22 October 2022 draft-bible
1. a man of the house of Levi … a daughter of Levi. So literally reads the Hebrew. NLT reads “a man and woman from the tribe of Levi”, but this flattens a distinction found in the Hebrew, where the man is called ʾiš mibbeit lewi, “a man from the house of Levi”, while the woman is called “a daughter of Levi”. And indeed, other passages indicate that the man (Amram) and woman (Jochebed) referred to in this verse do stand in two different relationships to Levi. Exodus 6:16-20 and Numbers 26:57-59 indicate that Levi was Amram’s grandfather and Jochebed’s father. Therefore, the distinction made in this verse must be deliberate: Amram is from Levi’s “house” (family) but Jochebed is Levi’s daughter. Translations which obscure this include NIV, ESV, CSB which read “Levite woman”. An especially bad example is the NET, which reads “a woman who was a descendant of Levi”. On the other hand, KJV, ASV, NASB, and WEB are to be congratulated for holding on to the literal rendering.
3. ark of papyrus. Hebrew tebat gome(ʾ). The word tebah appears only here and in the story of Noah’s flood. In both cases, it describes a physical object, made of plant materials and waterproofed, which saves its human cargo from destruction. It seems to me that the use of tebah in this story may be a deliberate echoing of the food story, and for that reason alone it might be worthwhile to preserve the (admittedly odd) word “ark” for it. And what other word is there that adequately describes both a 300-cubit vessel and this much smaller container? WEB reads “basket” here, but does not in the flood story. This translation sticks with “ark”, as in the ASV.
10. Moses … I drew him. Hebrew mošeh … mᵉšitihu. While somewhat strained folk etymologies are common enough in the Hebrew Bible, this one is particularly striking, because it has an Egyptian princess naming a child on the basis of a Hebrew verb.
22. the priest of Midian. Following ASV, WEB. But this can also be read as “a priest of Midian” (e.g. NIV, NET).
22. Gershom. In Hebrew, this sounds very much like ger šam, “a sojourner there”.
25. took notice. Hebrew YDʿ. Translators vary on just how to render the word here. NIV reads “was concerned about them”. ESV, CSB read simply “knew”, while NLT reads “knew it was time to act”. NKJV reads that God “acknowledged them”. NHEB reads “took notice”, while NRSV reads “took notice of them”.
Here, as of October 2022, the WEB as displayed at biblehub.com reads “was concerned about them”, while at ebible.org – which I presume is more up to date – the WEB reads “understood”.
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