Exodus 7:5

Summary

The verse states that Egypt will come to know "I am Yehovah" through two future divine actions: the stretching out of a hand against Egypt and the bringing out of the sons of Israel from their midst. The knowledge is presented as the result or consequence of these acts.

Key words

• ya.de.'U ("they will know", H3045) — qal sequential perfect, third person plural; grammatically continues the narrative sequence and functions with future sense ("they will know").
• ki ("that", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing the content of what Egypt will know; can function as "that" or conditionally as "if/when" depending on context.
• bi-n.to.T-i ("when I stretch out", H9003 + H5186 + H9040) — preposition bi attached to a qal infinitive of natah, with first-person pronominal suffix "my/I"; the construction "in my stretching out" expresses simultaneity or circumstance rather than a finite verb.
• ho.tze.Ti ("I will bring out", H3318H) — hiphil (causative stem) sequential perfect, first person singular; the hiphil marks Yehovah as the causer of the exodus, "I will cause to go out."
• mi.to.Kha-m ("from among them", H8432 + H9028) — construct noun tavekh ("midst") with preposition min and third-person plural suffix, indicating separation from a group.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with ve.ya.de.'U, a vav-sequential perfect that carries forward the narrative thread begun in the preceding verses, here with future meaning: "and they will know." The subject is Mitzrayim ("Egypt"), grammatically singular in form but referring to the Egyptians collectively. The particle ki introduces the content clause: "that I am Yehovah" (ani Yehovah), a simple predication using the independent personal pronoun ani plus the divine name.

The circumstance under which this knowledge occurs is expressed not with a finite verb but with an infinitive construct: bi-n.to.T-i et-yadi al-Mitzrayim, literally "in my stretching out my hand against Egypt." This infinitival construction ties the two clauses tightly together as one continuous action-and-recognition event, rather than presenting them as separate sequential steps. The sentence then continues with a second sequential perfect, ve.ho.tze.Ti ("and I will bring out"), in the hiphil stem, marking Yehovah as the causative agent of Israel's departure. The phrase closes with mi.to.kham, "from their midst," specifying that Israel is removed from within the Egyptian population.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew ki is rendered as ὅτι (LXX) and quia (Vulgate), both meaning "that/because," consistent with the Hebrew subordinating sense. The LXX and Vulgate render the infinitive construction bi-n.to.T-i ("in my stretching out") with a participle (LXX: ἐκτείνων, "stretching out") or subjunctive-like perfect (Vulgate: extenderim, "I shall have stretched"), producing a slightly different grammatical framing than the Hebrew infinitive-with-preposition. The LXX adds πάντες ("all") before "the Egyptians," a specification not present in the Hebrew text, which uses simply Mitzrayim.