Discovery BoxExodus 14:16-17 
Context14:16 And as for you, 1 lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that 2 the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden 3 the hearts of the Egyptians so that 4 they will come after them, that I may be honored 5 because 6 of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.
1 tn The conjunction plus pronoun (“and you”) is emphatic – “and as for you” – before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 begins with “and as for me, I….”
2 tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav (ו) is sequential, coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity – “that they may go.”
3 tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.
4 tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.
5 tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.
6 tn Or “I will get glory over.”
