| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the waw-consecutive vehayah {וְהָיָ֞ה | wə-hā-yā(h)} ‘and it will be’, establishing a future narrative flow. The temporal-conditional clause ki-yishalekh {כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ | kî-yiš-ʾāl-ḵā} ‘when he asks you’ features binakh {בִנְךָ֛ | bin-ḵā} ‘your son’ as subject in construct with the second person suffix. Machar {מָחָ֖ר | māḥār} ‘tomorrow’ situates the question in time, while le-emor {לֵאמֹ֣ר | lē-ʾmôr} ‘saying’ introduces the direct speech question mah-zot {מַה־זֹּ֑את | māh-zōṯ} ‘what is this’. The response formula ve-amarta {וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | wə-ʾā-mār-tā} ‘and you shall say’ plus elav {אֵלָ֔יו | ʾē-lāw} ‘to him’ frames the instruction. The idiom be-chozek yad {בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֗ד | bə-ḥō-zeq yād} ‘with strength of hand’ underscores divine power. The Hiphil perfect ho-tsi-anu {הוֹצִיאָ֧נוּ | hō-ṣî-ʾā-nū} ‘He brought us out’ places the verb before the subject Yahweh {יְהוָ֛ה | yəhō-wā(h)}, highlighting the LORD’s agency. The coordinated prepositional phrases mi-mitsrayim {מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם | mimmîṣ-rā́-yim} ‘from Egypt’ and mi-beit avadim {מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים | mib-bêṯ ʿă-ḇā-dîm} ‘from the house of slaves’ specify both location and condition of bondage. The English rendering shifts the verb-final Hebrew structure into subject-verb-object order to maintain clarity while preserving theological emphasis. |