Exodus 19:3

Summary

The verse narrates that Moses went up to God, and Yehovah called to him from the mountain, instructing him to deliver a message to the house of Jacob and the sons of Israel. The sentence sets up direct speech that follows in the next verses, framed by two verbs of communication.

Key words

• 'alah ("he went up", H5927G) — qal perfect, marking a completed action: Moses' ascent is presented as a finished event before the calling occurs.
• 'Elohim ("God", H0430G) — masculine plural noun with the article ha- (H9009), used here as the term toward which Moses ascends.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine proper name, introduced as the subject of the calling, distinct from Elohim used just before.
• yiqra' ("he called", H7121G) — qal verb in narrative form (with the narrative vav, H9001), which advances the story sequentially: "and then he called."
• taggid ("you may tell", H5046) — hiphil (causative) imperfect with vav, contrasting with the preceding qal imperfect tomar ("you will say", H0559); the causative stem suggests "cause to know/declare" as distinct from simply "say."

What the text says

The verse opens with a vav-conjunction attached to Mosheh ("Moses", proper name) followed by the qal perfect 'alah, giving a completed-action reading: Moses' going up to ha-'Elohim is stated as background before the main narrative verb. The narrative continues with va-yiqra' ("and he called"), using the narrative vav construction typical of Hebrew storytelling, which links this action sequentially to what precedes. The subject of the calling is specified as Yehovah, even though the previous clause used Elohim — the text uses both terms for the divine referent within two clauses.

The location of the calling is marked by min-ha-har ("from the mountain", H4480A + H2022G), followed by the infinitive le'mor ("saying", H0559), which introduces the reported speech. Within that speech, two parallel constructions appear: le-veit Ya'aqov ("to the house of Jacob", construct chain with H1004M) and li-vnei Yisra'el ("to the sons of Israel", construct chain with H1121G) — two ways of referring to the same recipients, joined by the shift from qal imperfect tomar to hiphil imperfect taggid, both governing the same forthcoming message.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the destination of Moses' ascent as "the mountain of God" (εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ θεοῦ), adding "mountain," where the Hebrew states only ha-'Elohim ("the God"). The LXX also states the calling came "from heaven" (ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ), where the Hebrew min-ha-har specifies "from the mountain." The Vulgate's ascendit ad Deum and de monte both align with the Hebrew wording on these two points.