Numbers 33:3

Summary

The verse records the date and manner of Israel's departure from Rameses: on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover, the Israelites left "with a raised hand" while all Egypt watched.

Key words

• yis'u ("they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb, opening the sequence of events with simple past narration.
• chodesh ("month", H2320G) — repeated twice (in the phrase for "first month" and again in "fifteenth day of the month"), anchoring the date by a double reference.
• mochorat ("the next day of", H4283) — feminine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be followed by another noun ("of the Passover") to complete its sense.
• yatze'u ("they went out", H3318G) — qal perfect, marking completed action; distinct from yis'u used for the initial departure from Rameses.
• yad ramah ("a raised hand", H3027G + H7311A) — ramah is a qal participle (feminine, agreeing with yad, "hand"), literally "a hand [that is] lifted/raised," describing the manner of the exit.

What the text says

The verse is built as two parallel statements about the same event, each introduced by a different verb of motion. The first clause uses yis'u ("they set out") with the place of departure, me-Ra'meses ("from Rameses", H7486G), and a date formula: ba-chodesh ha-rishon ("in the first month") followed by ba-chamishah asar yom ("on the fifteenth day"). The second clause repeats the date differently, using la-chodesh ha-rishon ("of the first month") governed by the construct noun mochorat ("the next day of"), which is completed by ha-Pesach ("the Passover"). This creates a temporal marker: the day after Passover equals the fifteenth of the first month.

The second clause then shifts subject and verb: yatze'u benei-Yisra'el ("the sons of Israel went out"), using benei ("sons of", H1121G) in construct with Yisra'el. The manner of departure is given by be-yad ramah ("with a hand raised"), where ramah is a participle modifying yad ("hand") — a verbal-adjective construction describing an ongoing state or visible posture rather than a completed action. The final phrase, le-'einei kol-Mitzrayim ("to the eyes of all Egypt"), uses 'einei ("eyes of", H5869H) in construct with kol-Mitzrayim ("all Egypt"), indicating that this action occurred visibly, in the sight of the Egyptian population.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders be-yad ramah ("with a raised hand") as ἐν χειρὶ ὑψηλῇ ("with a high/lofty hand"), a close structural match. The BSB translates the same phrase as "defiantly," an interpretive rendering not literally present in the Hebrew construct phrase itself. The Vulgate's in manu excelsa ("with an exalted hand") also preserves the literal image. The Hebrew le-'einei kol-Mitzrayim ("to the eyes of all Egypt") is rendered by the LXX as ἐναντίον πάντων τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ("before all the Egyptians"), shifting from the idiom "eyes of" to a simple preposition "before."