Numbers 34:7

Summary

The verse opens the description of Israel's northern border, beginning at the Mediterranean ("the Great Sea") and extending to a location called Hor HaHar. The Hebrew instructs the community to actively "draw" or "mark out" this boundary line themselves.

Key words

• gevul ("border of", H1366) — masculine singular construct noun, linking to tzafon ("north") to form the phrase "border of [the] north."
• tzafon ("north", H6828) — feminine singular noun, here functioning as the geographic reference point for the border's direction.
• tetau ("you will mark out", H8376) — piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the piel stem intensifies the action, suggesting deliberate, careful tracing rather than passive designation.
• hor ("Hor", H2023) — proper name, treated as a place name and paired with har.
• har ("mountain", H2022) — masculine singular noun with definite article, appearing directly after hor to form "Hor, the mountain" or "Mount Hor."

What the text says

The verse begins with the demonstrative zeh ("this", H2088) combined with the verb yihyeh ("it will be", H1961, qal imperfect), functioning as an introductory formula: "and this will be for you the border of [the] north." This construction sets up a list-like description, common in boundary texts, where each geographic marker follows in sequence.

The verb tetau (H8376) is notable for its piel stem and second-person plural form. Rather than a passive statement that a border "exists," this verb places the audience as active agents who "mark out" or "trace" the line for themselves (lakhem, H9005+H9036 — "for yourselves"). This grammatical choice frames the boundary not merely as a geographic fact but as something the people must actively survey.

The phrase Hor HaHar combines the proper name Hor (H2023) directly with the common noun ha-har ("the mountain", H2022 with definite article, H9009). This apposition — proper name followed by common noun with article — is a naming pattern where the mountain is identified specifically as "Hor" within the broader category "the mountain."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Hor HaHar as "παρὰ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὄρος" — literally "by the mountain, the mountain," doubling the Greek word for "mountain" rather than preserving Hor as a distinct proper name paired with har. The Vulgate takes a different approach, translating the phrase as "montem altissimum" ("the highest mountain"), which interprets the construction as a superlative description rather than retaining a proper name at all. The Hebrew text itself keeps Hor as a specific place name juxtaposed with the common noun for "mountain," a structure neither Greek nor Latin version replicates in the same way.