Numbers 16:23

Summary

The verse consists of a standard narrative introduction formula, stating that Yehovah spoke to Moses. It contains no content of the divine speech itself, only the notice that a communication occurred, which is typically followed by the actual message in the subsequent verse.

Key words

va-y'daBer ("and he spoke", H1696G) — piel stem verb with narrative vav, marking the next sequential event in the story; the piel form is the standard conjugation used for the verb "to speak" in this formula, without necessarily implying special intensity here.

Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, functioning as the grammatical subject of the verb y'daBer.

el ("to", H0413) — preposition marking the recipient of the speech, here introducing Mosheh.

Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) — proper name, direct object of the preposition, identifying the addressee.

leMor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct, functioning adverbially to introduce the forthcoming direct speech; it signals that quoted words follow.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the verb-subject-object order typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative: va-y'daBer ("and he spoke") + Yehovah (subject) + el-Mosheh ("to Moses") + leMor ("saying"). This is one of the most common formulaic constructions in the Pentateuch for introducing divine speech to Moses. The narrative vav prefixed to the verb signals continuation of the story sequence — this event follows directly from what precedes it in the chapter.

The infinitive leMor at the end functions as a grammatical hinge: it does not carry independent meaning beyond "saying" but serves to open a quotation, indicating that the words of Yehovah will follow immediately after this verse. The verse itself contains no semantic content beyond identifying speaker, addressee, and the fact of speech — the substance of the message is deferred to what follows.

Differences between versions

The three textual traditions render this formula with minor stylistic variation but no substantive divergence. The LXX uses ἐλάλησεν ("he spoke") and λέγων ("saying"), mirroring the Hebrew structure closely. The Vulgate compresses the formula with Et ait Dominus ad Moysen ("And the Lord said to Moses"), omitting a separate word corresponding to leMor, folding "saying" into the verb ait itself. The Spanish SBLIBRE translation renders the verb as "le respondió" ("he answered him"), introducing a nuance of response not explicit in the Hebrew y'daBer ("he spoke"), which does not inherently carry the sense of "answering" a prior statement.