Numbers 10:5

Summary

The verse describes the second stage of a trumpet-signal sequence: when a teru'ah ("alarm", H8643) blast is sounded, the camps stationed on the eastern side are to set out on the march. It continues a series of instructions using consecutive verb forms tied to a preceding signal already described in the passage.

Key words

• teka'tem ("you will give a blast", H8628) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person plural; continues a chain of actions begun earlier, functioning as the triggering event of the sentence.
• teru'ah ("an alarm", H8643) — feminine singular noun, the object of the blast; distinguished elsewhere in the chapter from a plain or continuous sound.
• nase'u ("they will set out", H5265) — qal sequential perfect, 3rd person plural; grammatically parallel to teka'tem, marking the resulting action of the camps.
• choNim ("encamp", H2583) — qal participle, masculine plural; describes the camps as those currently "encamping," identifying them by their present position rather than by name.
• Kedmah ("east", H6924B + directional he) — the directional he suffix turns the noun into "toward the east," indicating direction of orientation rather than simple location.

What the text says

The sentence is built on two sequential perfect verbs, teka'tem and nase'u, both continuing a chain of legal/narrative instruction rather than standing as independent statements — a common feature of instructional Hebrew where "and you will X, and they will Y" expresses a conditional or procedural sequence tied to context established in prior verses. The subject of the second verb, ha-machanot ("the camps," H4264, feminine plural with the article), is further specified by the participle ha-choNim ("the ones encamping"), which describes the camps by their current state of being positioned rather than naming them directly. The final word combines kedem ("east," H6924B) with a directional he, a suffix that indicates motion toward or orientation in a direction, so the phrase describes the camps as those situated on the eastward side, and it is these that will move first when the teru'ah sounds.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the final phrase with ἀνατολάς ("the easts," plural accusative), describing the camps as "the ones camping toward the easts," a plural where the Hebrew kedmah uses a singular directional form. The Vulgate expands the description of the sound itself with "prolixior atque concisus clangor" ("a longer and broken blast"), an explanatory addition not present in the Hebrew teru'ah, and adds "primi" ("first") when describing which camps move, a specification not found in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew simply identifies the camps by their participial description, ha-choNim ("the ones encamping"), without the qualifier "first."