Discovery BoxExodus 9:24 
Context9:24 Hail fell 1 and fire mingled 2 with the hail; the hail was so severe 3 that there had not been any like it 4 in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.
Exodus 11:7
Context11:7 But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark 5 against either people or animals, 6 so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes 7 between Egypt and Israel.’
Exodus 13:7
Context13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten 8 for seven days; 9 no bread made with yeast shall be seen 10 among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.
Exodus 20:4
Context20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image 11 or any likeness 12 of anything 13 that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 14
Exodus 22:10
Context22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt 15 or is carried away 16 without anyone seeing it, 17
Exodus 24:14
Context24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are 18 Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute 19 can approach 20 them.”
Exodus 30:32
Context30:32 It must not be applied 21 to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.
Exodus 35:24
Context35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as 22 an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood 23 for any work of the service brought it. 24
1 tn The verb is the common preterite וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which is normally translated “and there was” if it is translated at all. The verb הָיָה (hayah), however, can mean “be, become, befall, fall, fall out, happen.” Here it could be simply translated “there was hail,” but the active “hail fell” fits the point of the sequence better.
2 tn The form מִתְלַקַּחַת (mitlaqqakhat) is a Hitpael participle; the clause reads, “and fire taking hold of itself in the midst of the hail.” This probably refers to lightning flashing back and forth. See also Ezek 1:4. God created a great storm with flashing fire connected to it.
3 tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.
4 tn A literal reading of the clause would be “which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt.” The relative pronoun must be joined to the resumptive pronoun: “which like it (like which) there had not been.”
5 tn Or perhaps “growl”; Heb “not a dog will sharpen his tongue.” The expression is unusual, but it must indicate that not only would no harm come to the Israelites, but that no unfriendly threat would come against them either – not even so much as a dog barking. It is possible this is to be related to the watchdog (see F. C. Fensham, “Remarks on Keret 114b – 136a,” JNSL 11 [1983]: 75).
6 tn Heb “against man or beast.”
7 tn The verb פָּלָה (palah) in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” See also Exod 8:22 (18 HT); 9:4; 33:16.
8 tn The imperfect has the nuance of instruction or injunction again, but it could also be given an obligatory nuance.
9 tn The construction is an adverbial accusative of time, answering how long the routine should be followed (see GKC 374 §118.k).
10 tn Or “visible to you” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 366).
11 tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.
12 tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).
13 tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.
14 tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
15 tn The form is a Niphal participle from the verb “to break” – “is broken,” which means harmed, maimed, or hurt in any way.
16 tn This verb is frequently used with the meaning “to take captive.” The idea here then is that raiders or robbers have carried off the animal.
17 tn Heb “there is no one seeing.”
18 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh) calls attention to the presence of Aaron and Hur to answer the difficult cases that might come up.
19 tn Or “issues to resolve.” The term is simply דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, “words, things, matters”).
20 tn The imperfect tense here has the nuance of potential imperfect. In the absence of Moses and Joshua, Aaron and Hur will be available.
sn Attention to the preparation for Moses’ departure contributes to the weight of the guilt of the faithless Israelites (chap. 32) and of Aaron, to whom Moses had delegated an important duty.
21 tn Without an expressed subject, the verb may be treated as a passive. Any common use, as in personal hygiene, would be a complete desecration.
22 tn This translation takes “offering” as an adverbial accusative explaining the form or purpose of their bringing things. It could also be rendered as the direct object, but that would seem to repeat without much difference what had just been said.
23 sn U. Cassuto notes that the expression “with whom was found” does not rule out the idea that these folks went out and cut down acacia trees (Exodus, 458). It is unlikely that they had much wood in their tents.
24 tn Here “it” has been supplied.
