Exodus 18:11

Summary

Jethro declares that he now recognizes Yehovah's greatness, comparing him favorably to all other gods ('elohim), based on the matter in which "they" acted with arrogance against "them." The verse is Jethro's concluding statement after hearing Moses' report of the Exodus events.

Key words

• ya.Da'.ti ("I know", H3045) — qal perfect, 1st person singular: a completed act of realization, "I have come to know," marking Jethro's present certainty based on prior events.
• ga.Dol ("great", H1419A) — masculine singular adjective, predicate of the clause introduced by ki ("that"), describing Yehovah's stature relative to what follows.
• mi.kol-ha.'E.lo.Him ("more than all the gods", H9006+H3605+H9009+H0430J) — comparative construction using the preposition min ("more than") governing the construct phrase "all the gods," establishing a ranking rather than sole existence.
• za.Du ("they acted presumptuously", H2102) — qal perfect, 3rd person plural, from a root denoting arrogant or presumptuous action; the subject "they" is not named within this verse itself.
• 'a.lei.Hem ("upon them", H5921A+H9038) — preposition with 3rd person masculine plural suffix; the referent of "them" is not specified grammatically within the clause and depends on context outside this verse.

What the text says

The verse divides into two ki-clauses (H3588A appears twice, translated "that" and "for"), both dependent on ya.Da'.ti ("I know"). The first clause states the comparative claim: Yehovah is ga.Dol ("great") mi.kol-ha.'E.lo.Him ("more than all the gods"). The construction with min is comparative, placing Yehovah above a group called 'elohim, rather than denying the existence of that group.

The second ki-clause gives the basis for this knowledge: ba.Da.var 'asher za.Du 'alei.hem ("in the matter in which they acted presumptuously against/upon them"). Grammatically, both "they" (subject of za.Du) and "them" (object of 'alei.hem) are third-person plural forms whose antecedents are not stated within Exodus 18:11 itself — the verse assumes the hearer/reader supplies the referents from the surrounding narrative. The Hebrew leaves open whether 'alei.hem means the arrogant action was directed "against them" (a group) or, in an ironic sense, "back upon themselves."

Differences between versions

The Vulgate's superbe egerint contra illos ("they acted proudly against them") closely mirrors the semantic range of za.Du ("acted presumptuously"). The LXX instead uses ἐπέθεντο ("they attacked/set upon"), a term emphasizing physical assault rather than the attitude of arrogance conveyed by the Hebrew root H2102. The modern translations diverge further in specifying referents absent from the Hebrew clause itself: BSB supplies "Israel" as the object of arrogance, while SBLIBRE adds "aplastó a los egipcios" ("he crushed the Egyptians"), an interpretive expansion not present in the Hebrew wording of this verse.