Discovery BoxExodus 3:7 
Context3:7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen 1 the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 2
Exodus 5:21
Context5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, 3 because you have made us stink 4 in the opinion of 5 Pharaoh and his servants, 6 so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” 7
Exodus 14:11
Context14:11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? 8 What in the world 9 have you done to us by bringing 10 us out of Egypt?
Exodus 33:17
Context33:17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know 11 you by name.”
1 tn The use of the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense intensifies the statement: I have surely seen – there is no doubt that I have seen and will do something about it.
2 sn Two new words are introduced now to the report of suffering: “affliction” and “pain/suffering.” These add to the dimension of the oppression of God’s people.
3 tn The foremen vented their anger on Moses and Aaron. The two jussives express their desire that the evil these two have caused be dealt with. “May Yahweh look on you and may he judge” could mean only that God should decide if Moses and Aaron are at fault, but given the rest of the comments it is clear the foremen want more. The second jussive could be subordinated to the first – “so that he may judge [you].”
4 tn Heb “you have made our aroma stink.”
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “in the eyes of his servants.” This phrase is not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” The infinitive construct with the lamed (לָתֶת, latet) signifies the result (“so that”) of making the people stink. Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. The next infinitive could also be understood as expressing result: “put a sword in their hand so that they can kill us.”
8 sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 396-97) notes how the speech is overly dramatic and came from a people given to using such exaggerations (Num 16:14), even using a double negative. The challenge to Moses brings a double irony. To die in the desert would be without proper burial, but in Egypt there were graves – it was a land of tombs and graves! Gesenius notes that two negatives in the sentence do not nullify each other but make the sentence all the more emphatic: “Is it because there were no graves…?” (GKC 483 §152.y).
9 tn The demonstrative pronoun has the enclitic use again, giving a special emphasis to the question (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
10 tn The Hebrew term לְהוֹצִּיאָנוּ (lÿhotsi’anu) is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a suffix, “to bring us out.” It is used epexegetically here, explaining the previous question.
11 tn The verb in this place is a preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive, judging from the pointing. It then follows in sequence the verb “you have found favor,” meaning you stand in that favor, and so it means “I have known you” and still do (equal to the present perfect). The emphasis, however, is on the results of the action, and so “I know you.”
