Exodus 13:10

Summary

The verse instructs the addressee to observe a specific statute at its appointed time, using the idiomatic Hebrew expression "from days to days" to indicate annual recurrence. The verb form continues a sequence of commands begun earlier in the passage.

Key words

• sha.mar.Ta ("you will keep", H8104G) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; continues a chain of instructions rather than standing as an isolated command.
• chuq.qah ("statute", H2708) — feminine singular noun, marked definite by the article ha (H9009) and specified further by the demonstrative zot ("this", H2063).
• mo.'a.dah ("appointed time", H4150G) — masculine singular noun in construct form with the pronominal suffix h ("its", H9024), literally "its appointed time," linking the statute to a fixed occasion.
• ya.mim / ya.mi.mah ("days" / "days-ward", H3117I) — the plural noun yamim is repeated with the directional he (H9011) attached to the second instance, producing the idiomatic construction "from days to days."

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative ve (H9001) attached to sha.mar.Ta, marking this as a continuation of prior instructions rather than a new independent statement. The direct object is introduced by the untranslated marker 'et (H0853), followed by ha.chuq.qah ha.zot — "the statute, the this," where the double definite article plus demonstrative pins down a specific, previously mentioned regulation rather than a general law.

The phrase le.mo.'a.dah combines the preposition le ("to/at", H9005) with mo.'a.dah, a construct noun carrying a third-person feminine singular suffix ("its"), so the appointed time belongs to or is defined by the statute itself. The final phrase, mi.yamim ya.mimah, is built from the same plural noun yamim appearing twice: first with the preposition mi ("from", H9006), then repeated with the directional suffix he (H9011) attached directly to the word. This repetition with directional marking is an idiomatic Hebrew way of expressing periodic recurrence — literally "from days toward days" — rather than describing a single moment in time.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chuqqah ("statute") as νόμον ("law", nomos), a broader term than the Hebrew's more specific "statute/ordinance." The LXX also translates mi.yamim ya.mimah as ἀφ' ἡμερῶν εἰς ἡμέρας ("from days to days"), preserving the repetition structurally but using the preposition εἰς ("into/unto") where the Hebrew uses a directional suffix rather than a separate preposition. The Vulgate's a diebus in dies mirrors this same "from days into days" pattern. Modern versions (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) render the idiom interpretively as "year after year" or "año tras año," making explicit the annual sense that the Hebrew conveys through the repeated "days" construction rather than through an explicit word for "year."