Exodus 17:12

וִידֵי מֹשֶׁה כְּבֵדִים וַיִּקְחוּ־אֶבֶן וַיָּשִׂימוּ תַחְתָּיו וַיֵּשֶׁב עָלֶיהָ וְאַהֲרֹן וְחוּר תָּֽמְכוּ בְיָדָיו מִזֶּה אֶחָד וּמִזֶּה אֶחָד וַיְהִי יָדָיו אֱמוּנָה עַד־בֹּא הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

Tap a word to see its entry

✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וִידֵ֤י מֹשֶׁה֙ כְּבֵדִ֔ים וַיִּקְחוּ־אֶ֛בֶן וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ תַחְתָּ֖יו וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב עָלֶ֑יהָ וְאַהֲרֹ֨ן וְח֜וּר תָּֽמְכ֣וּ בְיָדָ֗יו מִזֶּ֤ה אֶחָד֙ וּמִזֶּ֣ה אֶחָ֔ד וַיְהִ֥י יָדָ֛יו אֱמוּנָ֖ה עַד־בֹּ֥א הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

Greek (Septuagint)

αἱ δὲ Μωυσῆ βαρεῖαι· καὶ λαβόντες λίθον ὑπέθηκαν ἐπ’ αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ· καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ Ὥρ ἐστήριζον τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, ἐντεῦθεν εἷς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἷς· καὶ ἐγένοντο αἱ χεφες Μωυσῆ ἑ γμέναι ἕως δυσμῶν ἡλίου. καὶ ἐτρέψατο Ἰησοῦς τὸν Ἀμαλὴκ καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας. Εἶπεν δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν κατάγραψον τοῦτο εἰς μνημόσυνον εἰς βιβλίον, καὶ δὸς εἰς τὰ ὦτα Ἰησοῖ, ὅτι ἀλοιφῇ ἐξαλείψω τὸ μνημόσυνον Ἀμαλὴκ ἐκ τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν. καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν Μωσῆς θυσιαστήριον Κύρῳ, καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ κύριος καταφυγή μου· ἕτι ἐν χειρὶ κρυφαίᾳ πολεμεῖ κύριος ἐπὶ Ἀμαλὴκ ἀπὸ γενεῶν εἰς γενεάς.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Manus autem Moysi erant graves: sumentes igitur lapidem, posuerunt subter eum, in quo sedit: Aaron autem et Hur sustentabant manus ejus ex utraque parte. Et factum est ut manus illius non lassarentur usque ad occasum solis.

Spanish

Como los brazos de Moisés se cansaron, Aarón y Hur le consiguieron una piedra para que se sentara. Luego, uno de cada lado, le sostuvieron los brazos en alto, y así se mantuvieron firmes hasta que se puso el sol.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y las manos de Moisés estaban pesadas; por lo que tomaron una piedra, y pusiéronla debajo de él, y se sentó sobre ella: y Aarón y Hur sustentaban sus manos, el uno de una parte y el otro de otra; así hubo en sus manos firmeza hasta que se puso el sol.

English

When Moses ’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse describes Moses' hands becoming heavy during the battle, prompting Aaron and Hur to place a stone for him to sit on and to support his hands, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until sunset.

Key words

ke.ve.Dim ("heavy", H3515) — masculine plural adjective agreeing with yedei ("hands of", H3027), describing the physical state of Moses' hands as the cause for the actions that follow.
ta.me.Khu ("they supported", H8551) — qal perfect, third person plural, marking a completed action distinct from the narrative-chain verbs (va-yiqchu, va-yasimu, va-yeshev) that precede it; this shifts the verse from a sequence of single events into a description of a sustained state.
'e.mu.Nah ("steadiness", H0530) — feminine singular noun, the same root associated elsewhere with firmness/faithfulness; here it describes the resulting condition of the hands (yadav, "his hands", H3027) rather than an action.
'e.Chad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number repeated twice with mi.zeh ("from this", H2088) on each side, producing the distributive phrase "one from here, one from there," specifying the symmetrical positioning of Aaron and Hur.
bo' ("going/entering", H0935) — qal infinitive construct with 'ad ("until", H5704), forming the temporal phrase "until the going in of the sun," i.e., the time boundary for the action.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a non-verbal clause: vi.dei Mosheh ke.ve.Dim ("and the hands of Moses [were] heavy"), using a noun-adjective construction without a copular verb, typical of Biblical Hebrew for stative description. This sets the circumstance before the narrative sequence of vav-consecutive verbs begins: they took (yiqchu) a stone, they put (yasimu) it, he sat (yeshev) on it. This chain of three consecutive verbs presents rapid, sequential actions.

The verse then shifts construction: ve-Aharon ve-Chur tamekhu be-yadav uses a perfect verb (tamekhu) rather than a narrative form, marking a different aspectual quality — not a single completed event in sequence but an ongoing supportive action. The phrase mi.zeh 'echad u-mi.zeh 'echad ("from this one, and from this one") is a distributive construction placing one man on each side, syntactically mirroring the physical symmetry described.

The closing clause, va-yehi yadav 'emunah 'ad bo' ha-shamesh, again uses a vav-consecutive verb (yehi, "it was/became") followed by the noun 'emunah ("steadiness") functioning predicatively — literally "his hands were/became steadiness" — extending until the temporal boundary marked by the infinitive bo' ("going") of the sun.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'emunah ("steadiness", H0530) with the Greek participle ἑδραῖαι/ἑ γμέναι ("fixed/steady"), consistent with the Hebrew's static description. The Vulgate diverges more noticeably: ut manus illius non lassarentur ("so that his hands would not grow weary") introduces a negative purpose clause not present in the Hebrew noun phrase "his hands were steadiness," shifting the emphasis from a resulting state to an avoided outcome (weariness).

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.