Exodus 21:1

Summary

Exodus 21:1 introduces a collection of legal rulings, stating that these are the mishpatim ("judgments", H4941G) which Moses is instructed to set before the people. The verse functions as a heading, opening the section of case law that follows in chapter 21.

Key words

• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle pointing forward to the material that follows, signaling that the verse introduces a list rather than narrating an event.
• mishpatim ("judgments", H4941G) — masculine plural noun, the technical term for legal rulings or case-law decisions, distinct from devarim ("words") or chuqqim ("statutes") used elsewhere.
• ta.Sim ("you will set", H7760A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular. The imperfect aspect conveys an action not yet completed, here functioning as an instruction or directive addressed to a single "you" (Moses, per the narrative context).
• 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A) — relative particle connecting the noun mishpatim to the clause describing the action to be performed with them.
• li-fnei-hem ("before them", H6440G + H9028) — compound of the construct noun fenei ("face of") with the preposition li and the third person masculine plural suffix, producing the idiom "before them," i.e., in front of the people.

What the text says

The verse opens with the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) attached to the demonstrative 'Elleh, a construction that ties this verse to what precedes it while also functioning as a formal heading. The clause ve-'Elleh ha-mishpatim ("and these [are] the judgments") uses the definite article ha (H9009) on mishpatim, marking the noun as definite — "the judgments" already in view, about to be enumerated. There is no explicit verb "to be" in the Hebrew clause itself; the copula "are" is supplied in translation, a common feature of Hebrew nominal sentences.

The relative clause 'asher tasim li-fnei-hem specifies the action to be taken with these judgments. The verb tasim, from the root meaning "to set" or "to place" (H7760A), is in the qal imperfect, addressed to a singular "you." This grammatical person indicates a single addressee is charged with presenting the rulings, though the text of this verse alone does not name the addressee. The phrase li-fnei-hem ("before them" / "in front of them") uses the idiomatic construct fenei ("face of") governed by the preposition li, a standard Biblical Hebrew way of expressing placement in someone's presence, here with a plural suffix referring to those who will receive the rulings.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tasim ("you will set") with parathēsē ("you will place beside" or "propose"), a verb carrying a nuance of formal presentation or proposal rather than simple placement. The Vulgate uses propones ("you will propose"), aligning with the LXX's sense of formal presentation. The Hebrew tasim itself carries the more general sense of "set" or "place," without the specific connotation of proposing found in the Greek and Latin renderings.