Exodus 20:9

Summary

The verse establishes a period of six days during which labor is to be performed and all work completed. It uses two consecutive verb forms in Hebrew that together frame this as a continuous or sequential action tied to the count of days mentioned.

Key words

• Sheshet ("six", H8337) — construct form of the cardinal number, meaning it must be followed by the noun it counts; here it governs yamim, forming the phrase "six of days."
• yamim ("days", H3117G) — masculine plural noun, the counted object of sheshet, setting the temporal frame for the action.
• ta'avod ("you will labor", H5647I) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular; the imperfect aspect conveys ongoing, habitual, or future action rather than a single completed event.
• 'asita ("you will do", H6213A) — qal sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), second person masculine singular; this form continues the narrative or instructional sequence begun by the imperfect verb, functioning here almost as a parallel future action.
• melakhtekha ("your work", H4399 + H9021) — feminine singular noun in construct with the second-person masculine singular suffix "your," meaning literally "the work of you," governed by kol ("all," H3605) in construct before it.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the construct phrase sheshet yamim, "six of days," which functions adverbially to set the time frame for the verb that follows. The verb ta'avod is a qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, from the root H5647I ("to labor" or "to serve"). Its imperfect form typically indicates action that is ongoing, repeated, or yet to occur, fitting its role as a general instruction rather than a single-instance command.

The following verb, 'asita, is grammatically a perfect form but is converted by the prefixed vav (H9001) into a sequential form that continues the same time-frame and mood as the preceding imperfect. This vav-consecutive construction is characteristic of Biblical Hebrew narrative and instructional syntax, where a perfect verb following an imperfect one carries forward the same future or habitual sense rather than indicating a completed past action.

The object of 'asita is kol-melakhtekha, "all of your work," where kol stands in construct with melekhet, itself bearing the second-person masculine singular suffix -kha ("your"). This construct chain builds a single compound phrase meaning "all your work," specifying the totality of activity to be completed within the six-day frame introduced at the start of the verse.