OET interlinear EXO 3:8

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

Verse 8 contains God’s intended result from his acts of seeing and hearing, expressed in both verses 7 and 9. You may need to expressly mark this, for instance by introducing verse 8 with something like “Therefore,” and verse 9 with something like “Again, because.”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / go

וָ⁠אֵרֵ֞ד

and,come_down

God is expressing that he is descending from heaven to earth to intervene. God is always everywhere, but this phrase means that his special attention will be directed to this situation. Use whatever form of come or go is appropriate in your language for this.

Note 3 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

לְ⁠הַצִּיל֣⁠וֹ & וּֽ⁠לְ⁠הַעֲלֹת⁠וֹ֮

to,deliver,them & and,to,bring_~_up,them

Here, him refers in the singular to the Israelites as a group. It is agreeing with “people” as a collective noun in 3:6. Some languages may have to use plural pronouns. Others may have to match the pronoun’s gender to the grammatical gender of the word for “people” in their language. See what you did in the previous verse.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

מִ⁠יַּ֣ד

from,hand

Someone’s hand is a common Biblical metaphor for power and control. If your readers would not understand what this image means in this context, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

מִ⁠יַּ֣ד מִצְרַ֗יִם

from,hand from_Miʦrayim/(Miʦrayim/(Egypt))s

This is a possessive where the Egyptians are the subject of the hand, which means power. The Egyptians used their power and control to oppress the Israelites. Use a phrase in your language that expresses the idea of a group of people having power.

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

אֶל־אֶ֤רֶץ טוֹבָה֙ וּ⁠רְחָבָ֔ה אֶל־אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּ⁠דְבָ֑שׁ

to/towards earth/land good and,spacious to/towards earth/land flowing milk and,honey

There are multiple levels of parallelism here. First, the statements, to a good and wide land and to a land flowing with milk and honey are in parallel with each other. Within each of those, good and wide are in parallel with each other, and milk and honeyare in parallel with each other. Each of these levels is meant to reinforce and expand upon one another. These are not examples of synonymous parallelism, and each part of the statement should be translated.

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

חָלָ֖ב וּ⁠דְבָ֑שׁ

milk and,honey

Here, milk is a metonym for domestic animals and the food products obtained from them; honey is a metonym for the food obtained from growing plants. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. The next note explains further.

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּ⁠דְבָ֑שׁ

earth/land flowing milk and,honey

God spoke of the land being good for animals and plants as if the milk and honey from those animals and plants were flowing through the land. If this metaphor makes sense in your language, you may translate it. If your language has metaphors that mean a land is good for producing healthy livestock and good crops, you may consider using those. If neither is the case, you may translate the meaning. See UST.

זָבַ֥ת

flowing

Alternate translation: “full of” or “with an abundance of”

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

חָלָ֖ב

milk

Since milk comes from cows and goats, this represents food produced by livestock. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: “food from livestock”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וּ⁠דְבָ֑שׁ

and,honey

Since honey is produced from flowers, this represents food from crops. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: “food from crops”