Before further considering Exodus 20:11, though, a particular characteristic of biblical Hebrew’s grammar should now be allotted some brief consideration.

And here again, attentive be

Observe astutely, that you see

By instance and by demonstration
All will turn to revelation

Among biblical Hebrew’s properties and traits, one necessarily finds frequent use of a transitive (thus very often Hiphil or causative) verb, borrowing prior objects of a previous verb, without reminder, repetition or re-statement of prior objects.

Because the sort of verb in question is transitive, its “object-requiring” nature is in itself proof of the verb’s requiring, and having an object. If, then, this verb is part of a phrase or sentence, wherein the object or objects have already been stated, its transitive or “object-requiring” nature eliminates the need to make review of these objects, or make additional repetition of these objects.

A. “What”, You May Ask…?

“What”, you may ask, “does all of that mean?”…Should you find, that the foregoing remarks of this chapter do not seem clear to you, and are somewhat vague, please examine, and consider these following few scriptures…

Many of them are familiar passages, and provide simple and informative example and instruction: Genesis 2:19, for instance, reads (from right to left, as Hebrew reads).

ויצר יהוה אלהים מן־האדמה 

ground the from God Yahweh formed And

כל־חית השדה ואת כל־עוף השמים

heavens the of fowl the all and field the of thing living every

ויבא אל־האדם

human the to (come to caused) brought he and

Examine carefully the interlinear translation, provided for your inspection.

Literally, it reads: “And Yahweh God formed from the ground every living thing of the field and all the fowl of the heavens and he brought (caused to come) ___ to the human…”

RSV Genesis 2:19 translates this verse: “So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man…”

B. Simply a Necessary Procedure

Take a moment; and be attentive to these translated words of Genesis 2:19. For your comprehension of what here follows will be greatly enhanced by your merely understanding a particular trait of grammar found here, and recurrently used by the authors of the Bible and certainly its first five books.

Observe how the RSV’s correct translation of Genesis 2:19 provides an object, “them” for the verb, here rendered, and translated “brought”…

“So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought ‘them’ to the man…”

In the Hebrew, being translated here, the word for “them” is actually not used; and it is actually not present….

To make the verse readable in English, however, must necessitate a translator’s supplying such a word, and is perfectly acceptable, appropriate and proper: This approach to translation of the Hebrew text is not addition to the text or “compensation” for some textual inadequacy…

Any more than it abuses, or misuses, or conceals what the Bible’s Old Testament Hebrew text actually says: This is simply an essential and necessary procedure of translation and presentation for comprehension in English.

One’s reading of the Old Testament’s Hebrew text and certainly the words of Moses often presents one with a verb, which requires, and needs an object. Though the object of this verb is bodily absent, and textually missing.

Transitive or object-requiring verbs, however, should alert an attentive reader to the fact, that such a verb must have an object, by virtue of its being a “transitive” or object-requiring verb. And this in fact is the case with Genesis 2:19 above, as instructively exhibited is, and corroborated.

(In truth, the verb, here translated “brought” is actually from the Hebrew verb, “to come”. Genesis 2:19, however, applies the verb, “to come” in its Hiphil or causative conjugation. And because of this, its correct translation is “he caused to come”, or “he brought”).

C. Due to Its Very Nature

Use of a transitive or object-requiring verb such as the one, translated “brought” in Genesis 2:19 negates the need to re-write the verb’s objects in Hebrew: Due to its very nature, a transitive verb assumes its having an object. And because of this, there is no need to repeat prior objects…

Readable English, on the other hand, must translate Genesis 2:19 and the following examples in such a way as to implement some reminder of such objects. As you can see from Genesis 2:19, its English translation would read rather awkwardly in the absence of the word, “them” through which RSV correctly notes a transitive verb’s recall of prior objects.

D. This Syntax

Anyone, reading any of the Old Testament’s books, and certainly those of Moses would be faced frequently by Hebrew, using this syntax or word arrangement. Unavoidably, therefore, one would become well acquainted with it, and well accustomed to it…

Frequently availing himself of this syntax, for instance, the author of Exodus writes in Exodus 12:7:

ולקחו מן־הדם ונתנו

put will they and blood the from take will they And

על־שתי המזוזת

doorposts two the on

ועל־המשקוף על הבתים

houses the on lintel the upon and

(Of Exodus 12:7, the interlinear translation reads, as follows: “And they will take from the blood and they will put ___ [this blank line recalls the object] on the two doorposts and upon the lintel on the houses…”)

RSV translates Exodus 12:7 as: “Then they shall take some of the blood, and put ‘it’ on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses…”

Leviticus in turn is not without its many examples of this syntax. And one of these is Leviticus 8:30, as the following well demonstrates:

ויקח משה משמן המשחה

anointing the of oil the from Moses took And

ומן־הדם אשר על־המזבח

altar the on is which blood the from and

ויז על־אהרן על־בגדו

garments his upon Aaron on sprinkled he and

(Of Leviticus 8:30, the interlinear translation reads, as follows: “And Moses took from the oil of the anointing and from the blood which is on the altar and he sprinkled ___ on Aaron upon his garments…”)

RSV translates this as: “Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled ‘it’ upon Aaron and his garments…”

Numbers also reserves among its grammatical inventory frequent occurrences of this ordering of words. And one such instance is Numbers 19:9:

ואסף אי טהור את אפר

ash the clean is who man a gather will And

הפרה והניח

(rest to cause) place will he and heifer the of

מחוץ למחנה במקום טהור

clean place a in camp the of outside

(Of Numbers 19:9, the interlinear translation reads, as follows: “And a man who is clean will gather the ash of the heifer and he will place [cause to rest] ___ outside of the camp in a clean place…”)

This in turn, RSV translates: “And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit ‘them’ outside the camp in a clean place…”

Lastly, Deuteronomy is not the exception to the Pentateuch’s books, employing this syntax, as is evidenced by Deuteronomy 14:28:

מקצה שלש שנים תוציא

forth bring will you years three of end the At

את־כל־מעשר תבואתך בשנה ההיא 

that year in produce your of tithe the all

והנחת בשעריך

gates your within (rest to cause) place will you and

(Of Deuteronomy 14:28, the interlinear translation reads, as follows: “At the end of three years you will bring forth all the tithe of your produce in that year and you will place [cause to rest] ___ within your gates…”)

RSV translates this as: “At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in the same year, and lay ‘it’ up within your towns…”

As in all the rest of the above cited passages, here in Deuteronomy 14:28, there is no need for the Hebrew to repeat an object. Because: A transitive or object-requiring verb assumes an object. That is, a transitive verb such as “to place” or “to cause to rest” must borrow a previous verb’s object, “all the tithe of your produce”.

Reading the Hebrew literally, however, the interlinear translation signifies with a blank line (___), where an English translation must supply some reminder of previous objects for the sake of readability. When translated into English, the Hebrew reads awkwardly in the absence of such a reminder.