Discovery BoxExodus 4:9 
Context4:9 And if 1 they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, 2 then take 3 some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” 4
Exodus 10:2
Context10:2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell 5 how I made fools 6 of the Egyptians 7 and about 8 my signs that I displayed 9 among them, so that you may know 10 that I am the Lord.”
1 tn Heb “and it will be if.”
2 tn Heb “listen to your voice.”
3 tn The verb form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it functions then as the equivalent of the imperfect tense – here as an imperfect of instruction.
4 sn This is a powerful sign, for the Nile was always known as the source of life in Egypt, but now it will become the evidence of death. So the three signs were alike, each consisting of life and death. They would clearly anticipate the struggle with Egypt through the plagues. The point is clear that in the face of the possibility that people might not believe, the servants of God must offer clear proof of the power of God as they deliver the message of God. The rest is up to God.
5 tn The expression is unusual: תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי (tÿsapper bÿ’ozne, “[that] you may declare in the ears of”). The clause explains an additional reason for God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, namely, so that the Israelites can tell their children of God’s great wonders. The expression is highly poetic and intense – like Ps 44:1, which says, “we have heard with our ears.” The emphasis would be on the clear teaching, orally, from one generation to another.
6 tn The verb הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי (hit’allalti) is a bold anthropomorphism. The word means to occupy oneself at another’s expense, to toy with someone, which may be paraphrased with “mock.” The whole point is that God is shaming and disgracing Egypt, making them look foolish in their arrogance and stubbornness (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:366-67). Some prefer to translate it as “I have dealt ruthlessly” with Egypt (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 123).
7 tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.
8 tn The word “about” is supplied to clarify this as another object of the verb “declare.”
9 tn Heb “put” or “placed.”
10 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav consecutive, וִידַעְתֶּם (vida’tem, “and that you might know”). This provides another purpose for God’s dealings with Egypt in the way that he was doing. The form is equal to the imperfect tense with vav (ו) prefixed; it thus parallels the imperfect that began v. 2 – “that you might tell.”
