Numbers 14:25

Summary

The verse names two peoples, the 'a.mal.Ki ("Amalekite", H6003) and the ke.na.'a.Ni ("Canaanite", H3669A), as currently dwelling in the valley, then gives Israel a command to turn back and travel into the wilderness toward the sea of reeds. The sentence combines a descriptive clause about the enemy's location with a double imperative directing Israel's route.

Key words

• 'a.mal.Ki ("Amalekite", H6003) — singular gentilic noun functioning collectively for the people group, paired with ke.na.'a.Ni.
• yo.Shev ("dwelling", H3427) — qal participle, masculine singular, describing an ongoing state ("is dwelling") rather than a completed action, applied to both peoples named before it.
• pe.Nu ("turn", H6437G) — qal imperative, masculine plural, a direct command addressed to the group ("you all").
• se.'U ("set out", H5265) — second qal imperative, masculine plural, joined to pe.Nu by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002), forming a paired command.
• De.rekh ("way of", H1870K) — masculine noun in construct state, meaning it binds to the following noun yam ("sea of", H3220G) to form the phrase "way of the sea of reeds."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with two definite gentilic terms, ha-'a.mal.Ki and ha-ke.na.'a.Ni, joined by ve ("and"), both governed by the single participle yo.Shev ("dwelling"). Because the participle is singular, it treats the two peoples as a unified subject occupying the 'E.mek ("valley", H6010R), a construction that presents their presence as a static, ongoing fact rather than a narrated event. There is no causal conjunction ("because," "since") in the Hebrew linking this clause to what follows — the two clauses simply stand side by side, joined only by mahar ("tomorrow", H4279), which begins the next unit.

The second half of the verse is built on two imperatives, pe.Nu ("turn") and se.'U ("set out"), both masculine plural, addressed directly to the audience. The phrase la.khem ("for yourselves", H9005+H9036) uses a pronominal suffix that adds a reflexive or self-directed nuance to the movement, commonly rendered simply as "you" in translation. The destination is given through the construct chain De.rekh yam Suf — literally "way of the sea of reeds" — where De.rekh is grammatically bound to yam, and yam to Suf, producing a single geographic designation.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text has no causal connector before naming the Amalekite and Canaanite; the Vulgate supplies one with Quoniam ("since"), making explicit a logical relation only implicit in the Hebrew juxtaposition. The LXX (Swete) preserves only the second half of the verse (the imperatives and the route), omitting the opening clause naming the Amalekite and Canaanite dwelling in the valley found in the Hebrew and reflected in the Vulgate and modern translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE).