Exodus 9:13

Summary

Yehovah instructs Moses to rise early, stand before Pharaoh, and deliver a message demanding the release of "my people" so that they may serve/worship him. The verse frames this as a direct divine speech act, using formal messenger-speech conventions.

Key words

• hashKem ("rise early", H7925) — hiphil (causative) imperative: literally "cause yourself to rise early," an intensified command form.
• hityaTzev ("present yourself", H3320) — hithpael (reflexive) imperative: the reflexive stem frames the action as Moses positioning/establishing himself before Pharaoh, not merely standing.
• koh ("thus", H3541) — adverb introducing a formal quotation; combined with 'amar ("he says", H0559) it forms the standard messenger formula "thus says X," marking what follows as a direct citation of Yehovah's words.
• shaLach ("let go", H7971) — piel (intensive) imperative: the intensive stem of the root for "send" conveys a forceful "send away/release," stronger than a simple qal command.
• ya'avDuni ("they may serve me", H5647) — qal imperfect with vav, attached to the 1st person suffix ni ("me"): expresses purpose or result ("so that they may serve me"), linking the release of the people to an intended action directed at Yehovah.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on va-yYomer ("and he said"), the standard formula introducing reported speech in Biblical Hebrew narrative. The subject Yehovah (H3068) speaks directly 'el-Mosheh ("to Moses"), and the ensuing commands to Moses are given as a chain of imperatives: hashKem ("rise early"), hityaTzev ("present yourself"), followed by a sequential perfect 'amarTa ("you will say"), which continues the imperative chain by marking Moses' next action as a following stage of the sequence rather than a separate command form.

The content of what Moses must say is introduced by the messenger formula koh 'amar Yehovah 'elohei ha-'Ivrim ("thus says Yehovah, God of the Hebrews"), a construct chain ('elohei, "God of") that identifies Yehovah specifically in relation to "the Hebrews" (ha-'Ivrim, H5680), a gentilic term. The core demand uses the piel imperative shaLach ("let go/send away") with the direct object marker 'et preceding 'ammi ("my people," a construct noun with 1st-person suffix). The final clause, ve-ya'avDuni ("so that they may serve me"), uses an imperfect verb with vav conjunction attached to a 1st-person object suffix, expressing the purpose for which the people are to be released — their service or worship directed toward Yehovah.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ya'avDuni ("they may serve me") with λατρεύσωσίν μοι ("that they may worship/serve me" — cultic service). The Vulgate renders the same clause as ut sacrificet mihi ("that he may sacrifice to me"), narrowing the sense specifically to sacrificial action, whereas the Hebrew verb 'avad (H5647) denotes serving more broadly without specifying sacrifice.