What Does Exodus 9:33 Mean in the King James?
And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew names thunder as “voices,” so Moses’ open palms are followed by a storm whose voices fall silent.
THE MEANING
The verse places an open-handed appeal amid upheaval, then the thunder, hail, and rain cease. The change is visible in the world around the reader: the earth is left without rain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The world outside the self is untouched by appeal; here, the storm’s voices and rain cease after it.
THE ROOT
הַקֹּלוֹת
haqqōlōt
GROWS FROM
קוֹל
qōl
Voice or sound; its plural, קוֹלוֹת (qōlōt), can mean “thunders.”
Under “thunders” is a word also used for voice and sound. The storm’s voices fall silent, so the verse’s quieting reaches beyond rain stopping.
ALSO GROWS
voice: An audible voice or spoken sound.
Psalm 29:3 uses this word for the LORD’s voice over the waters, joining voice, thunder, and water in one image.
thunders: The plural names the storm’s thunder.
Here those “voices” cease along with the hail, marking the storm’s silence.
וַיִּפְרֹשׂ
wayyiprōś
GROWS FROM
פרשׂ
pāraś
Spread out, extend, or stretch forth.
“spread abroad” in this verse is wayyiprōś. The Hebrew verb shows Moses spreading his palms outward. The same root describes hands extended in appeal, putting a bodily gesture immediately before the storm’s violence stops.
ALSO GROWS
stretch forth: Extend the hands toward another.
Psalm 143:6 uses the same verb for hands stretched toward the LORD, joining open hands with thirst like dry land.
spread forth: Extend the palms toward heaven.
In 1 Kings 8:22, Solomon spreads his hands toward heaven in prayer; the same gesture marks an appeal directed upward.
מֹשֶׁה
Mōšeh
GROWS FROM
משׁה
māšāh
Draw out; the name is linked to being drawn out from water.
Moses’ name carries water into the scene: he is named through being drawn out from it, then appears here as rain is withheld. The verse holds “drawn from water” and “water withheld” in one figure.
ALSO GROWS
draw him out: Draw someone out from water.
Exodus 2:10 explains Moses’ name through the words “I drew him out” of the water.
Moses: The one drawn out from water.
His name brings the image of water into a verse where the rain stops falling.
THE PATTERN
An appeal is embodied, and the condition of the land answers through rain withheld or restored.
And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD’s.Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.THE THREAD
I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.Psalm 143:6 uses פֵּרַשְׂתִּי (pērastî, “I stretch forth”), from פָּרַשׂ (pāraś, “spread out”), the same root as Moses’ gesture here. There, extended hands accompany the living soul’s thirst like dry land; here, extended hands are followed by rain stopping over the earth.
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