Leviticus 23:24

Summary

The verse instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that on the first day of the seventh month they are to observe a day of rest marked by a loud blast, along with a holy assembly. The Hebrew presents this as a divine speech-command reported in indirect form.

Key words

• da.Ber ("speak", H1696G) — Piel imperative, an intensive command form directing Moses to communicate a message, not merely state something.
• 'e.Chad ("[day] one", H0259) — cardinal number marking the specific day within the month, functioning here as "the first" via the construct phrase "one to the month."
• yih.Yeh ("it will be", H1961) — Qal imperfect, third person singular, expressing a future/ongoing state; it governs the noun sha.ba.Ton.
• zikh.Ron ("a remembrance of", H2146) — masculine singular construct, linking grammatically to the following noun te.ru.'Ah to form a compound expression "a remembrance of a blast."
• mik.ra' ("a convocation of", H4744) — construct noun linked to Ko.desh ("holiness", H6944G), forming "a convocation of holiness," i.e., a gathering characterized by holiness.

What the text says

The verse opens with the Piel imperative da.Ber ("speak", H1696G) followed by the infinitive le-'mor ("saying", H0559), a common Hebrew construction introducing reported speech: Moses is commanded to speak to be.nei Yis.ra.'El ("the people of Israel", H1121G + H3478) with a specific message that follows.

The time reference is built through two construct/prepositional phrases: ba.Chodesh ha.she.vi.'i ("in the seventh month") and be.'e.chad la.Chodesh ("on one to the month"), literally "on day one of the month," which functions idiomatically as "on the first day of the month." The main clause verb yih.Yeh ("it will be", H1961) is singular, agreeing with its subject sha.ba.Ton ("a sabbath observance", H7677), and takes the prepositional phrase la.chem ("to you", H9005+H9036) as its indirect object — "there will be for you a sabbath observance."

The final two nouns, zikh.Ron te.ru.'Ah ("a remembrance of a blast") and mik.ra' Ko.desh ("a convocation of holiness"), are both construct chains standing in apposition to sha.ba.Ton, describing the character of this day rather than adding separate verbs or clauses. The Hebrew does not specify the instrument producing the te.ru.'Ah ("blast", H8643); it names only the sound/blast itself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders te.ru.'Ah ("a sound of a loud blast", H8643) as σαλπίγγων ("of trumpets"), and the Vulgate similarly specifies "clangentibus tubis" ("with trumpets sounding"), where the Hebrew noun itself does not name the trumpet as instrument. Additionally, the LXX translates sha.ba.Ton ("a sabbath observance", H7677) as ἀνάπαυσις ("rest") rather than retaining the Hebrew term as a technical designation.