Numbers 21:4

Summary

The verse narrates the Israelites' departure from Mount Hor, taking the route toward the Red Sea in order to go around the territory of Edom. It closes by stating that "the nefesh of the people became short" on the way, an idiomatic expression describing a negative emotional state during the journey.

Key words

• yis'u ("they set out", H5265) — qal narrative verb, marking the next event in the story sequence: departure from Hor.
• sevov ("go around", H5437H) — qal infinitive, expressing purpose ("in order to go around"), governing the object 'et-'erets 'Edom.
• nefesh ("self/soul", H5315I) — feminine singular noun in construct with ha'am ("the people"), forming the idiom "the nefesh of the people."
• tikqtzar ("it became short", H7114A) — qal narrative verb, feminine subject (nefesh), literally "it shortened."
• darekh ("way", H1870K) — appears twice in the verse (once in construct, derekh yam-suf, once with the article, ba-darekh), framing the journey spatially.

What the text says

The verse divides into two clauses joined by the narrative vav. The first clause reports movement: yis'u ("they set out") me-Hor ha-Har ("from Hor the mountain"), followed by derekh yam-suf ("the direction of the sea of reeds"), a construct phrase functioning adverbially to indicate the route taken. The purpose of this route is given by the infinitive construction li-sevov 'et-'erets 'Edom ("to go around the land of Edom"), where the preposition li- attached to the infinitive expresses intention.

The second clause introduces a new narrative event with the same vav-narrative pattern: va-tiqtzar nefesh-ha'am ba-darekh. Here the grammatical subject is nefesh ("self," feminine singular), placed in construct with ha'am ("the people"), and the verb tiqtzar ("it became short") agrees with this feminine subject. The Hebrew idiom "the nefesh became short" does not describe a physical shortening but conveys a change in emotional or vital disposition, tied here to the circumstance ba-darekh ("on the way" / "during the journey").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tiqtzar nefesh with the single verb ὠλιγοψύχησεν ("became discouraged/faint-hearted"), collapsing the Hebrew construct phrase (nefesh-ha'am) into one verb with ho laos ("the people") as subject, rather than preserving nefesh as a distinct grammatical element. The Vulgate expands the idiom into tædere cœpit populum itineris ac laboris ("the people began to be wearied of the journey and the labor"), adding "labor" (laboris) as an explanatory element not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew text. The Spanish SBLIBRE similarly adds "por el cansancio del viaje" ("because of the weariness of the journey"), an interpretive expansion of the bare Hebrew ba-darekh ("on the way").