Exodus 11:9

Summary

Yehovah tells Moses that Pharaoh will not listen to him, and states the purpose behind this refusal: so that Yehovah's wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. The verse links Pharaoh's future resistance to a stated divine purpose expressed through a subordinating particle.

Key words

• yishma' ("he will listen", H8085G) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular, marking an action not yet completed or ongoing in future time; negated by lo' ("not", H3808) to state that the listening will not occur.
• lema'an ("so as", H4616) — a subordinating particle introducing purpose or result; it connects Pharaoh's refusal to the outcome that follows.
• revot ("to be many", H7235A) — qal infinitive of the root meaning "to be many/numerous"; used here to express the increasing of the wonders, functioning almost like a verbal noun after lema'an.
• mofetai ("my wonders", H4159 + H9020) — masculine plural noun in construct form with the first-person suffix "my," indicating wonders belonging to or performed by Yehovah.
• be'eretz Mitzrayim ("in the land of Egypt", H9003 + H0776G + H4714G) — prepositional phrase with 'eretz in construct to Mitzrayim, locating where the multiplying of wonders occurs.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative vav construction vayomer ("and he said," H0559), typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative sequencing, introducing direct speech from Yehovah (H3068G) to Mosheh (H4872). The core statement is negative: lo' yishma' 'aleikhem Par'oh — "Pharaoh will not listen to you" — using the qal imperfect yishma' to indicate a future or ongoing refusal rather than a single completed act.

The second half of the verse is governed by lema'an (H4616), a particle that introduces the purpose clause. This particle is followed by the infinitive revot (H7235A), from a root meaning "to be many" or "to increase," combined with mofetai ("my wonders," H4159 with the suffix H9020). The construction lema'an revot mofetai literally conveys "so that my wonders may be numerous" or "in order for my wonders to multiply," locating the action be'eretz Mitzrayim ("in the land of Egypt," H0776G construct with H4714G). The infinitive construction here functions to express an intended result rather than a simple future action, tying Pharaoh's refusal directly to the stated increase of wonders in Egypt.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the purpose clause with a doubled participle-verb construction, πληθύνων πληθύνω ("multiplying I shall multiply"), an emphatic repetition not present in the Hebrew, which uses only the single infinitive revot. The LXX also specifies τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα ("the signs and the wonders"), adding "signs" alongside "wonders," where the Hebrew has only mofetai ("my wonders"). The Vulgate reads ut multa signa fiant ("that many signs may occur"), using "signs" (signa) rather than "wonders," and phrases the purpose impersonally ("that signs may occur") rather than with the first-person possessive found in the Hebrew mofetai ("my wonders").