Numbers 10:29

Summary

Moses addresses Hobab, identified as son of Reuel the Midianite and father-in-law of Moses, announcing that the Israelites are setting out toward the place Yehovah promised to give them. He invites Hobab to join them, promising good treatment, on the grounds that Yehovah has spoken good concerning Israel.

Key words

• no.se.'Im ("[are] about to set out", H5265) — qal participle, masculine plural, describing an action in progress/imminent rather than a completed or future event; paired with the pronoun 'a.Nach.nu ("we") it forms the equivalent of "we are setting out."
• cho.Ten ("[the] father-in-law of", H2859A) — qal participle used as a construct noun, linking Hobab's relational identity directly to mo.Sheh ("Moses", H4872) that follows.
• 'e.Ten ("I will give", H5414G) — qal imperfect, first person, marking Yehovah's promise as an action not yet completed, embedded within the relative clause about the place.
• le.Kha + paragogic h ("come", H1980H + H9012) — qal imperative with an emphatic final he, intensifying the force of the invitation to Hobab.
• he.Tav.nu ("we will do good", H3190) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, continuing the sequence begun by the imperative le.Kha; the causative stem indicates Moses' group will actively cause good treatment toward Hobab.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va-i.Yo.mer ("and he said", H9001+H0559), typical of Hebrew narrative sequencing, introducing direct speech from Moses to Hobab. Hobab's identity is built through a chain of construct relationships: ben ("son of", H1121A) links him to re.'u.'El ("Reuel", H7467J), while cho.Ten ("father-in-law of", H2859A) connects him to Moses. This construct chain in Hebrew allows multiple relational identifications to be compressed into a single noun phrase without additional connecting words.

The core of Moses' statement uses a participle, no.se.'Im ("[are] about to set out", H5265), rather than a finite verb, which in Hebrew narrative often conveys an action currently unfolding or about to happen — closer to "we are in the process of departing" than a simple past or future statement. The destination is qualified by a relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A), inside which Yehovah's promise is expressed with the imperfect 'e.Ten ("I will give", H5414G), indicating an action not yet complete at the time of the original divine statement.

The invitation itself pairs an imperative, le.Kha ("come", H1980H), carrying a paragogic he (H9012) that adds emphasis, with a sequential perfect, he.Tav.nu ("we will do good", H3190), in the hiphil stem. This causative form indicates that Moses' group will actively produce good treatment for Hobab, not merely that good will passively occur. The final clause is introduced by ki ("for", H3588A), giving the motivating reason: dibber ("he has spoken", H1696I), a piel (intensive) perfect, describing Yehovah's completed act of speaking tov ("good", H2896A) concerning Israel.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew chotEn ("father-in-law", H2859A) is rendered in the LXX as gambrô (a term for in-law relations more broadly) and in the Vulgate as cognato ("relative/kinsman"), both somewhat less specific than the Hebrew term's precise designation. The Hebrew name Re'u'El (H7467J) appears in the LXX as Ragouēl and in the Vulgate as Raguel, reflecting transliteration differences rather than a change in referent.