Exodus 19:4ExegesisTAB

Exodus 19 : 4 Deliverance | Protection | Presence
4. Linguistic Exegesis
The verse begins with the independent pronoun atem {אַתֶּם | ʾat-tem} ‘you’, followed by the perfect verb re’ītem {רְאִיתֶם | rə-ʾī-ṯem} ‘you have seen’, forming an emphatic subject–verb pair. The relative particle asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾă-šer} introduces a content clause linked to asiti {עָשִׂיתִי | ʿā-šî-tî} ‘I did’ toward le-mitsrāyim {לְמִצְרָיִם | lə-miṣ-rā-yim} ‘to Egypt’. Two wayyiqtol verbs, wāʾesā {וָאֶשָּׂא | wā-ʾes-sāʾ} ‘and I lifted’ and wāʾāḇî {וָאָבִא | wā-ʾā-ḇî} ‘and I brought’, each take etkhem {אֶתְכֶם | ʾeṯ-kem} ‘you’, highlighting divine agency. The construct phrase al-kanpê nešārîm {עַל־כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים | ʿal-kan-pê ne-šā-rîm} ‘on wings of eagles’ serves as a vivid metaphor of divine protection. The final prepositional phrase ʾelai {אֵלָי | ʾê-lāy} ‘to me’ expresses the relational goal. In translation, the Hebrew perfect is rendered as simple past to convey completed action, and the wayyiqtol forms as past tense to maintain narrative flow.

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