Exodus 11:1

Summary

Yehovah tells Moses that one more plague will come upon Pharaoh and Egypt. After this plague, Pharaoh will let the Israelites go, and when he does so, he will drive them out completely, from that place.

Key words

• Nega' ("a plague", H5061) — masculine singular noun, paired with echad ("one", H0259) to specify a single, final blow.
• 'Avi' ("I will bring", H0935P) — hiphil (causative) imperfect: "I" as subject causes the plague to come, future/ongoing aspect.
• Yeshallach ("he will let go", H7971H) — piel (intensive) imperfect of the root shalach, describing Pharaoh's future release of the people.
• Kesalecho ("when he lets [you] go", H7971H) — same root in piel infinitive construct, prefixed by ke ("when") and carrying the suffix o ("he/his"), forming a temporal clause: "in his letting go."
• Kalah garesh yegaresh ("completely... he will [surely] drive out", H3617 + H1644G) — the noun kalah ("completely") combines with an infinitive absolute (garesh) followed by the finite imperfect (yegaresh) of the same root, a doubled construction built on one verbal root for emphasis.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative marker va-yo'mer ("and he said," H9001+H0559), the standard chain-verb that moves the story forward: Yehovah speaks directly to Moses. The core clause is short — 'od nega' 'echad 'avi' ("yet one plague I will bring") — placing the numeral 'echad ("one") after the noun nega' ("plague") for emphasis, marking this as the final blow, extended over both Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547J) and Mitzrayim ("Egypt", H4714G).

The second half of the verse is built on a single root, garesh ("to drive out," H1644G), used three times in different forms: first as the piel imperfect yeshallach ("he will let go") describing Pharaoh's release of the people, then as the infinitive construct kesalecho ("when he lets [you] go") marking the temporal condition, and finally as the doubled construction kalah garesh yegaresh — the noun "completeness" plus an infinitive absolute plus the finite imperfect of the same root. This repetition of the root within one clause is a grammatical device intensifying the verb's force: not simply "he will drive out" but a doubled, emphatic version of that action. The phrase mizzeh ("from here", H2088) closes both the first mention of release and this final clause, framing the verse with the same locative marker at each ending point.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the doubled Hebrew construction kalah garesh yegaresh as σὺν παντὶ ἐκβαλεῖ ὑμᾶς ἐκβολῇ ("with everything he will cast you out, a casting out"), using a cognate dative noun with the verb rather than an infinitive absolute, achieving a similar but structurally different emphasis. The Vulgate gives exire compellet ("he will compel [you] to go out"), a single verb phrase that does not reproduce the doubled root found in the Hebrew. The Spanish RV1909 adds "seguramente... del todo" ("surely... completely") as interpretive intensifiers to convey the emphasis the Hebrew builds through repetition of the verbal root itself.