Deuteronomy 31:1

Summary

The verse opens a new narrative unit: Moses goes (to the assembly) and speaks the following words to all Israel. It functions as an introductory formula announcing a speech that follows in the subsequent verses.

Key words

• va-i.Ye.lekh ("and he went", H1980L) — qal narrative form, third person masculine singular; the vav-consecutive marks sequential action, "and then he went."
• va-y.da.Ber ("and he spoke", H1696G) — piel narrative form; the piel stem intensifies the basic action of speaking, often used for formal or extended discourse rather than a single utterance.
• ha.dde.va.Rim ("the words", H1697G) — masculine plural noun with definite article, referring to a specific, identifiable set of words (the discourse that follows).
• ha.'E.leh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle with article, pointing forward to the content about to be delivered.
• kol-Yis.ra.'El ("all Israel", H3605/H3478) — construct noun "all" governing the proper name "Israel," indicating the totality of the audience.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two sequential narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive construction: va-i.Ye.lekh ("and he went") followed by va-y.da.Ber ("and he spoke"). This chain presents two consecutive actions by Moses — first movement, then speech — without specifying the destination of the going, though the phrase "to all Israel" ('el-kol-Yis.ra.'El, H0413/H3605/H3478) marks the audience of the speaking, not necessarily the destination of the walking. The direct object marker 'et- (H0853) before ha.dde.va.Rim signals that "the words" is the grammatical object of y.da.Ber, i.e., what Moses spoke, and the demonstrative ha.'E.leh ("these") ties the object back to prior or forthcoming discourse.

The piel stem of y.da.Ber (H1696G) is the standard form used for formal speech-acts in narrative Hebrew, distinguishing it from the simpler qal. The construct phrase kol-Yis.ra.'El ("all Israel") uses kol (H3605) in construct state, meaning "all of X," here specifying the entirety of the nation as recipients of the address.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew states two distinct actions: Moses "went" (va-i.Ye.lekh) and then "spoke" (va-y.da.Ber). The LXX (Swete) instead reads synetelesen Mōusēs lalōn, "Moses finished speaking," which shifts the verb from "going" to "finishing" and treats the discourse as reaching completion rather than beginning. The Vulgate, Abiit itaque Moyses, et locutus est, follows the Hebrew structure closely with "Moses went, and spoke." The BSB translation ("When Moses had finished speaking") follows the LXX's "finished" reading rather than the Hebrew "went," while the RV1909 and SBLIBRE Spanish versions ("Y fué Moisés" / "Moisés fue") follow the Hebrew "went" pattern.