Numbers 29:12

Summary

Numbers 29:12 specifies the fifteenth day of the seventh month as a day of sacred assembly, when no laborious work is to be performed, and instructs that a festival to Yehovah be celebrated for seven days.

Key words

• mikra ("a convocation of", H4744) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to qodesh to form "a convocation of holiness," i.e., a designated sacred gathering.
• qodesh ("holiness", H6944G) — the noun in construct relation with mikra, marking the assembly as set apart.
• melekhet ("work of", H4399) — feminine singular construct noun, joined to avodah to specify a category of work.
• avodah ("servitude", H5656I) — feminine singular noun describing the type of labor prohibited, distinguishing it from other kinds of work.
• chagotem ("you will celebrate a festival", H2287) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine plural, continuing the narrative sequence begun with the imperfect verbs earlier in the verse.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a temporal phrase, u-va-chamishah asar yom la-chodesh ha-shevi'i ("and on the fifteenth day of the seventh month"), establishing the calendrical setting before any verb appears. The main clause follows with mikra-qodesh yihyeh lakhem ("a convocation of holiness will be to you"), where mikra stands in construct with qodesh, producing a compound expression rather than two separate nouns — the assembly itself is characterized as belonging to the category "holiness."

The prohibition uses a similar construct chain: kol-melekhet avodah lo ta'asu ("any work of servitude you will not do"). Here melekhet in construct with avodah narrows the scope of forbidden activity to a specific labor category, distinct from the general noun for "work" alone. The verb ta'asu is qal imperfect, marking ongoing or future prohibition for the plural addressees.

The final clause shifts verbal form: ve-chagotem chag la-Yehovah shiv'at yamim ("and you will celebrate a festival to Yehovah, seven days") uses the sequential perfect chagotem, which continues the temporal sequence set by the preceding imperfect verbs — a common pattern in Hebrew legal/ritual instruction where perfect forms with vav continue commands begun with imperfects. The phrase chag la-Yehovah pairs the noun chag with its cognate verb chagotem, a paronomastic construction (verb and object sharing the same root, H2287/H2282) that reinforces the act of festival-keeping. The duration is marked by shiv'at yamim, a construct chain of "seven" governing "days."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chag ("festival", H2282) as ἑορτὴν Τυροῦ ("feast of Tyrus/Tyre"), adding a specifying term not present in the Hebrew, which simply states chag la-Yehovah ("a festival to Yehovah") without further qualification. The Vulgate's solemnitatem Domino corresponds closely to the Hebrew chag la-Yehovah, while the LXX's addition of Τυροῦ introduces an element absent from both the Hebrew and the Vulgate.