Discovery BoxExodus 4:6 
Context4:6 The Lord also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” 1 So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand, 2 leprous like snow! 3
Exodus 14:17
Context14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden 4 the hearts of the Egyptians so that 5 they will come after them, that I may be honored 6 because 7 of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.
Exodus 21:6
Context21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, 8 and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. 9
Exodus 22:27
Context22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. 10 What else can he sleep in? 11 And 12 when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
1 tn The word חֵיק (kheq), often rendered “bosom,” refers to the front of the chest and a fold in the garment there where an item could be placed for carrying (see Prov 6:27; 16:33; 21:14). So “into your robe” should be understood loosely here and in v. 7 as referring to the inside of the top front of Moses’ garment. The inside chest pocket of a jacket is a rough modern equivalent.
2 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) points out the startling or amazing sight as if the reader were catching first glimpse of it with Moses.
3 sn This sudden skin disease indicated that God was able to bring such diseases on Egypt in the plagues and that only he could remove them. The whitening was the first stage of death for the diseased (Num 12:10; 2 Kgs 5:27). The Hebrew words traditionally rendered “leprous” or “leprosy,” as they are used in Lev 13 and 14, encompass a variety of conditions, not limited to the disease called leprosy and identified as Hansen’s disease in modern times.
4 tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.
5 tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.
6 tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.
7 tn Or “I will get glory over.”
8 tn The word is הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 211) says the phrase means “to God,” namely the nearest sanctuary in order that the oath and the ritual might be made solemn, although he does say that it would be done by human judges. That the reference is to Yahweh God is the view also of F. C. Fensham, “New Light on Exodus 21:7 and 22:7 from the Laws of Eshnunna,” JBL 78 (1959): 160-61. Cf. also ASV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT. Others have made a stronger case that it refers to judges who acted on behalf of God; see C. Gordon, “אלהים in its Reputed Meaning of Rulers, Judges,” JBL 54 (1935): 134-44; and A. E. Draffkorn, “Ilani/Elohim,” JBL 76 (1957): 216-24; cf. KJV, NIV.
9 tn Or “till his life’s end” (as in the idiom: “serve him for good”).
10 tn Heb “his skin.”
11 tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.
12 tn Heb “and it will be.”
