Exodus 15:2

Summary

The verse combines two components: a declaration that God is the speaker's strength and song/might, who has "become" a source of salvation, followed by a personal vow of praise and exaltation. The Hebrew moves from a nominal clause (attributes ascribed to Yah) into narrative and volitive verb forms describing an ongoing personal response.

Key words

• 'azzi ("my might", H5797) — masculine singular noun in construct form with a first-person suffix, "might of-me," opening the verse as a possessive statement rather than a full sentence.
• zimrat ("strength/song", H2176) — feminine singular construct, paired with Yah (H3050) to form "strength-of Yah" or "song-of Yah"; the construct chain binds the noun tightly to the divine name that follows.
• vayehi ("and he became", H1961) — qal narrative form with vav-consecutive, marking a shift into narrated action: "and he became/was" rather than a static description.
• anvehu ("I will glorify him", H5115A) — hiphil (causative) imperfect with vav, first person, expressing a purposed or resultant action: "and let me glorify him."
• aromemenhu ("I will exalt him", H7311A) — piel (intensive) imperfect with vav, first person, parallel in form to anvehu, reinforcing the volitive/purpose sense: "and let me exalt him."

What the text says

The verse opens with two construct nouns — 'azzi ("might of-me") and zimrat Yah ("strength/song of-Yah") — juxtaposed without a copular verb, a common feature of Hebrew poetic apposition where the divine name Yah is bound grammatically to the preceding noun. The clause then shifts into narrative mode with vayehi ("and he became"), using the vav-consecutive construction typical of Hebrew narrative sequence, here applied poetically to state that this force "became" salvation (yeshu'ah, H3444) for the speaker.

The second half of the verse pivots to first-person volitional verbs. Zeh ("this", H2088) functions as a demonstrative pointing directly at "my God" (Eli), producing an identificatory clause: "this is my God." The two following verbs, anvehu (hiphil) and aromemenhu (piel), both carry vav-conjunctions attached to imperfect verb forms, a pattern that in poetic Hebrew often expresses purpose or resolved intention — "and let me glorify him," "and let me exalt him" — rather than simple future narration. Both verbs also carry third-person masculine singular pronominal suffixes ("him"), keeping the divine referent as direct object throughout.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'azzi ve-zimrat Yah as boēthos kai skepastēs ("helper and protector"), an interpretive substitution that does not preserve the Hebrew's "might/strength-song" vocabulary or the divine name Yah itself. The Vulgate instead supplies "Dominus" (LORD) explicitly, translating zimrat Yah as "laus mea Dominus" ("my praise, the Lord"), inserting the divine title where the Hebrew construct chain leaves the connection implicit through juxtaposition alone.