Numbers 16:36

Summary

This short verse marks a narrative transition: Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) speaks to Mosheh ("Moses", H4872), introducing the divine speech that follows. It is a standard formulaic introduction used throughout the Pentateuch to signal that direct divine instruction is about to be reported.

Key words

• va ("and", H9001) — the narrative vav, prefixed to the verb, links this verse to the preceding narrative and signals sequential action ("and then...").
• y'daber ("he spoke", H1696G) — Piel stem (intensive/factitive) of the root for "to speak," in narrative (preterite) form; the Piel here carries the customary sense of formal, authoritative speech rather than casual talk.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine proper name, functioning as the grammatical subject of the verb.
• Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) — proper name, object of the preposition 'el ("to", H0413), marking the recipient of the speech.
• lemor ("saying", H0559) — Qal infinitive construct with prefixed le ("to/in", H9005), functioning adverbially to introduce the content of speech that follows; literally "in saying."

What the text says

The Hebrew clause follows the standard verb-subject-object word order typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative: the verb y'daber ("he spoke") precedes its subject Yehovah, which precedes the prepositional phrase 'el-Mosheh ("to Moses"). The narrative vav attached to the verb (va-y'daber) is the normal device for advancing the storyline, equivalent to "and then he spoke," tying this statement to what came before it.

The final word, lemor ("saying"), is an infinitive construct that functions here as a formulaic marker opening direct speech. This construction — verb of speaking followed by lemor — is common throughout the Pentateuch and signals that the words immediately following (not included in this verse) are the exact content of what was spoken. The Piel stem of daber ("to speak") is the form regularly used for formal or significant speech acts in narrative, distinguishing it from lighter or informal verbs of speaking.

No additional nuance is carried by tense, aspect, or word choice beyond this standard narrative introduction; the verse itself contains no content of the speech, only the formula announcing that speech is about to occur.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν, "And the Lord said to Moses") omits an equivalent for lemor ("saying", H0559), rendering the introduction more concisely than the Hebrew, which explicitly marks the transition into direct speech with the infinitive. The Vulgate (Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens) includes "dicens" ("saying"), corresponding more closely to the Hebrew lemor. The Piel verb y'daber is rendered by a simple aorist (εἶπεν, "he said") in the LXX, without reflecting the intensive stem distinction present in the Hebrew.