Leviticus 25:1

Summary

The verse introduces a divine speech: Yehovah speaks to Moses at Mount Sinai. It is a standard narrative formula marking the beginning of a new set of legal instructions, with no content of the speech itself yet given.

Key words

• va ("and", H9001) — narrative vav prefixed to the verb, linking this speech to the preceding narrative sequence.
• y.da.Ber ("he spoke", H1696G) — piel stem of the verb, an intensive form used for formal or authoritative speech; narrative form indicating sequential action ("and then he spoke").
• Yehovah (H3068G) — the divine name, functioning as the subject of the verb.
• Har ("[the] mountain of", H2022G) — construct form, meaning it must be joined to the following noun ("mountain of Sinai") rather than standing alone as "the mountain."
• Mor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct, introducing direct or reported speech that is expected to follow.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the typical narrative pattern for introducing divine speech in the legal sections of the text: verb + subject + prepositional phrase + infinitive of speech. The verb y.da.Ber ("he spoke", H1696G) opens the clause, preceded by the narrative va ("and", H9001), which situates this statement as a continuation of a larger narrative sequence rather than an isolated statement. The subject, Yehovah (H3068G), follows the verb, which is standard word order in Hebrew narrative (verb-subject-object).

The phrase be-Har Sinai ("on the mountain of Sinai") uses the construct form Har (H2022G), meaning "mountain of," which cannot stand independently but must be paired with Sinai (H5514G) to form the single unit "Mount Sinai." This construct chain locates the speech geographically without further elaboration.

The final word, le-Mor ("saying", H0559), is an infinitive construct form of the common verb "to say," here functioning as a formulaic marker that introduces reported speech. This construction — verb of speaking followed by le-Mor — is a recurring formula that signals the reader that direct discourse will follow, though the content of that speech is not part of this verse.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew va-y.da.Ber ("and he spoke") is rendered by the LXX as ἐλάλησεν ("he spoke") without a separate conjunction equivalent to "and," and the Vulgate similarly uses Locutusque est ("and he spoke"), attaching the conjunction as an enclitic suffix (-que) rather than a separate word. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation adds "y le dijo" ("and said to him"), introducing a second verb of speech not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew, where only one verb (y.da.Ber) plus the infinitive le-Mor appears.