Numbers 32:27
וַעֲבָדֶיךָ יַֽעַבְרוּ כָּל־חֲלוּץ צָבָא לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לַמִּלְחָמָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲדֹנִי דֹּבֵֽר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַעֲבָדֶ֨יךָ יַֽעַבְר֜וּ כָּל־חֲל֥וּץ צָבָ֛א לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲדֹנִ֖י דֹּבֵֽר׃
ἱο δὲ παῖδές σου παρελεύσονται πάντες ἐνωπλισμένοι καὶ ἐκτεταγμένοι ἔναντι κυρίου εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, δν τρόπον ὁ κύριος λέγει.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
nos autem famuli tui omnes expediti pergemus ad bellum, sicut tu, domine, loqueris.
pero nosotros, tus servidores, tomaremos nuestras armas y cruzaremos el río para ir a pelear delante de Yehová, tal como nuestro señor ha dicho”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y tus siervos, armados todos de guerra, pasarán delante de Jehová á la guerra, de la manera que mi señor dice.
But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.”
✦ What the text says
Numbers 32:27
Summary
The verse records a commitment from the Gadites and Reubenites: their armed men will cross over for battle "before Yehovah," in accordance with what "my lord" (Moses) has stated. It is part of their reply confirming the conditions previously proposed regarding settlement east of the Jordan.
Key words
- ya'avRu ("they will pass over", H5674A) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural, expressing future/ongoing action: the servants "will cross."
- chaLutz ("equipped [man] of", H2502B) — qal passive participle, construct form, describing one who has been equipped or armed, here modifying "war."
- tzaVa' ("war", H6635H) — masculine singular noun, in construct relation with chaLutz, forming the phrase "one equipped of war" (i.e., an armed combatant).
- liFnei ("before", H6440G) — construct plural noun with prefixed preposition, literally "to the face of," used to indicate presence "before" Yehovah.
- doVer ("saying/speaking", H1696G) — qal participle masculine singular, describing an ongoing or characteristic action: "is speaking/saying," attributed to "my lord" ('adoNi, H0113).
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence structures the promise around the verb ya'avRu ("they will pass over," H5674A), with the subject being 'avaDeicha ("your servants," H5650 + suffix H9021). The phrase kol-chaLutz tzaVa' ("every equipped man of war") uses a construct chain: chaLutz (passive participle, H2502B) is bound to tzaVa' (H6635H), producing the idiom for a fully armed combatant ready for battle. This phrase functions as an appositional description of the subject "your servants," clarifying that all of them are so equipped.
The clause liFnei Yehovah lamilchaMah ("before Yehovah, for the battle") places two prepositional phrases in sequence: liFnei (H6440G, construct plural "face of") governs "Yehovah," while la- + milchaMah (H4421) marks the purpose ("for the battle"). The final clause, introduced by ka'aSher ("just as," H0834D), closes the sentence with a comparison to what 'adoNi ("my lord," H0113 + suffix H9020) doVer ("is saying," H1696G) — a participle indicating an ongoing or present declarative act, not a past statement. This grammatical choice frames Moses' instruction as something currently being affirmed or restated, rather than merely a completed prior speech.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders chaLutz tzaVa' with two participles, "ἐνωπλισμένοι καὶ ἐκτεταγμένοι" ("armed and arrayed/ordered"), expanding the single Hebrew construct phrase into a double description. The Vulgate uses "expediti" ("equipped/unencumbered") alone, condensing the phrase differently. Where the Hebrew has doVer as a participle ("is saying"), the Vulgate renders it with "loqueris" (second person, "you speak"), shifting the grammatical person from third to second, addressing Moses directly rather than referring to him in the third person as the Hebrew does.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.