Sunday, January 05, 2014

Word choice

In Beshalach:

ד  וְחִזַּקְתִּי אֶת-לֵב-פַּרְעֹה, וְרָדַף אַחֲרֵיהֶם, וְאִכָּבְדָה בְּפַרְעֹה וּבְכָל-חֵילוֹ, וְיָדְעוּ מִצְרַיִם כִּי-אֲנִי יְהוָה; וַיַּעֲשׂוּ-כֵן.4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get Me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.' And they did so.


Why וְחִזַּקְתִּי? It is of course a valid word choice. But sometimes כבד is used. But see later in this pasuk, with וְאִכָּבְדָה בְּפַרְעֹה. This avoids a parallelism / echoing.

End.

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