Exodus 10:2
in Exodus 10and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of you may know that I am the LORD.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought upon Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am Jehovah.
KJV
And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
for I have hardened his heart
on Exodus 10:1-2
The LORD gives a reason for the sequence of signs, and the reason is instruction. Israel is to “tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians”.
This site's exposition
tell your children and grandchildren
The LORD gives a further purpose for the signs: Israel is to tell them to its children and grandchildren. The plagues become a record for later generations, so that all Israel may know that He is the LORD.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son,....
Of God's victorious power over the kingdom of Satan, to restrain the malice and chastise the insolence of his and his church's enemies. These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin, and standing monitors to the children of men in all ages not to provoke the Lord to jealousy nor to strive with their Maker.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And that thou mayest tell . . . of thy son, and of thy son's son, &c.--There was a further and higher reason for the infliction of those awful judgments, namely, that the knowledge of them there, and the permanent record of them still, might furnish a salutary and impressive lesson to the Church down to the latest ages.
That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son - That the miracles wrought at this time might be a record for the instruction of the latest posterity, that Jehovah alone, the God of the Hebrews, was the sole Maker, Governor, and Supporter of the heavens and the earth. Thus we find God so did his marvelous works, that they might be had in everlasting remembrance.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
GO IN UNTO PHARAOH; FOR I HAVE HARDENED HIS HEART AND THE HEART OF HIS SERVANTS. The Holy One, blessed be He, informed Moses that it is He Who has hardened their hearts in spite of their fear of Him during the hail and their confession of sin.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְמַ֡עַן | ulemaan | and so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| תְּסַפֵּר֩ | tesaper | you may recount | H5608 → | 159 times |
| בְּאָזְנֵ֨י | beazenei | in [the] ears of | H241 → | 187 times |
| בִנְךָ֜ | vinkha | son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבֶן־ | uven- | and [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בִּנְךָ֗ | binkha | son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֵ֣ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | how | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִתְעַלַּ֙לְתִּי֙ | hitalalti | I have dealt ruthlessly | H5953 → | |
| בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם | bemitzrayim | with Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹתֹתַ֖י | ʾototai | signs my | H226 → | 80 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שַׂ֣מְתִּי | samti | I performed | H7760 → | 584 times |
| בָ֑ם | vam | among <the> them | ||
| וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם | vida'tem | and you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וּלְמַ֡עַןand so that
ulemaanH4616 →272 times
תְּסַפֵּר֩you may recount
tesaperH5608 →159 times
בְּאָזְנֵ֨יin [the] ears of
beazeneiH241 →187 times
בִנְךָ֜son your
vinkhaH1121 →4930 times
וּבֶן־and [the] son of
uven-H1121 →4930 times
בִּנְךָ֗son your
binkhaH1121 →4930 times
אֵ֣ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רhow
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִתְעַלַּ֙לְתִּי֙I have dealt ruthlessly
hitalaltiH5953 →
בְּמִצְרַ֔יִםwith Egypt
bemitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֹתֹתַ֖יsigns my
ʾototaiH226 →80 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
שַׂ֣מְתִּיI performed
samtiH7760 →584 times
בָ֑םamong <the> them
vam
וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖םand you will know
vida'temH3045 →945 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 78:3–8
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
- Deuteronomy 32:46
he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
- Deuteronomy 6:7
Through
Joel 1:3Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:4
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 71:18
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
- Psalms 145:4
Through
Psalms 44:1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:3–6
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Psalms 78:3–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Exodus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
