Exodus 34:31

Summary

Moses calls to the people, and Aaron together with all the leaders of the congregation return to him; then Moses speaks to them. The verse narrates a three-step sequence: a summons, a return, and a speech, all built on consecutive narrative verbs.

Key words

• va-yiqra ("and he summoned", H7121G) — qal narrative form of the verb "to call," marking the first sequential action: Moses initiates contact.
• va-yashuvu ("and they returned", H7725G) — qal narrative plural, describing the collective action of Aaron and the leaders coming back toward Moses.
• nesi'im ("leaders", H5387A) — masculine plural noun, designating a group of officials distinct from Aaron, joined to him by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002).
• edah ("congregation", H5712) — feminine singular noun, governed by the preposition ba ("among the", H9003), locating the leaders within the larger community.
• va-yedabber ("and he spoke", H1696G) — piel narrative form of "to speak," the piel stem giving the act of speaking an intensive or emphatic verbal shape compared to a simple qal action.

What the text says

The verse is structured as a chain of three narrative clauses, each opened by the vav-consecutive prefix (va, H9001), which in Biblical Hebrew narrative marks sequential action ("and then... and then..."). The first clause, va-yiqra' 'alehem Mosheh ("and Moses summoned them"), places the subject Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) after the verb, a common word order in this narrative style. The pronominal suffix -hem ("them", H9038) attached to the preposition 'el ("to", H0413) refers back to the people mentioned earlier in the chapter, without being separately named in this verse.

The second clause shifts focus: va-yashuvu 'elav 'Aharon ve-khol ha-nesi'im ba-'edah ("and they returned to him, Aaron and all the leaders among the congregation"). Here the plural verb yashuvu precedes its compound subject (Aharon plus ha-nesi'im), a construction where the verb agrees with the subject that follows. The noun nesi'im ("leaders", H5387A) is in construct-like relation via kol ("all", H3605), producing "all the leaders," and this group is located ba-'edah, "among/in the congregation" (H5712), specifying their affiliation with the broader assembly.

The third clause, va-yedabber Mosheh 'alehem ("and Moses spoke to them"), closes the sequence. The verb yedabber is in the piel stem, which in this verbal system marks an intensive or effective nuance of speaking, as opposed to a plain qal action.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) restructures the sequence, opening with "vocatique ab eo" ("and having been called by him"), a passive construction not present in the Hebrew, which uses an active verb va-yiqra. The Vulgate also merges the third clause into a subordinate temporal phrase ("et postquam locutus est ad eos" — "and after he had spoken to them"), whereas the Hebrew and the LXX (καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς) present it as a coordinate, independent clause continuing the narrative chain.