Exodus 19:15

Summary

Moses tells the people to be ready for a three-day period and issues a prohibition against approaching a woman. The verse uses an imperative followed by a niphal participle for the state of readiness, and a jussive negative form for the prohibition.

Key words

• va-Yomer ("and he said", H0559) — wayyiqtol narrative form, moving the story forward: "and then he said."
• he.Yu ("be", H1961) — qal imperative, plural masculine, a direct command addressed to the people as a group.
• ne.kho.Nim ("prepared", H3559A) — niphal participle, masculine plural; describes a resulting state (being made ready) rather than an action the subject performs on itself.
• sh.Lo.shet ("three", H7969) — cardinal number in construct form, linking directly to yamim to form "three of days," i.e., a set period.
• ti.ge.Shu ("you draw near", H5066G) — qal jussive, plural masculine, governed by the negation 'al ("may not," H0408), expressing a prohibition tied to this specific moment rather than a permanent law.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on va-Yomer, continuing the sequence of events from the preceding verses without introducing a new subject explicitly — "he" refers back to Moses from context. The address is directed 'el ha-'Am, "to the people" (H5971A), using the definite article to mark the whole community as addressee.

The command itself splits into two grammatical units. First, he.Yu ne.kho.Nim combines a qal imperative ("be") with a niphal participle ("prepared/made ready"). The niphal form indicates that the state of readiness is not self-generated in an active sense but describes a condition to be entered into or maintained — grammatically distinct from a qal adjective would be. This state is qualified by the construct phrase li-sh.Lo.shet yamim, "for three of days," where the number stands in construct relation to the noun, marking a bounded time span for which the state of readiness applies.

The second unit, 'al ti.ge.Shu 'el 'ishah, uses the negative particle 'al with a jussive verb form rather than a simple prohibitive construction with lo'. This jussive-with-'al pattern typically marks a situational or immediate prohibition rather than a categorical, timeless law. The object 'ishah ("a woman," H0802G) appears in the singular without the definite article, functioning generically rather than referring to a specific woman.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew 'ishah is singular and indefinite ("a woman"), matching the LXX γυναικί (dative singular). The Vulgate renders this as uxoribus vestris ("your wives"), plural and possessive, which adds a specification (marital relationship, plurality) not present in the Hebrew singular generic noun. Additionally, the Hebrew li-sh.Lo.shet yamim ("for three days," a duration) is rendered by the Vulgate as in diem tertium ("for/until the third day"), shifting from a span of three days to a single terminal day; the LXX τρεῖς ἡμέρας ("three days") stays closer to the Hebrew's plural duration.