Exodus 10:19

Summary

The verse describes Yehovah reversing the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locust swarm and drove it into the Sea of Reeds, leaving not a single locust anywhere within the territory of Egypt.

Key words

• yahaphokh ("he turned", H2015) — qal narrative verb, continuing the story chain "and then he turned/reversed" (the wind's direction).
• ruach-yam ("wind of west/sea", H7307/H3220) — construct chain literally "wind of sea", since the word for "sea" also functions idiomatically for "west" (the Mediterranean lies west of the land).
• yishsa' ("it carried away", H5375) — qal narrative verb continuing the sequence, describing the wind lifting the locusts.
• yammah suf ("sea-ward of reed[s]", H3220/H5488) — construct phrase with directional he suffix, naming the body of water as "Sea of Reeds" rather than using a color term.
• nish'ar ("it remained", H7604) — niphal perfect, a passive/stative form marking the completed absence of any locust left behind.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of narrative vav-consecutive verbs (yahaphokh, yissa', yitqa'ehu) that move the action forward step by step: Yehovah turns the wind, the wind lifts the locusts, the wind drives them into the sea. This chaining creates a tight cause-and-effect sequence within a single narrative unit. The phrase ruach-yam ("wind of sea/west", H7307/H3220) uses the construct state so that "sea" functions adjectivally, giving the sense "west wind," since in the geographic orientation of the text the sea lies to the west. The destination is named yammah suf, "toward the Sea of Reeds" (H3220/H5488), using a directional he suffix attached to yam rather than a separate preposition, and the body of water is identified by the plant name "reed" rather than by any color term.

The final clause shifts from narrative vav-forms to a niphal perfect, nish'ar ("it remained", H7604), preceded by the negation lo' ("not", H3808). This grammatical shift marks a summarizing statement of result rather than a further step in the action sequence: the completed state of "not one locust remaining" is described statively, closing the episode. The phrase 'arbeh 'echad ("one locust", H0697/H0259) with the numeral "one" modifying "locust" emphasizes totality of removal — not even a single specimen was left in "all the territory of Egypt" (be-khol gevul Mitzrayim).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew ruach-yam ("wind of sea/west") as ἄνεμον ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ("wind from the sea"), reading yam as a literal sea-direction rather than as an idiom for "west," while the Vulgate's ventum ab occidente ("wind from the west") follows the directional sense more directly. For the destination, the Hebrew names it yammah suf ("toward the Sea of Reeds"), whereas the LXX specifies εἰς τὴν ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν ("into the Red Sea") and the Vulgate similarly gives mare Rubrum ("Red Sea"), both supplying a color term not present in the Hebrew plant-name designation.