circumstantial to the action of the verb, explaining how they spoke (see GKC 489-90 §156.c). The point of this note of friendly relationship with Moses is that Moses was “at home” in this tent speaking with God. Moses would derive courage from this when he interceded for the people (B. Jacob, Exodus, 966).

⁷ tn The verb in this clause is a progressive imperfect.

⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ sn Moses did not live in the tent. But Joshua remained there most of the time to guard the tent, it seems, lest any of the people approach it out of curiosity.

¹⁰ sn The weight would be about half an ounce.

¹¹ tn Heb “upward.”

¹² tn The phrase “in all” has been supplied.