Exodus 8:22

Summary

Yehovah, speaking through Moses, announces that on a specified day the land of Goshen — where the Israelite people live — will be set apart from the plague of swarming insects. The stated purpose is that Pharaoh (the addressed "you") will know that Yehovah is present in the midst of the land.

Key words

• hifleiti ("I will separate", H6395) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, first person: the causative stem marks this as an action God actively performs, not something that merely happens; the sequential perfect continues the narrative chain from the preceding verses.
• 'omed ("standing/dwelling", H5975) — qal participle, masculine singular: describes the ongoing, continuous state of the people's presence in Goshen rather than a completed action.
• le-vilti heyot ("so as not to be", H1115 + H1961) — construction with the negating noun bilti plus the infinitive of hayah: expresses purpose/result (that a condition not occur), grammatically framing the exemption as a negative outcome to be achieved.
• teda' ("you may know", H3045) — qal jussive, second person masculine: expresses intended result rather than simple future, tied to the preceding lema'an ("so that", H4616).
• be-qerev ha-'aretz ("in the midst of the land", H7130 + H0776) — construct phrase with definite article: specifies location as "within" the land, not merely "over" or "of" it.

What the text says

The verse opens with a sequential-perfect verb, hifleiti, in the causative (hiphil) stem, which frames Yehovah as the direct agent producing a distinction for the "land of Goshen" ('erets Goshen). This land is further identified by a relative clause: "which my people is standing on it" ('asher 'ammi 'omed 'aleiha), using a participle ('omed) that presents the people's presence as a continuous state rather than a single event.

The purpose clause built with le-vilti heyot sham 'arov ("so as not to be there a swarm") uses an infinitive construction with the negating particle bilti, syntactically marking the swarm's absence as the intended result of the separation, not merely a side effect.

The final purpose clause, introduced by lema'an and the jussive teda', ties the whole action to a stated goal of knowledge: "that you may know that I am Yehovah in the midst of the land" (be-qerev ha-'aretz). The construct phrase qerev ha-'aretz specifies an internal, immanent location — "within" the land — rather than dominion "over" it.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew hifleiti ("I will separate/set apart") with paradoxasō ("I will make marvelous/distinguish"), shifting the verb's semantic field from separation to marvel. Correspondingly, the Vulgate uses mirabilem ("wonderful"), aligning with the LXX's sense rather than the Hebrew's separative nuance.

The Hebrew closing phrase be-qerev ha-'aretz ("in the midst of the land") is rendered in the LXX as kyrios pasēs tēs gēs ("lord of all the earth"), which shifts from a statement of immanent presence within a specific land to a title of universal dominion. The Vulgate's in medio terrae ("in the midst of the land") corresponds more closely to the Hebrew construction.

The Hebrew 'arov ("swarm", unspecified as to insect type) is rendered in the LXX as kynomyia ("dog-fly"), specifying a particular insect not indicated in the Hebrew term itself.