Exodus 10:18

Summary

The verse narrates two consecutive actions: the unnamed subject (Moses, understood from context) leaves Pharaoh's presence, and then he prays to Yehovah. The Hebrew text uses two verbs in sequence connected by the narrative vav, marking a simple chain of events.

Key words

• va-yetze ("and he went out", H3318G) — qal narrative form, third person masculine singular; the narrative vav links this action as the next step in the story sequence.
• me-'im ("from with", H5973B + H9006) — compound preposition indicating departure from someone's proximity or presence, not merely a location.
• Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547J) — masculine singular title, functioning as the proper name of the ruler in this narrative.
• va-ye'tar ("and he prayed/interceded", H6279) — qal narrative form, third person masculine singular; this root specifically denotes entreaty or supplication.
• YHWH ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, object of the preposition 'el ("to", H0413).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built entirely on two narrative verbs (va-yetze and va-ye'tar), both in the qal stem and third person masculine singular, joined by the narrative vav construction that Biblical Hebrew uses to advance a storyline chronologically: "and he went out... and he prayed." Neither verb specifies its subject by name within this verse — the subject is grammatically implied through the verb form ("he") and must be supplied from the surrounding narrative context, since Hebrew verbs encode person, gender, and number without requiring a separate pronoun or noun.

The phrase me-'im Par'oh ("from with Pharaoh") uses a two-part preposition that conveys departure from someone's immediate presence or company, a nuance slightly stronger than simply "from Pharaoh." The verb ye'tar ("he prayed", H6279) carries a specific sense of entreaty or intercession, distinct from more general terms for prayer, and is directed 'el YHWH ("to Yehovah") — the divine name appears explicitly as the object of address.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate all leave the grammatical subject implicit within the verb forms themselves, but the Greek (Μωυσῆς) and Latin (Moyses) versions explicitly insert the name "Moses" as the subject, while the Hebrew text of this verse contains no proper name for the one who leaves and prays — it relies entirely on the third-person verb forms. The LXX renders the divine name as τὸν θεόν ("the God") where the Hebrew says YHWH, the specific divine name.