Exodus 7:6

Summary

The verse reports that Moses and Aaron carried out the actions Yehovah had commanded them, framed as a completed, faithful execution of instructions. The sentence structure doubles the verb "to do," first stating the command's fulfillment, then restating "so they did" as confirmation.

Key words

• vaYa'as ("he did", H6213A) — qal narrative form opening the verse, marking the next event in the storyline (the same root appears again at the end).
• ka'asher ("as", H0834D) — relative particle introducing the standard of comparison between command and action.
• tzivvah ("he commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, an intensive/causative stem indicating a formal, completed act of commanding.
• ken ("so", H3651C) — adverb of manner that resumes and confirms the preceding comparison clause.
• 'asu ("they did", H6213A) — qal perfect, plural, repeating the root of the opening verb to close the sentence with matching action.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in two balanced parts joined by the comparative particle ka'asher ("as", H0834D): "Moses and Aaron did... as Yehovah commanded them" (vaYa'as Mosheh ve'Aharon ka'asher tzivvah YHWH 'otam), followed by a short confirming clause, ken 'asu ("so they did"). Both halves use the same verbal root, H6213A ('asah, "to do"), first in the narrative qal form vaYa'as and then in the plain qal perfect 'asu. This repetition creates a frame: the action is stated, the command is cited as its standard, and then the action is restated as accomplished fact, without additional narrative content between command and execution.

The direct object marker 'et (H0853) with the third-person plural suffix -am ("them", H9038) marks "them" (Moses and Aaron) as the object of Yehovah's command, distinguishing the grammatical object of tzivvah ("he commanded", H6680) from the subject of 'asu ("they did", H6213A), even though both refer to the same two individuals. The piel stem of tzivvah signals a decisive, formal act of commanding rather than a simple statement.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew object marker plus suffix ('otam, "them") as the dative pronoun αὐτοῖς ("to them"), reflecting Greek's use of dative case with ἐνετείλατο ("he commanded") rather than a direct accusative object as in Hebrew. The LXX also adds δὲ ("but/and"), a connective particle not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew, which uses only the narrative vav (H9001) attached to the verb. The Vulgate uses "præceperat" (pluperfect, "had commanded"), emphasizing that the command preceded the action, whereas the Hebrew tzivvah (H6680) is a simple perfect without this temporal layering. The Vulgate's closing clause "ita egerunt" ("thus they acted") uses a different verb (agere) than "fecit" ("did") used earlier, unlike the Hebrew, which repeats the identical root H6213A in both halves of the verse.