Discovery BoxExodus 2:14 
Context2:14 The man 1 replied, “Who made you a ruler 2 and a judge over us? Are you planning 3 to kill me like you killed that 4 Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking, 5 “Surely what I did 6 has become known.”
Exodus 18:16
Context18:16 When they have a dispute, 7 it comes to me and I decide 8 between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the decrees of God and his laws.” 9
Exodus 21:36
Context21:36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay 10 ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. 11
1 tn Heb “And he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “Who placed you for a man, a ruler and a judge over us?” The pleonasm does not need to be translated. For similar constructions see Lev 21:9; Judg 6:8; 2 Sam 1:13; Esth 7:6.
3 tn The line reads “[is it] to kill me you are planning?” The form אֹמֵר (’omer) is the active participle used verbally; it would literally be “[are you] saying,” but in this context it conveys the meaning of “thinking, planning.” The Qal infinitive then serves as the object of this verbal form – are you planning to kill me?
4 tn Heb “the Egyptian.” Here the Hebrew article functions in an anaphoric sense, referring back to the individual Moses killed.
5 tn The verb form is “and he said.” But the intent of the form is that he said this within himself, and so it means “he thought, realized, said to himself.” The form, having the vav consecutive, is subordinated to the main idea of the verse, that he was afraid.
6 tn The term הַדָּבָר (haddavar, “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done. For clarity this has been specified in the translation with the phrase “what I did.”
7 tn Or “thing,” “matter,” “issue.”
8 tn The verb שָׁפַט (shafat) means “to judge”; more specifically, it means to make a decision as an arbiter or umpire. When people brought issues to him, Moses decided between them. In the section of laws in Exodus after the Ten Commandments come the decisions, the מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim).
9 tn The “decrees” or “statutes” were definite rules, stereotyped and permanent; the “laws” were directives or pronouncements given when situations arose. S. R. Driver suggests this is another reason why this event might have taken place after Yahweh had given laws on the mountain (Exodus, 165).
10 tn The construction now uses the same Piel imperfect (v. 34) but adds the infinitive absolute to it for emphasis.
11 sn The point of this section (21:28-36) seems to be that one must ensure the safety of others by controlling one’s property and possessions. This section pertained to neglect with animals, but the message would have applied to similar situations. The people of God were to take heed to ensure the well-being of others, and if there was a problem, it had to be made right.
