Discovery BoxExodus 16:7 
Context16:7 and in the morning you will see 1 the glory of the Lord, because he has heard 2 your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, 3 that you should murmur against us?”
Exodus 24:3
Context24:3 Moses came 4 and told the people all the Lord’s words 5 and all the decisions. All the people answered together, 6 “We are willing to do 7 all the words that the Lord has said,”
Exodus 24:7
Context24:7 He took the Book of the Covenant 8 and read it aloud 9 to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey 10 all that the Lord has spoken.”
Exodus 24:14
Context24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are 11 Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute 12 can approach 13 them.”
Exodus 32:23
Context32:23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’
Exodus 34:9
Context34:9 and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord 14 go among us, for we 15 are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
1 tn Heb “morning, and you will see.”
2 tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. It forms an adverbial clause, usually of time, but here a causal clause.
3 tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers. The next verse repeats the question to further press the seriousness of what the Israelites are doing.
4 sn The general consensus among commentators is that this refers to Moses’ coming from the mountain after he made the ascent in 20:21. Here he came and told them the laws (written in 20:22-23:33), and of the call to come up to Yahweh.
5 sn The Decalogue may not be included here because the people had heard those commands themselves earlier.
6 tn The text simply has “one voice” (קוֹל אֶחָד, qol ’ekhad); this is an adverbial accusative of manner, telling how the people answered – “in one voice,” or unanimously (see GKC 375 §118.q).
7 tn The verb is the imperfect tense (נַעֲשֶׂה, na’aseh), although the form could be classified as a cohortative. If the latter, they would be saying that they are resolved to do what God said. If it is an imperfect, then the desiderative would make the most sense: “we are willing to do.” They are not presumptuously saying they are going to do all these things.
8 tn The noun “book” would be the scroll just written containing the laws of chaps. 20-23. On the basis of this scroll the covenant would be concluded here. The reading of this book would assure the people that it was the same that they had agreed to earlier. But now their statement of willingness to obey would be more binding, because their promise would be confirmed by a covenant of blood.
9 tn Heb “read it in the ears of.”
10 tn A second verb is now added to the people’s response, and it is clearly an imperfect and not a cohortative, lending support for the choice of desiderative imperfect in these commitments – “we want to obey.” This was their compliance with the covenant.
11 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh) calls attention to the presence of Aaron and Hur to answer the difficult cases that might come up.
12 tn Or “issues to resolve.” The term is simply דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, “words, things, matters”).
13 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.
14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” two times here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
15 tn Heb “it is.” Hebrew uses the third person masculine singular pronoun here in agreement with the noun “people.”
