Exodus 9:16
in Exodus 9But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
KJV
And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut truly, on this very account, have I caused thee to subsist - (העמדחיך heemadticha), that I might cause thee to see my power, (הראתך את כחי harotheca eth cochi), and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth, (or, בכל הארץ becol haarets, in all this land). See Ainsworth and Houbigant.
This site's exposition
I have raised you up for this very purpose
on Exodus 9:16-17
Romans 9:17 quotes this verse, and Romans 9:18 concludes that God “hardens whom He wants to harden”. The purpose is a name proclaimed in all the earth, and the account never names the king who asked “Who is the LORD” at 5:2.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
With God there is no injustice. Thus [Paul] immediately added, "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, that I may show through you my power and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.' " Then, having said this, he draws a conclusion that looks both ways, that is, toward mercy and toward judgment: "Therefore," he says, "he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens." He shows mercy out of his great goodness; he hardens out of no unfairness at all. In this way neither does he who is saved have a basis for glorying in any merit of his own; nor does the man who is damned have a basis for complaining of anything except what he has fully merited. For grace alone separates the redeemed from the lost, all having been mingled together in the one mass of perdition, arising from a common cause which leads back to their common origin.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Jethro said upon it, Now know I that the Lord is greater than all gods, ch. xviii. The apostle illustrates the doctrine of God's sovereignty with this instance, Rom. ix. To justify God in these resolutions, Moses is directed to ask him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For this cause have I raised thee up - A most dreadful message Moses is here ordered to deliver to him, whether he will hear, or whether he will forbear. He must tell him, that he is marked for ruin: that he now stands as the butt at which God would shoot all the arrows of his wrath.
quarantine:near-duplicate (2026-07-29) — near-dup(84%, 2 voices)
And in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up,.... Or but truly or verily (c); instead of smiting thee with the pestilence, and cutting thee off out of the land of the living, "I have raised thee up"; made thee to stand (d), to continue in being; I have preserved thine from perishing by the former plagues, and have reserved thee for greater judgments and sorer punishments.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאוּלָ֗ם | veulam | and but | H199 → | |
| בַּעֲב֥וּר | baavur | forsake of | H5668 → | 49 times |
| זֹאת֙ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| הֶעֱמַדְתִּ֔יךָ | heemadtikha | I have caused to stand you | H5975 → | 521 times |
| בַּעֲב֖וּר | baavur | in order | H5668 → | 49 times |
| הַרְאֹתְךָ֣ | harotekha | to see you | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כֹּחִ֑י | kochi | power my | H3581 → | 126 times |
| וּלְמַ֛עַן | ulemaan | and so as | H4616 → | 272 times |
| סַפֵּ֥ר | saper | to recount | H5608 → | 159 times |
| שְׁמִ֖י | shemi | name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וְאוּלָ֗םand but
veulamH199 →
בַּעֲב֥וּרforsake of
baavurH5668 →49 times
זֹאת֙this
zotH2063 →603 times
הֶעֱמַדְתִּ֔יךָI have caused to stand you
heemadtikhaH5975 →521 times
בַּעֲב֖וּרin order
baavurH5668 →49 times
הַרְאֹתְךָ֣to see you
harotekhaH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כֹּחִ֑יpower my
kochiH3581 →126 times
וּלְמַ֛עַןand so as
ulemaanH4616 →272 times
סַפֵּ֥רto recount
saperH5608 →159 times
שְׁמִ֖יname my
shemiH8034 →864 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Proverbs 16:4The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:9
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Romans 9:22
What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
- Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Isaiah 43:7
everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
- 1 Peter 2:8
and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- 2 Peter 2:9
Through
Romans 9:17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Exodus 14:17–18
And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.
- Exodus 10:1–2
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,
- Proverbs 16:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Enchiridion 25.99; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.