Leviticus 17:2

Summary

This verse contains Yehovah's introductory instruction to Moses, commanding him to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and to relay a message that follows as divine command. The verse functions as a formulaic opening that frames the legislation to come.

Key words

• da.Ber ("speak", H1696G) — piel imperative, a direct and emphatic command form addressed to a single male (Moses), initiating the speech act.
• 'a.mar.Ta ("you will say", H0559) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the imperative force of da.Ber; this verb form links the act of speaking to the act of transmitting content, functioning almost as a second command in sequence.
• tzi.Vah ("he has commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, indicating a completed action; grammatically marks that the command already stands as an accomplished decree by the time it is reported.
• Mor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition le- (H9005), forming the standard formula "saying" that introduces reported speech, here closing the frame before the actual legal content begins.
• be.Nei ("[the] people of", H1121G) — construct plural, grammatically bound to Yis.ra.'El (H3478), forming the construct phrase "sons of Israel."

What the text says

The verse opens with two verbs of speech, da.Ber ("speak", H1696G) and 'a.mar.Ta ("you will say", H0559), both directed at Moses (implied by verb agreement, though not named). The first is an imperative; the second is a sequential perfect that in Biblical Hebrew narrative syntax continues the imperative's force, effectively meaning "and you shall say." This chaining structure builds a two-step communication: Moses is first told to speak to the specified audience, then told what content to relay to them.

The addressees are listed with repeated preposition 'el ("to", H0413): Aaron, "his sons" (ba.Na + suffix, H1121A), and "all the sons of Israel" (kol- be.Nei Yis.ra.'El), establishing a comprehensive audience that includes priestly and lay Israelites alike.

The formula zeh ha-davar 'asher tzivah Yehovah ("this is the thing which Yehovah has commanded") uses the demonstrative zeh ("this", H2088) pointing forward to content not yet stated in this verse, followed by the relative clause with tzi.Vah ("he has commanded", H6680) in the perfect aspect — grammatically presenting the command as already settled, prior to its verbal announcement here. The closing infinitive Mor ("saying", H0559) is a standard quotation-marker, syntactically opening direct speech that will follow.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders da.Ber with the aorist imperative Λάλησον ("speak"), matching the Hebrew imperative closely. The Vulgate uses Loquere ("speak") similarly. For tzi.Vah ("he has commanded", H6680), the LXX uses ἐνετείλατο ("he commanded"), and the Vulgate mandavit ("he has commanded") — both preserving the perfective/completed sense of the Hebrew.