Numbers 20:23

Summary

Numbers 20:23 introduces a divine speech: Yehovah speaks to both Moses and Aaron, and the verse specifies the location as Mount Hor, near the border of the land of Edom. The verse functions as a narrative frame that sets the geographical stage before the actual words of Yehovah follow.

Key words

• va-Yomer ("and he said", H0559) — qal wayyiqtol form; the narrative vav plus the verb marks this as the next event in the storyline, standard formula opening direct speech.
• 'el...ve'el ("to...and to", H0413) — the preposition is repeated before each name (Moses, then Aaron), giving both figures equal grammatical status as recipients of the speech rather than treating them as a single joint addressee.
• Hor ha-Har ("Hor, the mountain", H2023G / H2022G) — the place name Hor is followed by ha-Har ("the mountain") with the definite article, a construction that identifies the mountain by name and then restates its category.
• gevul ("border of", H1366G) — masculine singular noun in the construct state, meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its sense ("border of X").
• le'mor ("saying", H0559) — infinitive construct of the same root as va-Yomer; it functions as the formal hinge that opens the direct quotation that follows the verse.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a single narrative clause: subject (Yehovah) + verb (va-Yomer) + two prepositional phrases naming the addressees ('el-Mosheh ve-'el-'Aharon) + a locative phrase (be-Hor ha-Har) + a construct chain specifying proximity to a political border ('al-gevul 'eretz-'Edom) + the infinitive le'mor that opens the quoted speech. The double preposition 'el...ve'el before Moses and Aaron gives syntactic parity to both names, so the text does not subordinate one figure to the other in receiving the message.

The construct chain gevul 'eretz-'Edom ("border of the land of Edom") stacks two nouns in construct relationship, producing a compact genitive phrase equivalent to "the border of the land, [namely] of Edom." The location itself is doubly marked: first by the proper name Hor, then reinforced by ha-Har ("the mountain") with the article, and finally located relative to the Edomite border — a layering of geographical specificity in a single verse.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) reads πρὸς Μωυσῆν καὶ Ωρ τῷ ὄρει — "to Moses and Hor, at the mountain" — where the Hebrew names both Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) and 'Aharon ("Aaron", H0175) as recipients of the speech. The LXX as given here does not include Aaron's name in this clause, differing from the Masoretic structure that grammatically pairs Moses and Aaron together.

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) as cited is shorter still: ubi locutus est Dominus ad Moysen ("where the Lord spoke to Moses"), omitting both Aaron and the border-of-Edom detail found in the Hebrew and in the other versions (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE), which all retain the full notice of both addressees and the geographical description.