Numbers 22:1

Summary

The verse reports two consecutive actions of the bene Yisra'el ("people of Israel", H1121G/H3478): they set out and then encamped in the plains of Moab, located on the side of the Jordan opposite Jericho. It functions as a geographical and narrative transition, situating Israel for the episodes that follow.

Key words

• va-yyis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking the first sequential action ("and then they set out"); third person masculine plural.
• va-yyachanu ("and they encamped", H2583) — second verb in the same narrative chain, also qal with narrative vav, indicating the resulting action ("and then they encamped").
• 'arvot ("plains of", H6160I) — masculine plural noun in construct state, requiring a following noun to complete its meaning ("plains of X").
• 'ever ("the other side", H5676H) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning "the side/region across from," here linking to the Jordan.
• Yericho ("Jericho", H3405G) — proper name in construct-like position, specifying which side of the Jordan is meant.

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of two narrative verbs joined by the narrative vav: va-yyis'u ("and they set out", H5265) followed by va-yyachanu ("and they encamped", H2583). Both verbs share the same subject, bene Yisra'el ("the people of Israel", H1121G + H3478), stated once after the first verb and understood for the second. This construction presents the two actions as sequential steps in a single narrative movement: departure, then settlement.

The location is given through a chain of construct phrases. 'Arvot Mo'av ("plains of Moab", H6160I + H4124I) names the immediate encampment site. This is further specified by me-'ever le-Yarden Yericho ("from the other side of the Jordan of Jericho"), where 'ever ("side", H5676H) in construct with Yarden ("Jordan", H3383) and Yericho ("Jericho", H3405G) describes the location relative to the river and the city. The construct chain Yarden Yericho attaches Jericho to the Jordan almost as a single geographic designation, meaning the stretch of the Jordan near Jericho, rather than the city itself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders me-'ever le-Yarden Yericho as παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην κατ' ἁ Ἰερειχώ ("beside the Jordan, opposite Jericho"), making the spatial relation ("opposite") more explicit than the Hebrew construct chain, which grammatically ties "Jordan" and "Jericho" together without an explicit preposition of opposition. The Vulgate similarly reads ubi trans Jordanem Jericho sita est ("where Jericho is situated across the Jordan"), turning the construct phrase into a relative clause describing Jericho's location, a syntactic choice not present in the Hebrew construct structure.