Numbers 12:5

Summary

The verse narrates that Yehovah descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. Both of them then went out (or came forward) in response to the summons. The verse is built as a chain of four consecutive narrative actions performed by Yehovah and then by Aaron and Miriam.

Key words

• va-Yered ("and he came down", H3381) — qal narrative form (vav-consecutive), marking the first sequential action of Yehovah in the scene.
• be-'Ammud ("in a pillar of", H5982G) — construct noun, masculine singular, linking "pillar" to the following noun to form "pillar of cloud."
• va-Ya'amod ("and he stood", H5975G) — second qal narrative verb, showing the sequence "came down → stood," both actions attributed to Yehovah.
• va-Yiqra' ("and he summoned", H7121G) — third narrative verb, qal, marking Yehovah as subject calling Aaron and Miriam by name.
• sheney-Hem ("both of them", H8147 + H9028) — cardinal number in dual construct form with a third-person masculine plural suffix, indicating the pair acted jointly.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure relies entirely on four verbs joined by the narrative va ("and then"), each in the qal simple form, producing a rapid sequence: Yehovah came down (va-Yered), stood (va-Ya'amod), summoned (va-Yiqra'), and Aaron and Miriam went out (va-Yetze'u). This chain format is typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative, where each new clause begins with the vav-consecutive attached to a finite verb, creating a tight temporal sequence without need for explicit connectors like "then" or "after that."

The phrase be-'Ammud 'Anan ("in a pillar of cloud", H5982G + H6051) uses a construct chain: 'Ammud ("pillar") is bound to 'Anan ("cloud"), meaning literally "pillar of cloud" rather than two separate nouns. Similarly, Petach ha-'Ohel ("entrance of the tent", H6607 + H0168G) is a construct phrase specifying which entrance — that of "the tent" — is meant.

The final word, sheney-hem ("both of them", H8147 with suffix H9028), is a dual cardinal number with a possessive-style pronominal suffix, which in Hebrew explicitly marks that exactly two people — no more — are the referents of the action. This dual marking is a grammatical feature not always reflected identically in the target languages.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va-Yetze'u ("they went out", H3318G) with ἐξήλθοσαν ("they went out"), matching the Hebrew sense of departure. The Vulgate instead uses "cum issent" ("when they had gone/come"), continuing into the next clause differently, treating the going out as a subordinate temporal clause rather than a separate main action as in the Hebrew's fourth vav-consecutive verb. The BSB and SBLIBRE similarly interpret this action as "stepped forward" or "se acercaron" ("approached"), diverging from the more neutral directional sense of yatza' ("to go out", H3318G) in the Hebrew text.