Exodus 2:16

Summary

Exodus 2:16 introduces the seven daughters of the priest of Midian, who come to a well, draw water, and fill the drinking troughs in order to water their father's flock. The verse uses a chain of three consecutive narrative verbs describing their actions in sequence.

Key words

• kho.Hen ("priest of", H3548) — masculine singular construct noun, linking "priest" to "Midian" as the entity he serves or belongs to.
• ta.Vo.nah ("they came", H0935G) — qal narrative verb, feminine plural, the first in a chain of three actions marking sequential events ("and then... and then...").
• tid.Le.nah ("they drew", H1802) — qal narrative verb, feminine plural, continuing the action sequence begun by ta.Vo.nah.
• te.ma.Le.nah ("they filled", H4390) — piel (intensive) narrative verb, feminine plural, marking the third and final action in the sequence, with the piel stem suggesting a completed or thorough filling.
• tzon 'a.vi.Hen ("flock of their father", H6629G + H0001G + H9029) — construct chain ending in a pronominal suffix, expressing possession: the flock belongs to "their father."

What the text says

The verse opens with a vav-conjunction attached to a prepositional phrase, u-le-kho.Hen mid.Yan ("and to the priest of Midian"), followed by the numeral She.va' ("seven", H7651) and ba.Not ("daughters", H1323G), establishing the existence of seven daughters belonging to this priest before any action occurs. The narrative then moves through three verbs joined by the narrative vav (va-), a Hebrew construction that chains events in temporal sequence: the daughters "came" (ta.Vo.nah), then "drew" water (tid.Le.nah), then "filled" (te.ma.Le.nah) the troughs. This three-verb chain compresses a short narrative into rapid, sequential action without needing connecting words like "then" — the grammar itself carries the sequence.

The object of the filling, ha-re.ha.Tim ("the drinking troughs", H7298A), carries the definite article, suggesting troughs already known or expected at this location. The final clause uses an infinitive construction, le-hash.Kot ("to water", H8248G), a hiphil (causative) infinitive expressing purpose: the filling is done in order to water the flock. The phrase closes with a construct chain, tzon 'a.vi.Hen ("flock of their father"), where the pronominal suffix -Hen ("their", H9029) identifies the daughters as a group acting on behalf of a shared father.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the daughters' activity differently: instead of describing them as coming to draw water and fill troughs (as in the Hebrew and the Vulgate's venerunt ad hauriendam aquam... impletis canalibus), the LXX states they were ποιμαίνουσαι τὰ πρόβατα ("shepherding the flocks"), omitting the drawing-water and filling-troughs actions present in the Hebrew verbs tid.Le.nah and te.ma.Le.nah. The LXX also adds the name Ἰοθόρ ("Jothor"), identifying the father by name, where the Hebrew of this verse only says 'a.vi.Hen ("their father") without naming him.