Discovery BoxExodus 2:9 
Context2:9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child 1 and nurse him for me, and I will pay your 2 wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
Exodus 21:36--22:1
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 3 ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. 4
22:1 5 (21:37) 6 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back 7 five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. 8
Exodus 22:4
Context22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found 9 alive in his possession, 10 whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. 11
Exodus 22:11
Context22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord 12 between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.
Exodus 22:14
Context22:14 “If a man borrows an animal 13 from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it 14 will surely pay.
Exodus 30:13
Context30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered 15 is to pay this: a half shekel 16 according to the shekel of the sanctuary 17 (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering 18 to the Lord.
Exodus 30:15
Context30:15 The rich are not to increase it, 19 and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving 20 the offering of the Lord, to make atonement 21 for your lives.
1 tn The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh), and so is properly rendered “cause to go” or “take away.”
2 tn The possessive pronoun on the noun “wage” expresses the indirect object: “I will pay wages to you.”
3 tn The construction now uses the same Piel imperfect (v. 34) but adds the infinitive absolute to it for emphasis.
4 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.
5 sn The next section of laws concerns property rights. These laws protected property from thieves and oppressors, but also set limits to retribution. The message could be: God’s laws demand that the guilty make restitution for their crimes against property and that the innocent be exonerated.
6 sn Beginning with 22:1, the verse numbers through 22:31 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 22:1 ET = 21:37 HT, 22:2 ET = 22:1 HT, etc., through 22:31 ET = 22:30 HT. Thus in the English Bible ch. 22 has 31 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 30 verses, with the one extra verse attached to ch. 21 in the Hebrew Bible.
7 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of obligatory imperfect – he must pay back.
8 tn בָּקַר (baqar) and צֹאן (tso’n) are the categories to which the ox and the sheep belonged, so that the criminal had some latitude in paying back animals.
9 tn The construction uses a Niphal infinitive absolute and a Niphal imperfect: if it should indeed be found. Gesenius says that in such conditional clauses the infinitive absolute has less emphasis, but instead emphasizes the condition on which some consequence depends (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).
10 tn Heb “in his hand.”
11 sn He must pay back one for what he took, and then one for the penalty – his loss as he was inflicting a loss on someone else.
12 tn The construct relationship שְׁבֻעַת יְהוָה (shÿvu’at yÿhvah, “the oath of Yahweh”) would require a genitive of indirect object, “an oath [to] Yahweh.” U. Cassuto suggests that it means “an oath by Yahweh” (Exodus, 287). The person to whom the animal was entrusted would take a solemn oath to Yahweh that he did not appropriate the animal for himself, and then his word would be accepted.
13 tn Heb “if a man asks [an animal] from his neighbor” (see also Exod 12:36). The ruling here implies an animal is borrowed, and if harm comes to it when the owner is not with it, the borrower is liable. The word “animal” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who borrowed the animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 sn Each man was to pass in front of the counting officer and join those already counted on the other side.
16 sn The half shekel weight of silver would be about one-fifth of an ounce (6 grams).
17 sn It appears that some standard is in view for the amount of a shekel weight. The sanctuary shekel is sometimes considered to be twice the value of the ordinary shekel. The “gerah,” also of uncertain meaning, was mentioned as a reference point for the ancient reader to understand the value of the required payment. It may also be that the expression meant “a sacred shekel” and looked at the purpose more – a shekel for sanctuary dues. This would mean that the standard of the shekel weight was set because it was the traditional amount of sacred dues (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 333). “Though there is no certainty, the shekel is said to weigh about 11,5 grams…Whether an official standard is meant [by ‘sanctuary shekel’] or whether the sanctuary shekel had a different weight than the ‘ordinary’ shekel is not known” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:181).
18 tn Or “contribution” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah).
19 tn Or “pay more.”
20 tn The form is לָתֵת (latet), the Qal infinitive construct with the lamed preposition. The infinitive here is explaining the preceding verbs. They are not to increase or diminish the amount “in paying the offering.” The construction approximates a temporal clause.
21 tn This infinitive construct (לְכַפֵּר, lÿkhapper) provides the purpose of the giving the offering – to atone.
