| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vaani {וַאֲנִי | vaʾanî} ‘and I’, asserting divine agency. The emphatic particle hinneni {הִנְנִי | hinnēnî} ‘behold me’ introduces the statement with force. The Piel participle mechazzek {מְחַזֵּק | məḥazzēq} ‘hardening’ conveys intensive ongoing action, with et {אֶת | ʾet} marking the direct object and lev {לֵב | lēḇ} ‘heart’ as the seat of volition. The proper noun mitsrayim {מִצְרַיִם | miṣrayim} ‘Egypt’ is thus anthropomorphized. The sequence continues with the vav-consecutive imperfect veyavoo {וְיָבֹאוּ | wə-yā-voʾu} ‘and they will come’ plus the prepositional phrase achareyhem {אַחֲרֵיהֶם | aḥareihem} ‘after them’, producing a clause of pursuit. Attention shifts to divine vindication in the Nifal perfect veyikkabedah {וְאִכָּבְדָה | wə-yiqqabbədāh} ‘and I will be glorified’, followed by the distributive prepositional phrases: beparoeh {בְּפַרְעֹה | bə-parʿōh} ‘through Pharaoh’, uv-kol-chelo {וּבְכָל־חֵילוֹ | ū-bə-ḵōl-ḥēlō} ‘through all his army’, berikhvo {בְּרִכְבּוֹ | bə-riḵbō} ‘through his chariots’, and uv-parashav {וּבְפָרָשָׁיו | ū-bə-parāšāw} ‘through his horsemen’. The interplay of vav-consecutives and prepositional lists creates a causal progression that highlights divine sovereignty and human response. |