Exodus 17:14

Summary

Yehovah instructs Moses to write down an account as a zikaron ("reminder", H2146) in a sefer ("book/scroll", H5612H) and to recite it aloud to Joshua. The content of what must be remembered is announced through an emphatic verbal construction: Yehovah will wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.

Key words

• ke.To — katov ("write", H3789): qal imperative, second person masculine singular, a direct command to Moses.
• zi.ka.rOn — zikkaron ("reminder", H2146): masculine singular noun, the stated purpose of the writing.
• Sim — sim ("put/place", H7760A): second qal imperative, coordinated with katov by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002), giving Moses a second distinct action.
• ma.Choh ... 'em.Cheh — machoh emcheh ("certainly wipe out ... I will wipe out", H4229A): infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect of the same root, a construction that intensifies the verbal idea.
• Ze.kher — zekher ("remembrance of", H2143): masculine singular construct noun, linked to 'Amalek (H6002G) as its governed term.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) introducing direct speech from Yehovah (H3068G) to Mosheh (H4872). The command itself contains two coordinated imperatives: ketov ("write", H3789) governs the object zot ("this", H2063) with the resulting purpose expressed by zikkaron ("reminder", H2146) placed ba-sefer ("in the book", H5612H + H9003). The second imperative, sim ("put", H7760A), is directed be-'ozney Yehoshu'a ("in the ears of Joshua", H0241G construct + H3091G), a Hebrew idiom using the construct dual noun for "ears" to indicate oral transmission rather than mere writing.

The reason for this instruction is introduced by ki ("for/that", H3588A) and built on the paired construction machoh 'emcheh — an infinitive absolute (H4229A) reinforcing the finite imperfect verb of the same root. This doubling in Biblical Hebrew grammar marks certainty or intensity of the action, here rendered in English translations as "utterly blot out" (BSB) or "borrar por completo" (SBLIBRE). The object of this wiping is zekher 'Amalek ("the remembrance of Amalek", H2143 construct + H6002G), located spatially mi-tachat ha-shamayim ("from under the heavens", H9006 + H8478G + H9009 + H8064).

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders sim be-'ozney ("put in the ears of", H7760A + H0241G) as trade auribus ("deliver/hand over to the ears"), preserving the oral-transmission sense. The RV1909 interprets the same phrase as "di a Josué que..." ("tell Joshua that..."), shifting from a direct imperative construction to a reported-speech structure. The SBLIBRE renders mi-tachat ha-shamayim ("from under the heavens", H8064) as "de la faz de la tierra" ("from the face of the earth"), diverging from the Hebrew's specific reference to "heavens" found in the Vulgate's sub caelo and the BSB's "from under heaven."