Exodus 12:17

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת־הַמַּצּוֹת כִּי בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה הוֹצֵאתִי אֶת־צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם חֻקַּת עוֹלָֽם׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֮ אֶת־הַמַּצּוֹת֒ כִּ֗י בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה הוֹצֵ֥אתִי אֶת־צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֞ם אֶת־הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֛ה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶ֖ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָֽם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ φυλάξετε τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην· ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐξάξω τὴν δύναμιν ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ποιήσετε τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην εἰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν νόμιμον αἰώνιον·

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Et observabitis azyma: in eadem enim ipsa die educam exercitum vestrum de terra Ægypti, et custodietis diem istum in generationes vestras ritu perpetuo.

Spanish

Celebrarán la fiesta del pan sin levadura porque ese mismo día saqué a los escuadrones de ustedes de Egipto. Por eso, deberán celebrar este día generación tras generación como una ley permanente.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y guardaréis la fiesta de los ázimos, porque en aqueste mismo día saqué vuestros ejércitos de la tierra de Egipto: por tanto guardaréis este día en vuestras generaciones por costumbre perpetua.

English

So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

✦ What the text says

Summary

Exodus 12:17 issues a double command to observe ha-matzot ("the unleavened breads", H4682), grounding it in a completed past event — the exodus from Egypt "on this very day" — and extends the observance as a fixed rule for future generations.

Key words

shemartem ("you will keep", H8104G) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural, appears twice, framing both halves of the verse as parallel obligations.
matzot ("unleavened bread[s]", H4682) — feminine plural noun with definite article, the object to be "kept" observed.
be-etzem hayom hazeh ("on the substance of this day", H6106H) — etzem in construct with hayom, an idiom emphasizing the exact day, not merely "around" it.
hotzeti ("I brought out", H3318H) — hiphil (causative) perfect, 1st person singular: a completed, agent-marked action ("I caused to go out"), distinct from a simple qal "went out."
chukat olam ("statute of perpetuity", H2708 + H5769G) — two nouns in construct chain, literally "a statute of permanence/hidden time," designating an enduring legal fixture.

What the text says

The verse is built on two instances of the same verb form, shemartem, both sequential perfects continuing a chain of instructions. The first clause commands keeping ha-matzot; the causal particle ki ("for", H3588A) then supplies the historical warrant: be-etzem hayom hazeh, "on the very substance/essence of this day," a construct phrase that intensifies "day" beyond a simple temporal marker, stressing exact coincidence. The hiphil verb hotzeti casts the exodus as an action performed directly by the speaker (grammatically 1st person, causative stem), acting upon tzivotekhem ("your hosts/armies", H6635A), a construct noun with pronominal suffix denoting the people as organized groups. The second shemartem clause returns to the imperative pattern, this time attaching le-dorotekhem ("to your generations", H1755 construct + suffix) and closing with the construct pair chukat olam, marking the instruction as a standing legal norm rather than a one-time act.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha-matzot ("the unleavened breads") as τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην, "this commandment," shifting from a concrete food-object to an abstract legal referent, where the Hebrew and Vulgate ("azyma") keep the food term. The LXX also gives ἐξάξω ("I will bring out," future) for the Hebrew hotzeti ("I brought out," completed perfect), and ποιήσετε ("you shall do") for the second shemartem ("you will keep"), where Hebrew uses the same verb for both commands but LXX varies it. The Hebrew tzivotekhem ("your hosts," plural) appears in LXX as the singular δύναμιν ("power/host").

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.