Exodus 8:12

8:12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried ¹  to the Lord because of ²  the frogs that he had brought on ³  Pharaoh.

Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ⁴  Pharaoh got closer, ⁵  the Israelites looked up, ⁶  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ⁷  and they were terrified. ⁸  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ⁹ 

Exodus 17:4

17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with ¹⁰  this people? – a little more ¹¹  and they will stone me!” ¹² 

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¹ tn The verb צָעַק (tsa’aq) is used for prayers in which people cry out of trouble or from danger. U. Cassuto observes that Moses would have been in real danger if God had not answered this prayer (Exodus, 103).

² tn Heb “over the matter of.”

³ tn The verb is an unusual choice if it were just to mean “brought on.” It is the verb שִׂים (sim, “place, put”). S. R. Driver thinks the thought is “appointed for Pharaoh” as a sign (Exodus, 64). The idea of the sign might be too much, but certainly the frogs were positioned for the instruction of the stubborn king.

⁴ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

⁵ tn Heb “drew near.”

⁶ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

⁷ tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

⁸ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

⁹ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

¹⁰ tn The preposition lamed (ל) is here specification, meaning “with respect to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 49, §273).

¹¹ tn Or “they are almost ready to stone me.”

¹² tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive almost develops an independent force; this is true in sentences where it follows an expression of time, as here (see GKC 334 §112.x).