Exodus 13:8

You are to tell your son ¹  on that day, ²  ‘It is ³  because of what ⁴  the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

Ex 12:26,27; Ex 13:14; De 4:9,10; Ps 44:1; Ps 78:3-8; Isa 38:19; Eph 6:4

¹ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence forward: “and you will declare to your son.”

sn A very important part of the teaching here is the manner in which the memory of the deliverance will be retained in Israel – they were to teach their children the reasons for the feast, as a binding law forever. This will remind the nation of its duties to Yahweh in gratitude for the great deliverance.

² tn Heb “day, saying.” “Tell…saying” is redundant, so “saying” has not been included in the translation here.

³ tn “it is” has been supplied.

⁴ tn The text uses זֶה (zeh), which Gesenius classifies as the use of the pronoun to introduce a relative clause after the preposition (GKC 447 §138.h) – but he thinks the form is corrupt. B. S. Childs, however, sees no reason to posit a corruption in this form (Exodus [OTL], 184).