Discovery BoxExodus 7:20 
Context7:20 Moses and Aaron did so, 1 just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised 2 the staff 3 and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes 4 of Pharaoh and his servants, 5 and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 6
Exodus 16:16
Context16:16 “This is what 7 the Lord has commanded: 8 ‘Each person is to gather 9 from it what he can eat, an omer 10 per person 11 according to the number 12 of your people; 13 each one will pick it up 14 for whoever lives 15 in his tent.’”
Exodus 16:32
Context16:32 Moses said, “This is what 16 the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept 17 for generations to come, 18 so that they may see 19 the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”
Exodus 23:15
Context23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days 20 you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time 21 you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before 22 me empty-handed.
Exodus 32:8
Context32:8 They have quickly turned aside 23 from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”
Exodus 34:18
Context34:18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days 24 you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this 25 at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.
Exodus 36:1
Context36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person 26 in whom the Lord has put skill 27 and ability 28 to know how 29 to do all the work for the service 30 of the sanctuary are to do the work 31 according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
Exodus 39:21
Context39:21 They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
1 sn Both Moses and Aaron had tasks to perform. Moses, being the “god” to Pharaoh, dealt directly with him and the Nile. He would strike the Nile. But Aaron, “his prophet,” would stretch out the staff over the rest of the waters of Egypt.
2 tn Heb “And he raised”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Gesenius calls the preposition on “staff” the בְּ (bet) instrumenti, used to introduce the object (GKC 380-81 §119.q). This construction provides a greater emphasis than an accusative.
4 tn The text could be rendered “in the sight of,” or simply “before,” but the literal idea of “before the eyes of” may stress how obvious the event was and how personally they were witnesses of it.
5 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 98) notes that the striking of the water was not a magical act. It signified two things: (1) the beginning of the sign, which was in accordance with God’s will, as Moses had previously announced, and (2) to symbolize actual “striking,” wherewith the Lord strikes Egypt and its gods (see v. 25).
6 sn There have been various attempts to explain the details of this plague or blow. One possible suggestion is that the plague turned the Nile into “blood,” but that it gradually turned back to its normal color and substance. However, the effects of the “blood” polluted the water so that dead fish and other contamination left it undrinkable. This would explain how the magicians could also do it – they would not have tried if all water was already turned to blood. It also explains why Pharaoh did not ask for the water to be turned back. This view was put forward by B. Schor; it is summarized by B. Jacob (Exodus, 258), who prefers the view of Rashi that the blow affected only water in use.
7 tn Heb “the thing that.”
8 tn The perfect tense could be taken as a definite past with Moses now reporting it. In this case a very recent past. But in declaring the word from Yahweh it could be instantaneous, and receive a present tense translation – “here and now he commands you.”
9 tn The form is the plural imperative: “Gather [you] each man according to his eating.”
10 sn The omer is an amount mentioned only in this chapter, and its size is unknown, except by comparison with the ephah (v. 36). A number of recent English versions approximate the omer as “two quarts” (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT); TEV “two litres.”
11 tn Heb “for a head.”
12 tn The word “number” is an accusative that defines more precisely how much was to be gathered (see GKC 374 §118.h).
13 tn Traditionally “souls.”
14 tn Heb “will take.”
15 tn “lives” has been supplied.
16 tn Heb “This is the thing that.”
17 tn Heb “for keeping.”
18 tn Heb “according to your generations” (see Exod 12:14).
19 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.
20 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
21 tn Heb “in it.”
22 tn The verb is a Niphal imperfect; the nuance of permission works well here – no one is permitted to appear before God empty (Heb “and they will not appear before me empty”).
23 tn The verb is a perfect tense, reflecting the present perfect nuance: “they have turned aside” and are still disobedient. But the verb is modified with the adverb “quickly” (actually a Piel infinitive absolute). It has been only a matter of weeks since they heard the voice of God prohibiting this.
24 tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.
25 tn The words “do this” have been supplied.
26 tn Heb “wise of [in] heart.”
27 tn Heb “wisdom.”
28 tn Heb “understanding, discernment.”
29 tn The relative clause includes this infinitive clause that expresses either the purpose or the result of God’s giving wisdom and understanding to these folk.
30 tn This noun is usually given an interpretive translation. B. Jacob renders the bound relationship as “the holy task” or “the sacred task” (Exodus, 1019). The NIV makes it “constructing,” so read “the work of constructing the sanctuary.”
31 tn The first word of the verse is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is singular because it agrees with the first of the compound subject. The sentence is a little cumbersome because of the extended relative clause in the middle.
