Numbers 3:11

Summary

The verse is a brief narrative formula stating that Yehovah spoke to Moses. It contains no content of the speech itself, only the introductory notice that precedes it, marking a transition to a new divine communication.

Key words

• va-y'daBer ("and he spoke", H1696) — piel verb with narrative vav; the piel stem here carries the basic sense of speaking (not a passive or reflexive nuance), and the vav links this statement to the preceding narrative sequence, signaling continuation of the account.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068) — proper name functioning as the subject of the verb; identifies the speaker.
• 'el ("to", H0413) — preposition marking Moses as the recipient/addressee of the speech.
• Mosheh ("Moses", H4872) — proper name, direct object of the preposition, the one addressed.
• leMor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed le-; functions as a quotative marker introducing direct speech that follows (not shown in this verse's word list, but expected in the continuation).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows a fixed formulaic structure common in narrative sections of the Torah: vav-consecutive verb + subject + prepositional phrase + infinitive of speech. The verb y'daBer ("he spoke", H1696) is in the piel stem, which for this root functions as the standard active form for "to speak" — it does not carry an intensifying or causative nuance distinct from a simpler stem, since the piel is the root's normal conjugation for this meaning. The narrative vav prefixed to the verb ties this clause directly to the preceding material, presenting the speech-event as the next link in a chain of reported actions.

The construction 'el-Mosheh ("to Moses", H0413 + H4872) identifies the addressee using a simple directional preposition, indicating movement of speech toward a recipient rather than describing speech about him. The final word, the infinitive leMor ("saying", H0559), is a common Hebrew device for opening direct discourse; grammatically it means something like "in the act of saying" or "as follows," and it signals to the reader that a quotation is about to begin — the content of that quotation lies outside the verse under analysis.

Differences between versions

No substantive divergence appears between the Hebrew, the Septuagint (ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων), and the Vulgate (Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens). All three follow the same formulaic pattern — verb of speaking, subject, prepositional phrase naming Moses, and a participle/infinitive introducing quoted speech — with no differences in name, action, or addressee.