Numbers 20:18

Summary

Numbers 20:18 records Edom's response to Israel's request for passage: Edom refuses, stating that Israel will not cross through his territory, and warns that if they attempt it, Edom will come out against them with the sword.

Key words

• va-yo'mer ("and it said", H0559) — narrative vav prefixed to a qal imperfect verb, marking the sequential action "and then he said," introducing Edom's direct speech.
• ta'avor ("you will pass", H5674A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine, expressing a prohibited future action ("you shall not pass"); the imperfect here carries a modal, prohibitive force rather than simple futurity.
• pen ("lest", H6435) — a subordinating particle introducing a negative purpose/condition clause, signaling the consequence that follows if the prohibition is violated.
• cherev ("sword", H2719) — feminine singular noun, the instrument named as the means of confrontation.
• etze' ("I should come out", H3318G) — qal imperfect, first person, paired with pen to express Edom's conditional threat ("lest I come out").

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yo'mer ... 'elav ("and he said to him"), followed by the subject Edom (H0123G), naming the speaker. The direct speech itself has two clauses. The first, lo' ta'avor bi ("you will not pass through me" / "through mine"), uses the negation lo' (H3808) with the imperfect ta'avor, a construction commonly used for prohibition rather than mere prediction — it functions as a firm refusal. The preposition bi (H9003 + H9030, "in me") attaches a first-person suffix, so the Hebrew literally says "through me," personifying Edom as the territory itself, a construction the English and Spanish versions render as "through my land/territory."

The second clause is introduced by pen ("lest," H6435), which sets up a conditional-consequential structure: "lest/if [you try], with the sword I will come out to meet you." The verb etze' ("I will come out") is a first-person qal imperfect, and the phrase li-qra'tekha ("to meet you") uses an infinitive form with a second-person suffix, expressing purpose — the coming-out is directed specifically at intercepting the addressee. The instrumental phrase ba-cherev ("with the sword") specifies the means of this confrontation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the first clause as οὐ διελεύσῃ δι' ἐμοῦ ("you shall not pass through me"), matching the Hebrew's personified "through me" construction. The Vulgate instead reads non transibis per me, similarly preserving "through me," but expands the second clause with alioquin armatus occurram tibi ("otherwise, armed, I will meet you"), where "armed" (armatus) replaces the specific noun "sword" (cherev) found in the Hebrew and LXX (ἐν πολέμῳ, "in war/battle"). The LXX's ἐν πολέμῳ ("in war") diverges from the Hebrew's more concrete ba-cherev ("with the sword"), generalizing the instrument into a broader term for armed conflict.