Exodus 9:16

Summary

In this verse, God explains to Pharaoh the specific purpose behind his continued existence during the plagues: to display divine power and to make the divine name known throughout the earth. The verse uses two purpose clauses introduced by parallel prepositional constructions.

Key words

• he.'e.mad.Ti ("I have caused to stand", H5975H) — hiphil (causative) perfect, 1st person singular with pronominal suffix "you". The hiphil stem of the root amad ("to stand") indicates that the subject caused another party to remain standing/in position, rather than simply describing that party's own standing.
• har.'o.te ("to see" / "to show", H7200G) — hiphil infinitive construct with pronominal suffix "you". As with the previous verb, the hiphil stem shifts the meaning from "to see" to "to cause to see," i.e., "to show."
• ko.Ch ("power", H3581B) — masculine singular construct noun with 1st person suffix "my," forming "my power."
• sa.Per ("to recount", H5608A) — piel (intensive) infinitive construct. The piel stem intensifies the basic action of telling, suggesting thorough or repeated declaration rather than a single mention.
• she.M ("name", H8034) — masculine singular construct noun with 1st person suffix "my," forming "my name."

What the text says

The verse opens with ve ("and", H9002) plus 'u.Lam ("but", H0199), an adverb marking contrast with what precedes. The phrase ba.'a.Vur zoT ("for the sake of this") sets up the reason clause, followed by the main verb he.'e.mad.Ti.kha — hiphil perfect "I have caused you to stand." Because this is hiphil, the grammatical subject (God) is the one performing the causing; Pharaoh is the object who is caused to stand, not the one standing independently.

The purpose of this causing is expressed through two parallel infinitive constructions, each introduced by a purpose particle: ba.'a.Vur har.'o.te.kha ("for the sake of causing you to see" = "in order to show you") governs 'et-ko.Ch.i ("my power"), and u.le.Ma.'an sa.Per she.M.i ("and so that [there be] recounting of my name") governs the phrase extending be.khol ha.'A.retz ("in all the earth"). The infinitives har.'o.te and sa.Per both function as verbal nouns dependent on the purpose particles, a common Hebrew construction for expressing intended outcomes.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders he.'e.mad.Ti.kha with διετηρήθης ("you were preserved/kept"), a passive verb, where the Hebrew uses an active causative hiphil form with God as the explicit agent ("I caused you to stand"). The Vulgate's posui te ("I placed you") keeps the active voice and agent but uses a more general verb than the Hebrew's specific causative form of amad ("to stand").