| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the imperative shamor {שָׁמוֹר | šā-môr} ‘watch over’, establishing a ritual directive. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} introduces khôdeš hā-ʾā-vîḇ {חֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב | ḥō-ḏeš hā-ʾā-vîḇ} ‘month of Aviv’, setting the festival timeframe. The vav-consecutive wə-ʿā-śî-ṯā {וְעָשִׂיתָ | wə-ʿā-śî-ṯā} ‘and you shall do’ governs pē-ṣāḥ {פֶּסַח | pē-ṣāḥ} ‘Passover’, directed lə-Yahweh ʾĕ-lō-hê-ḵā {לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ | lə-Yahweh ʾĕ-lō-hê-ḵā}, tying action to divine agency. The conjunction kî {כִּי | kî} introduces the reason clause with bə-ḥō-ḏeš hā-ʾā-vîḇ {בְּחֹדֶשׁ הָאָבִיב | bə-ḥō-ḏeš hā-ʾā-vîḇ}. Hō-ṣî-ʾā-ḵā {הוֹצִיאֲךָ | hō-ṣî-ʾā-ḵā} ‘he brought you out’, a causative stem, underscores divine deliverance. The repetition of Yahweh ʾĕ-lō-hê-ḵā emphasizes covenant faithfulness. Finally, the phrases min-mî-ṣrā-yim {מִמִּצְרַיִם | min-mî-ṣrā-yim} ‘from Egypt’ and lā-yə-lā {לָיְלָה | lā-yə-lā} ‘by night’ anchor the practice in its historical and temporal context. |