Exodus 7:1

Summary

Yehovah speaks to Moses, telling him to take note (re'eh, H7200I) that he has appointed him as Elohim ("a god", H0430G) in relation to Pharaoh, while Aaron, Moses' brother, will function as his navi ("prophet", H5030).

Key words

re'eh ("consider" / "see", H7200I) — qal imperative, second person masculine singular. It opens the divine speech as a direct command to pay attention to what follows.

netatikha ("I have appointed you", H5414I + H9031) — qal perfect (completed action) with a pronominal suffix "you" attached. The perfect aspect presents the appointment as an already-settled fact, not something pending.

Elohim ("a god", H0430G) — masculine plural noun, here functioning as a predicate noun describing what Moses is made to be for Pharaoh, without the definite article.

achikha ("your brother", H0251G + H9021) — masculine singular noun in construct form ("brother of...") plus suffix "your," identifying Aaron's relational role to Moses before his functional role is stated.

nevi'ekha ("your prophet", H5030 + H9021) — masculine singular noun in construct form with suffix "your," paired with the imperfect verb yihyeh ("he will be", H1961) to describe Aaron's ongoing or future role.

What the text says

The verse is built as a single reported speech introduced by the narrative verb vayomer ("and he said", H0559), a standard qal narrative form marking sequence in the story. The speech itself divides into two parallel statements joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). In the first, the perfect verb netati ("I have appointed") assigns Moses the status of Elohim "to Pharaoh" (le-Par'oh, using the preposition le, H9005, indicating direction/relation rather than identity). The construction places Moses in a specific relational role toward Pharaoh, marked by the preposition, not an absolute or independent title.

In the second half, the imperfect verb yihyeh ("he will be", H1961) assigns Aaron the parallel role of navi ("prophet") "to you" (Moses), using the construct-plus-suffix form nevi'ekha ("your prophet"). The grammatical parallel between the perfect netatikha and the imperfect yihyeh creates a structural balance: one action is framed as already accomplished, the other as an ongoing or resulting state. Aaron's identity as "your brother" (achikha) is stated before his functional role, reinforcing the relational framing that runs through both halves of the verse.

Differences between versions

The provided LXX excerpt only contains the clause about Aaron ("καὶ Ἀαρὼν ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἔσται σου προφήτης," "and Aaron your brother will be your prophet"), without the opening clause concerning Moses and Pharaoh present in the Hebrew, Vulgate, and modern translations. The Vulgate renders Elohim as "Deum" ("God"), and modern versions such as the BSB and SBLIBRE render it comparatively — "like God" — rather than as a direct predicate noun, reflecting differing choices in translating the plural noun Elohim used without the article in this construction.