Numbers 20:17
נַעְבְּרָה־נָּא בְאַרְצֶךָ לֹא נַעֲבֹר בְּשָׂדֶה וּבְכֶרֶם וְלֹא נִשְׁתֶּה מֵי בְאֵר דֶּרֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ נֵלֵךְ לֹא נִטֶּה יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול עַד אֲשֶֽׁר־נַעֲבֹר גְּבוּלֶֽךָ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
נַעְבְּרָה־נָּ֣א בְאַרְצֶ֗ךָ לֹ֤א נַעֲבֹר֙ בְּשָׂדֶ֣ה וּבְכֶ֔רֶם וְלֹ֥א נִשְׁתֶּ֖ה מֵ֣י בְאֵ֑ר דֶּ֧רֶךְ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ נֵלֵ֗ךְ לֹ֤א נִטֶּה֙ יָמִ֣ין וּשְׂמֹ֔אול עַ֥ד אֲשֶֽׁר־נַעֲבֹ֖ר גְּבוּלֶֽךָ׃
παρελευσόμεθα διὰ τῆς γῆς σου· οὐ διελευσόμεθα δι’ ἀγρῶν οὐδὲ δι’ ἀμπελώνων, οὐδὲ πιόμεθα ὕδωρ ἐκ λάκκου σου· ὁδῷ βασιλικῇ πορευσόμεθα, καὶ οὐκ ἐκκλινοῦμεν δεξία οὐδὲ εὐώνυμα ἕως ἀν’ παρέλθωμεν τὰ ὅριά σου.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
obsecramus ut nobis transire liceat per terram tuam. Non ibimus per agros, nec per vineas; non bibemus aquas de puteis tuis: sed gradiemur via publica, nec ad dexteram nec ad sinistram declinantes, donec transeamus terminos tuos.
“Te pedimos que nos dejes pasar por tu país. Prometemos no pasar por los campos sembrados ni por los viñedos, y tampoco beberemos agua de tus pozos. Iremos por el Camino del Rey, sin desviarnos ni a la derecha ni a la izquierda, hasta salir de tu territorio”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Rogámoste que pasemos por tu tierra; no pasaremos por labranza, ni por viña, ni beberemos agua de pozos: por el camino real iremos, sin apartarnos á la diestra ni á la siniestra, hasta que hayamos pasado tu término.
Please let us pass through your land. We will not cut through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will stay on the King ’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
This verse records a request addressed to the king of Edom, asking permission to pass through his territory. The speaker promises restrained conduct: no diversion into cultivated land, no consumption of local water, and travel confined to a designated road until the territory is crossed.
Key words
- na'.be.rah ("let us pass", H5674A) — qal infinitive with the particle na' ("please", H4994) attached, forming a polite request/exhortation ("let us pass, please").
- na.'a.Vor ("we will pass", H5674A) — qal imperfect, first person plural; the same root as na'.be.rah but in a different verbal form, used repeatedly (also in position 29) to frame the negated actions and the final condition.
- De.rekh... ha.Me.lekh ("way of... the king", H1870I + H9009 + H4428I) — construct chain "way of the king," a specific route named by its relation to royal authority, marked by the construct noun De.rekh governing the definite noun ha.Me.lekh.
- ni.Teh ("we will turn aside", H5186) — qal imperfect, first person plural, negated by lo' ("not", H3808), describing the deliberate avoidance of lateral movement.
- ge.vu.Le.kha ("your territory", H1366H + H9021) — construct noun with second-person masculine singular suffix, marking the boundary that defines the endpoint of the passage.
What the text says
The verse opens with a cohortative-style request using the infinitive na'.be.rah combined with the particle na', softening the appeal as "let us pass, please." This is immediately followed by a series of imperfect verbs in the first-person plural — na.'a.Vor ("we will pass"), nish.Teh ("we will drink", H8354), ne.Lekh ("we will go", H1980G), and ni.Teh ("we will turn aside") — each governed by the negation lo' except for ne.Lekh, which stands as the sole affirmative action: travel by De.rekh ha.Me.lekh, "the way of the king." The repeated negations (lo' na.'a.Vor bе.sa.Deh..., ve.lo' nish.Teh..., lo' ni.Teh) structure the sentence as a list of restrictions bracketing the single permitted action.
The construct phrase De.rekh ha.Me.lekh names a specific route by relating it to royal authority through the construct state, rather than describing it merely as a public or major road in general terms. The final clause introduces the relative particle 'a.Sher ("that", H0834A) governing na.'a.Vor gevu.Lekha ("we will pass through your territory"), marking the temporal limit of the restrictions — they apply until the boundary of the addressee's land is crossed.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders De.rekh ha.Me.lekh as ὁδῷ βασιλικῇ ("royal road"), an adjectival construction rather than the Hebrew construct chain "way of the king." The Vulgate uses via publica ("public road"), shifting the sense from royal designation to public function. The Hebrew mei ve'Er ("water of a well", H4325G + H0875) appears in the LXX as ὕδωρ ἐκ λάκκου ("water from a cistern/pit"), where lakkos denotes a pit or cistern rather than the well (be'er) specified in the Hebrew.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.