Numbers 20:16

Summary

This verse is part of Israel's message to the king of Edom, recounting how the people cried out to Yehovah, were heard, and were brought out of Egypt through an angel. It concludes by locating the Israelites at Kadesh, a city at the edge of Edom's territory.

Key words

• nitz.'Ak ("we cried out", H6817) — qal narrative form, first person plural, opening the sequence of past events with "and then we cried out."
• Yehovah (H3068G) — the divine name, object of the preposition 'el ("to"), marking the recipient of the outcry.
• mal.'Akh ("an angel/messenger", H4397H) — masculine singular noun, indefinite, the entity Yehovah sent.
• i.yo.tzi.'E.nu ("he brought us out", H3318H) — hiphil (causative) narrative verb, third person masculine singular subject with first person plural suffix "us," expressing that the subject caused the exodus.
• ke.Tzeh ("outskirts of", H7097A) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to ge.vu.Le.kha ("your territory", H1366H) to form the phrase "outskirts of your territory."

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of four narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive (va-), each advancing the story: "we cried out" (nitz.'Ak), "he heard" (i.yish.Ma'), "he sent" (i.yish.Lach), "he brought out" (i.yo.tzi.'E.nu). This chain presents the events as a sequential report rather than a general description, typical of Hebrew narrative style. The subject shifts from "we" (the people crying out) to "he" (Yehovah acting), with the pronominal suffixes (-nu, "our/us") tracking Israel as the object or beneficiary of Yehovah's actions in "he heard our voice" (kol-Enu, literally "voice-our") and "he brought us out" (iyotzi'Enu).

The final clause shifts from narrative past to a description of present location, marked by hinneh ("here!", H2009), an interjection that draws attention to the current state of affairs, followed by the independent pronoun anachnu ("we", H0587) and the prepositional phrase ve-Kadesh ("in Kadesh"). The phrase closing the verse uses a double construct chain: ir ("city of") ketzeh ("outskirts of") gevulekha ("your territory"), literally "a city, edge of your border" — a stacked genitive construction identifying Kadesh's location relative to Edom's territory.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mal.'Akh ("an angel", H4397H) with a participial construction, "ἀποστείλας ἄγγελον" ("having sent an angel"), subordinating this action slightly differently than the Hebrew's parallel narrative chain, which presents "he sent" as an independent verb equal in weight to the others. The Vulgate mirrors the Hebrew's sequential structure more closely with its own chain of subjunctive/relative clauses ("clamaverimus... exaudierit... miserit... eduxerit").