Discovery BoxExodus 2:23 
Context2:23 1 During 2 that long period of time 3 the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites 4 groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry 5 because of their slave labor went up to God.
Exodus 10:3
Context10:3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse 6 to humble yourself before me? 7 Release my people so that they may serve me!
Exodus 10:7
Context10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long 8 will this man be a menace 9 to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know 10 that Egypt is destroyed?”
Exodus 27:1
Context27:1 “You are to make the 11 altar of acacia wood, seven feet six inches long, 12 and seven feet six inches wide; the altar is to be square, 13 and its height is to be 14 four feet six inches.
Exodus 27:9
Context27:9 “You are to make the courtyard 15 of the tabernacle. For the south side 16 there are to be hangings 17 for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long for one side, 18
Exodus 38:1
Context38:1 He made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood seven feet six inches long and seven feet six inches wide – it was square – and its height was four feet six inches.
Exodus 38:12
Context38:12 For the west side there were 19 hangings seventy-five feet long, with 20 their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver.
Exodus 38:15
Context38:15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, 21 the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases.
1 sn The next section of the book is often referred to as the “Call of Moses,” and that is certainly true. But it is much more than that. It is the divine preparation of the servant of God, a servant who already knew what his destiny was. In this section Moses is shown how his destiny will be accomplished. It will be accomplished because the divine presence will guarantee the power, and the promise of that presence comes with the important “I AM” revelation. The message that comes through in this, and other “I will be with you” passages, is that when the promise of God’s presence is correctly appropriated by faith, the servant of God can begin to build confidence for the task that lies ahead. It will no longer be, “Who am I that I should go?” but “I AM with you” that matters. The first little section, 2:23-25, serves as a transition and introduction, for it records the
2 tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “And it was” (cf. KJV, ASV “And it came to pass”). This has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “in those many days.”
4 tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”
5 tn “They cried out” is from זָעַק (za’aq), and “desperate cry” is from שַׁוְעָה (shava’h).
6 tn The verb is מֵאַנְתָּ (me’anta), a Piel perfect. After “how long,” the form may be classified as present perfect (“how long have you refused), for it describes actions begun previously but with the effects continuing. (See GKC 311 §106.g-h). The use of a verb describing a state or condition may also call for a present translation (“how long do you refuse”) that includes past, present, and potentially future, in keeping with the question “how long.”
7 tn The clause is built on the use of the infinitive construct to express the direct object of the verb – it answers the question of what Pharaoh was refusing to do. The Niphal infinitive construct (note the elision of the ה [hey] prefix after the preposition [see GKC 139 §51.l]) is from the verb עָנָה (’anah). The verb in this stem would mean “humble oneself.” The question is somewhat rhetorical, since God was not yet through humbling Pharaoh, who would not humble himself. The issue between Yahweh and Pharaoh is deeper than simply whether or not Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave Egypt.
8 sn The question of Pharaoh’s servants echoes the question of Moses – “How long?” Now the servants of Pharaoh are demanding what Moses demanded – “Release the people.” They know that the land is destroyed, and they speak of it as Moses’ doing. That way they avoid acknowledging Yahweh or blaming Pharaoh.
9 tn Heb “snare” (מוֹקֵשׁ, moqesh), a word used for a trap for catching birds. Here it is a figure for the cause of Egypt’s destruction.
10 tn With the adverb טֶרֶם (terem), the imperfect tense receives a present sense: “Do you not know?” (See GKC 481 §152.r).
11 tn The article on this word identifies this as the altar, meaning the main high altar on which the sacrifices would be made.
12 tn The dimensions are five cubits by five cubits by three cubits high.
13 tn Heb “four”; this refers to four sides. S. R. Driver says this is an archaism that means there were four equal sides (Exodus, 291).
14 tn Heb “and three cubits its height.”
15 tn Or “enclosure” (TEV).
16 tn Heb “south side southward.”
17 tn Or “curtains.”
18 sn The entire courtyard of 150 feet by 75 feet was to be enclosed by a curtain wall held up with posts in bases. All these hangings were kept in place by a cord and tent pegs.
19 tn The phrase “there were” has been supplied.
20 tn The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.
21 tn Heb “from this and from this” (cf, 17:12; 25:19; 26:13; 32:15; Josh 8:22, 33; 1 Kgs 10:19-20; Ezek 45:7).
