Numbers 19:1

Summary

Numbers 19:1 opens a new divine speech unit: Yehovah addresses both Moses and Aaron together, introducing what follows as direct instruction. The verse itself contains no content beyond the formulaic introduction to the speech.

Key words

• va-yedabber ("and he spoke", H1696) — piel narrative verb with vav-consecutive, marking a new sequential event in the story ("and then he spoke"); the piel stem gives the verb an intensive/declarative nuance beyond simple utterance.
• YHWH ("Yehovah", H3068) — the divine name functions as subject of the verb, identified by proper name rather than by title or epithet.
• 'el ("to", H0413) — the preposition of address, repeated once before Mosheh and again before Aharon, structuring the sentence into two distinct recipients.
• Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) — proper noun, first-named addressee.
• le'mor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct, the standard formula introducing reported speech; it functions almost like a colon, signaling that direct discourse follows.

What the text says

The verse follows the recurring Pentateuchal formula for introducing divine legislation: subject (YHWH) + verb (va-yedabber) + addressee(s) + le'mor. The vav-consecutive on va-yedabber ties this verse into the ongoing narrative sequence of the book, presenting the coming instructions as the next event in a chain of divine communications to Israel through its leaders.

A notable feature of the Hebrew syntax is the repetition of the preposition 'el before each name: 'el-Mosheh ve-'el-'Aharon ("to Moses and to Aaron"). This repetition treats Moses and Aaron as two separately addressed recipients rather than a single combined entity, even though they receive the same message. The infinitive le'mor at the end functions as a discourse marker rather than a translatable verb in most target languages — it signals that quoted speech is about to begin, functioning similarly to a colon or "as follows."

No content of the speech itself appears in this verse; it consists entirely of the introductory formula, with the substantive instruction beginning in the following verse.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the double Hebrew preposition construction ('el-Mosheh ve-'el-'Aharon) as a single prepositional phrase, "ad Moysen et Aaron," using ad only once for both names joined by et, rather than repeating the preposition as the Hebrew does. The Vulgate also uses the perfect participial construction Locutusque est ("and he had spoken" / "and he spoke"), a Latin narrative device, where the Hebrew uses the vav-consecutive imperfect va-yedabber to mark narrative sequence.