Numbers 10:2

Summary

God instructs Moses to make two trumpets of hammered silver. These trumpets will serve two purposes: calling the congregation together and signaling the camps to break and set out on the march.

Key words

• 'a.Seh ("make", H6213H) — qal imperative, a direct command opening the verse.
• chatzotzeRot ("trumpets of", H2689) — feminine plural construct, linked to Kesef ("silver", H3701G) to specify the material.
• mikShah ("hammered work", H4749) — feminine singular noun describing the manufacturing technique, reinforced by the imperfect verb ta'aSeh ("you will make", H6213H) repeating the root of the initial imperative.
• haYu ("they will be", H1961) — qal sequential perfect (vav + perfect), continuing the narrative sequence begun by the imperatives, introducing the purpose clause.
• mikRa' ("[the] convocation of", H4744) — masculine singular construct, joined to ha'eDah ("the congregation", H5712), naming the first of two designated functions.
• maSa' ("breaking", H4550) — masculine singular noun paired with hammachaNot ("the camps", H4264) via the direct object marker 'et, naming the second function.

What the text says

The verse opens with two verbs from the same root H6213 ('aSah, "to make"): first the imperative 'a.Seh ("make"), then the imperfect ta'aSeh ("you will make"). This repetition frames the instruction — the initial command is stated, then restated with the qualifier mikShah ("hammered work") clarifying the technique, before the direct object marker 'oTam ("them") closes the clause referring back to the "two trumpets of silver" already named.

The second half of the verse shifts from instruction to consequence, marked by the narrative vav on haYu ("they will be"), a sequential perfect that continues the logical chain: because the trumpets are made this way, they will be for two stated purposes. Both purposes are expressed with the preposition le ("for") followed by construct nouns: mikRa' ("convocation of") governing ha'eDah ("the congregation"), and maSa' ("breaking") governing, through the object marker 'et, hammachaNot ("the camps"). The construct chains tie the trumpets' function tightly to two distinct actions — gathering people and initiating movement — without any verb of blowing or sounding appearing in this verse itself; the function is stated as what the trumpets "will be for," not as an action performed with them here.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mikRa' ("convocation of") with the infinitive phrase ἀνασυναγωγὴν καλεῖν ("to call together"), turning the Hebrew construct noun into a verbal expression. The Vulgate condenses the entire purpose clause into a single relative clause, quibus convocare possis multitudinem quando movenda sunt castra ("with which you may call together the multitude when the camps must be moved"), merging the two Hebrew nouns (mikRa' and maSa') into one continuous Latin sentence rather than preserving the parallel construct-noun structure of the Hebrew.