Numbers 29:7

Summary

Numbers 29:7 sets rules for the tenth day of the seventh month: it is to be marked by a mikra-qodesh ("holy convocation") and by an act of self-affliction ('innitem), while all regular work is prohibited (melakhah lo ta'asu).

Key words

• 'asor ("ten", H6218) — masculine singular noun, here functioning as the ordinal day-marker within the date formula "on the ten of the month."
• mikra-qodesh ("convocation of holiness", H4744/H6944) — construct chain; mikra is in construct state governing qodesh, producing "a convocation belonging to holiness," i.e., a holy assembly, rather than two separate nouns loosely joined.
• yihyeh ("it will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular, agreeing with the singular subject mikra-qodesh; the imperfect aspect frames this as a standing future/ongoing requirement rather than a single event.
• 'innitem ("you will humble", H6031B) — piel sequential perfect, second person masculine plural; the piel stem intensifies the root, and the sequential perfect form continues the verbal chain begun by yihyeh, linking the two commands (the convocation and the humbling) as a single continuous instruction.
• ta'asu ("you will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, negated by lo' ("not", H3808); the imperfect again signals a general, standing prohibition applicable each time this day recurs.

What the text says

The verse opens with a date formula built from a chain of construct and prepositional phrases: ba-'asor la-chodesh ha-shevi'i ha-zeh ("on the ten, of the month, the seventh, the this"), stacking modifiers onto "ten" to pinpoint the day precisely within the seventh month. The main clause subject is the construct pair mikra-qodesh, "convocation of holiness," whose construct relationship makes "holiness" the defining quality of the assembly rather than an independent noun standing beside it. The verb yihyeh ("it will be") is a qal imperfect agreeing with this singular subject, and the recipients are marked by the prepositional suffix lakhem ("to/for you").

The clause then shifts person and verbal pattern: ve'innitem uses the vav-conjunctive attached to a perfect form functioning sequentially, continuing the force of the preceding imperfect yihyeh as part of the same instruction rather than introducing a separate temporal frame. The piel stem of 'inah intensifies the basic sense of the root, applied here to nafshoteikhem ("your selves/souls," H5315I), a feminine plural noun with the second masculine plural suffix. The final clause negates ta'asu ("you will do") with lo', and kol-melakhah ("any work") is fronted before the verb, giving the prohibition emphatic placement at the head of the clause.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'inah ("to humble", H6031B) as κακώσετε ("you will afflict/distress"), a term emphasizing hardship rather than humility. The Vulgate uses affligetis ("you will afflict") and adds servile ("servile work") to opus ("work"), a qualifier not present in the Hebrew kol-melakhah ("any work"), which does not specify the type of labor. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation renders 'inah as "ayunarán" ("they will fast"), interpreting the humbling as fasting, while the Hebrew verb itself does not specify fasting explicitly.