Exodus 35:20

Summary

The verse reports that the entire assembly of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. It functions as a transitional narrative statement, closing the scene of Moses's instructions and preparing for the following account of the people bringing offerings.

Key words

• va-yetze'u ("and they went out", H3318G) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking a sequential action following the preceding speech of Moses; third person masculine plural indicates the collective subject that follows.
• kol ("all", H3605) — construct masculine singular noun, functions as a quantifier introducing the chain of construct nouns that specify the totality of the group.
• 'adat ("congregation of", H5712) — construct feminine singular noun, links directly to the following term to form "congregation of the sons of Israel"; grammatically dependent, requiring a following noun to complete its meaning.
• benei ("sons of", H1121G) — construct masculine plural noun, continues the construct chain, specifying whose congregation is meant.
• mi-li-fnei ("from before", H9006 + H9005 + H6440H) — a compound of two prepositions (mi "from" and li "to") joined to the construct plural noun fnei ("face of"), together expressing "from the presence of," a common idiom for leaving someone's presence.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative verb va-yetze'u ("and they went out"), placed first as is typical in Biblical Hebrew narrative syntax, establishing the action before naming the subject. The subject is built through a chain of construct nouns: kol ("all") governs 'adat ("congregation of"), which governs benei Yisra'el ("sons of Israel"). This construct chain functions as a single complex noun phrase meaning "the whole congregation of the sons of Israel," with each noun depending grammatically on the next to form one composite idea of collective identity.

The final phrase, mi-li-fnei Mosheh ("from before Moses"), combines two prepositions with the construct noun fnei ("face of"), a standard idiomatic construction in Hebrew for describing departure from someone's presence — literally "from to-the-face-of Moses." The verse contains no elaboration on manner or purpose; it is a compact statement of collective movement away from a specific person, relying on construct chains rather than adjectives or subordinate clauses to convey complexity.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va-yetze'u (plural verb) with the singular exēlthen ("went out"), matching it grammatically to the singular synagōgē ("congregation"), whereas the Hebrew verb is plural despite the singular collective noun 'adat. The Vulgate's egressaque omnis multitudo similarly treats the subject as a singular collective ("the whole multitude"), aligning grammatically with the LXX's singular verb form rather than the plural verb form found in the Hebrew.