translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: EXO

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “house.” In other words, the tribe of Levi.


text: Heb “went and took”; NASB “went and married.”


text: Heb “a daughter of Levi.” The word “daughter” is used in the sense of “descendant” and connects the new account with Pharaoh’s command in 1:22 . The words “a woman who was” are added for clarity in English. sn The first part of this section is the account of hiding the infant (vv. 1-4 ). The marriage, the birth, the hiding of the child, and the positioning of Miriam, are all faith operations that ignore the decree of Pharaoh or work around it to preserve the life of the child.


text: Or “conceived” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).


text: A preterite form with the vav consecutive can be subordinated to a following clause. What she saw stands as a reason for what she did: “when she saw…she hid him three months.”


text: After verbs of perceiving or seeing there are frequently two objects, the formal accusative (“she saw him”) and then a noun clause that explains what it was about the child that she perceived (“that he was healthy”). See GKC 365 §117. h .


text: Or “fine” ( טוֹב , tov ). The construction is parallel to phrases in the creation narrative (“and God saw that it was good,” Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31 ). B. Jacob says, “She looked upon her child with a joy similar to that of God upon His creation ( Gen 1.4 ff.)” ( Exodus , 25).


text: Or “stood.” The verb is the Hitpael preterite of יָצַב ( yatsav ), although the form is anomalous and perhaps should be spelled as in the Samaritan Pentateuch (see GKC 193 §71). The form yields the meaning of “take a stand, position or station oneself.” His sister found a good vantage point to wait and see what might become of the infant.


text: Heb “to know”; many English versions have “to see.”


text: The verb is a Niphal imperfect; it should be classified here as a historic future, future from the perspective of a point in a past time narrative.


text: Or “bathe.”


text: The word here is אָמָה (’ amah ), which means “female slave.” The word translated “attendants” earlier in the verse is נַעֲרֹת ( na ’ arot , “young women”), possibly referring here to an assortment of servants and companions.


text: The verb is preterite, third person feminine singular, with a pronominal suffix, from לָקַח ( laqakh , “to take”). The form says literally “and she took it,” and retains the princess as the subject of the verb.


text: Heb “and she opened.”


text: The grammatical construction has a pronominal suffix on the verb as the direct object along with the expressed object: “and she saw him, the child.” The second object defines the previous pronominal object to avoid misunderstanding (see GKC 425 §131. m ).


text: The text has נַעַר ( na ’ ar , “lad, boy, young man”), which in this context would mean a baby boy.


text: This clause is introduced with a disjunctive vav and the deictic particle הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “behold” in the KJV). The particle in this kind of clause introduces the unexpected – what Pharaoh’s daughter saw when she opened the basket: “and look, there was a baby boy crying.” The clause provides a parenthetical description of the child as she saw him when she opened the basket and does not advance the narrative. It is an important addition, however, for it puts readers in the position of looking with her into the basket and explains her compassion.


text: The verb could be given a more colloquial translation such as “she felt sorry for him.” But the verb is stronger than that; it means “to have compassion, to pity, to spare.” What she felt for the baby was strong enough to prompt her to spare the child from the fate decreed for Hebrew boys. Here is part of the irony of the passage: What was perceived by many to be a womanly weakness – compassion for a baby – is a strong enough emotion to prompt the woman to defy the orders of Pharaoh. The ruler had thought sparing women was safe, but the midwives, the Hebrew mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Miriam, all work together to spare one child – Moses (cf. 1 Cor 1:27-29 ).


text: The object of the verb “get/summon” is “a woman.” But מֵינֶקֶת ( meneqet , “nursing”), the Hiphil participle of the verb יָנַק ( yanaq , “to suck”), is in apposition to it, clarifying what kind of woman should be found – a woman, a nursing one. Of course Moses’ mother was ready for the task.


text: The form וְתֵינִק ( vÿteniq ) is the Hiphil imperfect/jussive, third feminine singular, of the same root as the word for “nursing.” It is here subordinated to the preceding imperfect (“shall I go”) and perfect with vav ( ו ) consecutive (“and summon”) to express the purpose: “in order that she may.” sn No respectable Egyptian woman of this period would have undertaken the task of nursing a foreigner’s baby, and so the suggestion by Miriam was proper and necessary. Since she was standing a small distance away from the events, she was able to come forward when the discovery was made.


text: Heb “Go” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “Go ahead”; TEV “Please do.”


text: Heb קָרָא ( qara ’, “called”).


text: The verb is the Hiphil imperative of the verb הָלַךְ ( halakh ), and so is properly rendered “cause to go” or “take away.”


text: The possessive pronoun on the noun “wage” expresses the indirect object: “I will pay wages to you.”


text: The verb is the preterite of גָּדַל ( gadal ), and so might be rendered “and he became great.” But the context suggests that it refers to when he was weaned and before he was named, perhaps indicating he was three or four years old (see Gen 21:8 ).


text: The idiomatic expression literally reads: “and he was to her for a son.” In this there are two prepositions lamed. The first expresses possession: “he was to her” means “she had.” The second is part of the usage of the verb: הָיָה ( haya ) with the lamed ( ל ) preposition means “to become.”


text: The preterite with the vav ( ו ) consecutive is here subordinated to the next and main idea of the verse. This is the second use of this verb in the chapter. In v. 10 the verb had the sense of “when he began to grow” or “when he got older,” but here it carries the nuance of “when he had grown up.”


text: Heb “brothers.” This term does not require them to be literal siblings, or even close family members. It simply refers to fellow Hebrews, people with whom Moses has begun to feel close ties of kinship. They are “brothers” in a broad sense, ultimately fellow members of the covenant community.


text: The verb רָאָה ( ra ’ a , “to see”) followed by the preposition bet ( ב ) can indicate looking on something as an overseer, or supervising, or investigating. Here the emphasis is on Moses’ observing their labor with sympathy or grief. It means more than that he simply saw the way his fellow Hebrews were being treated (cf. 2:25 ). sn This journey of Moses to see his people is an indication that he had become aware of his destiny to deliver them. This verse says that he looked on their oppression; the next section will say that the Lord looked on it.


text: The verb מַכֶּה ( makkeh ) is the Hiphil participle of the root נָכָה ( nakha ). It may be translated “strike, smite, beat, attack.” It can be used with the sense of killing (as in the next verse, which says Moses hid the body), but it does not necessarily indicate here that the Egyptian killed the Hebrew.


text: Heb “brothers.” This kinship term is used as a means of indicating the nature of Moses’ personal concern over the incident, since the appositional clause adds no new information.


text: The text literally says, “and he turned thus and thus” ( וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה , vayyifen koh vakhoh ). It may indicate that he turned his gaze in all directions to ascertain that no one would observe what he did. Or, as B. Jacob argues, it may mean that he saw that there was no one to do justice and so he did it himself ( Exodus , 37-38, citing Isa 59:15-16 ).


text: Heb “he saw that there was no man.”


text: Heb “him”; for stylistic reasons the referent has been specified as “the body.”


text: The preterite with the vav consecutive is subordinated to the main idea of the verse.


text: Heb “the second day” (so KJV, ASV).


text: The deictic particle is used here to predicate existence, as in “here were” or “there were.” But this use of הִנֵּה ( hinneh ) indicates also that what he encountered was surprising or sudden – as in “Oh, look!”


text: The word רָשָׁע ( rasha ’ ) is a legal term, meaning the guilty. This guilty man rejects Moses’ intervention for much the same reason Pharaoh will later ( 5:2 ) – he does not recognize his authority. Later Pharaoh will use this term to declare himself as in the wrong ( 9:27 ) and God in the right.


text: This is the third use of the verb נָכָה ( nakha ) in the passage; here it is the Hiphil imperfect. It may be given a progressive imperfect nuance – the attack was going on when Moses tried to intervene.


text: Heb “And he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “Who placed you for a man, a ruler and a judge over us?” The pleonasm does not need to be translated. For similar constructions see Lev 21:9 ; Judg 6:8 ; 2 Sam 1:13 ; Esth 7:6 .


text: The line reads “[is it] to kill me you are planning?” The form אֹמֵר (’ omer ) is the active participle used verbally; it would literally be “[are you] saying,” but in this context it conveys the meaning of “thinking, planning.” The Qal infinitive then serves as the object of this verbal form – are you planning to kill me?


text: Heb “the Egyptian.” Here the Hebrew article functions in an anaphoric sense, referring back to the individual Moses killed.


text: The verb form is “and he said.” But the intent of the form is that he said this within himself, and so it means “he thought, realized, said to himself.” The form, having the vav consecutive, is subordinated to the main idea of the verse, that he was afraid.


text: The term הַדָּבָר ( haddavar , “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done. For clarity this has been specified in the translation with the phrase “what I did.”


text: The form with the vav consecutive is here subordinated to the main idea that Pharaoh sought to punish Moses.


text: Heb הַדָּבָר ( haddavar , “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done.


text: The vav ( ו ) consecutive with the preterite shows result – as a result of Pharaoh’s search for him, he fled.


text: The verb reads “and he sat” or “and he lived.” To translate it “he sat by a well” would seem anticlimactic and unconnected. It probably has the same sense as in the last clause, namely, that he lived in Midian, and he lived near a well, which detail prepares for what follows.


text: The word has the definite article, “the well.” Gesenius lists this use of the article as that which denotes a thing that is yet unknown to the reader but present in the mind under the circumstances (GKC 407-8 §126. q-r ). Where there was a well, people would settle, and as R. A. Cole says it, for people who settled there it was “the well” ( Exodus [TOTC], 60).


text: The preterites describing their actions must be taken in an ingressive sense, since they did not actually complete the job. Shepherds drove them away, and Moses watered the flocks.


text: The object “water” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.


text: This also has the ingressive sense, “began to fill,” but for stylistic reasons is translated simply “fill” here.


text: The definite article here is the generic use; it simply refers to a group of shepherds.


text: The actions of the shepherds are subordinated to the main statement about what Moses did. sn The verb is וַיְגָרְשׁוּם ( vaygorshum ). Some shepherds came and drove the daughters away. The choice of this verb in the narrative has a tie with the name of Moses’ first son, Gershom. Moses senses very clearly that he is a sojourner in a strange land – he has been driven away.


text: The verb means “to go, to come, to enter.” In this context it means that they returned to their father, or came home.


text: The sentence uses a verbal hendiadys construction: מִהַרְתֶּן בֹּא ( miharten bo ’, “you have made quick [to] come”). The finite verb functions as if it were an adverb modifying the infinitive, which becomes the main verb of the clause. sn Two observations should be made at this point. First, it seems that the oppression at the well was a regular part of their routine because their father was surprised at their early return, and their answer alluded to the shepherds rather automatically. Secondly, the story is another meeting-at-the-well account. Continuity with the patriarchs is thereby kept in the mind of the reader (cf. Gen 24; 29:1-12 ).


text: Heb “from the hand of the shepherds” (so NASB); NAB “saved us from the interference of the shepherds.” Most recent English versions translate simply “from the shepherds.”


text: The construction is emphatic with the use of the perfect tense and its infinitive absolute: דָלָה דָּלֹה ( daloh dalah ). B. Jacob says, “They showed their enthusiasm through the use of the infinitive absolute – And think of that, he even drew water for us; a man did this for us girls” ( Exodus , 41).


text: Heb “And he said.”


text: The conjunction vav ( ו ) joins Reuel’s question to what the daughters said as logically following with the idea, “If he has done all that you say, why is he not here for me to meet?” (see GKC 485 §154. b ).


text: This uses the demonstrative pronoun as an enclitic, for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax , 24, §118). The question reads more literally, “Why [is] this [that] you left him?”


text: The imperfect tense coming after the imperative indicates purpose.


text: Heb “bread,” i.e., “food.”


text: Or “and Moses was willing” to stay with Reuel. The Talmud understood this to mean that he swore, and so when it came time to leave he had to have a word from God and permission from his father-in-law ( Exod 4:18-19 ).


text: The words “in marriage” are implied, and have been supplied in the translation for clarity.


text: The preterite with the vav ( ו ) consecutive is subordinated to the next clause, which reports the naming and its motivation.


text: Heb “and he called”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The verse begins with the temporal indicator “And it was” (cf. KJV, ASV “And it came to pass”). This has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “in those many days.”


text: Heb “the sons of Israel.”


text: “They cried out” is from זָעַק ( za ’ aq ), and “desperate cry” is from שַׁוְעָה ( shava ’ h ).


text: Heb “and God saw.”


text: Heb “and God knew” ( יָדַע , yada ’). The last clause contains a widely used verb for knowing, but it leaves the object unexpressed within the clause, so as to allow all that vv. 23-24 have described to serve as the compelling content of God’s knowing. (Many modern English versions supply an object for the verb following the LXX, which reads “knew them .”) The idea seems to be that God took personal knowledge of, noticed, or regarded them. In other passages the verb “know” is similar in meaning to “save” or “show pity.” See especially Gen 18:21 , Ps 1:6; 31:7 , and Amos 3:2 . Exodus has already provided an example of the results of not knowing in 1:8 (cf. 5:2 ).