Exodus 19:7

Summary

Moses returns and calls together the elders of the people, presenting to them all the words that Yehovah had commanded him. The verse marks the transition between Moses' encounter with God on the mountain and the transmission of that message to the people's representatives.

Key words

• va-yaVo ("and he went/came", H0935G) — qal narrative verb, opens the sequence of actions with "and then he came."
• va-yikRa ("and he summoned", H7121G) — qal narrative verb; the same vav-consecutive pattern links this action as following directly from the first.
• ziknei ("elders of", H2205G) — plural construct form, meaning it must attach to what follows ("elders of the people"); it does not stand alone as "elders."
• va-Yasem ("and he set/placed", H7760A) — third qal narrative verb continuing the chain; here paired with the preposition li-fnei ("before", H6440G) plus suffix "them," literally "he placed before them."
• tsivVahu ("he had commanded him", H6680) — piel perfect verb with a third-person suffix "him," indicating a completed, intensive act of command directed at Moses specifically.

What the text says

The verse is built on three successive narrative verbs — vaYavo ("he went/came", H0935G), vaYikra ("he summoned", H7121G), and vaYasem ("he set", H7760A) — each introduced by the narrative vav (H9001), a construction that presents a chain of sequential completed actions: Moses came, then he called, then he set/placed. This verbal chain gives the verse a brisk, procedural rhythm: arrival, summons, presentation, without elaboration on manner or duration.

The object of the third verb is marked by the untranslated direct object particle et (H0853) followed by kol ("all", H3605) in construct with ha-devarim ("the words", H1697G) and the demonstrative ha-elleh ("these", H0428) — literally "all the words, the these," i.e., "all these words." This phrase is further specified by the relative clause introduced by asher ("which", H0834A): "which tsivvahu ("he had commanded him", H6680) Yehovah." The verb tsivvahu is in the piel stem, a verbal pattern often carrying intensive or causative nuance, combined with a perfect aspect indicating the commanding was completed prior to Moses' present action of relaying it. The pronominal suffix -hu ("him", H9033) attached to the verb specifies that Yehovah commanded Moses directly, not the elders or the people.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders vaYasem ("he set", H7760A) with parethēken ("he set beside/presented"), and describes the summons with elalēsen pros ("he spoke to") rather than a verb of calling equivalent to vaYikra ("he summoned", H7121G). The LXX also reads ho theos ("God") where the Hebrew has the divine name Yehovah (H3068G). The Vulgate's convocatis majoribus natu ("having convoked the elders by birth/age") renders ziknei ("elders of", H2205G) with an explicit reference to age, and uses exposuit ("he explained/set forth") for vaYasem, while preserving Dominus ("the Lord") for the divine name.