Numbers 35:1

Summary

The verse opens a new divine speech unit, stating that Yehovah spoke to Moses in a specific location: the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho. It is a standard narrative introduction formula preceding a set of legal instructions.

Key words

• va-yedaBer ("and he spoke", H1696G) — piel narrative verb; the piel stem intensifies the act of speaking, and the vav-consecutive form marks this as the next event in the narrative sequence.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name functions as the subject of the verb, identifying the speaker.
• 'arVot ("plains of", H6160I) — construct-state noun naming a geographic region, bound to the following place name.
• yarDen ("Jordan", H3383) — proper noun marking the river as a geographic reference point for the location.
• leMor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition le ("to/in"), functioning as a formulaic marker that introduces direct speech to follow.

What the text says

The sentence follows the recurrent Hebrew narrative pattern for introducing divine speech: verb (va-yedaBer) + subject (Yehovah) + indirect object ('el-mosheh, "to Moses") + locative phrase + the infinitive leMor ("saying"), which functions as a hinge opening direct discourse. The vav-consecutive on va-yedaBer ties this verse to the preceding narrative flow, presenting it as a sequential event rather than a standalone statement.

The locative phrase is built through a chain of prepositions and construct relationships: be-'arVot mo'Av ("in the plains of Moab") uses the construct form 'arVot ("plains of", H6160I) bound to mo'Av ("Moab"), while 'al-yarDen yereCho ("at the Jordan of Jericho") attaches yereCho ("Jericho") to yarDen ("Jordan") without an intervening preposition, indicating a geographic association rather than possession — the Jordan is identified as the stretch of river near Jericho. This layered specification (region, then river, then nearby city) situates the speech precisely within the larger wilderness narrative geography before the following legal content is introduced by leMor.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'al-yarDen yereCho ("at the Jordan of Jericho") as παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην κατὰ Ἰερειχώ ("by the Jordan, opposite Jericho"), making explicit with κατά ("opposite/facing") a spatial relationship that the Hebrew construct chain leaves implicit. The Vulgate similarly adds "contra Jericho" ("facing Jericho"), interpreting the Hebrew's terse juxtaposition of yarDen and yereCho as indicating opposition or facing rather than mere association.