Exodus 10:2

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Exodus 10:2 tn The expression is unusual: תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי (t^esapper b^eʾozne, “[that] you may declare in the ears of”). The clause explains an additional reason for God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, namely, so that the Israelites can tell their children of God’s great wonders. The expression is highly poetic and intense—like Ps 44:1, which says, “we have heard with our ears.” The emphasis would be on the clear teaching, orally, from one generation to another.
2. Exodus 10:2 tn The verb הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי (hitʿallalti) is a bold anthropomorphism. The word means to occupy oneself at another’s expense, to toy with someone, which may be paraphrased with “mock.” The whole point is that God is shaming and disgracing Egypt, making them look foolish in their arrogance and stubbornness (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:366-67). Some prefer to translate it as “I have dealt ruthlessly” with Egypt (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 123).
3. Exodus 10:2 tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.
4. Exodus 10:2 tn The word “about” is supplied to clarify this as another object of the verb “declare.”
5. Exodus 10:2 tn Heb “put” or “placed.”
6. Exodus 10:2 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav consecutive, וִידַעְתֶּם (vidaʿtem, “and that you might know”). This provides another purpose for God’s dealings with Egypt in the way that he was doing. The form is equal to the imperfect tense with vav (ו) prefixed; it thus parallels the imperfect that began v. 2—“that you might tell.”