Exodus 32:23

Summary

This verse is Aaron's report to Moses, quoting what the people said to him: they demanded that he make them elohim ("gods", H0430J) to go before them, since they did not know what had happened to Moses, described as "the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt."

Key words

• 'a.seh- ("make", H6213H) — qal imperative, a direct command form addressed to Aaron by the people.
• 'E.lo.Him ("gods", H0430J) — masculine plural noun, the object demanded, that which the people ask Aaron to construct.
• ye.le.Khu ("they will go", H1980G) — qal imperfect, denoting future/ongoing action: the elohim are requested for a continuing function (going ahead of the people).
• he.'e.La. ("he brought up", H5927H) — hiphil perfect, causative form: it is not Moses who "went up" but who "caused [them] to go up," marking his causative role in the exodus.
• ya.Da'.nu ("we know", H3045) — qal perfect negated by lo' ("not", H3808), a completed-state statement expressing the people's claimed ignorance about Moses' fate.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on i.Yo.me.ru ("they said", H0559), continuing the sequence of Aaron's speech to Moses. The quoted request follows: 'a.seh-La.nu 'E.lo.Him — the imperative 'a.seh- combined with the suffix La.nu ("for us") directs the demand at Aaron personally, followed by the plural object 'E.lo.Him. The relative clause 'a.Sher ye.le.Khu le.fa.Nei.nu ("which will go before us") uses the imperfect ye.le.Khu, framing the elohim as intended for future, ongoing guidance — a role, not a past accomplishment.

The second half of the verse shifts to justification, introduced by ki- ("for/because", H3588A). The phrase zeh mo.Sheh ha.'Ish ("this Moses, the man") places the demonstrative zeh before the proper name, a construction that in the underlying Hebrew emphasizes or singles out Moses as the referent under discussion. The relative clause 'a.Sher he.'e.La.nu me.'E.retz mitz.Ra.yim uses the hiphil perfect he.'e.La. to describe Moses' past causative action (he caused the people to go up out of Egypt). The clause closes with negated ya.Da'.nu plus the interrogative meh- and Ha.yah ("has it happened", H1961), expressing uncertainty about a completed but unknown event concerning Moses.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'a.Sher he.'e.La.nu ("who brought us up") with ἐξήγαγεν ("led out"), a different verb root than the causative "bring up" sense of the Hebrew hiphil, though both describe Moses' action regarding the Exodus. The Vulgate's eduxit similarly reads "led out" rather than "brought up." The Hebrew zeh mo.Sheh ha.'Ish ("this Moses, the man") is rendered in the Vulgate as huic ... Moysi ("to this Moses"), restructuring the demonstrative's syntactic role compared to the Hebrew's fronted zeh.