Discovery BoxExodus 7:18 
Context7:18 Fish 1 in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable 2 to drink water from the Nile.”’”
Exodus 9:4
Context9:4 But the Lord will distinguish 3 between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing 4 will die of all that the Israelites have.”’” 5
Exodus 10:28
Context10:28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! 6 Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, 7 for when 8 you see my face you will die!”
Exodus 20:19
Context20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak 9 to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
Exodus 21:14
Context21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, 10 you will take him even from my altar that he may die.
Exodus 21:18
Context21:18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, 11
1 tn The definite article here has the generic use, indicating the class – “fish” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).
2 tn The verb לָאָה (la’a), here in the Niphal perfect with a vav consecutive, means “be weary, impatient.” The Niphal meaning is “make oneself weary” in doing something, or “weary (strenuously exert) oneself.” It seems always to indicate exhausted patience (see BDB 521 s.v.). The term seems to imply that the Egyptians were not able to drink the red, contaminated water, and so would expend all their energy looking for water to drink – in frustration of course.
3 tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 11:7; 33:16.
4 tn There is a wordplay in this section. A pestilence – דֶּבֶר (dever) – will fall on Egypt’s cattle, but no thing – דָּבָר (davar) – belonging to Israel would die. It was perhaps for this reason that the verb was changed in v. 1 from “say” to “speak” (דִּבֶּר, dibber). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 111.
5 tn The lamed preposition indicates possession: “all that was to the Israelites” means “all that the Israelites had.”
6 tn The expression is לֵךְ מֵעָלָי (lekh me’alay, “go from on me”) with the adversative use of the preposition, meaning from being a trouble or a burden to me (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 84; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 51, §288).
7 tn Heb “add to see my face.” The construction uses a verbal hendiadys: “do not add to see” (אַל־תֹּסֶף רְאוֹת, ’al-toseph rÿ’ot), meaning “do not see again.” The phrase “see my face” means “come before me” or “appear before me.”
8 tn The construction is בְּיוֹם רְאֹתְךָ (bÿyom rÿ’otÿkha), an adverbial clause of time made up of the prepositional phrase, the infinitive construct, and the suffixed subjective genitive. “In the day of your seeing” is “when you see.”
9 tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.
10 tn The word עָרְמָה (’ormah) is problematic. It could mean with prior intent, which would be connected with the word in Prov 8:5, 12 which means “understanding” (or “prudence” – fully aware of the way things are). It could be connected also to an Arabic word for “enemy” which would indicate this was done with malice or evil intentions (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 270). The use here seems parallel to the one in Josh 9:4, an instance involving intentionality and clever deception.
11 tn Heb “falls to bed.”
