Exodus 14:17

Summary

YHWH declares that he himself will strengthen/harden "the heart of Egypt" so that the Egyptians pursue the Israelites into the sea. He states that through this pursuit — through Pharaoh, his army, chariots, and horsemen — he will gain honor for himself.

Key words

• mechazzek ("[am] about to make strong", H2388) — piel participle, an intensive verb form. Combined with the preceding hinneni ("here I am"), it expresses immediate, ongoing divine action: "I am [in the act of] strengthening."
• lev ("heart of", H3820) — masculine singular construct, joined to mitzrayim ("Egypt", H4713) as "the heart of Egypt." The construct form ties the noun directly to the following name without a separate word for "of."
• yavo'u ("they may go", H0935) — qal imperfect with prefixed ve ("and"), expressing purpose or resulting action: "so that they will come/go."
• 'ikkavdah ("I will gain honor", H3513) — niphal form of the root meaning "to be heavy/honored," here first-person, expressing that the speaker himself will be honored through the events described.
• chayil ("army", H2428) construct, followed by the possessive suffix "his" — "his army," referring to Pharaoh's forces as a single collective body.

What the text says

The verse opens with va-'ani hinneni — "and I, here I am" — a doubled first-person construction (independent pronoun 'ani plus the particle hinneni, itself built on hinneh + a first-person suffix) that gives strong emphasis to the subject: it is YHWH, and no other agent, performing the action. The main verb mechazzek is a participle rather than a finite verb, which in Hebrew narrative often conveys an action presented as currently unfolding or about to unfold, rather than a simple future tense.

The object is lev mitzrayim, "the heart of Egypt," using the place name in the singular as a collective reference rather than naming "the Egyptians" as plural individuals. The clause ve-yavo'u 'acharehem ("so they may go after them") uses the imperfect with vav to mark a consequence following from the strengthening of the heart. The closing clause built on 'ikkavdah, a niphal form, presents the speaker as the one who will be honored, with the honor located "in/by means of" (be-) Pharaoh, his army, his chariots, and his horsemen — each item repeated with the preposition be- and a possessive suffix "his."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew names the object of the strengthening as lev mitzrayim, "the heart of Egypt" (singular collective). The LXX renders this as "the heart of Pharaoh and of all the Egyptians" (τὴν καρδίαν Φαραὼ καὶ τῶν Αἰγύπτων πάντων), adding Pharaoh explicitly and pluralizing "Egyptians." The Vulgate has "cor Ægyptiorum," "the heart of the Egyptians" (plural), omitting Pharaoh but also shifting from the Hebrew's singular collective to a plural. Additionally, the Hebrew verb mechazzek carries the sense "to strengthen/make firm," while the LXX's σκληρυνῶ and the Vulgate's indurabo both mean "to harden."