Exodus 13:17
וַיְהִי בְּשַׁלַּח פַּרְעֹה אֶת־הָעָם וְלֹא־נָחָם אֱלֹהִים דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּים כִּי קָרוֹב הוּא כִּי׀ אָמַר אֱלֹהִים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵם הָעָם בִּרְאֹתָם מִלְחָמָה וְשָׁבוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
Ὣς δὲ ἐξαπέστειλεν Φαραὼ τὸν λαόν, οὐχ ὡδήγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς ὁδὸν γῆς Φυλιστιείμ, ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἦν· εἶπεν γὰρ ὁ θεός Μή ποτε μεταμελήσῃ τῷ λαῷ ἰδόντι πόλεμον, καὶ ἀποστρέψῃ εἰς Αἴγυπτον.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Igitur cum emisisset Pharao populum, non eos duxit Deus per viam terræ Philisthiim quæ vicina est: reputans ne forte pœniteret eum, si vidisset adversum se bella consurgere, et reverteretur in Ægyptum.
Cuando el faraón dejó ir al pueblo, Dios no los llevó por el camino de la tierra de los filisteos, aunque era el más corto, porque Dios pensó: “Si el pueblo se enfrenta a una guerra, podrían arrepentirse y regresarse a Egipto”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y luego que Faraón dejó ir al pueblo, Dios no los llevó por el camino de la tierra de los Filisteos, que estaba cerca; porque dijo Dios: Que quizá no se arrepienta el pueblo cuando vieren la guerra, y se vuelvan á Egipto:
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “ If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse explains why God did not route the Israelites out of Egypt by the direct road through Philistine territory, even though that path was closer. The stated reason is a divine calculation: encountering war might cause the people to lose resolve and return to Egypt.
Key words
- nacham ("he led", H5148) — qal perfect, root נחה ("to lead, guide"); describes what God did not do regarding the people's route.
- yinnachem ("it should regret", H5162) — niphal imperfect, root נחם ("to regret/be sorry"); a different root from nacham above despite the similar consonant shape, describing a possible future reaction of the people.
- derekh ("way of", H1870) and eretz ("land of", H776) — both nouns in construct state, forming the chain "way of [the] land of [the] Philistines," a single compound geographic expression.
- bir'otam ("in their seeing", H7200) — qal infinitive with 3mp pronominal suffix attached to the preposition be, functioning as a temporal clause: "when they see."
- mitzraymah ("to Egypt", H4714 + H9011) — proper name with directional he suffix, marking motion "toward" Egypt.
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative formula vayehi ("and it was", H1961) followed by a temporal clause built with be + infinitive (beshallach, "when Pharaoh sent away," H7971): "and it was, when Pharaoh let the people go." The main clause then states, using the qal perfect nacham (H5148), that God "did not lead them" by the route described through the construct chain derekh eretz Pelishtim ("way of the land of the Philistines").
Two successive clauses introduced by ki (H3588) supply reasons: first "for it was near" (qarov hu), then "for God said" (amar Elohim), introducing a quoted divine reasoning. Within this quotation, pen (H6435, "lest") governs the niphal imperfect yinnachem (H5162)—a verb from a different root than the earlier nacham, denoting the people's possible change of heart. The temporal clause bir'otam milchamah ("in their seeing war") uses the infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix, a construction that Hebrew handles without a separate subject pronoun. The verse closes with the sequential perfect shavu ("they would return," H7725) plus mitzraymah, the place name marked with the directional he rather than a preposition, indicating motion toward Egypt.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the double ki...ki structure as ὅτι...εἶπεν γάρ, and translates yinnachem with μεταμελήσῃ ("might change his mind") combined with a participle ἰδόντι ("having seen") rather than a separate temporal clause. The Vulgate turns "for God said" into a participial phrase, reputans ("thinking"), attached to Deus, and renders the reason for possible regret as seeing "wars rising up against him" (bella consurgere) rather than simply "war" as in the Hebrew milchamah.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.