| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with attah {עַתָּה | ʿaṯ-ṯāh} ‘now’, acting as a temporal discourse marker introducing Jethro’s counsel. The imperative shema {שְׁמַע | šə-maʿ} ‘hear’, coupled with the prepositional phrase bekoli {בְּקֹלִי | bə-qō-lî} ‘in my voice’, forms a directive clause emphasizing Moses’ attentive reception of instruction. The imperfect + cohortative eiatskha {אִיעָ֣צְךָ | ʾî-ʿāṣ-kā} ‘I will advise you’ expresses Jethro’s commitment to guide Moses. The jussive vihi {וִיהִי | wî-hî} ‘and may it be’ introduces a wish construction, with elohim {אֱלֹהִים | ʾĕ-lō-hîm} as the subject of accompaniment (immakh {עִמָּךְ | ʿim-māḵ} ‘with you’). The imperative heyeh {הֱיֵ֧ה | hĕ-yēh} ‘be’ plus attah {אַתָּה | ʾat-tāh} ‘you’ and laam {לָעָם | lā-ʿām} ‘for the people’ issues a command establishing Moses’ representative role. The preposition mul {מוּל | mūl} ‘before’ with haelohim {הָאֱלֹהִים | hā-ʾĕ-lō-hîm} specifies the spatial locus of this role. Finally, the Hiphil perfect wehevetah {וְהֵבֵאתָ | wə-hē-ḇē-ṯā} ‘and you shall bring’, with the emphatic attah {אַתָּה | ʾat-tāh}, identifies Moses as the agent who brings the definite matters (et {אֶת | ʾeṯ} marking the object haddevarim {הַדְּבָרִים | had-də-ḇā-rîm} ‘the matters’) el-haelohim {אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים | ʾel-hā-ʾĕ-lō-hîm} ‘to the God’. This progression from directive through wish to representative commission conveys a structured mediation role in which Hebrew verb forms and word order encode both authority and divine empowerment. |