Exodus 6:5

6:5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

Exodus 12:38

12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle.

Exodus 19:22

19:22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”


tn The addition of the independent pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “I”) emphasizes the fact that it was Yahweh himself who heard the cry.

tn Heb “And also I have heard.”

tn The form is the Hiphil participle מַעֲבִדִים (maavidim, “causing to serve”). The participle occurs in a relative clause that modifies “the Israelites.” The clause ends with the accusative “them,” which must be combined with the relative pronoun for a smooth English translation. So “who the Egyptians are enslaving them,” results in the translation “whom the Egyptians are enslaving.”

tn As in Exod 2:24, this remembering has the significance of God’s beginning to act to fulfill the covenant promises.

tn The “mixed multitude” (עֵרֶב רַב, ’erev rav) refers to a great “swarm” (see a possible cognate in 8:21[17]) of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos). The expression prepares for later references to riffraff who came along.

tn Heb “and very much cattle.”

tn The verb יִפְרֹץ (yifrots) is the imperfect tense from פָּרַץ (parats, “to make a breach, to break through”). The image of Yahweh breaking forth on them means “work destruction” (see 2 Sam 6:8; S. R. Driver, Exodus, 174).