Exodus 16:7

Summary

Exodus 16:7 records Moses announcing that in the morning the Israelites will see the glory of YHWH (H3068G), because he has heard their complaints directed against him. The verse closes with a rhetorical question distinguishing Moses and Aaron ("we") from YHWH, asking why the people's grumbling is directed at "us."

Key words

• kevod ("glory of", H3519) — masculine singular noun in construct state, linked to Yehovah (H3068G): "glory of YHWH."
• be-shom'o (sha.me + suffix, H8085G) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition be ("in/because") and 3rd person suffix "his," forming a temporal/causal clause: "in his hearing" / "because he heard."
• telunnotekhem ("your grumblings", H8519) — feminine plural noun in construct state with 2nd person plural suffix, naming the grumblings as belonging to "you (pl.)."
• nachnu mah ("we, what", H5168 + H4100) — independent personal pronoun "we" followed by the interrogative "what," forming a self-contained rhetorical question, "and we — what [are we]?"
• tallinu ("you will cause to grumble", H3885B) — hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural: the causative stem marks the subject as producing or directing the grumbling action, distinct from a simple qal "to grumble."

What the text says

The sentence opens with u-voqer ("and morning", H1242) followed by the sequential perfect re'item ("you will see", H7200G), a narrative construction that continues the temporal sequence begun in the surrounding verses: "and [in the] morning, and you will see the glory of YHWH." The clause of cause is built with the infinitive construct be-shom'o: "because of his hearing," i.e., "because he has heard," governing the direct object et-telunnotekhem ("your grumblings", H8519) with the preposition 'al ("on/against", H5921A) marking the target, Yehovah.

The second half shifts to a rhetorical construction: ve-nachnu mah ("and we, what") places the independent pronoun "we" before the interrogative "what," emphasizing the identity of the speakers (Moses and Aaron) in contrast to YHWH. The subordinating particle ki (H3588A, "that/if") introduces the result clause with tallinu, a hiphil imperfect of the root behind "to grumble." Because hiphil is a causative stem, the form denotes the people's action of causing grumbling to be directed 'aleinu ("against us", H5921A + suffix), rather than simply "grumbling."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew hiphil tallinu ("you cause to grumble," causative stem) is rendered in the LXX as διαγογγύζετε (a plain verb "you grumble/murmur," not causative in form) and in the Vulgate as mussitastis ("you have murmured"), also a simple, non-causative verb. The English versions (BSB, RV1909) likewise translate with a simple "grumble/murmur," not preserving the causative nuance visible in the Hebrew stem.