Exodus 23:30

Summary

The verse continues Yehovah's promise regarding the conquest, stating that the expulsion of the land's inhabitants will happen gradually rather than all at once. This gradual removal will continue until the people described become numerous enough and are able to take possession of the land.

Key words

me'at ("little", H4592) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice (me'at me'at) to form an idiomatic construction expressing gradual, step-by-step action ("little by little").

'agareshennu ("I will drive out + it/him", H1644G) — piel imperfect first-person singular verb with a third-person masculine singular suffix. The piel stem gives the verb an intensive or causative force ("drive out forcefully"); the attached suffix is grammatically singular, referring to a single collective object.

tifreh ("you will be fruitful", H6509) — qal imperfect second-person masculine singular. This is the first verb in a two-part temporal clause introduced by 'ad 'asher ("until that", H5704 + H0834A).

ve.nachalta ("and you will possess", H5157) — qal form linked by the narrative vav (H9001) to the previous verb, continuing the sequence as a consequential action following the fruitfulness.

ha'aretz ("the land", H0776G) — feminine singular noun with definite article, marked by the direct object particle 'et (H0853), the ultimate goal of the promised sequence.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the doubled noun me'at me'at, a repetition that functions adverbially to express gradualness — the driving-out will not be instantaneous. The main verb 'agareshennu is piel imperfect, giving it an intensive nuance, and carries a singular suffix ("it/him"), which is grammatically singular even though the referent involves multiple inhabitants collectively treated as one entity.

The clause introduced by 'ad 'asher ("until that") sets a condition using two verbs in sequence: first tifreh (qal imperfect, "you will be fruitful"), then ve.nachalta (qal perfect with vav, continuing the same time-frame as a sequential action, "you will possess"). This grammatical chain — imperfect followed by vav-perfect — presents fruitfulness as a prerequisite state preceding the act of possessing the land.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text contains two distinct verbs in the final clause: tifreh ("be fruitful/multiply") and ve.nachalta ("possess"). The LXX renders this with a single verb, κληρονομήσῃς ("you inherit"), without a separate term corresponding to tifreh. The Vulgate preserves both Hebrew verbs, using augearis ("you increase") and possideas ("you possess"), matching the two-part structure of the Hebrew more closely than the LXX does.

Additionally, the Hebrew suffix on 'agareshennu is singular ("it/him"), while both the LXX (αὐτοὺς, "them") and the Vulgate (eos, "them") render the object as plural.