Discovery BoxExodus 7:4 
Context7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. 1 I will reach into 2 Egypt and bring out my regiments, 3 my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.
Exodus 7:22
Context7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same 4 by their secret arts, and so 5 Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 6 and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron 7 – just as the Lord had predicted.
Exodus 8:19
Context8:19 The magicians said 8 to Pharaoh, “It is the finger 9 of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 10 and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
Exodus 16:20
Context16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some 11 kept part of it until morning, and it was full 12 of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them.
Exodus 18:19
Context18:19 Now listen to me, 13 I will give you advice, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God, 14 and you bring 15 their disputes 16 to God;
Exodus 19:5
Context19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me 17 and keep 18 my covenant, then you will be my 19 special possession 20 out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine,
1 tn Heb “and Pharaoh will not listen.”
2 tn Heb “put my hand into.” The expression is a strong anthropomorphism to depict God’s severest judgment on Egypt. The point is that neither the speeches of Moses and Aaron nor the signs that God would do will be effective. Consequently, God would deliver the blow that would destroy.
3 tn See the note on this term in 6:26.
4 tn Heb “thus, so.”
5 tn The vav consecutive on the preterite introduces the outcome or result of the matter – Pharaoh was hardened.
6 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
7 tn Heb “to them”; the referents (Moses and Aaron) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “and the magicians said.”
9 tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).
sn The point of the magicians’ words is clear enough. They knew they were beaten and by whom. The reason for their choice of the word “finger” has occasioned many theories, none of which is entirely satisfying. At the least their statement highlights that the plague was accomplished by God with majestic ease and effortlessness. Perhaps the reason that they could not do this was that it involved producing life – from the dust of the ground, as in Genesis 2:7. The creative power of God confounded the magic of the Egyptians and brought on them a loathsome plague.
10 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
11 tn Heb “men”; this usage is designed to mean “some” (see GKC 447 §138.h, n. 1).
12 tn The verb וַיָּרֻם (vayyarum) is equivalent to a passive – “it was changed” – to which “worms” is added as an accusative of result (GKC 388-89 §121.d, n. 2).
13 tn Heb “hear my voice.”
14 tn The line reads “Be you to the people before God.” He is to be their representative before God. This is introducing the aspect of the work that only Moses could do, what he has been doing. He is to be before God for the people, to pray for them, to appeal on their behalf. Jethro is essentially saying, I understand that you cannot delegate this to anyone else, so continue doing it (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 219-20).
15 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; following the imperative it will be instruction as well. Since the imperative preceding this had the idea of “continue to be” as you are, this too has that force.
16 tn Heb “words”; KJV, ASV “the causes”; NRSV “cases”; NLT “questions.”
17 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.
18 tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”
19 tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”
20 tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.
