Numbers 10:3

Summary

The verse describes the effect of the trumpet blasts: the men who blow "them" (the trumpets, referenced from a prior verse) sound the signal, and in response the whole congregation gathers to the speaker at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The verbs are grammatically linked to a preceding narrative sequence rather than standing as an isolated command.

Key words

• ta.ke.'U ("they will give a blast", H8628) — qal sequential perfect, 3rd person plural; continues an ongoing narrative chain begun earlier in the passage, implying "and [when] they blow."
• no.'a.Du ("they will gather together", H3259) — niphal (passive/reflexive) sequential perfect, 3rd person plural; the niphal stem indicates the congregation gathers itself or is gathered, not that an external agent gathers them.
• 'e.Dah ("congregation", H5712) — feminine singular noun; functions as the grammatical subject of the plural verb no.'a.Du, a collective noun construed with plural agreement.
• mo.'Ed ("meeting", H4150) — masculine singular noun, second term in the construct chain "tent of meeting"; shares its root (יעד) with the verb no.'a.Du, so the verb for "gathering" and the name of the tent are etymologically connected.
• Pe.tach ("entrance of", H6607) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to "tent of meeting" to specify the location of assembly.

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative vav on ta.ke.'U, marking this sentence as a continuation of prior instructions about trumpets rather than a fresh independent statement. The subject of this verb is not stated in this verse (referred to only through "them," bahen), meaning the identity of who blows depends on earlier text. The second clause, built on no.'a.Du, uses the niphal stem, which frames the congregation's gathering as something that happens to or through the congregation itself, distinguishing it from a causative "someone gathers them." The noun 'e.Dah ("congregation") is grammatically singular but takes a plural verb form, a common Hebrew construction where a collective body is treated as a set of individuals.

The phrase 'ohel mo.'Ed ("tent of meeting") uses the same root (יעד, "to appoint/meet") found in the verb no.'a.Du. This creates a lexical echo in the Hebrew: the congregation's "gathering" (no.'a.Du) occurs at the "tent of appointed meeting" ('ohel mo.'ed) — a connection visible in the Hebrew root system but not necessarily preserved in translation.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew verb ta.ke.'U is 3rd person plural ("they will blow"), leaving the subject unspecified. The LXX renders this with σαλπίσεις, 2nd person singular ("you shall trumpet"), and the Vulgate similarly uses increpueris, 2nd person singular, both directly addressing Moses. This shifts the grammatical subject of the trumpet-blowing action from an unspecified plural group in the Hebrew to a singular addressee in the Greek and Latin versions.