Numbers 16:45

Summary

This verse records a divine command to withdraw from the congregation so that it may be destroyed instantly, followed by a narrative note that "they" fell on their faces. The Hebrew text moves from direct speech (imperative + purpose clause) to narrative action (waw-consecutive verb), marking a shift in genre within the same verse.

Key words

• heRommu ("get away", H7426) — niphal imperative plural; the niphal stem gives a reflexive/passive nuance, "remove yourselves," rather than a simple active command.
• 'akhalleh ("I may make an end of", H3615) — piel imperfect 1st person singular with conjunctive vav; the piel intensifies the verbal action ("consume completely"), and the vav links it as a purpose/result clause to the preceding imperative.
• keRaga' ("like a moment", H7281) — preposition ke + noun; expresses the swiftness of the destruction, "in an instant."
• vayyippelu ("and they fell", H5307) — qal verb with narrative vav-consecutive; this form signals a new sequential event in the story, distinct from the speech that precedes it.
• peneihem ("their faces", H6440 + H9028) — masculine plural noun in construct with pronominal suffix; literally "the faces of them," idiomatically meaning prostration.

What the text says

The verse divides into a quoted command and a narrated reaction. The command opens with heRommu ("get away," H7426), a niphal imperative addressed to a plural "you," followed by a prepositional phrase mitTokh ha'edah hazzot ("from among this congregation," H9006+H8432+H5712+H2063) specifying the group to be avoided. The purpose of this withdrawal is given by va'akhalleh 'otam keRaga' ("so that I may consume them like a moment," H3615+H0853+H7281): the piel stem of 'akhalleh conveys total consumption, and keRaga' underscores the suddenness of the destruction.

The second half of the verse shifts to narrative with vayyippelu 'al-peneihem ("and they fell on their faces," H5307+H5921+H6440+H9028). The narrative vav on vayyippelu marks this as a sequential story event following the speech, not part of the quoted words. The Hebrew does not name the subject of "they fell" within this verse; the plural verb form assumes the subject is understood from surrounding context.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders keRaga' ("like a moment") as εἰς ἅπαξ ("at once, in a single stroke"), a related but slightly different image of instantaneousness compared to the Hebrew's temporal comparison "like a moment." The Vulgate renders the destruction clause as "etiam nunc delebo eos" ("even now I will destroy them"), replacing the Hebrew's "moment" imagery with a temporal marker "even now," and omits an equivalent for keRaga' altogether. For the final clause, the Vulgate has "Cumque jacerent in terra" ("and while they lay on the ground"), turning the Hebrew's discrete falling action (vayyippelu 'al-peneihem, "and they fell on their faces") into a continuous state ("lying on the ground"), and introduces a temporal conjunction Cumque where the Hebrew has a simple narrative vav. The LXX's ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν uses a singular πρόσωπον ("face") against the Hebrew's plural construct peneihem ("their faces").