Exodus 24:2

Summary

Exodus 24:2 establishes three distinct levels of access to Yehovah on the mountain: Moses alone may draw near, a second group ("they") may not draw near, and "the people" may not go up at all with Moses. The verse uses three different verbs of approach to mark these graded restrictions.

Key words

• nigash ("he will draw near", H5066G) — niphal stem, sequential perfect, applied only to Moses; continues the narrative sequence begun by the preceding verses.
• bado ("only/his aloneness", H0905H) — masculine singular noun in construct with the suffix "him", literally "in his separateness", intensifying that Moses acts in isolation.
• yigashu ("they will draw near", H5066G) — same root as nigash but in qal imperfect, describing "them" (hem, H1992) as those who will not approach.
• ya'alu ("they will come up", H5927G) — qal imperfect, distinct verb from the previous two, describing the people's prohibited ascent.
• ha'am ("the people", H5971A) — masculine singular collective noun with definite article, marked off from hem ("they") as a separate group.

What the text says

The verse is built on three parallel clauses joined by the narrative ve ("and", H9001/H9002), each governing a different subject and verb of motion toward Yehovah. The first clause states positively that Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) will draw near (nigash), reinforced by le-bado ("to him alone"), a construct phrase that grammatically isolates Moses from every other party mentioned afterward. The second and third clauses are negative, each using lo' ("not", H3808) before the verb: hem ("they") "will not draw near" (yigashu), and ha'am ("the people") "will not come up" (ya'alu). The shift from nigash (niphal) for Moses to yigashu (qal) for "them" uses the same root H5066 in two different verbal stems, which the English and Spanish translations render identically ("draw near"/"acercarse") but which in the Hebrew morphology marks Moses' action as grammatically distinct from that of the other group. The verb for the people, ya'alu ("come up", H5927G), is different again, tied to the physical act of ascending the mountain rather than simply approaching.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew closes with immo ("with him", H5973A + H9033), a singular suffix referring back to Moses. The LXX renders this as μετ' αὐτῶν ("with them", plural), shifting the referent from Moses alone to the group previously mentioned as "they" (hem). The Vulgate's cum eo ("with him") and the Spanish/English translations follow the Hebrew singular suffix rather than the LXX's plural.