Numbers 20:25

Summary

The verse records a divine command to Moses to take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor. The command uses two consecutive imperative verbs, structuring the action as first a "taking" and then a "bringing up."

Key words

• kach ("take", H3947) — qal imperative masculine singular; a direct command addressed to one man (Moses, per context), opening the verse.
• 'Aharon ("Aaron", H0175) — proper name, marked with the direct object marker 'et (H0853), identifying him as the one being taken.
• ben ("son", H1121) — masculine singular construct noun with pronominal suffix -o ("his", H9023), forming beno ("his son"), specifying Eleazar's relation to Aaron.
• Ha'al ("bring up", H5927) — hiphil imperative masculine singular; the causative stem indicates Moses causes Aaron and Eleazar to ascend, distinct from a simple "go up."
• Har ("mountain", H2022) — masculine singular noun preceded by the definite article ha- (H9009), giving "the mountain," combined with the place name Hor (H2023) to form Hor haHar, "Hor the mountain."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two imperative verbs addressed to a second-person masculine singular subject, unnamed in the verse itself but understood from surrounding context as Moses. The first imperative, kach ("take", H3947), governs two objects joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002): 'Aharon ("Aaron", H0175) and 'Elazar beno ("Eleazar his son", H0499 + H1121 + H9023). Both objects are marked with the direct object marker 'et (H0853), which has no independent gloss but signals that Aaron and Eleazar are the ones being taken.

The second clause opens with another conjunction ve- followed by the hiphil imperative Ha'al ("bring up", H5927). The hiphil stem marks causation: the subject does not merely go up but causes Aaron and Eleazar to go up. The object of this verb is expressed through the pronominal suffix -m ("them", H9038) attached to the object marker 'otam, referring back to Aaron and Eleazar already named. The destination is Hor haHar, literally "Hor the mountain" — the place name Hor (H2023) followed by the noun har ("mountain", H2022) with the definite article ha- (H9009), a construction rendered in English versions as "Mount Hor."

Differences between versions

The LXX adds the phrase "ἔναντι πάσης τῆς συναγωγῆς" ("before all the congregation"), which has no corresponding words in the Hebrew text provided. The Vulgate renders beno ("his son") as "filium ejus cum eo" ("his son with him"), adding "cum eo" not reflected in the Hebrew suffix construction.