Exodus 11:10

Summary

The verse closes the plagues narrative by stating that Moses and Aaron performed all the wonders before Pharaoh, that Yehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and that as a result Pharaoh did not send the Israelites out of his land.

Key words

• mofetim ("wonders", H4159) — masculine plural noun with definite article and demonstrative 'elleh ("these", H0428), marking a specific, already-narrated set of acts as complete and identified.
• va-yechazek ("and he made strong", H2388G) — piel verb in narrative form, attached to the narrative vav (H9001); the piel stem intensifies the action, and the narrative chain ties this clause directly to what precedes as the next event in sequence.
• lev ("heart of", H3820A) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be bound to the following word Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547J), forming "heart of Pharaoh."
• shillach ("he let go", H7971H) — piel perfect verb, completed action, negated by lo' ("not", H3808); the piel stem here carries a causative-intensive sense of "sending away/releasing."
• bnei ("sons/people of", H1121G) — masculine plural noun in construct with Yisra'el ("Israel", H3478), the standard construct phrase "people of Israel."

What the text says

The sentence divides into three linked clauses joined by conjunctions and one narrative vav. The first clause states that Moses (Mosheh, H4872) and Aaron (Aharon, H0175) "did" ('asu, H6213A, qal perfect) "all" (kol, H3605, construct) "the wonders" (ha-mofetim, H4159) — "these" (ha-'elleh, H0428) — "before" (li-fnei, a preposition + construct noun H6440G) "Pharaoh" (H6547J). The construct chain kol ha-mofetim ha-'elleh groups the entirety of the preceding plague-signs into one completed totality, referring back to the narrative already recounted.

The second clause opens with the narrative vav attached to yechazek ("he made strong", H2388G, piel), naming Yehovah (H3068G) as subject and lev Par'oh ("heart of Pharaoh") as direct object, marked by the object particle 'et (H0853). The piel stem of chazaq intensifies the verb beyond a simple qal "to be strong," conveying an active strengthening/hardening rather than a passive state.

The final clause, joined by ve-lo' ("and not"), negates shillach ("he let go", H7971H, piel perfect) with Pharaoh understood as subject, and its object is bnei Yisra'el ("people of Israel"), followed by me-'artzo ("from his land," preposition + construct noun + pronominal suffix "his," H0776G + H9023), specifying the land as belonging to Pharaoh.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mofetim ("wonders") as a doubled phrase "τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα" ("the signs and the wonders"), and adds "ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ" ("in the land of Egypt"), a geographic specification not present in the Hebrew clause about wonders. The LXX also renders the final clause as "οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν ἐξαποστεῖλαι" ("he did not listen/consent to send away"), introducing a verb of hearing/consent absent from the Hebrew shillach ("he let go"). The Vulgate's "quæ scripta sunt" ("which were written") adds a reference to writing not present in the Hebrew text of this verse.