than reasonable inquiry.
with the vowels from the divine name Adonai (Master or Lord), gave rise to the name "Jehovah" in English. Since the name Yahweh was considered so sacred that it should not be pronounced, the Massoretes inserted the vowels from Adonai to remind themselves to pronounce it when reading instead of saying Yahweh. Technically, this combination of consonants is known as the "tetragrammaton."
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:15–22 Having provided Moses with his name in response to his second inquiry, God then furnished him with two speeches, one for Israel's elders (vv. 16–17) and one for Pharaoh (v. 18b). Also included was notification of the elders' positive response to Moses' report (v. 18a), of Pharaoh's refusal to grant them their request (v. 19), of God's miraculous, judgmental reaction (v. 20), and of Israel's plundering of the Egyptians, who found themselves responding favorably to the departing nation's request for silver, gold, and clothing (vv. 21–22). The last of these harkens back to God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would come out of the land of their affliction with great possessions (Gen. 15:14).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:15 the God of your fathers. Cf. Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Acts 3:13.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:16 elders. Lit., "bearded ones," which indicated the age and wisdom needed to lead.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:17 land of. See notes on 3:8.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:18 three days' journey. The request for a three-day journey to worship, in the light of 1) direct promises of deliverance from Egypt, 2) worship at Horeb, and 3) entrance into Canaan, was not a ruse to get out and then not return, but an initial, moderate request to highlight the intransigence of Pharaoh—he just would not let these slaves leave under any conditions (v. 19)!
EXODUS—NOTE ON 3:22 plunder the Egyptians. See note on 12:36.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:1 Then Moses answered. In a third objection, Moses gave an unworthy response, after the lengthy explanation by God to Moses in 3:14– 22. At this point, the hypothetical situation proposed became more objection than reasonable inquiry.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:2–9 In response to the hypothetical situation of Israel's
rejecting God as having appeared to him, Moses was given three signs to accredit him as the chosen spokesman and leader. Note the purpose stated: "that they may believe that the Lord . . . appeared to you" (v. 5). Two of these signs personally involved Moses right then and there—the rod to snake and back, the hand leprous and healed. No matter what the situation Moses could envision himself facing, God had sufficient resources to authenticate his man, and Moses was not to think otherwise.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:10 I am not eloquent. With his fourth argument, Moses focused on his speech disability, describing himself lit. as not being "a man of words," as being "heavy in mouth and heavy in tongue," i.e., unable to articulate his thoughts in fluent, flowing speech. An ancient document, The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, suggests that eloquence was important in Egyptian culture, something that Moses would have well known from his time in the court. either in the past or since. This is a pointed and inappropriate, if not impolite, criticism that somehow in all the discussion God had overlooked Moses' speech disability. Unless this disability changed, Moses believed that he could not undertake the assigned task (cf. 6:12).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:11–12 Who has made man's mouth? Three rhetorical questions from God shut the door on any complaints or criticisms about being clumsy of speech. The follow-up command, "Now therefore go" including its promise of divine help in speech forbade all such objections.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:13–16 Moses' fifth and final statement, notwithstanding the opening supplication, "my Lord, please," was a polite way of bluntly saying, "Choose someone else, not me!" The anger of God toward this overt expression of reluctance was appropriate, yet the Lord still provided another way for his plan to move forward unhindered. Providentially (v. 27), Aaron would meet his brother Moses, and positively respond to being the spokesman.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:15 and I will . . . teach you. The plural pronoun "you" means that God had promised to assist both of them in their newly appointed duties.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:16 you shall be as God to him. Aaron would speak to the people for Moses, even as Moses would speak to Aaron for the Lord.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:17 this staff, with which you shall do the signs. Moses,
despite God's anger at his unwillingness, retained superiority in that he had the instrument by which miracles would be done so that it was identified as "the staff of God" (v. 20).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:18 Please let me go. Courtesy toward the father-in-law for which he worked was not overlooked because of the divine call to service as national leader. Exactly how much was explained of the encounter at the burning bush remains unknown, but the purpose for the return, "to see whether they are still alive," suggests that specific details of the call for him to be leader/deliverer were left unsaid, in contrast to the full explanation given to Aaron (v. 28).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:20 sons. Gershom (2:22) and Eliezer (18:4).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:21 I will harden his heart. The Lord's personal and direct involvement in the affairs of men so that his purposes might be done is revealed as God informed Moses what would take place. Pharaoh was also warned that his own refusal would bring judgment on him (v. 23). Previously Moses had been told that God was certain of Pharaoh's refusal (3:19). This interplay between God's hardening and Pharaoh's hardening his heart must be kept in balance. Ten times (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17) the historical record notes specifically that God hardened the king's heart, and ten times (7:13–14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34–35; 13:15) the record indicates the king hardened his own heart. The apostle Paul used this hardening as an example of God's inscrutable will and absolute power to intervene as he chooses, yet obviously never without loss of personal responsibility for actions taken (Rom. 9:16–18). The theological conundrum posed by such interplay of God's acting and Pharaoh's acting can only be resolved by accepting the record as it stands and by taking refuge in the omniscience and omnipotence of the God who planned and brought about his deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and in so doing also judged Pharaoh's sinfulness. See note on Ex. 9:12.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:22 my firstborn son. To the ancient Egyptians, the firstborn son was special and sacred, and the Pharaoh considered himself the only son of the gods. Now he heard of a whole nation designated as God's firstborn son, meaning "declared and treated as first in rank, preeminent, with the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of being actually the firstborn." The Lord pointedly referred to the nation collectively in the singular in order to show that he was a father in what he would do, i.e., bring a nation into existence, then nurture and lead him (cf. Deut. 14:1–2). Divine sonship, as in the pagan world's
perverted concept of a sexual union between the gods and women, was never so much as hinted at in the way God used the term to express his relationship with Israel, who were his people, a treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (cf. 6:7; 19:4–6).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:24–26 The presence of Zipporah's name indicates that the personal pronouns refer to Moses. She, judging by her action of suddenly and swiftly circumcising her son, understood that the danger to her husband's life was intimately connected to the family's not bearing the sign of the covenant given to Abraham for all his descendants (Gen. 17:10–14). Her evaluation, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," suggests her own revulsion with this rite of circumcision, which Moses should have performed. The result, however, was God's foregoing the threat and letting Moses go (Ex. 4:26a). The reaction of God at this point dramatically underscored the seriousness of the sign he had prescribed. See note on Jer. 4:4.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:29–30 The "leadership team" functioned as instructed: Aaron told all and Moses performed all the signs given to him (vv. 2–9).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 4:31 And the people believed . . . they bowed . . . and worshiped. Just as God predicted, they responded in belief at the signs and in worship at the explanation of God's awareness of their misery.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:1 Let my people go. With this command from Israel's Lord, the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses, between Pharaoh and God, commenced. It was a command Pharaoh would hear often in the days leading up to the exodus.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:2 Who is the Lord . . . ? In all likelihood Pharaoh knew of Israel's God, but his interrogative retort insolently and arrogantly rejected him as having any power to make demands of Egypt's superior ruler.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:3–5 As a follow-up to Pharaoh's rejection, the spokesmen rephrase more specifically their request, together with a warning of possible divine judgment upon Israel for their failure to obey their God. Pharaoh saw this simply as a ruse to reduce the hours put in by his slave work force.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:6–9 Showing his authority to give orders to Israel, Pharaoh immediately increased their workload and the severity of their bondage. By adding, "they . . . pay no regard to lying words," he showed his negative
evaluation of God's words.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:10 taskmasters and the foremen. When combined with "foremen of the people of Israel" (v. 15), a three-level command structure is seen to have been in place—Egyptian section leaders and labor gang bosses, and Israelite foremen.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:11 straw. Ancient documents from Egypt show that straw was used as a necessary component of bricks—it helped bind the clay together.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:15–19 The formal labor complaint at the highest level was rejected with an emphatic evaluation of laziness on the part of Israel and a demand that production not slack.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:20–21 The leadership team evidently knew of the lodging of the formal labor complaint and waited outside the royal hall in order to meet Israel's representatives. The meeting was definitely not a cordial one, with accusations raised both about the propriety of and the authority of the words and actions of Aaron and Moses toward Pharaoh.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 5:22–23 Moses turned to the Lord. Whether Moses and his brother remonstrated with the foremen about their strong and wrong evaluation remains a moot point. Rather, the focus is upon Moses, who remonstrated with the Lord in prayer. Evidently, Moses did not anticipate what effect Pharaoh's refusal and reaction would have upon his own people. Confrontation with Pharaoh so far had provoked both angry resentment of Israel by the Egyptians and of Moses by Israel—this was not the expected scenario!
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:1 Now you shall see. The Lord announced in response to Moses' prayer that finally the stage had been set for dealing with Pharaoh, who, in consequence, would only be able to urge Israel to leave.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:2–5 God spoke to Moses and reminded him of his promises to the patriarchs. Once again the focal point of the covenant was the land of Canaan deeded to their descendants by divine decree. The fact that this covenant was remembered meant obvious removal from Egypt!
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:2–3 I am the Lord. The same self-existent, eternal God, Yahweh, had been there in the past with the patriarchs; no change had occurred in him, either in his covenant or promises.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:3 God Almighty . . . Lord . . . not make myself known. Since the name Yahweh was spoken before the flood (Gen. 4:26) and later by the patriarchs (Gen. 9:26; 12:8; 22:14; 24:12), the special significance of Yahweh, unknown to them, but to be known by their descendants, must arise from what God would reveal of himself in keeping the covenant and in redeeming Israel. See notes on Ex. 3:13–14.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:4 my covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant (cf. Gen. 15:1– 21; 17:1–8).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:6–8 God instructed Moses to remind Israel of what they had previously been told: of God's remembering the covenant with Abraham, of his seeing their misery, of his delivering them from it, of his granting to them the land of Canaan, and thus taking them there. The repetitive "I will" (seven times) marked God's personal, direct involvement in Israel's affairs. Bracketed, as they were, by the declaration, "I am the Lord," denoted certainty of fulfillment.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:9 because of their broken spirit. The bondage was so great that it blocked out even the stirring words Moses had just delivered to them (vv. 6–8).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:12 uncircumcised lips. See notes on 4:10.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:14–27 The genealogical information formally identified Moses and Aaron as descendants of Levi, third son of Jacob by Leah. It also listed Aaron's son, Eleazar, and grandson, Phinehas, both of whom would become Israel's high priests. Mention of Levi in company with Reuben and Simeon recalled, perhaps, the unsavory background belonging to these three tribal fathers (Gen. 49:3–7) and emphasized that the choice of Moses and Aaron was not due to an exemplary lineage. This is intended to be a representative genealogy, not a complete one.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 6:28–7:5 A summary of the mission to Egypt resumes the narrative after the genealogical aside on Moses and Aaron.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:1 like God to Pharaoh. Moses, as the spokesman and ambassador for God, would speak with authority and power. your prophet. Aaron, as the divinely appointed spokesman for Moses, would forthrightly deliver the message given to him. Cf. Acts 14:11–13, where Barnabas and Paul were so perceived in a similar situation.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:4 my hosts, my people. The first term in this doublebarreled designation of Israel occurred originally in 6:26. The nation was seen as organized like an army with its different divisions (its tribes) and also as God's military instrument upon the Canaanites. The second term with its possessive pronoun revealed the incongruity of Pharaoh's acting as though these people belonged to him.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:5 know that I am the Lord. This purpose of the exodus finds repeated mention in God's messages to Pharaoh and in God's descriptions of what he was doing (cf. 7:16; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 16, 29; 14:4, 18). Some of the Egyptians did come to understand the meaning of the name Yahweh, for they responded appropriately to the warning of the seventh plague (9:20), and others accompanied Israel into the wilderness (12:38). In the final analysis, Egypt would not be able to deny the direct involvement of the God of Israel in their rescue from bondage and the destruction of Egypt's army.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:9 working a miracle. Pharaoh's desire for accreditation would not go unanswered. That which God had done for Moses with the staff (4:2–9), and Moses had copied for Israel (4:30–31), also became the sign of authority before Pharaoh (cf. 7:10).
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:11 magicians. Magic and sorcery played a major role in the pantheistic religion of Egypt. Its ancient documents record the activities of the magicians, one of the most prominent being the charming of serpents. These men were also styled "wise men" and "sorcerers," i.e., the learned men of the day and the religious as well (the word for sorcery being derived from a word meaning "to offer prayers"). Two of these men were named Jannes and Jambres (cf. 2 Tim. 3:8). Any supernatural power came from Satan (cf. 2 Cor. 11:13–15). secret arts. By means of their "witchcraft," the wise men, sorcerers, and magicians demonstrated their abilities to perform a similar feat. Whether by optical illusion, sleight of hand, or learned physical manipulation of a snake, all sufficiently skillful enough to totally fool Pharaoh and his servants, or by evil supernaturalism, the evaluation given in the inspired record is simply "they . . . also did the same." However, the turning of rods into snakes, and later turning water into blood (Ex. 7:22) and calling forth frogs (8:7), were not the same as trying to create gnats from inanimate dust (8:18–19). At that point, the magicians had no option but to confess their failure.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:12 Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. The loss of the
magicians' staffs in this fashion gave evidence of the superiority of God's power when Aaron's staff gulped down theirs.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:14–10:29 The obvious miraculous nature of the 10 plagues cannot be explained by identifying them with natural occurrences to which Moses then applied a theological interpretation. The specific prediction of, as well as the intensity of, each plague moved it beyond being normal, natural phenomena. The notification of the specific discriminatory nature of some of the plagues, distinguishing between Hebrew and Egyptian (cf. 8:23; 9:4–6; 10:23), or Goshen and the rest of the land (cf. 8:22; 9:26), as they did, also marks the supernatural nature of these events.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:15 in the morning. Apparently, Pharaoh habitually went to the river for washing or, more likely, for the performance of some religious rite. Three times Moses would meet him at this early morning rendezvous to warn of plagues, i.e., the first, fourth, and seventh (8:20; 9:13). on the bank of the Nile. The first confrontation of the plague cycle took place on the banks of the Nile, the sacred waterway of the land, whose annual ebb and flow contributed strategically and vitally to the agricultural richness of Egypt. Hymns of thanksgiving were often sung for the blessings brought by the Nile, the country's greatest, single economic resource.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:17 blood. The Hebrew word does not denote red coloring such as might be seen when red clay is washed downstream, but denotes actual substance, i.e., blood.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:19–20 the waters . . . all their pools of water. The use of different words, "waters, rivers, canals, ponds, and pools," indicates graphically the extent of the plague. Even buckets of wood and stone filled with water and kept inside the homes could not escape the curse of their contents being turned into blood.
EXODUS—NOTE ON 7:22 the magicians . . . did the same by their secret arts. How ludicrous and revealing that the magicians resorted to copycat methodology instead of reversing the plague. What they did, bringing just more blood, did serve, however, to bolster Pharaoh's stubbornness.
The Ten Plagues on Egypt