What Does Exodus 8:31 Mean?
And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and he turned the mingled swarm aside from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one was left.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.THE KEY
The word is also the matter: Moses’ utterance becomes an actual clearing, with no remnant left.
THE MEANING
A spoken word reaches beyond sound into what is happening: the LORD acts according to Moses’ word, and the swarm is removed from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. The clearing is complete, nothing remains, not even one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that relief can only lessen a burden while leaving its residue: here the removal is complete.
THE ROOT
דְּבַר
devar
GROWS FROM
דבר
Dāḇar: speak, utter; the noun also means a word, matter, or thing.
The same three consonants name both the utterance and the matter at hand. Here, the LORD acts according to Moses’ word, and speech reaches into the world as an event.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The verse uses this word for Moses’ utterance, keeping the spoken word and the matter acted upon in one family.
dibbēr: He spoke
דִּבֵּר
The same consonants name the act of speaking; the LORD’s action follows what Moses speaks.
וַיָּסֵר
wayyāsēr
GROWS FROM
סור
Sūr: turn aside or depart; in this verb form, cause to turn aside, remove.
“turned aside” in this verse is wayyāsēr. The Hebrew verb pictures removal as making the swarm turn away. Alongside “not one remained,” it shows both motion away and a complete clearing.
ALSO GROWS
sūr: Turn aside; depart
סוּר
This is the root’s basic motion, which the verse makes happen to the swarm.
yāsūr: He will turn aside or depart
יָסוּר
This form keeps the root’s sense of withdrawal visible: what has occupied the scene can move away.
נִשְׁאַר
nishʾar
GROWS FROM
שאר
Šāʾar: remain or be left over.
“not one was left” in this verse is nishʾar. “Remained” and “remnant” belong to the same root family: the verse says that no leftover piece survives. The final “not one” makes absence the measure of completion.
ALSO GROWS
sheʾār: Remnant; remainder
שְׁאָר
This is what the verse denies: there is no remainder of the swarm.
hishʾir: Leave behind
הִשְׁאִיר
The shared root links remaining with what is left behind; here nothing is left behind.
THE PATTERN
A word that takes effect carries change into the world, where its result can be seen.
And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.And waking, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be silent. Be muzzled. And the wind wore itself out, and a great calm came.THE THREAD
So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I delight in, and shall break through in the thing to which I sent it.The Hebrew word for “word” in Isaiah shares the root דבר with Moses’ word here. Isaiah describes that word accomplishing its purpose; Exodus shows it reaching its result in a cleared scene.
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