Discovery BoxExodus 5:3 
Context5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey 1 into the desert so that we may sacrifice 2 to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” 3
Exodus 16:3
Context16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died 4 by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by 5 the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, 6 for you have brought us out into this desert to kill 7 this whole assembly with hunger!”
Exodus 16:32
Context16:32 Moses said, “This is what 8 the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept 9 for generations to come, 10 so that they may see 11 the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”
Exodus 23:31
Context23:31 I will set 12 your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, 13 for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
1 tn The word “journey” is an adverbial accusative telling the distance that Moses wanted the people to go. It is qualified by “three days.” It is not saying that they will be gone three days, but that they will go a distance that will take three days to cover (see Gen 31:22-23; Num 10:33; 33:8).
2 tn The purpose clause here is formed with a second cohortative joined with a vav (ו): “let us go…and let us sacrifice.” The purpose of the going was to sacrifice.
sn Where did Moses get the idea that they should have a pilgrim feast and make sacrifices? God had only said they would serve Him in that mountain. In the OT the pilgrim feasts to the sanctuary three times a year incorporated the ideas of serving the
3 sn The last clause of this verse is rather unexpected here: “lest he meet [afflict] us with pestilence or sword.” To fail to comply with the summons of one’s God was to invite such calamities. The Law would later incorporate many such things as the curses for disobedience. Moses is indicating to Pharaoh that there is more reason to fear Yahweh than Pharaoh.
4 tn The text reads: מִי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ (mi-yitten mutenu, “who will give our dying”) meaning “If only we had died.” מוּתֵנוּ is the Qal infinitive construct with the suffix. This is one way that Hebrew expresses the optative with an infinitive construct. See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 91-92, §547.
5 tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct used in a temporal clause, and the verb “when we ate” has the same structure.
6 sn That the complaint leading up to the manna is unjustified can be seen from the record itself. They left Egypt with flocks and herds and very much cattle, and about 45 days later they are complaining that they are without food. Moses reminded them later that they lacked nothing (Deut 3:7; for the whole sermon on this passage, see 8:1-20). Moreover, the complaint is absurd because the food of work gangs was far more meager than they recall. The complaint was really against Moses. They crave the eating of meat and of bread and so God will meet that need; he will send bread from heaven and quail as well.
7 tn לְהָמִית (lÿhamit) is the Hiphil infinitive construct showing purpose. The people do not trust the intentions or the plan of their leaders and charge Moses with bringing everyone out to kill them.
8 tn Heb “This is the thing that.”
9 tn Heb “for keeping.”
10 tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).
11 tn In this construction after the particle expressing purpose or result, the imperfect tense has the nuance of final imperfect, equal to a subjunctive in the classical languages.
12 tn The form is a perfect tense with vav consecutive.
13 tn In the Hebrew Bible “the River” usually refers to the Euphrates (cf. NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT). There is some thought that it refers to a river Nahr el Kebir between Lebanon and Syria. See further W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:447; and G. W. Buchanan, The Consequences of the Covenant (NovTSup), 91-100.
