Exodus 10:2

Summary

The verse states the purpose of the plagues narrative: so that the addressee (Moses, in context) may recount to his son and grandson what Yehovah did to Egypt, and so that "you" (plural) will know that Yehovah is Yehovah. The sentence chains a purpose clause, an object clause describing past divine action, and a resulting recognition formula.

Key words

• le.Ma'an ("so that", H4616) — subordinating particle introducing the purpose of the entire utterance; governs the following verb.
• te.sa.Per ("you may recount", H5608A) — piel (intensive stem) jussive form of the root for "count/recount," indicating a deliberate, detailed retelling rather than a simple mention.
• hit.'a.Lal.ti ("I have dealt ruthlessly", H5953A) — hithpael (reflexive/intensive stem) perfect, first person; the hithpael here marks the action as forceful or self-involved dealing on the part of the subject toward Egypt, completed prior to the moment of speaking.
• 'o.to.Ta + i ("my signs", H0226G + H9020) — feminine plural noun in construct with a first-person suffix, marking these "signs" as possessed by/originating from the speaker.
• da'.Tem ("you will know", H3045) — qal perfect with sequential (vav-consecutive) force, continuing the narrative sequence begun by the purpose clause; grammatically it reads as a perfect but functions to state a future consequence.

What the text says

The verse opens with u.le.Ma'an ("and so that"), a conjunction plus purpose particle, which sets up a subordinate clause whose main verb is te.sa.Per, a piel jussive. The piel stem intensifies the basic sense of "counting," yielding "recount" or "narrate in detail." The object of this recounting is introduced by the untranslated direct-object marker 'et (H0853) and consists of two elements joined by ve. ("and"): first, "that which I dealt ruthlessly with Egypt" ('asher hit'allalti be-Mitzrayim), using the hithpael verb hit.'a.Lal.ti; second, "my signs which I performed among them" ('et-'ototai 'asher samti bam), where samti is a plain qal perfect ("I performed/placed"), contrasting grammatically with the more marked hithpael of the previous clause.

The final clause, introduced by the narrative vi. prefix on da'.Tem, shifts to a sequential perfect that expresses a future result following from the recounting: "and you will know." This clause culminates in the formula ki-'ani Yehovah ("that I [am] Yehovah"), where the personal pronoun 'a.Ni stands independently before the divine name, giving emphasis to the identity being affirmed.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew hithpael hit'allalti ("I dealt ruthlessly/severely") is rendered in the LXX with ἐμπαίζω (a verb meaning "to mock" or "make sport of"), and in the Vulgate with contriverim ("I have crushed/worn down"). Both versions choose a specific nuance not identical to the Hebrew's reflexive-intensive "dealing" sense. The Hebrew construct chain bin.kha... ven-bin.kha ("your son... son of your son") is rendered in the LXX and Vulgate with plural "children" and "grandchildren/children of children," generalizing the singular Hebrew construct forms.