Numbers 14:17

Summary

Numbers 14:17 records a petition asking that the "power" or "strength" attributed to the Lord be shown as great, invoking the wording of an earlier divine declaration. The verse is structured as an urgent request rather than a statement of fact, using a request particle absent in the surface translations.

Key words

• yig.dal ("may it be great", H1431) — Qal imperfect, third person masculine; expresses an ongoing/future action framed here as a wish rather than a description.
• na' ("please", H4994) — an interjection attached directly to the verb, marking the utterance as a polite or urgent entreaty, softening the imperative force of the request.
• Ko.ach ("power of", H3581B) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be joined to what follows ('Adonai) to form the phrase "power of the Lord"; it cannot stand alone grammatically.
• 'a.do.Nai ("the Lord", H0136) — a title functioning here as the possessor in the construct chain, i.e., the one to whom the "power" belongs.
• di.Bar.ta ("you have spoken", H1696I) — Piel perfect, second person masculine singular, denoting a completed act of speaking in an intensive stem, referring back to a prior statement being cited.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with ve ("and") plus 'a.Tah ("therefore"), signaling a logical transition from what precedes. The core clause is built on the jussive-type imperfect yig.dal, reinforced by the particle na', together producing a request formula: "may it be great, please" — that is, "let... be great." The grammatical subject of this verb is the construct phrase Ko.ach 'Adonai, "power of the Lord," so the whole clause reads literally "let the power of the Lord be great, please." This construct relationship is a distinct grammatical link (noun + noun) rather than a vocative address to "the Lord," which matters for how the sentence's syntax is understood.

The second half introduces a comparison with ka'asher ("just as") followed by dibbarta ("you have spoken"), a completed action in the Piel stem, and le'mor ("saying"), a Qal infinitive marking the introduction of quoted speech. This structure indicates that what follows in the subsequent verse is presented as a direct citation of prior words attributed to the addressee.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the construct phrase differently: ὑψωθήτω ἡ ἰσχύς σου, Κύριε — "let your strength be exalted, O Lord" — treating Kyrie as a vocative address rather than as part of a construct chain with "power," and using "your strength" (second person) where the Hebrew has "power of the Lord" (third person construct). The Vulgate uses sicut jurasti ("as you swore") where the Hebrew has dibbarta ("you have spoken"), introducing the concept of an oath not present in the Hebrew verb itself, which denotes speaking rather than swearing.