Discovery Box| (0.03) | (Num 23:23) | 4 tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation—one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.” |
| (0.03) | (Num 23:8) | 1 tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them. |
| (0.03) | (Num 23:4) | 1 tn The relative pronoun is added here in place of the conjunction to clarify that Balaam is speaking to God and not vice versa. |
| (0.03) | (Num 21:29) | 1 sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people. |
| (0.03) | (Num 12:13) | 1 tc Some scholars emend אֵל (ʾel, “God”) to עַל (ʿal, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “Please, not this! Pray, heal her!” |
| (0.03) | (Num 11:11) | 1 tn The verb is the Hiphil of רָעַע (raʿaʿ, “to be evil”). Moses laments (with the rhetorical question) that God seems to have caused him harm. |
| (0.03) | (Num 10:9) | 2 tn The Niphal perfect in this passage has the passive nuance and not a reflexive idea—the Israelites would be spared because God remembered them. |
| (0.03) | (Num 5:31) | 1 sn The text does not say what the consequences are. Presumably the punishment would come from God, and not from those administering the test. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 34:10) | 3 sn The idea is that God will be doing awesome things in dealing with them, i.e., to fulfill his program. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 33:19) | 4 sn God declares his mercy and grace in similar terms to his earlier self-revelation (“I am that I am”): “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” In other words, the grace and mercy of God are bound up in his own will. Obviously, in this passage the recipients of that favor are the penitent Israelites who were forgiven through Moses’ intercession. The two words are at the heart of God’s dealings with people. The first is חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”). It means to grant favor or grace to someone, grace meaning unmerited favor. All of God’s dealings are gracious, but especially in forgiving sins and granting salvation it is critical. Parallel to this is רָחַם (rakham), a word that means “show compassion, tender mercy.” It is a word that is related to the noun “womb,” the connection being in providing care and protection for that which is helpless and dependent—a motherly quality. In both of these constructions the verbs simply express what God will do, without explaining why. See further, J. R. Lundbom, “God’s Use of the Idem per idem to Terminate Debate,” HTR 71 (1978): 193-201; and J. Piper, “Prolegomena to Understanding Romans 9:14-15: An Interpretation of Exodus 33:19, ” JETS 22 (1979): 203-16. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 33:18) | 2 sn Moses now wanted to see the glory of Yahweh, more than what he had already seen and experienced. He wanted to see God in all his majesty. The LXX chose to translate this without a word for “glory” or “honor”; instead they used the pronoun seautou, “yourself”—show me the real You. God tells him that he cannot see it fully, but in part. It will be enough for Moses to disclose to him the reality of the divine presence as well as God’s moral nature. It would be impossible for Moses to comprehend all of the nature of God, for there is a boundary between God and man. But God would let him see his goodness, the sum of his nature, pass by in a flash. B. Jacob (Exodus, 972) says that the glory refers to God’s majesty, might, and glory, as manifested in nature, in his providence, his laws, and his judgments. He adds that this glory should and would be made visible to man—that was its purpose in the world. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 23:26) | 2 sn No one will die prematurely; this applies to the individual or the nation. The plan of God to bless was extensive, if only the people would obey. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 20:20) | 2 tn The suffix on the noun is an objective genitive, referring to the fear that the people would have of God (GKC 439 §135.m). |
| (0.03) | (Exo 19:25) | 1 sn The passage has many themes and emphases that could be developed in exposition. It could serve for meditation, that is, the theology drawn from the three parts could be subordinated to the theme of holiness: God is holy, therefore adhere to his word for service, approach him through a mediator, and adore him in purity and fearful reverence. A developed outline for the exposition could be organized as follows: I. If the people of God will obey him, they will be privileged to serve in a unique way (vv. 1-8); II. If the people of God are to obey, they must be convinced of the divine source of their commands (v. 9); and finally, III. If the people of God are convinced of the divine approval of their mediator, and the divine source of their instructions, they must sanctify themselves before him (vv. 10-25). In sum, the manifestation of the holiness of Yahweh is the reason for sanctification and worship. The correlation is to be made through 1 Peter 2 to the church. The Church is a kingdom of priests; it is to obey the Word of God. What is the motivation for this? Their mediator is Jesus Christ; he has the approval of the Father and manifests the glory of God to his own; and he declares the purpose of their calling is to display his glory. God’s people are to abstain from sin so that pagans can see their good works and glorify God. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 19:9) | 1 tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 15:16) | 3 tn The adjective is in construct form and governs the noun “arm” (“arm” being the anthropomorphic expression for what God did). See GKC 428 §132.c. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 15:1) | 1 sn This chapter is a song of praise sung by Moses and the people right after the deliverance from the Sea. The song itself is vv. 1b-18; it falls into three sections—praise to God (1b-3), the cause for the praise (4-13), and the conclusion (14-18). The point of the first section is that God’s saving acts inspire praise from his people; the second is that God’s powerful acts deliver his people from the forces of evil; and the third section is that God’s demonstrations of his sovereignty inspire confidence in him by his people. So the Victory Song is very much like the other declarative praise psalms—the resolve to praise, the power of God, the victory over the enemies, the incomparability of God in his redemption, and the fear of the people. See also C. Cohen, “Studies in Early Israelite Poetry I: An Unrecognized Case of Three Line Staircase Parallelism in the Song of the Sea,” JANESCU 7 (1975): 13-17; D. N. Freedman, “Strophe and Meter in Exodus 15, ” A Light unto My Path, 163-203; E. Levine, “Neofiti I: A Study of Exodus 15, ” Bib 54 (1973): 301-30; T. C. Butler, “‘The Song of the Sea’: Exodus 15:1-18: A Study in the Exegesis of Hebrew Poetry,” DissAb 32 (1971): 2782-A. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 13:21) | 1 sn God chose to guide the people with a pillar of cloud in the day and one of fire at night, or, as a pillar of cloud and fire, since they represented his presence. God had already appeared to Moses in the fire of the bush, and so here again is revelation with fire. Whatever the exact nature of these things, they formed direct, visible revelations from God, who was guiding the people in a clear and unambiguous way. Both clouds and fire would again and again represent the presence of God in his power and majesty, guiding and protecting his people, by judging their enemies. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 14:4) | 1 tn In this place the verb חָזַק (hazaq) is used; it indicates that God would make Pharaoh’s will strong or firm. |
| (0.03) | (Exo 10:2) | 1 tn The expression is unusual: תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי (tesapper beʾozne, “[that] you may declare in the ears of”). The clause explains an additional reason for God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, namely, so that the Israelites can tell their children of God’s great wonders. The expression is highly poetic and intense—like Ps 44:1, which says, “we have heard with our ears.” The emphasis would be on the clear teaching, orally, from one generation to another. |
