Exodus 11:2-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Exodus 11:2 tn Heb “Speak now in the ears of the people.” The expression is emphatic; it seeks to ensure that the Israelites hear the instruction.
2. Exodus 11:2 tn The verb translated “request” is וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ (v^eyishʾalu), the Qal jussive: “let them ask.” This is the point introduced in Exod 3:22. The meaning of the verb might be stronger than simply “ask”; it might have something of the idea of “implore” (see also its use in the naming of Samuel, who was “asked” from Yahweh [1 Sam 1:20]).
3. Exodus 11:2 tn “each man is to request from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor.”sn Here neighbor refers to Egyptian neighbors, who are glad to see them go (12:33) and so willingly give their jewelry and vessels.
4. Exodus 11:2 sn See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.
5. Exodus 11:3 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6. Exodus 11:3 tn Heb “in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people.” In the translation the word “Egyptian” has been supplied to clarify that the Egyptians and not the Israelites are meant here.sn The presence of this clause about Moses, which is parenthetical in nature, further indicates why the Egyptians gave rather willingly to the Israelites. They were impressed by Moses’ miracles and his power with Pharaoh. Moses was great in stature—powerful and influential.
7. Exodus 11:4 tn Heb “I will go out in the midst of Egypt.”