Exodus 14:7

Summary

The verse describes the mobilization of Egyptian military forces in pursuit: six hundred selected chariots, along with the entire chariot force of Egypt, each placed under officers.

Key words

• va-yiqqach ("and he took", H3947) — qal narrative verb, continuing the story's sequence of action; the subject (unnamed here but understood from context) initiates the pursuit.
• bachur ("chosen", H0977) — qal passive participle, masculine singular, describing rekhev ("chariot", H7393) as "selected" or "chosen" — a quality applied to the six hundred chariots specifically.
• kol ("all", H3605) — construct noun appearing twice (lines 8 and 14), each time linking to what follows ("all of the chariotry of Egypt," "over all of it").
• shalishim ("officers", H7991) — masculine plural noun, referring to a class of military officers or commanders placed in charge.
• kullo ("all of it", H3605 + H9023) — the construct kol with third-person masculine singular suffix, meaning literally "all of it," referring back to the totality of the chariot force just mentioned.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure lists two categories of chariots in sequence: first shesh-me'ot rekhev bachur ("six hundred chariots, chosen/selected," H8337+H3967+H7393+H0977), then khol rekhev Mitzrayim ("all the chariotry of Egypt," H3605+H7393+H4714), joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). The construct chain khol rekhev treats "chariotry" as a collective singular noun rather than a plural count, meaning it refers to the totality of Egypt's chariot force as one entity, distinct from the six hundred specifically singled out as "chosen."

The final clause, ve-shalishim 'al-kullo ("and officers over all of it," H7991+H5921+H3605+H9023), uses the preposition 'al ("over", H5921) to indicate positional authority, with kullo ("all of it") referring back grammatically to the collective chariot force described in the two preceding phrases — the suffix -o ("his/its", H9023) is masculine singular, matching the grammatical gender of rekhev.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders shalishim (H7991, "officers") as τριστάτας (tristatas), a Greek military term for third-rank commanders, while the Vulgate uses duces ("leaders/commanders"), a more general term for military leadership. The Hebrew term itself does not specify rank beyond "officers," so the Greek and Latin each supply a more specific administrative nuance not explicit in the Hebrew noun alone.