Balaam, Balak and the 24,000, Part 1

The story of Balaam and Balak has been too fruitful to abandon. To continue I’ll introduce the “24,000” (Numbers 25:1-5 ESV).

While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods (‘ĕlōhîm, אֱלֹהֵיהֶן; Septuagint: τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν), and the people ate and bowed down to their gods (‘ĕlōhîm, לֵאלֹהֵיהֶן; Septuagint: τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν). So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

The apparent difference between what the Lord said to Moses and what Moses said to the judges of Israel deserves some consideration. For the moment, however, I’ll stay focused on the introduction of the “24,000” (Numbers 25:9 ESV).

Nevertheless, those who died by the plague (magēp̄â, בַּמַּגֵּפָה; Septuagint: τῇ πληγῇ) were twenty-four thousand.

After spending so much time1 recounting the Lord’s patience with two Gentiles—the prophet Balaam and Balak king of Moab—the Lord’s treatment of 24,000 of those whom Paul would later describe as a cultivated olive tree seems abrupt and precipitous. That has more to do with my story-telling than the Lord’s patience. So I’ll spend some time here reviewing his patience with the 24,000 (Exodus 9:13-26 ESV).

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues (magēp̄â, מַגֵּפֹתַי; Septuagint: τὰ συναντήματά μου) on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth [Table]. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence (deḇer, בַּדָּבֶר; Septuagint: θανάτῳ or θανατώσω), and you would have been cut off from the earth [Table]. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth [Table]. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses [Table], but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field [Table].

I began here because it is the first occurrence of the noun מַגֵּפָה (magēp̄â) in the Masoretic text (ESV: my plagues). There were six other “plagues” preceding this that the 24,000 certainly heard about, and may have witnessed personally while still in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26 ESV).

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

The “plague” that killed the 24,000 was the last event described in Numbers before the second census (Numbers 26:63-65 ESV):

These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 1:1-46). For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness” (Numbers 13:1-14:45) Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

My own bias leads me to suspect that the young would be more likely to fall prey to the daughters of Moab, but that bias is shaped by my own experience of a blessed life, knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [He has] sent2 through his indwelling Holy Spirit and the Bible. The juxtaposition of events recounted in Numbers 25 and 26 favors identifying the 24,000 as the last of those cursed to die in the wilderness, witnesses of the final “plague” in Egypt which became the Passover celebration in Israel (Exodus 11:4-10 ESV).

So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction (pālâ, יַפְלֶה; Septuagint: παραδοξάσει, a form of παραδοξάζω) between Egypt and Israel.’ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened (ḥāzaq, וַיְחַזֵּק; Septuagint: ἐσκλήρυνεν, a form of σκληρύνω) Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Paul referred to this hardening, describing God’s purpose of election, making a distinction between the children of the promise (the children of God) and the children of the flesh. He wrote of his own concern for so many of his own people who had rejected the Lord’s salvation through Jesus the Christ (Romans 9:6-23 ESV).

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”3 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son”4 (Genesis 18:1-15). And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger”5 (Genesis 25:1-28) [Table]. As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”6

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”7 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy [Table]. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”8 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills (θέλει, a form of θέλω), and he hardens (σκληρύνει, another form of σκληρύνω) whomever he wills (θέλει, a form of θέλω).

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will (βουλήματι, a form of βούλημα)?” [Table] But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”9 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory

Who are the vessels of mercy God has chosen in order to make known the riches of his glory? In the immediate context Paul continued, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles,10 yet in the broader context of his concern for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh11 he concluded: God has consigned all to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια), that he may have mercy on all (τοὺς πάντας).12 As Peter wrote: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing (βουλόμενος, a participle of βούλομαι) that any should perish, but that all (πάντας, a form of πᾶς) should reach repentance.13

Jesus said (John 6:44-46; 12:31-33 ESV):

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day [Table]. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all (πάντες, a form of πᾶς) be taught by God.’14 Everyone (πᾶς) who has heard and learned from the Father [e.g., all (πάντες, a form of πᾶς) will…be taught by God] comes to me [Table]—not that anyone has seen (ἑώρακέν, a form of ὁράω) the Father except he who is from God; he has seen (ἑώρακεν, a form of ὁράω) the Father.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν). He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die [Table].

And so, Jesus—firstborn of Mary, a daughter of Israel through David [see table below], and the Holy Spirit—died on a Roman cross,15 rejected by most of the chosen people of God his Father. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-14 ESV):

“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight [Table].

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning [Septuagint: and you shall not break a bone of it (NETS); and a bone of it ye shall not break (English Elpenor)]; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods (‘ĕlōhîm, אֱלֹהֵי; Septuagint: τοῖς θεοῖς) of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast [Table].

And Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV):

Your boasting is not good (καλὸν, a form of καλός; beautiful). Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed [Table]. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

And it happened as the Lord said (Exodus 12:28-32 ESV):

Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

To conclude this essay I want to consider the apparent difference between what the Lord said to Moses and what Moses said to the judges of Israel (Numbers 25:3b-5 ESV).

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

A table comparing the Masoretic text and the Septuagint follows:

Masoretic Text

Septuagint

Numbers 25:4, 5 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:4, 5 (NET)

Numbers 25:4, 5 (NETS)

Numbers 25:4, 5 (English Elpenor)

And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Take all (כָּל) the chiefs (רָאשֵׁ֣י) of the people (הָעָ֔ם), and hang them up unto HaShem in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of HaShem may turn away from Israel.’ The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all (kōl, כל) the leaders (rō’š, ראשי) of the people (ʿam, העם), and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” And the Lord said to Moyses, “Take the chiefs (πάντας τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς) of the people (τοῦ λαοῦ), and make an example of them to the Lord before the sun, and the anger of the Lord’s wrath shall be turned away from Israel.” And the Lord said to Moses, Take all (πάντας) the princes (τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς) of the people (τοῦ λαοῦ), and make them examples [of judgment] for the Lord in the face of the sun, and the anger of the Lord shall be turned away from Israel.
And Moses said unto the judges (שֹֽׁפְטֵ֖י) of Israel: ‘Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.’ So Moses said to the judges (šāp̄aṭ, שפטי) of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal Peor.” And Moyses said to the tribes (ταῖς φυλαῖς) of Israel, “Each of you kill his family-member who has been initiated to Beel-Phegor.” And Moses said to the tribes (ταῖς φυλαῖς) of Israel, Slay ye every one his friend that is consecrated to Beel-phegor.

The only potentially meaningful difference is שֹֽׁפְטֵ֖י (šāp̄aṭ), translated the judges (Tanakh, NET), in the Masoretic text and ταῖς φυλαῖς, translated the tribes (NETS, English Elpenor), in the Septuagint. In English, if I limit myself to the immediate context, it sounds as if the Lord intended to make an example (NETS) of a relatively limited number of leaders, while Moses’ intended to execute everyone who sinned. I’ll broaden the context (Exodus 22:20 ESV):

Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

So, I assume that the judges, שֹֽׁפְטֵ֖י (šāp̄aṭ), refers to the seventy elders who received some of the Spirit that is on Moses (Numbers 11:16-17, 24-29), and are to be distinguished from the chiefs (Tanakh) or the leaders (NET), רָאשֵׁ֣י (rō’š), e.g., “the heads,” appointed during the first census. So, I’m assuming that Moses carried out the Lord’s instruction regarding the chiefs appointed during the first census even as he delegated the enforcement of the Lord’s law to the judges or the tribes (ταῖς φυλαῖς). And this just and lawful bloodshed describes the plague on the people of Israel mentioned below (Numbers 25:6-9 ESV):

And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague (magēp̄â, הַמַּגֵּפָה; Septuagint: πληγὴ) on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

The table (mentioned above) of two different genealogies of Jesus follows. I assume that Matthew’s is the genealogy of Joseph and Luke’s is that of Mary.

The Genealogies of Jesus

Matthew 1:2-16 (ESV)

Luke 3:23-38 (ESV)

Luke 3:38 God
Adam
Seth
Enos
Luke 3:37 Cainan
Mahalaleel
Jared
Enoch
Methusaleh
Luke 3:36 Lamech
Noah
Shem
Arphaxad
Cainan
Luke 3:35 Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Luke 3:34 Nahor
Terah
Matthew 1:2 Abraham Abraham
Isaac Isaac
Jacob Jacob
Judah Luke 3:33 Judah
Matthew 1:3 Perez Perez
Hezron Hezron
Ram Arni
Admin
Matthew 1:4 Amminadab Amminadab
Nahshon Luke 3:32 Nahshon
Salmon + Rahab Sala
Matthew 1:5 Boaz + Ruth Boaz
Obed Obed
Jesse Jesse
Matthew 1:6 David + the wife of Uriah Luke 3:31 David
Solomon Nathan
Matthew 1:7 Rehoboam Mattatha
Abijah Menna
Asaph Melea
Matthew 1:8 Jehoshaphat Luke 3:30 Eliakim
Joram Jonam
Uzziah Joseph
Matthew 1:9 Jotham Judah
Ahaz Simeon
Hezekiah Luke 3:29 Levi
Matthew 1:10 Manasseh Matthat
Amos Joram
Josiah Eliezer
Matthew 1:11 Jechoniah Joshua (Ἰησοῦ)
Luke 3:28 Er
Elmadam
Cosam
Addi
Melchi
Luke 3:27 Neri
Matthew 1:12 Shealtiel Shealtiel
Zerubbabel Zerubbabel
Matthew 1:13 Abiud Rhesa
Eliakim Joanan
Azor Luke 3:26 Joda
Matthew 1:14 Zadok Josech
Achim Semein
Eliud Mattathias
Maath
Luke 3:25 Naggai
Esli
Nahum
Amos
Mattathias
Luke 3:24 Joseph
Jannai
Melchi
Matthew 1:15 Eleazar Levi
Matthan Matthat
Jacob Luke 3:23 Heli
Matthew 1:16 Joseph the husband of Mary Joseph (as was supposed)
of whom Jesus (Ἰησοῦς) was born Jesus (Ἰησοῦς)

Tables comparing Numbers 25:1; 25:2; 25:3; 25:4; 25:5; 25:9; Exodus 9:13; 9:17; 9:18; 9:19; 9:22; 9:23; 9:24; 9:25; 9:26; Numbers 26:63; 26:64; 26:65; Exodus 11:4; 11:5; 11:6; 11:7; 11:8; 11:9; 11:10; 12:1; 12:2; 12:3; 12:4; 12:5; 12:7; 12:8; 12:9; 12:10; 12:11; 12:12; 12:13; 12:28; 12:29; 12:30; 12:31; 12:32; 22:20 (22:19); Numbers 25:6; 25:7 and 25:8 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Numbers 25:1; 25:2; 25:3; 25:4; 25:5; 25:9; Exodus 9:13; 9:17; 9:18; 9:19; 9:22; 9:23; 9:24; 9:25; 9:26; Numbers 26:63; 26:64; 26:65; Exodus 11:4; 11:5; 11:6; 11:7; 11:8; 11:9; 11:10; 12:1; 12:2; 12:3; 12:4; 12:5; 12:7; 12:8; 12:9; 12:10; 12:11; 12:12; 12:13; 12:28; 12:29; 12:30; 12:31; 12:32; 22:20; Numbers 25:6; 25:7 and 25:8 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Numbers 25:1 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:1 (KJV)

Numbers 25:1 (NET)

And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab.

Numbers 25:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ κατέλυσεν Ισραηλ ἐν Σαττιν καὶ ἐβεβηλώθη ὁ λαὸς ἐκπορνεῦσαι εἰς τὰς θυγατέρας Μωαβ ΚΑΙ κατέλυσεν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν Σαττείν· καὶ ἐβεβηλώθη ὁ λαὸς ἐκπορνεῦσαι εἰς τὰς θυγατέρας Μωάβ

Numbers 25:1 (NETS)

Numbers 25:1 (English Elpenor)

And Israel stayed in Sattim, and the people were profaned by whoring after the daughters of Moab. And Israel sojourned in Sattin, and the people profaned itself by going a-whoring after the daughters of Moab.

Numbers 25:2 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:2 (KJV)

Numbers 25:2 (NET)

And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

Numbers 25:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐκάλεσαν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν καὶ ἔφαγεν ὁ λαὸς τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκάλεσαν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς θυσίας τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔφαγεν ὁ λαὸς τῶν θυσιῶν αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν

Numbers 25:2 (NETS)

Numbers 25:2 (English Elpenor)

And they invited them to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate of their sacrifices and did obeisance to their idols. And they called them to the sacrifices of their idols; and the people ate of their sacrifices, and worshiped their idols.

Numbers 25:3 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:3 (KJV)

Numbers 25:3 (NET)

And Israel joined himself unto the Baal of Peor; and the anger of HaShem was kindled against Israel. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. When Israel joined themselves to Baal Peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

Numbers 25:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐτελέσθη Ισραηλ τῷ Βεελφεγωρ καὶ ὠργίσθη θυμῷ κύριος τῷ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐτελέσθη ᾿Ισραὴλ τῷ Βεελφεγώρ· καὶ ὠργίσθη θυμῷ Κύριος τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ

Numbers 25:3 (NETS)

Numbers 25:3 (English Elpenor)

And Israel was initiated to Beel-Phegor, and the Lord was angry with wrath against Israel. And Israel consecrated themselves to Beel-phegor; and the Lord was very angry with Israel.

Numbers 25:4 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:4 (KJV)

Numbers 25:4 (NET)

And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto HaShem in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of HaShem may turn away from Israel.’ And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”

Numbers 25:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ λαβὲ πάντας τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ παραδειγμάτισον αὐτοὺς κυρίῳ ἀπέναντι τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται ὀργὴ θυμοῦ κυρίου ἀπὸ Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπε Κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ· λαβὲ πάντας τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ παραδειγμάτισον αὐτοὺς Κυρίῳ κατέναντι τοῦ ἡλίου, καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται ὀργὴ θυμοῦ Κυρίου ἀπὸ ᾿Ισραήλ

Numbers 25:4 (NETS)

Numbers 25:4 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord said to Moyses, “Take the chiefs of the people, and make an example of them to the Lord before the sun, and the anger of the Lord’s wrath shall be turned away from Israel.” And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the princes of the people, and make them examples [of judgment] for the Lord in the face of the sun, and the anger of the Lord shall be turned away from Israel.

Numbers 25:5 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:5 (KJV)

Numbers 25:5 (NET)

And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: ‘Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.’ And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor. So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal Peor.”

Numbers 25:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Μωυσῆς ταῖς φυλαῖς Ισραηλ ἀποκτείνατε ἕκαστος τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ τὸν τετελεσμένον τῷ Βεελφεγωρ καὶ εἶπε Μωυσῆς ταῖς φυλαῖς ᾿Ισραήλ· ἀποκτείνατε ἕκαστος τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ τὸν τετελεσμένον τῷ Βεελφεγώρ

Numbers 25:5 (NETS)

Numbers 25:5 (English Elpenor)

And Moyses said to the tribes of Israel, “Each of you kill his family-member who has been initiated to Beel-Phegor.” And Moses said to the tribes of Israel, Slay ye every one his friend that is consecrated to Beel-phegor.

Numbers 25:9 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:9 (KJV)

Numbers 25:9 (NET)

And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

Numbers 25:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐγένοντο οἱ τεθνηκότες ἐν τῇ πληγῇ τέσσαρες καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες καὶ ἐγένοντο οἱ τεθνηκότες ἐν τῇ πληγῇ τέσσαρες καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες

Numbers 25:9 (NETS)

Numbers 25:9 (English Elpenor)

And those that died in the blow were twenty-four thousand. And those that died in the plague were four and twenty thousand.

Exodus 9:13 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:13 (KJV)

Exodus 9:13 (NET)

And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him: Thus saith HaShem, the G-d of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has said: “Release my people so that they may serve me!

Exodus 9:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ὄρθρισον τὸ πρωὶ καὶ στῆθι ἐναντίον Φαραω καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν τάδε λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν Εβραίων ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου ἵνα λατρεύσωσίν μοι Εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ὄρθρισον τὸ πρωΐ καὶ στῆθι ἐναντίον Φαραὼ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν· τάδε λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τῶν ῾Εβραίων· ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου, ἵνα λατρεύσωσί μοι

Exodus 9:13 (NETS)

Exodus 9:13 (English Elpenor)

Then the Lord said to Moyses, “Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharao, and you shall say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says, the God of the Hebrews: Send away my people so that they may serve me. And the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharao; and thou shalt say to him, These things saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Send away my people that they may serve me.

Exodus 9:17 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:17 (KJV)

Exodus 9:17 (NET)

As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, that thou wilt not let them go? As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? You are still exalting yourself against my people by not releasing them.

Exodus 9:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἔτι οὖν σὺ ἐμποιῇ τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ μὴ ἐξαποστεῖλαι αὐτούς ἔτι οὖν σὺ ἐμποιῇ τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ μὴ ἐξαποστεῖλαι αὐτούς

Exodus 9:17 (NETS)

Exodus 9:17 (English Elpenor)

Still then you hold on to my people so as not to send them away. Dost thou then yet exert thyself to hinder my people, so as not to let them go?

Exodus 9:18 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:18 (KJV)

Exodus 9:18 (NET)

Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

Exodus 9:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ὕω ταύτην τὴν ὥραν αὔριον χάλαζαν πολλὴν σφόδρα ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἡμέρας ἔκτισται ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ὕω ταύτην τὴν ὥραν αὔριον χάλαζαν πολλὴν σφόδρα, ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἡμέρας ἔκτισται ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης

Exodus 9:18 (NETS)

Exodus 9:18 (English Elpenor)

Look, I am about to rain at this hour tomorrow very abundant hail, such as has not occurred in Egypt from the day which it was founded until this day. Behold, to-morrow at this hour I will rain a very great hail, such as has not been in Egypt, from the time it was created until this day.

Exodus 9:19 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:19 (KJV)

Exodus 9:19 (NET)

Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast that shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.’ Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. So now, send instructions to gather your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person or animal caught in the field and not brought into the house—the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

Exodus 9:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)

νῦν οὖν κατάσπευσον συναγαγεῖν τὰ κτήνη σου καὶ ὅσα σοί ἐστιν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ πάντες γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ κτήνη ὅσα ἂν εὑρεθῇ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς οἰκίαν πέσῃ δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὰ ἡ χάλαζα τελευτήσει νῦν οὖν κατάσπευσον συναγαγεῖν τὰ κτήνη σου καὶ ὅσα σοί ἐστιν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ· πάντες γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ κτήνη, ὅσα ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις καὶ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς οἰκίαν, πέσῃ δὲ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὰ ἡ χάλαζα, τελευτήσει

Exodus 9:19 (NETS)

Exodus 9:19 (English Elpenor)

Now, therefore, hurry to gather your animals and whatever belongs to you on the plain. For all the humans and animals, whatever should be found on the plains and should not enter into a dwelling, but the hail should fall upon them, shall die’.” Now then hasten to gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the fields; for all the men and cattle as many as shall be found in the fields, and shall not enter into a house, (but the hail shall fall upon them,) shall die.

Exodus 9:22 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:22 (KJV)

Exodus 9:22 (NET)

And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.’ And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on everything that grows in the field in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 9:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ ἔσται χάλαζα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου ἐπί τε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ κτήνη καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν βοτάνην τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ ἔσται χάλαζα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου, ἐπί τε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ κτήνη καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν βοτάνην τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Exodus 9:22 (NETS)

Exodus 9:22 (English Elpenor)

Then the Lord said to Moyses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there shall be hail on the whole land of Egypt, both on humans and animals and on all herbage which is on the land.” And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out thine hand to heaven, and there shall be hail on all the land of Egypt, both on the men and on the cattle, and on all the herbage on the land.

Exodus 9:23 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:23 (KJV)

Exodus 9:23 (NET)

And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and HaShem sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and HaShem caused to hail upon the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. When Moses extended his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire fell to the earth; so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐξέτεινεν δὲ Μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ κύριος ἔδωκεν φωνὰς καὶ χάλαζαν καὶ διέτρεχεν τὸ πῦρ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔβρεξεν κύριος χάλαζαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου ἐξέτεινε δὲ Μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ Κύριος ἔδωκε φωνὰς καὶ χάλαζαν, καὶ διέτρεχε τὸ πῦρ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἔβρεξε Κύριος χάλαζαν ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου

Exodus 9:23 (NETS)

Exodus 9:23 (English Elpenor)

Then Moyses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and the Lord gave sounds and hail, and fire ran about on the land, and the Lord rained hail on the whole land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his hand to heaven, and the Lord sent thunderings and hail; and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the Lord rained hail on all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:24 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:24 (KJV)

Exodus 9:24 (NET)

So there was hail, and fire flashing up amidst the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Hail fell and fire mingled with the hail; the hail was so severe that there had not been any like it in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

Exodus 9:24 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:24 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἦν δὲ ἡ χάλαζα καὶ τὸ πῦρ φλογίζον ἐν τῇ χαλάζῃ ἡ δὲ χάλαζα πολλὴ σφόδρα σφόδρα ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀφ᾽ οὗ γεγένηται ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔθνος ἦν δὲ ἡ χάλαζα καὶ τὸ πῦρ φλογίζον ἐν τῇ χαλάζῃ· ἡ δὲ χάλαζα πολλὴ σφόδρα, ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἡμέρας γεγένηται ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς ἔθνος

Exodus 9:24 (NETS)

Exodus 9:24 (English Elpenor)

Now there was hail and fire flashing in the hail. Now the hail was very, very abundant, such as had not occurred in Egypt from the time when a people had come into being upon it. So there was hail and flaming fire mingled with hail; and the hail was very great, such as was not in Egypt, from the time there was a nation upon it.

Exodus 9:25 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:25 (KJV)

Exodus 9:25 (NET)

And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. The hail struck everything in the open fields, both people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces.

Exodus 9:25 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:25 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐπάταξεν δὲ ἡ χάλαζα ἐν πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ πᾶσαν βοτάνην τὴν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ἐπάταξεν ἡ χάλαζα καὶ πάντα τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις συνέτριψεν ἡ χάλαζα ἐπάταξε δὲ ἡ χάλαζα ἐν πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτου ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους, καὶ πᾶσαν βοτάνην τὴν ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ἐπάταξεν ἡ χάλαζα, καὶ πάντα τὰ ξύλα τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις συνέτριψεν ἡ χάλαζα

Exodus 9:25 (NETS)

Exodus 9:25 (English Elpenor)

>Then hail struck in all the land of Egypt from human to animal, and all herbage on the plain the hail struck, and all the trees on the plains the hail crushed. And the hail smote in all the land of Egypt both man and beast, and the hail smote all the grass in the field, and the hail broke in pieces all the trees in the field.

Exodus 9:26 (Tanakh)

Exodus 9:26 (KJV)

Exodus 9:26 (NET)

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

Exodus 9:26 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 9:26 (Septuagint Elpenor)

πλὴν ἐν γῇ Γεσεμ οὗ ἦσαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ οὐκ ἐγένετο ἡ χάλαζα πλὴν ἐν γῇ Γεσέμ, οὗ ἦσαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, οὐκ ἐγένετο ἡ χάλαζα

Exodus 9:26 (NETS)

Exodus 9:26 (English Elpenor)

Only in the land, Gesem, where the sons of Israel were, the hail did not occur. Only in the land of Gesem where the children of Israel were, the hail was not.

Numbers 26:63 (Tanakh)

Numbers 26:63 (KJV)

Numbers 26:63 (NET)

These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the Israelites in the rift valley plains of Moab along the Jordan River opposite Jericho.

Numbers 26:63 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 26:63 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἐπίσκεψις Μωυσῆ καὶ Ελεαζαρ τοῦ ἱερέως οἳ ἐπεσκέψαντο τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ ἐν Αραβωθ Μωαβ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ιορδάνου κατὰ Ιεριχω καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἐπίσκεψις Μωυσῆ καὶ ᾿Ελεάζαρ τοῦ ἱερέως, οἳ ἐπεσκέψαντο τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν ᾿Αραβὼθ Μωάβ, ἐπὶ τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου κατὰ ῾Ιεριχώ

Numbers 26:63 (NETS)

Numbers 26:63 (English Elpenor)

And this is the enrollment of Moyses and Eleazar the priest, who enrolled the sons of Israel in Araboth of Moab near the Jordan opposite Jericho. And this [is] the numbering of Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in Araboth of Moab, at Jordan by Jericho.

Numbers 26:64 (Tanakh)

Numbers 26:64 (KJV)

Numbers 26:64 (NET)

But among these there was not a man of them that were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. But there was not a man among these who had been among those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the Israelites in the desert of Sinai.

Numbers 26:64 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 26:64 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐν τούτοις οὐκ ἦν ἄνθρωπος τῶν ἐπεσκεμμένων ὑπὸ Μωυσῆ καὶ Ααρων οὓς ἐπεσκέψαντο τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Σινα καὶ ἐν τούτοις οὐκ ἦν ἄνθρωπος τῶν ἐπεσκεμμένων ὑπὸ Μωυσῆ καὶ ᾿Ααρών, οὓς ἐπεσκέψαντο τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Σινά

Numbers 26:64 (NETS)

Numbers 26:64 (English Elpenor)

And among these there was not a person of those enrolled by Moyses and Aaron whom—the sons of Israel—they enrolled in the wilderness of Sina. And among these there was not a man numbered by Moses and Aaron, whom, [even] the children of Israel, they numbered in the wilderness of Sinai.

Numbers 26:65 (Tanakh)

Numbers 26:65 (KJV)

Numbers 26:65 (NET)

For HaShem had said of them: ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness.’ And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. For the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 26:65 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 26:65 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὅτι εἶπεν κύριος αὐτοῖς θανάτῳ ἀποθανοῦνται ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ οὐ κατελείφθη ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ εἷς πλὴν Χαλεβ υἱὸς Ιεφοννη καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυη ὅτι εἶπε Κύριος αὐτοῖς· θανάτῳ ἀποθανοῦνται ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· καὶ οὐ κατελείφθη ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ εἷς, πλὴν Χάλεβ υἱὸς ᾿Ιεφοννὴ καὶ ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυή

Numbers 26:65 (NETS)

Numbers 26:65 (English Elpenor)

For the Lord said to them, “They shall die by death in the wilderness.” And there was not left even one of them, except for Caleb son of Iephonne and Iesous son of Naue. For the Lord said to them, They shall surely die in the wilderness; and there was not left even one of them, except Chaleb the son of Jephonne, and Joshua the [son] of Naue.

Exodus 11:4 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:4 (KJV)

Exodus 11:4 (NET)

And Moses said: ‘Thus saith HaShem: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: Moses said, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,

Exodus 11:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ εἶπεν Μωυσῆς τάδε λέγει κύριος περὶ μέσας νύκτας ἐγὼ εἰσπορεύομαι εἰς μέσον Αἰγύπτου Καὶ εἶπε Μωυσῆς· τάδε λέγει Κύριος· περὶ μέσας νύκτας ἐγὼ εἰσπορεύομαι εἰς μέσον Αἰγύπτου

Exodus 11:4 (NETS)

Exodus 11:4 (English Elpenor)

And Moyses said, “This is what the Lord says: Around midnight I am going to enter into the midst of Egypt, And Moses said, These things saith the Lord, About midnight I go forth into the midst of Egypt.

Exodus 11:5 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:5 (KJV)

Exodus 11:5 (NET)

and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

Exodus 11:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ τελευτήσει πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ πρωτοτόκου Φαραω ὃς κάθηται ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου τῆς θεραπαίνης τῆς παρὰ τὸν μύλον καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου παντὸς κτήνους καὶ τελευτήσει πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ἀπὸ πρωτοτόκου Φαραώ, ὃς κάθηται ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου τῆς θεραπαίνης τῆς παρὰ τὸν μύλον καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου παντὸς κτήνους

Exodus 11:5 (NETS)

Exodus 11:5 (English Elpenor)

and every firstborn in the land, Egypt, shall die, from the firstborn of Pharao, who sits on a throne, to the firstborn of the female slave by the millstone and to the firstborn of every animal. And every first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharao that sits on the throne, even to the first-born of the woman-servant that is by the mill, and to the first-born of all cattle.

Exodus 11:6 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:6 (KJV)

Exodus 11:6 (NET)

And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

Exodus 11:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔσται κραυγὴ μεγάλη κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονεν καὶ τοιαύτη οὐκέτι προστεθήσεται καὶ ἔσται κραυγὴ μεγάλη κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν Αἰγύπτου, ἥτις τοιαύτη οὐ γέγονε καὶ τοιαύτη οὐκ ἔτι προστεθήσεται

Exodus 11:6 (NETS)

Exodus 11:6 (English Elpenor)

And there will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has not been and such as will not again be repeated. And there shall be a great cry through all the land of Egypt, such as has not been, and such shall not be repeated any more.

Exodus 11:7 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:7 (KJV)

Exodus 11:7 (NET)

But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that HaShem doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. But against any of the Israelites not even a dog will bark against either people or animals, so that you may know that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’

Exodus 11:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ οὐ γρύξει κύων τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους ὅπως εἰδῇς ὅσα παραδοξάσει κύριος ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραὴλ οὐ γρύξει κύων τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους, ὅπως εἰδῇς ὅσα παραδοξάσει Κύριος ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καί τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ

Exodus 11:7 (NETS)

Exodus 11:7 (English Elpenor)

But among all the sons of Israel a dog will not snarl with his tongue from human being to animal in order that you might know by what means the Lord shall distinguish gloriously between the Egyptians and Israel. But among all the children of Israel shall not a dog snarl with his tongue, either at man or beast; that thou mayest know how wide a distinction the Lord will make between the Egyptians and Israel.

Exodus 11:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:8 (KJV)

Exodus 11:8 (NET)

And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down unto me, saying: Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee; and after that I will go out.’ And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. All these your servants will come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

Exodus 11:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ καταβήσονται πάντες οἱ παῖδές σου οὗτοι πρός με καὶ προκυνήσουσίν με λέγοντες ἔξελθε σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός σου οὗ σὺ ἀφηγῇ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξελεύσομαι ἐξῆλθεν δὲ Μωυσῆς ἀπὸ Φαραω μετὰ θυμοῦ καὶ καταβήσονται πάντες οἱ παῖδές σου οὗτοι πρός με καὶ προσκυνήσουσί με λέγοντες· ἔξελθε σὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός σου, οὗ σύ ἀφηγῇ· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξελεύσομαι. ἐξῆλθε δὲ Μωυσῆς ἀπὸ Φαραὼ μετὰ θυμοῦ

Exodus 11:8 (NETS)

Exodus 11:8, 9a (English Elpenor)

And all these servants of yours shall come down to me and do obeisance before me, saying, ‘Leave, you and all your people, whom you are leading away’, and after these I will go out.” Then Moyses went out from Pharao with wrath. And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and do me reverence, saying, Go forth, thou and all the people over whom thou presidest, and afterwards I will go forth. (9) And Moses went forth from Pharao with wrath.

Exodus 11:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:9 (KJV)

Exodus 11:9 (NET)

And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Pharaoh will not hearken unto you; that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 11:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν οὐκ εἰσακούσεται ὑμῶν Φαραω ἵνα πληθύνων πληθύνω μου τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· οὐκ εἰσακούσεται ὑμῶν Φαραώ, ἵνα πληθύνων πληθυνῶ μου τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ

Exodus 11:9 (NETS)

Exodus 11:9b (English Elpenor)

Then the Lord said to Moyses, “Pharao will not listen to you in order that I may multiply my signs and wonders in the land, Egypt.” And the Lord said to Moses, Pharao will not hearken to you, that I may greatly multiply my signs and wonders in the land [of] Egypt.

Exodus 11:10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 11:10 (KJV)

Exodus 11:10 (NET)

And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and HaShem hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land. So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.

Exodus 11:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 11:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)

Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ Ααρων ἐποίησαν πάντα τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα ταῦτα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐναντίον Φαραω ἐσκλήρυνεν δὲ κύριος τὴν καρδίαν Φαραω καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ἐξαποστεῖλαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν ἐποίησαν πάντα τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα ταῦτα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐναντίον Φαραώ· ἐσκλήρυνε δὲ Κύριος τὴν καρδίαν Φαραώ, καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν ἐξαποστεῖλαι τούς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου

Exodus 11:10 (NETS)

Exodus 11:10 (English Elpenor)

So Moyses and Aaron did all these signs and wonders in the land, Egypt, before Pharao. But the Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he was unwilling to send away the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron wrought all these signs and wonders in the land [of] Egypt before Pharao; and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, and he did not hearken to send forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:1 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:1 (KJV)

Exodus 12:1 (NET)

And HaShem spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

Exodus 12:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν καὶ Ααρων ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτου λέγων ΕΙΠΕ δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτου λέγων

Exodus 12:1 (NETS)

Exodus 12:1 (English Elpenor)

Then the Lord spoke to Moyses and Aaron in the land, Egypt, saying: And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Exodus 12:2 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:2 (KJV)

Exodus 12:2 (NET)

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year.

Exodus 12:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὁ μὴν οὗτος ὑμῖν ἀρχὴ μηνῶν πρῶτός ἐστιν ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς μησὶν τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ὁ μὴν οὗτος ὑμῖν ἀρχὴ μηνῶν, πρῶτός ἐστιν ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς μησὶ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ

Exodus 12:2 (NETS)

Exodus 12:2 (English Elpenor)

This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it is first for you among the months of the year. This month [shall be] to you the beginning of months: it is the first to you among the months of the year.

Exodus 12:3 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:3 (KJV)

Exodus 12:3 (NET)

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘On the tenth day of this month they each must take a lamb for themselves according to their families—a lamb for each household.

Exodus 12:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)

λάλησον πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν Ισραηλ λέγων τῇ δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τούτου λαβέτωσαν ἕκαστος πρόβατον κατ᾽ οἴκους πατριῶν ἕκαστος πρόβατον κατ᾽ οἰκίαν λάλησον πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγων· τῇ δεκάτῃ τοῦ μηνὸς τούτου λαβέτωσαν ἕκαστος πρόβατον κατ᾿ οἴκους πατριῶν, ἕκαστος πρόβατον κατ᾿ οἰκίαν

Exodus 12:3 (NETS)

Exodus 12:3 (English Elpenor)

Speak to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “On the tenth of this month let them take, each person, a sheep according to the paternal houses, a sheep for each household. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take each man a lamb according to the houses of their families, every man a lamb for his household.

Exodus 12:4 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:4 (KJV)

Exodus 12:4 (NET)

and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbour next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating ye shall make your count for the lamb. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. If any household is too small for a lamb, the man and his next-door neighbor are to take a lamb according to the number of people—you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat.

Exodus 12:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐὰν δὲ ὀλιγοστοὶ ὦσιν οἱ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ὥστε μὴ ἱκανοὺς εἶναι εἰς πρόβατον συλλήμψεται μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν γείτονα τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ψυχῶν ἕκαστος τὸ ἀρκοῦν αὐτῷ συναριθμήσεται εἰς πρόβατον ἐὰν δὲ ὀλιγοστοὶ ὦσιν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, ὥστε μὴ εἶναι ἱκανοὺς εἰς πρόβατον, συλλήψεται μεθ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν γείτονα τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ψυχῶν· ἕκαστος τὸ ἀρκοῦν αὐτῷ συναριθμήσεται εἰς πρόβατον

Exodus 12:4 (NETS)

Exodus 12:4 (English Elpenor)

But if those in the household are too few so that they are not enough for a sheep, he shall join with himself his nearby neighbor according to the number of souls; you, each one, shall number together that which is sufficient for a sheep. And if they be few in a household, so that there are not enough for the lamb, he shall take with himself his neighbour that lives near to him,– as to the number of souls, every one according to that which suffices him shall make a reckoning for the lamb.

Exodus 12:5 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:5 (KJV)

Exodus 12:5 (NET)

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats; Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: Your lamb must be perfect, a male, one year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Exodus 12:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

πρόβατον τέλειον ἄρσεν ἐνιαύσιον ἔσται ὑμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐρίφων λήμψεσθε πρόβατον τέλειον, ἄρσεν, ἐνιαύσιον ἔσται ὑμῖν· ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐρίφων λήψεσθε

Exodus 12:5 (NETS)

Exodus 12:5 (English Elpenor)

You shall have a perfect sheep, a one-year-old male. You shall take from the lambs and kids. It shall be to you a lamb unblemished, a male of a year old: ye shall take it of the lambs and the kids.

Exodus 12:7 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:7 (KJV)

Exodus 12:7 (NET)

And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it.

Exodus 12:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ λήμψονται ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος καὶ θήσουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν δύο σταθμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν φλιὰν ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ἐν οἷς ἐὰν φάγωσιν αὐτὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ λήψονται ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος καὶ θήσουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν δύο σταθμῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν φλιὰν ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις, ἐν οἷς ἐὰν φάγωσιν αὐτὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς

Exodus 12:7 (NETS)

Exodus 12:7 (English Elpenor)

And they shall take some of the blood and shall put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel in the houses whichever they eat them in. And they shall take of the blood, and shall put it on the two door-posts, and on the lintel, in the houses in which soever they shall eat them.

Exodus 12:8 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:8 (KJV)

Exodus 12:8 (NET)

And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. They will eat the meat the same night; they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs.

Exodus 12:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ φάγονται τὰ κρέα τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ ὀπτὰ πυρὶ καὶ ἄζυμα ἐπὶ πικρίδων ἔδονται καὶ φάγονται τὰ κρέα τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ· ὀπτὰ πυρὶ καὶ ἄζυμα ἐπὶ πικρίδων ἔδονται

Exodus 12:8 (NETS)

Exodus 12:8 (English Elpenor)

And they shall eat the meat this night, roasted in fire, and they shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs. And they shall eat the flesh in this night roast with fire, and they shall eat unleavened [bread] with bitter herbs.

Exodus 12:9 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:9 (KJV)

Exodus 12:9 (NET)

Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. Do not eat it raw or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails.

Exodus 12:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐκ ἔδεσθε ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὠμὸν οὐδὲ ἡψημένον ἐν ὕδατι ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὀπτὰ πυρί κεφαλὴν σὺν τοῖς ποσὶν καὶ τοῖς ἐνδοσθίοις οὐκ ἔδεσθε ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν ὠμὸν οὐδὲ ἡψημένον ἐν ὕδατι, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ὀπτὰ πυρί, κεφαλὴν σὺν τοῖς ποσὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐνδοσθίοις

Exodus 12:9 (NETS)

Exodus 12:9 (English Elpenor)

You shall not eat from it raw or boiled in water but rather roasted in fire, head with the feet and inner organs. Ye shall not eat of it raw nor sodden in water, but only roast with fire, the head with the feet and the appurtenances.

Exodus 12:10 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:10 (KJV)

Exodus 12:10 (NET)

And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning.

Exodus 12:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὐκ ἀπολείψετε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἕως πρωὶ καὶ ὀστοῦν οὐ συντρίψετε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ δὲ καταλειπόμενα ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἕως πρωὶ ἐν πυρὶ κατακαύσετε οὐκ ἀπολείψετε ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἕως πρωΐ καὶ ὀστοῦν οὐ συντρίψετε ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ· τὰ δὲ καταλειπόμενα ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἕως πρωΐ ἐν πυρὶ κατακαύσετε

Exodus 12:10 (NETS)

Exodus 12:10 (English Elpenor)

You shall not leave any of it until morning, and you shall not break a bone of it. But that which remains from it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Nothing shall be left of it till the morning, and a bone of it ye shall not break; but that which is left of it till the morning ye shall burn with fire.

Exodus 12:11 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:11 (KJV)

Exodus 12:11 (NET)

And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste–it is HaShem’S passover. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. This is how you are to eat it—dressed to travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.

Exodus 12:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

οὕτως δὲ φάγεσθε αὐτό αἱ ὀσφύες ὑμῶν περιεζωσμέναι καὶ τὰ ὑποδήματα ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ βακτηρίαι ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ὑμῶν καὶ ἔδεσθε αὐτὸ μετὰ σπουδῆς πασχα ἐστὶν κυρίῳ οὕτω δὲ φάγεσθε αὐτό· αἱ ὀσφύες ὑμῶν περιεζωσμέναι, καὶ τὰ ὑποδήματα ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν ὑμῶν, καὶ αἱ βακτηρίαι ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ὑμῶν· καὶ ἔδεσθε αὐτὸ μετὰ σπουδῆς· πάσχα ἐστὶ Κυρίῳ

Exodus 12:11 (NETS)

Exodus 12:11 (English Elpenor)

Now in this way you shall eat it: your loins girded and your sandals on your feet and your staves in your hands. And you shall eat it with haste—it is the Lord’s pascha. And thus shall ye eat it: your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is a passover to the Lord.

Exodus 12:12 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:12 (KJV)

Exodus 12:12 (NET)

For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am HaShem. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. “‘I will pass through the land of Egypt in the same night, and I will attack all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord.

Exodus 12:12 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ διελεύσομαι ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ καὶ πατάξω πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ποιήσω τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ἐγὼ κύριος καί διελεύσομαι ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ καὶ πατάξω πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἕως κτήνους καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ποιήσω τὴν ἐκδίκησιν· ἐγὼ Κύριος

Exodus 12:12 (NETS)

Exodus 12:12 (English Elpenor)

And I will pass through in the land, Egypt, on this night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land, Egypt, from human being to animal, and on all the gods of the Egyptians I will execute vengeance. I am the Lord. and I will go throughout the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite every first-born in the land of Egypt both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt will I execute vengeance: I [am] the Lord.

Exodus 12:13 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:13 (KJV)

Exodus 12:13 (NET)

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:13 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔσται τὸ αἷμα ὑμῖν ἐν σημείῳ ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἐν αἷς ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐκεῖ καὶ ὄψομαι τὸ αἷμα καὶ σκεπάσω ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν πληγὴ τοῦ ἐκτριβῆναι ὅταν παίω ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ ἔσται τὸ αἷμα ὑμῖν ἐν σημείῳ ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν, ἐν αἷς ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐκεῖ, καὶ ὄψομαι τὸ αἷμα καὶ σκεπάσω ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν πληγὴ τοῦ ἐκτριβῆναι, ὅταν παίω ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ

Exodus 12:13 (NETS)

Exodus 12:13 (English Elpenor)

And the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses, there where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will protect you, and there shall not be a plague among you to destroy, whenever I strike in the land, Egypt. And the blood shall be for a sign to you on the houses in which ye are, and I will see the blood, and will protect you, and there shall not be on you the plague of destruction, when I smite in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:28 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:28 (KJV)

Exodus 12:28 (NET)

And the children of Israel went and did so; as HaShem had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 12:28 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀπελθόντες ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καθὰ ἐνετείλατο κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ καὶ Ααρων οὕτως ἐποίησαν καὶ ἀπελθόντες ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ καθὰ ἐνετείλατο Κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ καὶ ᾿Ααρών, οὕτως ἐποίησαν

Exodus 12:28 (NETS)

Exodus 12:28b (English Elpenor)

And when they went away, the sons of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moyses and Aaron; so they did. And the children of Israel departed and did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

Exodus 12:29 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:29 (KJV)

Exodus 12:29 (NET)

And it came to pass at midnight, that HaShem smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. It happened at midnight—the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

Exodus 12:29 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:29 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγενήθη δὲ μεσούσης τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ κύριος ἐπάταξεν πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπὸ πρωτοτόκου Φαραω τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου ἕως πρωτοτόκου τῆς αἰχμαλωτίδος τῆς ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου παντὸς κτήνους ᾿Εγενήθη δὲ μεσούσης τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ Κύριος ἐπάταξε πᾶν πρωτότοκον ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ἀπὸ πρωτοτόκου Φαραὼ τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου ἕως πρωτοτόκου τῆς αἰχμαλωτίδος τῆς ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ καὶ ἕως πρωτοτόκου παντὸς κτήνους

Exodus 12:29 (NETS)

Exodus 12:29 (English Elpenor)

Now it happened during the middle of the night that the Lord struck every firstborn in the land, Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharao who sits upon the throne, to the firstborn of the female captive who is in the pit, even to the firstborn of every animal. And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharao that sat on the throne, to the first-born of the captive-maid in the dungeon, and the first-born of all cattle.

Exodus 12:30 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:30 (KJV)

Exodus 12:30 (NET)

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Pharaoh got up in the night, along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house in which there was not someone dead.

Exodus 12:30 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:30 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀναστὰς Φαραω νυκτὸς καὶ πάντες οἱ θεράποντες αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ ἐγενήθη κραυγὴ μεγάλη ἐν πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ οὐ γὰρ ἦν οἰκία ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτῇ τεθνηκώς καὶ ἀναστὰς Φαραὼ νυκτὸς καὶ οἱ θεράποντες αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ ἐγενήθη κραυγή μεγάλη ἐν πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ· οὐ γὰρ ἦν οἰκία, ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτῇ τεθνηκώς

Exodus 12:30 (NETS)

Exodus 12:30 (English Elpenor)

And Pharao arose during the night and all his attendants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in the land of Egypt. For there was not a house which had no dead person in it. And Pharao rose up by night, and his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in all the land of Egypt, for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.

Exodus 12:31 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:31 (KJV)

Exodus 12:31 (NET)

And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said: ‘Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve HaShem, as ye have said. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested!

Exodus 12:31 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:31 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Φαραω Μωυσῆν καὶ Ααρων νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἀνάστητε καὶ ἐξέλθατε ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ μου καὶ ὑμεῖς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ βαδίζετε καὶ λατρεύσατε κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ ὑμῶν καθὰ λέγετε καὶ ἐκάλεσε Φαραὼ Μωυσῆν καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἀνάστητε καὶ ἐξέλθετε ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ μου καὶ ὑμεῖς καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ· βαδίζετε καὶ λατρεύσατε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ὑμῶν, καθὰ λέγετε

Exodus 12:31 (NETS)

Exodus 12:31 (English Elpenor)

And Pharao summoned Moyese and Aaron during the night and said to them, “Arise, and go out from my people, both you and the sons of Israel. Go! Serve the Lord your God according as you say. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron by night, and said to them, Rise and depart from my people, both ye and the children of Israel. Go and serve the Lord your God, even as ye say.

Exodus 12:32 (Tanakh)

Exodus 12:32 (KJV)

Exodus 12:32 (NET)

Take both your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.’ Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.”

Exodus 12:32 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 12:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας ὑμῶν ἀναλαβόντες πορεύεσθε εὐλογήσατε δὲ κἀμέ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας ὑμῶν ἀναλαβόντες πορεύεσθε, εὐλογήσατε δὲ κἀμέ

Exodus 12:32 (NETS)

Exodus 12:32 (English Elpenor)

Take both your sheep and cattle, and get going, but bless me too.” And take with you your sheep, and your oxen: bless me also, I pray you.

Exodus 22:19 (Tanakh)

Exodus 22:20 (KJV)

Exodus 22:20 (NET)

He that sacrificeth unto the gods, save unto HaShem only, shall be utterly destroyed. He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.

Exodus 22:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 22:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ὁ θυσιάζων θεοῖς θανάτῳ ὀλεθρευθήσεται πλὴν κυρίῳ μόνῳ ὁ θυσιάζων θεοῖς θανάτῳ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται, πλὴν Κυρίῳ μόνῳ

Exodus 22:20 (NETS)

Exodus 22:20 (English Elpenor)

The one who sacrifices to the gods, except to the Lord alone, shall be destroyed. He that sacrifices to any gods but to the Lord alone, shall be destroyed by death.

Numbers 25:6 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:6 (KJV)

Numbers 25:6 (NET)

And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 25:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἐλθὼν προσήγαγεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν Μαδιανῖτιν ἐναντίον Μωυσῆ καὶ ἔναντι πάσης συναγωγῆς υἱῶν Ισραηλ αὐτοὶ δὲ ἔκλαιον παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος τῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐλθὼν προσήγαγε τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν Μαδιανῖτιν ἐναντίον Μωυσῆ καὶ ἐναντίον πάσης συναγωγῆς υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἔκλαιον παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου

Numbers 25:6 (NETS)

Numbers 25:6 (English Elpenor)

And behold, a man of the sons of Israel came and brought his brother to the Madianite woman before Moyses and before all the congregation of Israel’s sons, but they were weeping at the door of the tent of witness. And, behold, a man of the children of Israel came and brought his brother to a Madianitish woman before Moses, and before all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of witness.

Numbers 25:7 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:7 (KJV)

Numbers 25:7 (NET)

And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand,

Numbers 25:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἰδὼν Φινεες υἱὸς Ελεαζαρ υἱοῦ Ααρων τοῦ ἱερέως ἐξανέστη ἐκ μέσου τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ λαβὼν σειρομάστην ἐν τῇ χειρὶ καὶ ἰδὼν Φινεὲς υἱὸς ᾿Ελεάζαρ υἱοῦ ᾿Ααρὼν τοῦ ἱερέως ἐξανέστη ἐκ μέσου τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ λαβὼν σειρομάστην ἐν τῇ χειρὶ

Numbers 25:7 (NETS)

Numbers 25:7 (English Elpenor)

And when Phineas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation. And he took a barbed lance in his hand, And Phinees the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, and rose out of the midst of the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand,

Numbers 25:8 (Tanakh)

Numbers 25:8 (KJV)

Numbers 25:8 (NET)

And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites.

Numbers 25:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 25:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἰσῆλθεν ὀπίσω τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ Ισραηλίτου εἰς τὴν κάμινον καὶ ἀπεκέντησεν ἀμφοτέρους τόν τε ἄνθρωπον τὸν Ισραηλίτην καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα διὰ τῆς μήτρας αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπαύσατο ἡ πληγὴ ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ισραηλ εἰσῆλθεν ὀπίσω τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ ᾿Ισραηλίτου εἰς τὴν κάμινον καὶ ἀπεκέντησεν ἀμφοτέρους, τόν τε ἄνθρωπον τὸν ᾿Ισραηλίτην καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα διὰ τῆς μήτρας αὐτῆς· καὶ ἐπαύσατο ἡ πληγὴ ἀπὸ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ

Numbers 25:8 (NETS)

Numbers 25:8 (English Elpenor)

and he went in after the Israelite into the alcove and pierced both of them, both the Israelite man and the woman through her womb. And the blow stopped from Israel’s sons. and went in after the Israelitish man into the chamber, and pierced them both through, both the Israelitish man, and the woman through her womb; and the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

2 John 17:3b (ESV)

3 The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 4 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

4 Who Am I? Part 14 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

5 Who Am I? Part 14 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

6 Who Am I? Part 14 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

7 David’s Forgiveness, Part 2 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

8 The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 4 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

9 To Make Holy, Part 7 for a table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint.

10 Romans 9:24 (ESV)

11 Romans 9:3b (ESV) Table

12 Romans 11:32 (ESV)

13 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) Table

14 The Book of Life, Part 1 for a table comparing the Greek of Jesus’ quotation to that of the Septuagint.

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 5

Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon,[1] Moses’ account of the words yehôvâh (יהוה) spoke to him after all the military men had been eliminated from the community[2] continued.  Look!  I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land.  Go ahead!  Take it!  Engage him in war!  This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you.  They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach.[3]

The Hebrew word translated and to terrify was yirʼâh (ויראתך), the word I’d hoped would distinguish the fear of the Lord from ordinary fear.  In English to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them, causes me to wonder if I should simply accept that yirʼâh, similar to the fruit of the Spirit, comes from God, like the song says: “’twas Grace that taught, my heart to fear.  And grace, my fears relieved.”  The Hebrew word translated to fill was nâthan (תת).  It was also translated I have already delivered (נתתי) in I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, and is giving (נתן) in the land the Lord our God is giving us.[4]

The Hebrew word translated engage in Engage him in war was gârâh (והתגר), to grate, to anger, to cause strife, stir up, contend, meddle.  Moses’ tactic was to send messengers with an offer of peace.

Numbers 21:21, 22 (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:26-29 (NET)

Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, “Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace:  “Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway.  I will not turn aside to the right or the left.  Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink.  Just allow me to go through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us.”

I admit to wondering whether Moses’ tactic betrayed his unfaithfulness toward yehôvâh, or duplicity toward King Sihon.  Either way it didn’t alter the outcome.

Numbers 21:23a (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:30, 31 (NET)

But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border… But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him…
…because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day.  The Lord said to me, “Look!  I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you.  Start right now to take his land as your possession.”
…he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness.

It didn’t matter because the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) our God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיך) had made him obstinate, literally, hardened his spirit.  The Hebrew word for hardened was qâshâh (הקשה), translated ἐσκλήρυνεν (a form of σκληρύνω) in the Septuagint.  He also had made Sihon stubborn, literally, made his heart obstinate.  The Hebrew word for obstinate was ʼâmats (ואמץ), to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold.  It was translated  κατίσχυσεν (a form of κατισχύω) in the Septuagint.[5]  Look!  I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you, yehôvâh reiterated.  Start right now to take his land as your possession.

Numbers 21:23b, 24a (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:32-35 (NET)

When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz…
But the Israelites defeated him in battle… …the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else.
At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors.  We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves.

We call this genocide and fault yehôvâh for commanding it (or assume that He did not).  I won’t mount an elaborate defense here except to say that this is how law works to purge out wickedness (Deuteronomy 21:18-21 NET):

If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail, his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.  They must declare to the elders of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.”  Then all the men of his city must stone him to death.  In this way you will purge out wickedness from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid (yârêʼ, ויראו).

So that was then; this is now (Matthew 5:38-48 NET):

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer.  But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well [Table].  And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic, give him your coat also.  And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you [Table].

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they?  And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do?  Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?  So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Fankly, in our natural selves we care little more for the latter than the former commandment.  We are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, “We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.”[6]  But before we call yehôvâh cruel or Jesus naïve, we who want to follow Him would do well to deny ourselves.  When we do we may notice that the Israelites defeated [Sihon] in battle because the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) our God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהינו) delivered him over to [them]:

Numbers 21:24b-26a, 31, 32 (NET)

Deuteronomy 2:36, 37 (NET)

…and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us – the Lord our God gave them all to us.
So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.  For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites…
So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites.  Moses sent spies to reconnoiter Jaazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.
However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God.

In other words, here Israel obeyed yehôvâh, killing only those who were under divine judgment (châram, ונחרם) and taking only the land that was promised.  The law reads: Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) alone must be utterly destroyed (châram).[7]  Nevertheless no devoted offering (chêrem, חרם) that a man may devote (châram, יחרם) to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is (chêrem, חרם) most holy to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה).  No person under the ban (chêrem, חרם), who may become doomed to destruction (châram, יחרם) among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.[8]

If we stop blaspheming yehôvâh for a moment, thinking He has no right to make such laws, we can begin—using the very laws I quoted above—to grasp what He meant when He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 20:11 (NASB) Ezekiel 20:25 (NASB)
I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live…

We aren’t told how many parents, if any, brought their drunken rebellious sons before the elders of the city that they might be stoned to death.  I can surmise that some parents remained silent or lied about them, while others with means bribed elders to redeem them.  It’s fairly clear that many a drunken rebellious son rose to become an elder who led the people of Israel into πορνεία (Ezekiel 20:28, 30 NASB):

When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering.  There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings…Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot (zânâh, זנים; Septuagint: ἐκπορνεύετε, a form of ἐκπορνεύω) after their detestable things?

Paul wrote about the law in ways quite similar to yehôvâh’s words through Ezekiel.

Romans 7:10b (NET) Galatians 3:21b (NET)
So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

I wrote about this elsewhere.  Here I want to skip ahead to begin to explore what life was like for Israel under law as the sharp tip of the sword of divine judgment, and to present an example of yirʼâh which resulted in fear and faith in yehôvâh.  Outside Jericho just before the rams’ horns sounded and the city’s wall collapsed, Joshua gave the army of Israel the following command (Joshua 6:17-19 NET):

The city and all that is in it must be set apart (chêrem, חרם) for the Lord, except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies we sent.  But be careful when you are setting (châram, תחרימו) apart the riches (chêrem, החרם) for the Lord.  If you take any (chêrem, החרם) of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation (chêrem, לחרם) and cause a disaster.  All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord.  They must go into the Lord’s treasury.

I looked to see if yehôvâh commanded this.  So far all I’ve found was Moses’ command: You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God.  You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine wrath along with it.  You must absolutely detest and abhor it (chêrem, חרם), for it is an object of divine wrath (chêrem).[9]  A few commentators considered Jericho a kind of first fruits offering to yehôvâh.

The exception made for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house is interesting.  The somewhat crass tit-for-tat cited above—because she hid the spies we sent—doesn’t quite tell the whole story (Joshua 2:1-7 NET).

Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.”  They stopped at the house of a prostitute (zânâh, זונה; Septuagint: πόρνης, a form of πόρνη) named Rahab and spent the night there.  The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well!  Israelite men have come here tonight to spy on the land.”  So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: “Turn over the men who came to you – the ones who came to your house – for they have come to spy on the whole land!”  But the woman hid the two men and replied, “Yes, these men were clients of mine, but I didn’t know where they came from.  When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left.  I don’t know where they were heading.  Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!”  (Now she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax she had spread out on the roof.)  Meanwhile the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River near the fords.  The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them.

What she did is exactly as Joshua reported.  As James asked rhetorically, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way?[10]  But I think her reasons, why she defied her king to do what she did, are far more interesting in this study of yirʼâh (Joshua 2:8-13 NET).

Now before the spies went to sleep, Rahab went up to the roof.  She said to the men, “I know the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) is handing this land over to you.  We are absolutely terrified (ʼêymâh, אימתכם) of you, and all who live in the land are cringing (mûg, נמגו) before you.  For we heard how the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan.  When we heard the news we lost our courage (mâsas, וימס) and no one could even breathe for fear of you.  For the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) your God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיכם) is God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) in heaven above and on earth below!  So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s (yehôvâh, ביהוה) name.  Because I have shown allegiance (chêsêd, חסד; Septuagint: ἔλεος, literally, mercy) to you, show allegiance (chêsêd, חסד; Septuagint: ἔλεος, literally, mercy) to my family.  Give me a solemn pledge  that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us from death.”

Though Rahab didn’t use all of Moses’ words, given her testimony—the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below—and her plea for mercy, I feel confident thinking that she feared (yârêʼ, וייראו) the Lord, and [she] believed (ʼâman, ויאמינו) in the Lord.[11]  She was as saved as anyone in Israel: Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her.  She lives in Israel to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.[12]  As the writer of Hebrews declared: By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.[13]  Everyone else: Israel annihilated (châram, ויחרימו) with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeysthey burned the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house.[14]

But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches.  Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches.[15]  I’ll continue this in another essay.

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 6

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 7

[1] Deuteronomy 2:24a (NET)

[2] Deuteronomy 2:16 (NET)

[3] Deuteronomy 2:24b-25 (NET)

[4] Deuteronomy 2:29b (NET)

[5] A translation of the Septuagint reads: hardened his spirit and prevailed over his heart.

[6] Matthew 11:16b, 17 (NET)

[7] Exodus 22:20 (NET)

[8] Leviticus 27:28, 29 (NKJV)

[9] Deuteronomy 7:25, 26 (NET)

[10] James 2:25 (NET)

[11] Exodus 14:31 (NET)

[12] Joshua 6:25 (NET)  This verse also provides a clue that Joshua was written during Rahab’s lifetime.  See: “An Introduction to the Book of Joshua

[13] Hebrews 11:31 (NET)

[14] Joshua 6:21, 24 (NET)

[15] Joshua 7:1a (NET)

Romans, Part 65

I’m still considering Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer[1] as a description of love rather than as rules to obey.  I’m focusing now on the aftermath of the death of the Levite’s concubine.  The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “How could such a wicked thing take place?  Now, hand over the good-for-nothings (belı̂yaʽal, בליעל) in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.”[2]

On the surface of it this sounds like a thoughtful and lawful way to proceed.  But I note that the Levite had not called the perpetrators of the crime in Gibeah good-for-nothings (KJV: children of Belial) but baʽal.[3]  Perhaps baʽal in this context communicated children of belı̂yaʽal to the Levite’s contemporaries, but I suspect that it carried a more technical legal weight in this particular accusation (Deuteronomy 13:12-18 NET).

Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that some evil (belı̂yaʽal, בליעל; KJV: children of Belial) people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).  You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully.  If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.  You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever – it must never be rebuilt again.  You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment.  Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors.  Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you today and doing what is right before him.

Not only that, but purge Israel of wickedness was a familiar theme from the law.

Reference NET Hebrew Septuagint
Deuteronomy 13:5 purge out evil from within ובערת הרע מקרבך ἀφανιεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 17:7 purge evil from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ף ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 17:12 purge evil from Israel ובערת הרע מישׁראל ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ Ισραηλ
Deuteronomy 19:13 purge out the blood of the innocent from Israel ובערת דם הנקי מישׁראל καθαριεῖς τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀναίτιον ἐξ Ισραηλ
Deuteronomy 19:19 purge[4] evil from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 21:9 purge out the guilt of innocent blood from among you תבער הדם הנקי מקרבך כי ἐξαρεῖς τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀναίτιον ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 21:21 purge out wickedness from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 22:21 purge evil from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ס ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 22:22 purge evil from Israel ובערת הרע מישׁראל ס ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ Ισραηλ
Deuteronomy 22:24 purge evil from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ס ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Deuteronomy 24:7 purge evil from among you ובערת הרע מקרבך ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν
Judges 20:13 purge Israel of wickedness ונבערה [5]רעה מישׁראל ἐκκαθαριοῦμεν πονηρίαν ἀπὸ Ισραηλ

I went to bed meditating on these details with a line from Quentin Tarantino’sKill Bill, Volume 1” flitting around in my memory: “When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you’re doing his will.”[6]  I awoke the next morning with the fresh insight that yehôvâh had this law (Deuteronomy 13:12-18) at his disposal throughout the period covered by the book of Judges.

The Israelites did evil (raʽ, הרע) in the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) sight.  They forgot the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) their God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיהם) and worshiped the Baals (baʽal, הבעלים) and the Asherahs.[7]  They had become the children of Belial by definition.  The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was furious with Israel,[8] but he did not invoke this law.  He turned them over to King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim[9] instead.  They were Cushan-Rishathaim’s subjects for eight years.[10]  And I was reminded of Moses’ intercession with yehôvâh.

When the first forty day covenant ended yehôvâh had Israel dead to rights.  They had despised that covenant,[11] but yehôvâh intended to honor it: Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה) alone must be utterly destroyed.[12] 

So now, leave me alone, He said to Moses, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.[13]

Turn from your burning anger, Moses interceded, and relent (nâcham, והנחם) of this evil (raʽ, הרעה) against your people.[14] 

Then the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) relented (nâcham, וינחם) over the evil (raʽ, הרעה) that he had said he would do to his people,[15] though they had made themselves children of Belial.  The prophet Samuel, the last of the judges, defined children of Belial as those who knew not yehôvâh: Now the sons of Eli [the priest] were sons of Belial (belı̂yaʽal,בליעל ); they knew (yâdaʽ ידעו) not the LORD (yehôvâh).[16]

Do not become partners with those who do not believe, Paul wrote the Corinthians, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness?  And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar (Βελιάρ, a form of Βελίαλ)?  Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever?  And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said,I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  Thereforecome out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord,and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord.[17] 

When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה), the passage in Judges continued, he (yehôvâh, יהוה) raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them.  His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother [Table].  The Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) spirit empowered him and he led (shâphaṭ, וישפט) Israel.[18]

I feel more than a little awkward about it, but I’ll quote from a website on Satanism, not to establish some identity for Belial.  The witch I worked for in school told me with a straight face that he worshiped Celtic Baal but did not believe that Celtic Baal existed in any other sense than as a personification of natural forces.  Though he would cringe at being compared to a Satanist (he perceived Satanism as a Christian heresy), I think one would find the same range from true believers to those who only believe in personifications of natural forces among Satanists.  I quote the following merely to hear Belial as what Paul called the flesh, speaking honestly, audaciously and uncensored by law or religion.

Belial is the carnal side of man, the lust, sex, pleasure and therefore the principal drives that make living worthwhile. People derive all the principal emotions of the higher ego from Belial: Pride comes from self control and suppression of the Belial, strength, pleasure and independence come from embracing it. Belial is the Master of the Earth, the force that holds Humankind by its balls, any security or stability are results of lessons learnt from dealing with this Crown Prince.

Belial is the champion of simply being human, for the flesh, the material and the carnal. In essence, a reverence for Belial affirms how “good” the flesh/humanity is. Unrestrained by law or morality; lawless; immoral; dissolute; lewd; lascivious, Unrestrained; uncurbed; uncontrolled; unruly; riotous; ungovernable; wanton; profligate; dissolute; lax; loose; sensual; impure; unchaste; lascivious; immoral, dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure.[19]

We salt this flesh with law and spread religious jelly on it to alter its flavor somewhat, but can’t change its essence.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above,’[20] yehôvâh in human flesh as Jesus said.  And Paul wrote to believers in Rome (Romans 6:3-7 NET): 

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.  We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.)

And again, Paul wrote to believers in Galatia (Galatians 2:20, 21 NET):

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

The essence of Wiccan morality (as well as many American teenagers, among others) is stated, “as long as you aren’t harming anyone, do as you wish.”  But when we do as we wish in our flesh, we children of Belial, we inevitably and without fail do harm to someone.  And that brought me back to the Kill Bill quotation: “When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you’re doing his will.”

These lines, spoken by a character known as the Bride in Volume 1 (aka Black Mamba), was played and partially created by Uma Thurman.  The Bride was a former member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, a kind of Manson family with style, not political revolutionaries but contract killers.  We’re deep in Belial territory here, and the god to which the Bride referred (and personified for two films) was δίκη—Vengeance.  Here is an exchange between Black Mamba (the Bride) and Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox) from Kill Bill, Volume 1:

Black Mamba: I’m not gonna murder you in front of your [four-year-old] child, okay?

Copperhead: That’s being more rational than Bill led me to believe you were capable of.

Black Mamba: It’s mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack—not rationality.

Copperhead: Look, I know I fucked you over.  I fucked you over bad.  I wish to God I hadn’t, but I did.  You have every right to want to get even.

Black Mamba (chuckling): No, to get even, even Stephen, I would have to kill you, go up to Nikki’s room, kill her, then wait for your husband to come home and kill him.  That’d be even, Vernita.  That’d be about square.

Copperhead: Look, if I could go back in a machine, I would.  But I can’t.  All I can tell you is that I’m a different person now.

Black Mamba: Oh, great.  I don’t care.

Copperhead: Be that as it may, I know I don’t deserve your mercy or your forgiveness.  However, I beseech you for both on behalf of my daughter.

Black Mamba: Bitch, you can stop right there.  Just because I have no wish to murder you before the eyes of your daughter does not mean parading her around in front of me is gonna inspire sympathy.  You and I have unfinished business.  And not a goddam fucking thing you’ve done in the subsequent four years, including getting knocked up, is gonna change that.

It hit home hard since I had thought that yehôvâh/Jesus was δίκη, and had mistaken his patience and mercy for proof of his nonexistence when I turned to atheismThe word of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) came to[21] Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:21-29 NET):

“But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.  None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live.  Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign (ʼădônây, אדני) Lord (yehôvih, יהוה)?  Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

“But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live?  All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

“Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s (ʼădônây, אדני) conduct is unjust!’  Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust?  Is it not your conduct that is unjust?  When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.  When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life.  Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.  Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s (ʼădônây, אדני) conduct is unjust!’  Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel?  Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

This exercise altered my superficial observation that the brotherhood acted thoughtfully and lawfully.  I began to see four hundred thousand armed men, as likely as not to be sons of Belial themselves, rushing in where yehôvâh had not tread.

But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.  The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.[22]

Why?  Was it because the Benjaminites wholeheartedly supported the children of Belial’s right to know any strange man who wandered into town or to gang-rape young women?  Or was it because their Israelite brothers came at them in battle array, four hundred thousand strong, armed with an implacable law that condemned them already?

[1] Romans 12:12 (NET)

[2] Judges 20:12, 13a (NET)

[3] Judges 20:5 (NET)

[4] NET note 37: “Heb ‘you will burn out’ (בִּעַרְתָּ, bi’arta). Like a cancer, unavenged sin would infect the whole community. It must, therefore, be excised by the purging out of its perpetrators who, presumably, remained unrepentant (cf. Deut 13:6; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7).”

[5] I thought this was a typo since רעה has he ה at the end rather than at the beginning (הרע) like the other occurrences, but the letters are in the same order in the Hebrew OT online at ericlevy.com

[6] “Kill Bill, Volume 1”

[7] Judges 3:7 (NET)

[8] Judges 3:8a (NET)

[9] Judges 3:8b (NET) Also: Judges 3:12; 4:1-2; 6:1; 10:6-7; 13:1 (NET)

[10] Judges 3:8c (NET)

[11] Exodus 32:1-6 (NET)

[12] Exodus 22:20 (NET)

[13] Exodus 32:10 (NET) Table

[14] Exodus 32:12b (NET) Table

[15] Exodus 32:14 (NET)

[16] 1 Samuel 2:12 (KJV)

[17] 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NET)

[18] Judges 3:9, 10a (NET)

[19]Belial, the Northern Crown Prince of Satanism

[20] John 3:7 (NET)

[21] Ezekiel 18:1 (NET)

[22] Judges 20:13b, 14 (NET)

The Two Covenants

After the incident with the golden calf, after Yahweh relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people[1] honoring the covenant they violated, after He spoke his long name to Moses, He revealed a revised covenant.  It was similar to the original covenant that ended with the worship of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.[2]  But it was different, too, in some remarkable ways.  What I have called the preamble to the two covenants is contrasted below.

The Two Covenants

Preamble

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Exodus 19:3, 4 (NET)

Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Exodus 34:8, 9 (NET)

‘And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

Exodus 19:5, 6 (NET)

[The Lord] said, “See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people.  I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.

Exodus 34:10 (NET)

Before the golden calf Moses went up to God like a victor receiving a crown.  You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, the Lord instructed him to say to the Israelites, and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  After the golden calf Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”  How reminiscent this is of the righteous prayer: God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am![3]

Before the golden calf the covenant was expressed conditionally, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  But afterward it is simply a unilateral declaration: I am going to make a covenant before all your people.  I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation.  All the people among whom you live will see the work of the Lord, for it is a fearful (yârêʼ) thing that I am doing with you.

The Ten Commandments were part of both covenants.  It was part of the first covenant because Exodus 20 is after the preamble in Exodus 19 and before the inauguration of the covenant in Exodus 24.  Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions.  All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words (dabar, הדברים) that the Lord has said,” and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.[4]  So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words (dabar, as above).”[5]  They were part of the next covenant because, The Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words (dabar, הדברים), for in accordance with these words (dabar, הדברים) I have made a covenant with you and with Israel….”  He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments (dabar, as above).[6]

I borrowed the subject headings from the NET to list the sections of law that were removed from the revised covenant.

The Two Covenants

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

Hebrew Servants: Exodus 21:2-11
Personal Injuries: Exodus 21:12-27
Laws About Animals: Exodus 21:28-36
Laws About Property: Exodus 22:1-15
Justice: Exodus 23:1-9

They were still law.  They still offer knowledge of sin.  That sin however did not jeopardize the covenant.  Perhaps the most significant omission for the purposes of this essay was in the section labeled “Moral and Ceremonial Laws,” Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.[7]  I think all of this will become clearer with its revision at the end of the section labeled “The Angel of the Presence.”

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.  Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him.

Exodus 23:20, 21 (NET)

There is no mention in the revised covenant of an angel who will not pardon [their] transgressions.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“But if you diligently obey [the angel] and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries.

Exodus 23:22 (NET)

“Obey what I am commanding you this day.

Exodus 34:11a (NET)

“For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.

Exodus 23:23 (NET)

“I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Exodus 34:11b (NET)

The contingent statement—if you diligently obey the angel [who will not pardon your transgressions] and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries—was replaced by a simple imperative—Obey what I am commanding you this day.  The sense of this becomes clearer in the next statement where the typical covenant language, “if you do this I will do that,” was replaced by a unilateral declarative, I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices.  Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.

Exodus 23:24 (NET) Table

“Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.  Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.

Exodus 34:12, 13 (NET)

Knowing what they would do beforehand, the Lord amended—You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices—to read—Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you.  The provision to destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles, though more explicit, was left essentially intact.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

You must serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.  No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land.  I will fulfill the number of your days.I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.  I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.  I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you.  Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.  I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea   to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

Exodus 23:25-31 (NET)

For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:14 (NET)

Here, You must serve the Lord your God and the list of contingent blessings was revised to read, For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

The Two Covenants

The Angel of the Presence

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“You must make no covenant with them or with their gods.  They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Exodus 23:32, 33 (NET)

“Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.  You must not make yourselves molten gods.

Exodus 34:15-17 (NET)

The revised language of this new covenant is startlingly similar to the Lord’s words to PeterI tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me.[8]  [W]hen they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.  And once you see all of this, it is as if He had said, when you see that it happens as I have said, When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers,[9] or, You must not make yourselves molten gods.

And while I think it is perfectly clear that this language is a revision of Exodus 23:32 and 33, it also seems clear that it is the only language that comes close to replacing the covenant-endingWhoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed—which, as I said previously, was left out of the revised covenant.

The Two Covenants

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife.  If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.“You must not allow a sorceress to live.

“Whoever has sexual relations with a beast must surely be put to death.

“Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.

“You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

“You must not afflict any widow or orphan.  If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.

“If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest.  If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in?  And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

“You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

Exodus 22:16-29a (NET)

It is perhaps worth noting that in the revised covenant (below) it is made explicit that firstborn sons are to be redeemed and not sacrificed to the Lord.

The Two Covenants

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons.  You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Exodus 22:29b, 30 (NET)

“Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, even every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep.  Now the firstling of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck.  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

Exodus 34:19, 20a (NET)

“You will be holy people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.

Exodus 22:31 (NET)

I’ll let the rest of these contrasts stand without comment.

The Two Covenants

Sabbaths and Feasts

Before the Golden Calf

After the Golden Calf

“For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.  But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Exodus 23:10, 11 (NET)

“For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help may refresh themselves.

Exodus 23:12 (NET)

“On six days you may labor, but on the seventh day you must rest; even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.

Exodus 34:21 (NET)

“Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips.

Exodus 23:13 (NET)

“Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me.  You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt.  No one may appear before me empty-handed.

“You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.  At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God.

Exodus 23:14-17 (NET)

“You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as   I commanded you; do this at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

Exodus 34:18 (NET)

“No one will appear before me empty-handed.

Exodus 34”20b (NET)

“You must observe the Feast of Weeks – the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat – and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.  At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.  For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

Exodus 34:22-24 (NET)

“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning.  The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Exodus 23:18, 19 (NET)

“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.

“The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.  You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Exodus 34:25, 26 (NET)


[1] Exodus 32:14 (NET)

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:7 (NET)

[3] Luke 18:13 (NET)

[4] Exodus 24:3, 4a (NET)

[5] Exodus 24:8 (NET)

[6] Exodus 34:27, 28 (NET)

[7] Exodus 22:20 (NET)

[8] Luke 22:34 (NET) Table

[9] Luke 22:32 (NET) Table

Fear – Exodus, Part 6

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly [Table].  They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt [Table].’”1

What follows is the classic story of the jealous Jehovah dissuaded by the brave hero Moses from carrying out his “evil” wrath on the descendants of Israel.  Moses seems to me like a man who would be horrified by this reading of his story.  I think his matter-of-fact writing style doesn’t convey tone or some of the nuance that a more artful writer (Luke, for instance) might convey.

I have seen this people, the Lord continued.  Look what a stiff-necked people they are [Table]!  So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation [Table].2  In his response, O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, Moses’ writing style paints himself as clueless as it paints Jehovah vengeful.  Yet the provocation for Jehovah’s anger is clearly stated in the rest of Moses’ rhetorical question.  O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?3

Who wouldn’t be angry if his or her beneficence was credited by its recipients to their own work?  How angry should Jehovah be when we claim that his gift of righteousness through his bearing of our sins by his death on a cross and his resurrection is by our own efforts or our own intrinsic goodness?

As I read this I heard Jehovah shouting angrily, Look what a stiff-necked people they are!  So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.  But would Moses have disobeyed Jehovah’s direct command—leave me alone—spoken in anger?  Or did he hear the lamentation in Jehovah’s voice and understand that Jehovah was asking leave of Moses to stand aside and allow Jehovah’s anger to follow its natural course and burn against them and destroy them?

Why should the Egyptians say, “For evil (raʿ, בְּרָעָה) he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth” Moses continued.  Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people.4  Again, the writing here leaves the impression that Moses didn’t understand the covenant the people agreed to, Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.5  They had violated the covenant.  Did Moses expect Jehovah to violate it, too?

Moses had told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions.  All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said” [Table], and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.6  He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.”7  By what authority did Moses declare the Lord Jehovah’s intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it evil?

I am not saying that Jehovah did wrong by declining to carry out the punishment demanded by the covenant.  Jehovah never bound Himself to that, but said to Moses, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.8  What I am saying is, though the collection of writings known as the Old Testament continues for many volumes, the Old Covenant as an agreement between Jehovah and the descendants of Israel to keep his commandments and receive his blessing came to its crashing conclusion right here.  When Jehovah declined to exact his vengeance on Israel according to the covenant they agreed to, when He did not purge9 the evil from Israel by executing them but showed them mercy, He consigned all [Israel] to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.10

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, Moses pleaded, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.”11  And Paul wrote the Romans (Romans 4:13-17 NET):

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith [Table].  For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.  For the law brings wrath, because12 where there is no law there is no transgression either [Table].  For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations[Quotation Comparison Table]).  He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.

Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.13  Moses was not as clueless as his writing style made him appear to be.  As for Jehovah—and I want to say this as reverently as possible—there is always a sense of theatricality in his interactions with human beings, for He knew this particular circumstance, this particular conversation and its particular outcome before the beginning, when He created the heavens and the earth.14  For many years I declined to tell Him about my day, my reactions to it, the ways I thought and felt about it all.  It seemed like a waste of time.  He knew me better than I knew myself.  Eventually I realized that fact alone made the retelling valuable—for me.  As I tell Him about it He points out things that I missed or didn’t understand, about me and the things that happened during the day.

As I turn my attention to the authority by which Moses declared the Lord Jehovah’s apparent intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it evil, I am confronted with three different instances.  All three however are the same word raʽ, רַע.  Yes, the Hebrew word for evil sounds like the Egyptian word for sun god.  Allan Langner15 wrote in the Jewish Bible Quarterly,16 “in Exodus 32:12, when Moses pleads with God…The word for evil [b’raah] can also be taken as a reference to Ra.  The verse would then read: ‘Wherefore should the Egyptians say, Ra brought them out to slay them in the mountains?’”17  Perhaps the Egyptians would have said that.  Perhaps Moses would have said that the Egyptians would say that.  Or, perhaps Moses said that the Egyptians would say that Jehovah had led Israel into, or for, an evil purpose.

None of this compels me to conclude that Jehovah’s apparent intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it was in fact evil.  But in the next instance—Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil (raʽ, בְּרָעָה) against your people18—Moses called Jehovah’s apparent intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it evil.  This was more troubling.  The note in the NET reads: “The word ‘evil’ means any kind of life-threatening or fatal calamity. ‘Evil’ is that which hinders life, interrupts life, causes pain to life, or destroys it.”  In other words, Jehovah’s apparent intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it would only be apparently evil from a human perspective, not actually evil from Jehovah’s perspective.

I did entertain the idea that Moses meant trouble as opposed to evilThe Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble (raʽ, בְּרָע) when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”19  Moses used a different word (albeit the root verb) when he complained to Jehovah about it.  Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Lord, why have you caused trouble (râʽaʽ, הֲרֵעֹתָה) for this people?  Why did you ever send me?  From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble (râʽaʽ, הֵרַע) for this people, and you have certainly not rescued them!”20  But the third instance was the kicker, if you will.

Then the Lord relented over the evil (raʽ, הָרָעָה) that he had said he would do to his people.21  It is simply a statement of fact, like, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.22  Here the Holy Spirit declared that Jehovah’s apparent intent to honor the covenant by destroying the people who violated it would have been evil from Jehovah’s perspective.  And here for Moses Jehovah Himself modeled the behavior of repentance, giving up his right of vengeance by covenant (by law) for a higher righteousness.  Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me, He said later, troubled by his own death.  Yet not my will but yours be done.23

This brings me back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (raʽ, וָרָע).  We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard [Table], Eve replied to the serpent, but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, “You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die” [Table].24  Adam’s gezerahand you must not touch it—and the alteration (whether Adam’s or Eve’s) of you will surely die25 to or else you will die seems to imply that Adam and Eve thought the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (raʽ, וָרָע) was poisonous or contained some intrinsic property that caused death.

This opened the door for the serpent to say, Surely you will not die.26  And Eve handled and tasted the fruit with impunity.  She didn’t die.  Of course, her eyes weren’t opened and she didn’t become like a divine being knowing good and evil (raʽ, וָרָע) either.  But when she approached her husband with the forbidden fruit she had at least part of the assurance of the shrewdest of any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made,27 and (with every breath she took) a rapidly increasing quantity of empirical proof that Adam, too, would not die from eating forbidden fruit.  Adam had only his memory of God’s word.  When he ate the forbidden fruit, the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked28  It was unpleasant no doubt, but was it death?

My point here is that God did not give Adam knowledge of forbidden fruit when He said, You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard [Table], but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die [Table].29  He gave Adam knowledge of God, what God would do; namely, the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken [Table].  When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life [Table].30

I think it is important not to miss that distinction here as well.  When the Holy Spirit says, Then the Lord relented over the evil (raʽ, הָרָעָה) that he had said he would do to his people, He is teaching me knowledge of God rather than moral philosophy.  After this interaction with Moses, He said, I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.31  There is a sense here that He said to Moses my new name is, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.

It is repeated when the event occurred: The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with [Moses] there and proclaimed the Lord by name.  The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness [Table], keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” [Table].32  And for those who might rightly protest, “But the Lord is not a jolly old soul, an easy-going, devil-may-care sort of fellow,” Jehovah continued proclaiming his name: “But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”33

Granted, it is a long name, but it does me good from time to time to remember Him by name and repeat it aloud.  It is knowledge of God, who He is, what He is doing and will accomplish—and it is eternal life.34

 

Addendum: May 26, 2026
Tables comparing Exodus 24:4; 24:7; 32:14; 5:19; 5:22; 5:23 and 34:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Exodus 24:4; 24:7; 32:14; 5:19; 5:22; 5:23 and 34:5 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 24:4 (Tanakh)

Exodus 24:4 (KJV)

Exodus 24:4 (NET)

And Moses wrote all the words of HaShem, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones—according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Exodus 24:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 24:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔγραψεν Μωυσῆς πάντα τὰ ῥήματα κυρίου ὀρθρίσας δὲ Μωυσῆς τὸ πρωὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν θυσιαστήριον ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος καὶ δώδεκα λίθους εἰς τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ ἔγραψε Μωυσῆς πάντα τὰ ρήματα Κυρίου. ὀρθρίσας δὲ Μωυσῆς τὸ πρωΐ ᾠκοδόμησε θυσιαστήριον ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος καὶ δώδεκα λίθους εἰς τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ

Exodus 24:4 (NETS)

Exodus 24:4 (English Elpenor)

And Moyses wrote all the words of the Lord. Now, early in the morning, Moyses constructed an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and [set up] twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Exodus 24:7 (Tanakh)

Exodus 24:7 (KJV)

Exodus 24:7 (NET)

And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: ‘All that HaShem hath spoken will we do, and obey.’ And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.”

Exodus 24:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 24:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ λαβὼν τὸ βιβλίον τῆς διαθήκης ἀνέγνω εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ εἶπαν πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησεν κύριος ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα καὶ λαβὼν τὸ βιβλίον τῆς διαθήκης ἀνέγνω εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ εἶπαν· πάντα ὅσα ἐλάλησε Κύριος, ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα

Exodus 24:7 (NETS)

Exodus 24:7 (English Elpenor)

And taking the book of the covenant, he read in the ears of the people, and they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do and heed.” And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people, and they said, All things whatsoever the Lord has spoken we will do and hearken therein.

Exodus 32:14 (Tanakh)

Exodus 32:14 (KJV)

Exodus 32:14 (NET)

And HaShem repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

Exodus 32:14 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 32:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἱλάσθη κύριος περὶ τῆς κακίας ἧς εἶπεν ποιῆσαι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἱλάσθη Κύριος περὶ τῆς κακίας, ἧς εἶπε ποιῆσαι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ

Exodus 32:14 (NETS)

Exodus 32:14 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord was propitiated concerning the harm that he said he would do to his people. And the Lord was prevailed upon to preserve his people.

Exodus 5:19 (Tanakh)

Exodus 5:19 (KJV)

Exodus 5:19 (NET)

And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were set on mischief, when they said: ‘Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily task.’ And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”

Exodus 5:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 5:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἑώρων δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἑαυτοὺς ἐν κακοῖς λέγοντες οὐκ ἀπολείψετε τῆς πλινθείας τὸ καθῆκον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἑώρων δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς τῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἑαυτοὺς ἐν κακοῖς λέγοντες· οὐκ ἀπολείψετε τῆς πλινθείας τὸ καθῆκον τῇ ἡμέρᾳ

Exodus 5:19 (NETS)

Exodus 5:19 (English Elpenor)

Now the recorders of the sons of Israel were seeing themselves in difficulties, because they were saying, “You shall not come short of the customary amount of brick-making daily.” And the accountants of the children of Israel saw themselves in an evil light, [men] saying, Ye shall not fail to deliver the daily rate of the brick-making.

Exodus 5:22 (Tanakh)

Exodus 5:22 (KJV)

Exodus 5:22 (NET)

And Moses returned unto HaShem, and said: ‘L-rd, wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that Thou hast sent me? And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why did you ever send me?

Exodus 5:22 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 5:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐπέστρεψεν δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς κύριον καὶ εἶπεν κύριε διὰ τί ἐκάκωσας τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἵνα τί ἀπέσταλκάς με ἐπέστρεψε δὲ Μωυσῆς πρὸς Κύριον καὶ εἶπε· δέομαι, Κύριε· τί ἐκάκωσας τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον; καὶ ἱνατί ἀπέσταλκάς με

Exodus 5:22 (NETS)

Exodus 5:22 (English Elpenor)

Then Moyses turned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why did you harm this people? And why have you sent me? And Moses turned to the Lord, and said, I pray, Lord, why hast thou afflicted this people? and wherefore hast thou sent me?

Exodus 5:23 (Tanakh)

Exodus 5:23 (KJV)

Exodus 5:23 (NET)

For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.’ For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have certainly not rescued them!”

Exodus 5:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 5:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀφ᾽ οὗ πεπόρευμαι πρὸς Φαραω λαλῆσαι ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐκάκωσεν τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον καὶ οὐκ ἐρρύσω τὸν λαόν σου καὶ ἀφ᾿ οὗ πεπόρευμαι πρὸς Φαραὼ λαλῆσαι ἐπὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι, ἐκάκωσε τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ οὐκ ἐρρύσω τὸν λαόν σου

Exodus 5:23 (NETS)

Exodus 5:23 (English Elpenor)

Even from the time when I have gone in to Pharao to speak in your name, he has harmed the people, and you have not delivered your people.” For from the time that I went to Pharao to speak in thy name, he has afflicted this people, and thou hast not delivered thy people.

Exodus 34:5 (Tanakh)

Exodus 34:5 (KJV)

Exodus 34:5 (NET)

And HaShem descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of HaShem. And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name.

Exodus 34:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 34:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ κατέβη κύριος ἐν νεφέλῃ καὶ παρέστη αὐτῷ ἐκεῖ καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου καὶ κατέβη Κύριος ἐν νεφέλῃ καὶ παρέστη αὐτῷ ἐκεῖ· καὶ ἐκάλεσε τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου

Exodus 34:5 (NETS)

Exodus 34:5 (English Elpenor)

And the Lord descended in a cloud, and he stood beside him there, and he called the name of the Lord. And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood near him there, and called by the name of the Lord.

1 Exodus 32:7, 8 (NET)

2 Exodus 32:9, 10 (NET)

3 Exodus 32:11 (NET) Table

4 Exodus 32:12 (NET) Table

5 Exodus 22:20 (NET) Table

6 Exodus 24:3, 4a (NET)

7 Exodus 24:7 (NET)

8 Exodus 33:19b (NET) Table

9 Deuteronomy 13:5 (NET) Table

10 Romans 11:32 (NET)

11 Exodus 32:13 (NET) Table

12 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had γαρ (KJV: for).

13 Exodus 32:14 (NET)

14 Genesis 1:1 (NET) Table

15 From the footnote in “THE GOLDEN CALF AND RA”: “Allan M. Langner was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1948. He was Rabbi of Congregation Beth-El, Mt. Royal, Quebec, Canada, for 40 years, and is now Rabbi Emeritus.”

16 31:1 January – March 2003, Vol. XXXI:1 (121), “THE GOLDEN CALF AND RA

18 Exodus 32:12b (NET) Table

19 Exodus 5:19 (NET)

20 Exodus 5:22, 23 (NET)

21 Exodus 32:14 (NET)

22 Genesis 1:1 (NET) Table

23 Luke 22:42 (NET) Table

24 Genesis 3:2, 3 (NET)

25 Genesis 2:17 (NET) Table

26 Genesis 3:4 (NET) Table

27 Genesis 3:1 (NET) Table

28 Genesis 3:7 (NET) Table

29 Genesis 2:16, 17 (NET)

30 Genesis 3:23, 24 (NET)

31 Exodus 33:19 (NET) Table

32 Exodus 34:5-7a (NET)

33 Exodus 34:7b (NET) Table

Fear – Exodus, Part 5

The next occurrence of yârêʼ (יָרֵא) in Exodus is found in the song Moses and the Israelites sangto the Lord.1  It was a song of praise and thanksgiving, looking back to the events when the Egyptian army chased them through the sea:  I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.2  The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea3  The depths have covered them, they went down to the bottom like a stone.4  Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?  Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful (yârêʼ, נוֹרָא) in praises, working wonders?5

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose θαυμαστὸς.  One of the definitions of θαυμαστὸς in the NET online Bible is “1c) causing amazement joined with terror.”  So the word is a legitimate choice, but something in me still wonders if “marvelous in expectation” (θαυμαστὸς ἐν δόξαις) carries any of the sense of the costliness of Israel’s salvation that I perceive in the linkage of fear (yârêʼ, נוֹרָא) and praise (tᵊhillâ, תְהִלֹּת).  I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked (rāšāʿ, הָרָשָׁע),6 the Lord told Ezekiel.  How much less in the death of those He had hardened and those who followed them into battle?

Though θαυμαστὸς does not appear in the New Testament in its root form, the first occurrence was Jesus’ question to the chief priests and elders.  “Have you never read in the scriptures:The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstoneThis is from the Lord, and it is marvelous (θαυμαστὴ, a form of θαυμαστός) in our eyes’”?7  Whatever my concern about the costliness of Israel’s salvation, as well as my own, it is harder to miss when Yahweh Himself—not Egyptian military officers and soldiers—died for us, in our place.

After writing that I walked away.  It felt like I was straining at gnats and still not getting to the root of what was gnawing at me.  I did other things.

When I walked to the Redbox to satisfy my daily movie fix I had already decided to rent “Killing Them Softly.”  I didn’t know why.  I had avoided it because I heard it was excessively violent, and because I had worked for Linara (the only woman in the cast) on another film she co-produced with her husband.  Ordinarily, I would have run to see a movie with someone I knew in it.  But I had overheard her talking about being topless in the scene with James Gandolfini.  Between the violence and my own indecision (whether I wanted to see Linara or her breasts in action) I had put it off until that evening.

It was an underworld crime story set in the turmoil of the 2008 economic crisis and presidential election.  Brad Pitt played a mob enforcer.  Linara’s topless work had been cut, but she played well with the big boys, Pitt and Gandolfini.  There was a heavy-handed capitalists-are-like-gangsters theme, and no real ending.  It seemed primed for “Killing Them Softly 2” where the mysterious “corporate types,” who hired Brad Pitt’s character Jackie through an intermediary, would be revealed as they hired someone to kill Jackie, and possibly their intermediary.  I don’t think the movie did well enough financially to warrant a sequel however.  And then I went to bed.  But when I awoke the next morning lines from the movie were buzzing around in my head.  They actually helped me clarify what I was thinking about cultivating fear in Exodus the day before.

This is a spoiler alert for anyone who finds a movie ruined by knowing its story.

The story got started when John Amato (aka Squirrel, Vincent Curatola) hired Frank (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) to rob a mob card game run by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta).  They thought they could get away with it because Trattman had robbed his own card game years earlier.  He withstood the enhanced interrogation techniques Dillion (Sam Shepard) the enforcer used on him, but when the subject came up in another card game with his cronies he couldn’t stop laughing, and confessed the whole thing.  Everybody liked Markie so they let it slide.  Squirrel assumed that Trattman would be the primary suspect if his own card game was robbed again, that he would be killed, and then that would be the end of it.  He rightly perceived that cultivating a righteousness based on fear was more important to the powers-that-be than recovering the money.

Squirrel had an insight into mob righteousness.  He didn’t want Russell on the job because his attitude and manner would invite confrontation.  “Then you gotta…shoot somebody,” he told Frank, “and I don’t want that.  There’s no reason for that, you know?  You don’t get any more money…”  What he failed to realize was that Jackie (Dillion’s replacement as mob enforcer, Brad Pitt) was smart enough to know that Markie Trattman was too smart to think that he could get away with it twice.  Jackie immediately suspected other culprits.  And he had a firm grasp on fear based righteousness, too.

Jackie lobbied with the Counselor (the intermediary for the corporate types running things) to kill Trattman anyway and correct the real issue:  “It don’t make a bit of difference if Trattman did it or someone did it to Trattman,” Jackie explained.  “If people think he did it and he’s still walking around, you’re gonna have kids waiting in line to knock them…games over.”

Jackie even had a fear based redemption scheme for Frank.  Frank had to confess where Squirrel would be and then witness the execution, or be executed himself.  “I got to be there and everything?” Frank whined.  “Frank, you made a mistake,” Jackie explained patiently.  “Now you gotta show you understand you made a mistake.  And you gotta make things right…”

As they waited in the car for Squirrel to arrive, Frank tried to intercede for him: “Look, Jackie, he’s not a bad guy, you know?  I mean, he’s not a bad guy at all.”

“None of them are, kid.  They’re all nice guys.”

Then Jackie got out of the car and shot Squirrel with a shotgun from across the parking lot, because he liked “killing them softly…from a distance, not close enough for feelings.”  Of course, he did walk across the parking lot and finish the job up close.  And he wasn’t that far from Frank when he shot him in the head.  Ultimately, Jackie’s fear based redemption scheme didn’t fare well against the necessities of fear based righteousness.

None of this is to say that I think God is, or was, like a mob enforcer.  My question is, why did One with foreknowledge put Himself in the position to be mistaken for a mob enforcer by wicked people?  (Who among us hasn’t wished for God to get those guys, those evildoers, or wondered incredulously why He waits so long?)  The answer that comes to me is that God risked it for my benefit, that I might know the difference between fear based righteousness and Holy Spirit based righteousness (faith is integral to both: When Israel saw the great power that the Lord had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared (yārē’, וַיִּירְאוּ) the Lord, and they believed in the Lord8).

Israel, like Frank, was compelled to participate in and witness the destruction of the Egyptian army.  Then at Sinai they experienced a non-lethal fear as they stood at the base of a mountain, described as something like a volcano in full ash eruption,9 and lived to tell the tale:  All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear (nûaʿ, וַיָּנֻעוּ) and kept their distance.10  The word translated fear here was φοβηθέντες (a form of φοβέω) in the Septuagint.  After Jesus calmed the storm with a word his disciples were afraid (φοβηθέντες) and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”11

Do not fear (yârêʼ, תִּירָאוּ), Moses said, for God has come to test you, that the fear (yir’â, יִרְאָתוֹ) of him may be before you so that you do not sin.”12  The rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose θαρσεῖτε (a form of θαρσέω) for Do not fear.  It is the same Greek word Jesus used when the disciples saw Him walking on the water and were terrified that he was a ghost:  Have courage (θαρσεῖτε)!  It is I.13  For yir’â, יִרְאָתוֹ, the fear of him, the rabbis chose φόβοςAnd Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, was seized with fear (φόβος).14

When I began this study I hoped to find a clear delineation between the fear that puts to flight and the reverence that binds and draws one to God.  A cursory look at the concordance seemed to justify that hope in the words yârêʼ (יָרֵא) and yir’â (יִרְאָה).  The first occurrence of yir’â (יִרְאָה) in Abraham’s explanation to Abimelech—I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence (yir’â, יִרְאַת) for God15—was translated θεοσέβεια in the Septuagint and I thought I was on the way.  It is a compound of θεός and σέβομαι, the reverence or worship that is negated by the ἀσέβειαν (a form of ἀσέβεια) of people that brought the wrath of God in Romans 1:18.

I also expected to find that the fear of the Lord was something different, something other than a conviction to act in accordance with the word of the Lord, the functional equivalent in the Old Testament of the fruit of the Spirit,16 the desire and the effort brought forth by God for the sake of his good pleasure,17  because it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy,18  and the love of God19 that is the fulfillment of the law.20  That equivalence took me by surprise and has colored everything.  The Good News Translation of the Bible captured the essence of fear based righteousness when the translators (paraphrasists?) skipped the middle man as it were in their paraphrase of yir’â, יִרְאָה.  Don’t be afraid (yârêʼ, תִּירָאוּ); Moses said, God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying (yir’â, יִרְאָתוֹ) him, so that you will not sin.21

So this alchemist’s notion of deriving reverence (σέβομαι) for God from the human fear (φόβος) of death or punishment seems like a doomed enterprise from the very beginning, a folly of the religious mind.  It was difficult enough to title an essay “Paul’s Religious Mind,” so I did not and will not call this “God’s Religious Mind.”  But that is what I’m thinking.

Why would an Omniscient One with foreknowledge embark on such a futile course?  Again, I can only assume that it was for my benefit.  I am the one, after all (and probably not the only one), whose knee-jerk reaction to the way of righteousness (for other evildoers, of course) is swifter “justice,” harsher punishment and longer prison sentences.  But does anyone really believe that those things produce righteousness?  (Does anyone really believe that our municipal, county, state or federal governments can afford to do this anymore?)

In that light I can’t help but see the giving of the law at Sinai as a massive psychological experiment to test the power and potential of fear based righteousness.  The finding of this particular experiment was forty days.22  After forty days the descendants of Israel returned to the worship practices23 they learned in Egypt.24  And they did this 1) after witnessing the destruction of the Egyptian army; 2) after seeing Mount Sinaicompletely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently;25 and 3) after agreeing to abide by a covenant26 that they would not sacrifice to a god other than the Lord alone [or] be utterly destroyed.27

 

Addendum: May 12, 2026
According to a note (64) in the NET Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22, 23 (117:22, 23) in Matthew 21:42. The following table compares the Greek of that quotation with the Septuagint.

Matthew 21:42b (NET Parallel Greek)

Psalm 118:22, 23 (Septuagint BLB) Table

Psalm 117:22, 23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας· παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας [Table] (23) παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν λίθον, ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες, οὗτος ἐγενήθη εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας (23) παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν

Matthew 21:42b (NET)

Psalm 117:22, 23 (NETS)

Psalm 117:22, 23 (English Elpenor)

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes A stone which the builders rejected, this one became the chief cornerstone. (23) This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. (23) This has been done of the Lord; and it is wonderful in our eyes.

Tables comparing Exodus 15:11; 19:18 and Psalm 118:23 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Exodus 15:11; 19:18 and Psalm 118:23 (117:23) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing Mark 6:50 in the NET and KJV follow.

Exodus 15:11 (Tanakh)

Exodus 15:11 (KJV)

Exodus 15:11 (NET)

Who is like unto Thee, O HaShem, among the mighty? who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?

Exodus 15:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 15:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)

τίς ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς κύριε τίς ὅμοιός σοι δεδοξασμένος ἐν ἁγίοις θαυμαστὸς ἐν δόξαις ποιῶν τέρατα τίς ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς, Κύριε; τίς ὅμοιός σοι, δεδοξασμένος ἐν ἁγίοις, θαυμαστὸς ἐν δόξαις, ποιῶν τέρατα

Exodus 15:11 (NETS)

Exodus 15:11 (English Elpenor)

“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you, glorified among holy ones, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Who is like to thee among the gods, O Lord? who is like to thee? glorified in holiness, marvelous in glories, doing wonders.

Exodus 19:18 (Tanakh)

Exodus 19:18 (KJV)

Exodus 19:18 (NET)

Now mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because HaShem descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.

Exodus 19:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 19:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)

τὸ δὲ ὄρος τὸ Σινα ἐκαπνίζετο ὅλον διὰ τὸ καταβεβηκέναι ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸν θεὸν ἐν πυρί καὶ ἀνέβαινεν ὁ καπνὸς ὡς καπνὸς καμίνου καὶ ἐξέστη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς σφόδρα τὸ ὄρος τὸ Σινὰ ἐκαπνίζετο ὅλον διὰ τὸ καταβεβηκέναι ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸ τὸν Θεὸν ἐν πυρί, καὶ ἀνέβαινεν ὁ καπνὸς ὡσεὶ καπνὸς καμίνου, καὶ ἐξέστη πᾶς ὁ λαὸς σφόδρα

Exodus 19:18 (NETS)

Exodus 19:18 (English Elpenor)

Now the mountain Sina was smoking in its entirety, because God had come down upon it in fire, and the smoke was rising up like the smoke of a furnace. And all the people were astonished. The mount of Sina was altogether on a smoke, because God had descended upon it in fire; and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and the people were exceedingly amazed.

Psalm 118:23 (Tanakh)

Psalm 118:23 (KJV)

Psalm 118:23 (NET)

This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the Lord’s work. We consider it amazing!

Psalm 118:23 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 117:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)

παρὰ κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν παρὰ Κυρίου ἐγένετο αὕτη καὶ ἔστι θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν

Psalm 117:23 (NETS)

Psalm 117:23 (English Elpenor)

This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This has been done of the Lord; and it is wonderful in our eyes.

Mark 6:50 (NET)

Mark 6:50 (KJV)

for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

Mark 6:50 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 6:50 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 6:50 (Byzantine Majority Text)

πάντες γὰρ αὐτὸν εἶδον καὶ ἐταράχθησαν. δὲ εὐθὺς ἐλάλησεν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμι· μὴ φοβεῖσθε παντες γαρ αυτον ειδον και εταραχθησαν και ευθεως ελαλησεν μετ αυτων και λεγει αυτοις θαρσειτε εγω ειμι μη φοβεισθε παντες γαρ αυτον ειδον και εταραχθησαν και ευθεως ελαλησεν μετ αυτων και λεγει αυτοις θαρσειτε εγω ειμι μη φοβεισθε

1 Exodus 15:1a (NET) Table

2 Exodus 15:1b (NET) Table

3 Exodus 15:4a (NET) Table

4 Exodus 15:5 (NET) Table

5 Exodus 15:11 (NET)

6 Ezekiel 33:11 (NET) Table

7 Matthew 21:42 (NET)

8 Exodus 14:31 (NET) Table

10 Exodus 20:18 (NET) Table

11 Luke 8:25 (NET) Table

12 Exodus 20:20 (NET) Table

13 Mark 6:50 (NET)

14 Luke 1:12 (NET)

15 Genesis 20:11a (TEV-Good News Translation) [Table]

17 Philippians 2:13 (NET) Table

18 Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

20 Romans 13:10 (NET)

21 Exodus 20:20 (TEV-Good News Translation)

25 Exodus 19:18 (NET)

27 Exodus 22:20 (NET) Table