Deuteronomy 26:8

Summary

Deuteronomy 26:8 recounts that Yehovah brought the speakers out of Egypt, using a chain of prepositional phrases to describe the means: a strong hand, an outstretched arm, great terror, signs, and wonders. The verse forms part of a fixed historical recitation recalling the exodus event.

Key words

• va-yotzi'enu (from yotzi "he brought out", H3318H) — hiphil (causative) verb with narrative vav and 1st-person plural suffix -nu ("us", H9035): "and he brought us out," marking the main narrated action.
• yad chazakah — yad ("a hand", H3027G) with the feminine singular adjective chazakah ("strong", H2389), forming the fixed phrase "a strong hand."
• zeroa netuyah — zeroa ("an arm", H2220) modified by netuyah ("outstretched", H5186), a qal passive participle agreeing in feminine singular with zeroa.
• mora gadol — mora ("terror", H4172A) with the masculine singular adjective gadol ("great", H1419A).
• 'otot u-mofetim — 'otot ("signs", H0226G, feminine plural) paired with mofetim ("wonders", H4159, masculine plural), joined by the conjunction u- ("and", H9002).

What the text says

The verse opens with a single finite verb, va-yotzi'enu ("and he brought us out"), carrying the narrative vav (H9001) that links it to the preceding recitation. The subject Yehovah (H3068G) follows the verb, a common word order in Biblical Hebrew narrative. The object is marked only by the pronominal suffix -nu ("us") attached to the verb itself, and the geographic source is given by the prepositional phrase mi-Mitzrayim ("from Egypt," H9006 + H4714G).

After the main clause, the verse lists five prepositional phrases, each introduced by be- ("by/with," H9003), sometimes joined with the conjunction u- ("and," H9002): be-yad chazakah ("by a strong hand"), u-vi-zroa netuyah ("and by an outstretched arm"), u-ve-mora gadol ("and by great terror"), u-ve-'otot ("and by signs"), and u-ve-mofetim ("and by wonders"). Grammatically, these phrases all function as adverbial modifiers of the single verb va-yotzi'enu, stacking up the means by which the action occurred rather than introducing new verbs or events. The paired nouns yad ("hand") and zeroa ("arm") are both feminine singular and each take a matching feminine singular modifier (chazakah, netuyah), while mora ("terror") is masculine singular and takes the masculine singular gadol. The final pair, 'otot (feminine plural) and mofetim (masculine plural), lacks any adjective, standing as a fixed word-pair.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mora gadol ("great terror") as ἐν ὁράμασιν μεγάλοις ("with great visions/appearances"), differing from the Hebrew concept of "terror." It also inserts αὐτὸς ἐν ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ τῇ μεγάλῃ ("he himself, with his great strength"), an addition not present in the Hebrew text's list of five items. The Vulgate's ingenti pavore ("great dread/fear") aligns more closely with the Hebrew mora gadol than does the LXX's "visions."