Exodus 9:17

Summary

Exodus 9:17 poses a rhetorical question (implied by context) about Pharaoh's continued self-exaltation over the people of YHWH and his refusal to let them go. The verse combines a reflexive verb describing Pharaoh's attitude with an infinitival clause expressing the negative result — his continued detention of the people.

Key words

• 'od ("still", H5750) — construct form functioning adverbially, marking continuation: "still yours" / "you still..."
• mistolel ("exalting yourself", H5549) — hithpael participle: the hithpael stem is reflexive/self-directed, showing Pharaoh acting on himself (raising himself up); the participle form presents this as an ongoing, characteristic action rather than a single completed event.
• 'ammi ("my people", H5971A + H9020) — construct noun with 1st person suffix, marking the people as belonging to the speaker (YHWH), setting Pharaoh's self-exaltation directly against divine ownership of the people.
• bilti ("not", H1115) — construct noun used as a negative particle before an infinitive, forming the standard Biblical Hebrew negative purpose/result construction "so as not to."
• shallecham ("to let them go", H7971H + H9038) — piel infinitive with 3rd person plural suffix: the piel stem is intensive/causative ("to send away, release"), and the infinitive with le- and bilti creates the sense "in order not to send them away."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence has no finite main verb of speech or interrogation; the question form is supplied by context (the preceding verses) and by translation tradition, since the participle mistolel itself can stand as a nominal/verbal predicate: "you [are] still exalting yourself against my people." The construct chain 'od-kha ("still-your") functions adverbially to modify the participle, indicating duration ("you are still doing this"). The core clause is built around the hithpael participle mistolel, which grammatically frames Pharaoh's action as reflexive — he raises himself up against the people, not merely acting against them from a neutral position. The final clause, introduced by le-bilti + infinitive shallecham, expresses the negative outcome or purpose bound to this self-exaltation: the continued withholding of release, with the suffixed pronoun -am ("them") referring back to 'ammi, "my people."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew verb mistolel denotes self-exaltation, a reflexive lifting-up of oneself. The Vulgate renders this differently with "retines populum meum" ("you retain/hold back my people"), a verb of detention rather than self-elevation. The LXX (Swete) text given omits an explicit verb corresponding to mistolel, presenting only "ἔτι οὖν σὺ τοῦ λαοῦ μου" ("still then you [belong to/are over] my people"), leaving the precise verbal action implicit where the Hebrew is explicit.