Exodus 12:23
וְעָבַר יְהוָה לִנְגֹּף אֶת־מִצְרַיִם וְרָאָה אֶת־הַדָּם עַל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף וְעַל שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת וּפָסַח יְהוָה עַל־הַפֶּתַח וְלֹא יִתֵּן הַמַּשְׁחִית לָבֹא אֶל־בָּתֵּיכֶם לִנְגֹּֽף׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וְעָבַ֣ר יְהוָה֮ לִנְגֹּ֣ף אֶת־מִצְרַיִם֒ וְרָאָ֤ה אֶת־הַדָּם֙ עַל־הַמַּשְׁק֔וֹף וְעַ֖ל שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֑ת וּפָסַ֤ח יְהוָה֙ עַל־הַפֶּ֔תַח וְלֹ֤א יִתֵּן֙ הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית לָבֹ֥א אֶל־בָּתֵּיכֶ֖ם לִנְגֹּֽף׃
καὶ παρελεύσεται Κύριος πατάξαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, καὶ ὄψεται τὸ αἷμα ἐπὶ τῆς φλιᾶς καὶ ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν σταθμῶν· καὶ παρελεύσεται κύριος τὴν θύραν, καὶ οὐκ ἀφήσει τὸν ὀλεθρεύοντα εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὰς οἰκίας ὑμῶν πατάξαι.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Transibit enim Dominus percutiens Ægyptios: cumque viderit sanguinem in superliminari, et in utroque poste, transcendet ostium domus, et non sinet percussorem ingredi domos vestras et lædere.
Porque Yehová pasará castigando a los egipcios; y cuando él vea la sangre en la parte superior y en los lados de la puerta, pasará de largo y no dejará que el destructor entre a sus casas a quitarles la vida.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Porque Jehová pasará hiriendo á los Egipcios; y como verá la sangre en el dintel y en los dos postes, pasará Jehová aquella puerta, y no dejará entrar al heridor en vuestras casas para herir.
When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 12:23 describes three consecutive actions by Yehovah: passing through Egypt to strike it, seeing blood on Israelite doorframes, and passing over those doorways so that the destroyer will not enter to strike the households. The verse structures the Passover night around this sequence of movement, sight, and sparing.
Key words
- 'a.Var ("he will pass through", H5674A) — qal sequential perfect; the first of three main verbs, describing Yehovah's general movement through the land to execute judgment on Egypt.
- n.Gof ("strike", H5062) — qal infinitive, appearing twice (lines 5 and 38), forming a frame around the verse: the purpose of passing through Egypt and the purpose the destroyer is denied regarding Israelite houses.
- fa.Sach ("he will pass over", H6452A) — qal sequential perfect; a distinct verb from 'a.Var, denoting a specific action of passing by/sparing rather than passing through to strike. This root gives the festival its name (Pesach).
- me.zu.Zot ("doorposts", H4201) — feminine plural noun, paired with she.Tei ("two", H8147) in construct, specifying both sides of the doorframe where blood is placed.
- mash.Chit ("destroyer", H7843) — masculine singular noun with definite article, naming the agent whose entry is prevented.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence chains four verbs by sequential perfect forms (a construction that continues narrative sequence): 'avar ("pass through"), ra'ah ("see"), pasach ("pass over"), and yitten ("permit," here negated). This chain creates a temporal and causal sequence: Yehovah passes through Egypt to strike (nagof) it; he sees the blood on the lintel (mashqof) and the two doorposts; consequently he passes over the doorway; and as a result he does not permit the destroyer to enter and strike (nagof again).
The repetition of nagof as infinitive at the beginning and end of the verse creates a frame: the striking intended for Egypt is the same striking withheld from Israelite houses. The text distinguishes two different verbs of motion — 'avar (general passing through, associated with the strike on Egypt) and pasach (a specific passing over, associated with sparing) — rather than using one verb for both actions.
Differences between versions
The LXX uses the same Greek verb, παρελεύσεται ("he will pass by/through"), for both 'avar (line 2) and pasach (line 22), where the Hebrew uses two distinct verbs. This renders the two Hebrew actions with a single repeated Greek verb, reducing the lexical distinction present in the Hebrew between general passage-to-strike and passage-to-spare.
The Vulgate, by contrast, uses two different verbs: transibit ("he will pass through") for 'avar, and transcendet ("he will pass over/across") for pasach, preserving a distinction closer to the Hebrew's two separate verbs.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.