(Exodus 20:19) records God telling Moses: "Thus shall you say to the children of Israel." The Mekhilta seizes on the word "thus" — in Hebrew, "koh" — and derives a surprising rule: Moses was to speak to the people in the exact language God used, which was the holy tongue, Hebrew.
This was not simply about content but about language itself. God spoke in Hebrew, and Moses was required to relay the message in Hebrew — not in Aramaic, not in any other language the people might have known, but in the sacred language of revelation.
The Mekhilta then establishes a broader principle. Wherever the Torah uses certain introductory words — "koh" (thus), "kachah" (in this wise), "aniyah" (answering), and "amirah" (saying) — the holy tongue is understood. These words serve as linguistic markers indicating that what follows was spoken, and must be transmitted, in Hebrew.
This teaching carries profound implications for the Jewish understanding of language. Hebrew is not merely one language among many that happens to have been used for the Torah. It is the language of divine communication itself. When God speaks, He speaks Hebrew. When Moses relays God's words, he must preserve not just the meaning but the medium. The sanctity of the message is inseparable from the sanctity of the language in which it was originally spoken. Translation is explanation. The original is revelation.