Exodus 13:6

Summary

The verse establishes a seven-day period of eating matzot ("unleavened bread", H4682), followed by a seventh day designated as a chag ("festival", H2282) dedicated to YHWH (H3068G). The sentence structure moves from a durative command to a specific climactic day.

Key words

• shiv'at ("seven", H7651) — cardinal number in construct state, meaning it grammatically binds to the following noun yamim to form "seven of days," setting the time frame for the action.
• yamim ("days", H3117G) — masculine plural noun, the object of the time expression governed by shiv'at.
• tokhal ("you will eat", H0398) — Qal imperfect, second person masculine singular; the imperfect aspect conveys an action extended or repeated across the seven-day span rather than a single instant.
• matzot ("unleavened bread", H4682) — feminine plural noun, the direct object of tokhal, specifying what is to be eaten throughout the period.
• chag ("festival", H2282) — masculine singular noun, standing without a verb in the Hebrew clause, functioning as a nominal predicate for the seventh day.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the construct phrase shiv'at yamim ("seven of days"), placed before the verb tokhal ("you will eat"). This word order fronts the time span, emphasizing duration before stating the action. The verb tokhal is a Qal imperfect, a form that in this context expresses continuous or habitual action across the specified seven days, rather than a single completed event.

The second half of the verse shifts to the noun yom ("day", H3117G) marked with the preposition ba ("in the") and the definite article ha, combined with the ordinal shevi'i ("seventh", H7637), producing "and on the seventh day." Notably, this clause contains no verb in the Hebrew text — chag la-YHWH ("a festival to YHWH") functions as a nominal clause, meaning the Hebrew simply states "a festival [belongs] to YHWH" without an explicit "will be" or "shall be." The preposition la (H9005) attached to YHWH indicates possession or dedication — the festival belongs to or is directed toward YHWH.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) reads hex hēmeras ("six days") where the Hebrew has shiv'at yamim ("seven days", H7651 + H3117G) — a numerical divergence between the Greek and Hebrew texts. The Vulgate and the Hebrew agree on "seven days" (Septem diebus). Additionally, the Hebrew nominal clause chag la-YHWH (no verb) is rendered with an explicit verb in the Vulgate (erit solemnitas Domini, "there will be a solemnity of the Lord") and in the LXX the clause also lacks an overt verb (heortē kyriou), paralleling the Hebrew's verbless construction more closely than the Vulgate does.