14:5 When it was reported 7 to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, 8 the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, 9 “What in the world have we done? 10 For we have released the people of Israel 11 from serving us!”
1 tn The clause is a little unusual in its formation. The form נָכוֹן (nakhon) is the Niphal participle from כּוּן (kun), which usually means “firm, fixed, steadfast,” but here it has a rare meaning of “right, fitting, appropriate.” It functions in the sentence as the predicate adjective, because the infinitive לַעֲשּׂוֹת (la’asot) is the subject – “to do so is not right.”
2 tn This translation has been smoothed out to capture the sense. The text literally says, “for the abomination of Egypt we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God.” In other words, the animals that Israel would sacrifice were sacred to Egypt, and sacrificing them would have been abhorrent to the Egyptians.
3 tn An “abomination” is something that is off-limits, something that is tabu. It could be translated “detestable” or “loathsome.”
4 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 109) says there are two ways to understand “the abomination of the Egyptians.” One is that the sacrifice of the sacred animals would appear an abominable thing in the eyes of the Egyptians, and the other is that the word “abomination” could be a derogatory term for idols – we sacrifice what is an Egyptian idol. So that is why he says if they did this the Egyptians would stone them.
5 tn Heb “if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians [or “of Egypt”] before their eyes.”
6 tn The interrogative clause has no particle to indicate it is a question, but it is connected with the conjunction to the preceding clause, and the meaning of these clauses indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).
7 tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.
8 tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.
9 tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.
10 tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
11 tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).