Exodus 13:1

Summary

Exodus 13:1 opens a new divine speech by stating that Yehovah spoke to Moses. It is a short introductory formula, syntactically structured to announce that the words following it (in the subsequent verses) are a direct communication from Yehovah to Moses.

Key words

• va ("and", H9001) — narrative vav prefixed to the verb, marking the sequence of the story: this event follows directly from what precedes it in the narrative.
• y'daBer ("he spoke", H1696G) — Piel (intensive stem) verb, third person masculine singular, in the narrative (wayyiqtol) form; grammatically marks a completed, sequential action performed by Yehovah.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — proper name functioning as the grammatical subject of the verb y'daBer.
• 'el- ("to", H0413) — preposition indicating the addressee/direction of the speech, linking the verb to moSheh.
• Mor ("saying", H0559) — Qal (simple stem) infinitive construct, prefixed with le- ("to/in"); introduces direct discourse, functioning like a colon before quoted speech.

What the text says

The verse follows a standard Hebrew narrative formula for introducing divine speech: subject + verb + prepositional phrase + infinitive of quotation. The narrative vav on y'daBer signals continuity with the preceding text, placing this speech act within the ongoing sequence of events rather than as an isolated statement. The Piel stem of daBer ("to speak") is the form regularly used in Biblical Hebrew for formal or authoritative speech, distinct from the Qal stem of the related root, though here the semantic weight is standard usage rather than special emphasis within this specific clause.

The prepositional phrase 'el-moSheh ("to Moses") identifies the addressee explicitly, and the sentence ends with the infinitive le-'mor ("saying"), which does not carry independent semantic content beyond introducing the direct speech that follows in the subsequent verses. This construction — verb of speaking + le'mor — is a recurring formula in narrative Hebrew for opening quoted discourse.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the verb as Εἶπεν ("he said") rather than a form corresponding to "he spoke" (Piel of dabar), using a different verb of speech than the Hebrew y'daBer. The LXX also places δὲ ("but/then") as a connective, corresponding to the function of the Hebrew narrative vav, though it is a distinct particle rather than a verbal prefix. The Vulgate's Locutusque est ("and he spoke") matches more closely the Hebrew semantic field of speaking (corresponding to daBer) rather than the LXX's "saying" (legō root). Both LXX and Vulgate preserve the infinitive/participle construction (λέγων, dicens) corresponding to the Hebrew le-Mor ("saying") that introduces the following discourse.