Exodus 4:9
וְהָיָה אִם־לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ גַּם לִשְׁנֵי הָאֹתוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּן לְקֹלֶךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ מִמֵּימֵי הַיְאֹר וְשָׁפַכְתָּ הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְהָיוּ הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר תִּקַּח מִן־הַיְאֹר וְהָיוּ לְדָם בַּיַּבָּֽשֶׁת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְהָיָ֡ה אִם־לֹ֣א יַאֲמִ֡ינוּ גַּם֩ לִשְׁנֵ֨י הָאֹת֜וֹת הָאֵ֗לֶּה וְלֹ֤א יִשְׁמְעוּן֙ לְקֹלֶ֔ךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ֙ מִמֵּימֵ֣י הַיְאֹ֔ר וְשָׁפַכְתָּ֖ הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וְהָי֤וּ הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּקַּ֣ח מִן־הַיְאֹ֔ר וְהָי֥וּ לְדָ֖ם בַּיַּבָּֽשֶׁת׃
καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσωσίν σοι τοῖς δυσὶ σημείοις τούτοις μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσιν τῆς φωνῆς σου, λήμψῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἐκχεεῖς ἐπὶ τὸ ξηρόν, καὶ ἔσται τὸ ὕδωρ ὃ ἐὰν λάβῃς ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ αἷμα ἐπὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quod si nec duobus quidem his signis crediderint, neque audierint vocem tuam: sume aquam fluminis, et effunde eam super aridam, et quidquid hauseris de fluvio, vertetur in sanguinem.
Y si a pesar de estas dos señales no te creen ni te hacen caso, sacarás agua del río y la derramarás sobre la tierra seca. Esa agua del río se convertirá en sangre al tocar el suelo”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y si aun no creyeren á estas dos señales, ni oyeren tu voz, tomarás de las aguas del río, y derrámalas en tierra; y volverse han aquellas aguas que tomarás del río, se volverán sangre en la tierra.
But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.” The Appointment of Aaron
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 4:9 gives a third sign for Moses to perform if the Israelites remain unconvinced by the first two: he is to take water from the Nile and pour it onto dry ground, where it will turn into blood. The verse is structured as a conditional clause followed by a sequential chain of instructions.
Key words
- ya'aminu ("they will believe", H0539) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, third person plural masculine, expressing the hypothetical failure to be persuaded by the signs.
- 'otot ("signs", H0226G) — feminine plural noun, in construct with shnei ("two of", H8147), referring back to the two signs mentioned earlier in the chapter.
- yishme'un ("they will listen", H8085G) — qal imperfect with paragoric nun (H9013), a suffix that adds emphasis to the verb form.
- ye'or ("River", H2975G) — proper name for the Nile, repeated twice in the verse, anchoring the source of the water.
- dam ("blood", H1818) — masculine singular noun, the resulting substance after the transformation, paired with the preposition le ("into", H9005) marking the change of state.
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative vav on hayah ("it will be", H1961), continuing the sequence of divine speech from the previous verses. This is followed by a conditional construction using 'im ("if", H0518A) plus two negated imperfect verbs — lo' ya'aminu ("they will not believe") and ve-lo' yishme'un ("and they will not listen") — describing the hypothetical failure of the first two signs to convince. The object of disbelief is marked by gam ("also", H1571), intensifying that this refers to both prior signs collectively, expressed through the construct phrase shnei ha-'otot ha-'eleh ("the two of these signs").
After the conditional clause, the text shifts into a chain of sequential perfect verbs (ve-laqachta, "and you will take"; ve-shafachta, "and you will pour out") — a common Biblical Hebrew construction where perfect verbs with narrative vav continue a future instruction begun by an initial verb form. The water is specified as mi-meimei ha-ye'or ("from the waters of the River", H4325G + H2975G), using a construct chain that ties the noun "water" directly to "the Nile." The final clause repeats ve-hayu ("they will become", H1961) twice, first describing the water taken from the river, then stating its transformation le-dam ("into blood", H1818) ba-yabashet ("on the dry ground", H3006/H9003), using the preposition le to mark the resulting state of the transformation.
Differences between versions
The Vulgate renders the sequence more compactly, using vertetur in sanguinem ("it will be turned into blood") as a single clause, where the Hebrew repeats ve-hayu ("they will become") twice — once introducing the water taken from the river, and again introducing its change into blood. The LXX similarly consolidates this into one clause, ἔσται τὸ ὕδωρ ... αἷμα ("the water will be ... blood"), without the doubled verb structure present in the Hebrew.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.