Exodus 10:2

and 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.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Moses immediately before Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh. The instruction occurs during the plague cycle, following the declaration that God has hardened Pharaoh's heart to enable further signs.

The words — The Hebrew conjunction וּ/לְמַ֡עַן (u./le.Ma.'an) functions as "so that," framing the purpose of the upcoming events. The verb תְּסַפֵּר (te.sa.Per) literally means "you may recount," commanding Moses to verbally report the events to his descendants.

The thread — The command to transmit these accounts across generations appears in Joel 1:3, which orders telling children so they may tell their children. Deuteronomy 4:9 and Deuteronomy 6:20 similarly require preserving and explaining witnessed acts to future generations.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that divine acts are recorded to establish God's identity rather than to satisfy historical curiosity. It demands active verbal transmission of these events to ensure subsequent generations recognize that identity.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּלְמַ֡עַןu./le.Ma.'anand/ so that תְּסַפֵּר֩te.sa.Peryou may recount בְּאָזְנֵ֨יbe./'a.ze.Neiin/ [the] ears of בִנְךָ֜vin./Khason/ your וּבֶן־u./ven-and/ [the] son of בִּנְךָ֗bin./Khason/ your אֵ֣ת'et<obj.>אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.Sherhow הִתְעַלַּ֙לְתִּי֙hit.'a.Lal.tiI have dealt ruthlessly בְּמִצְרַ֔יִםbe./mitz.Ra.yimwith/ Egypt וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>אֹתֹתַ֖י'o.to.Ta/isigns/ my אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which שַׂ֣מְתִּיSam.tiI performedבָ֑םVa/mamong <the>/ themוִֽידַעְתֶּ֖םvi./da'.Temand/ you will know כִּי־ki-that אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יְהוָֽה׃Yah.weh[am] Yahweh

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Joel 1:3 Tell it to your children; let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only 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 you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Deuteronomy 6:20 In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”
Exodus 13:14 In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exodus 7:17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.
Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
Psalms 78:5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Exodus 12:26 When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
Exodus 13:8 And on that day you are to explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’