Numbers 5:1

Summary

The verse consists of the standard introductory formula that opens a new divine speech in the book of Numbers. It states that Yehovah spoke to Moses, followed by the particle that introduces reported speech.

Key words

• va ("and", H9001) — narrative vav prefixed to the verb, marking this as a continuation of the ongoing narrative sequence, linking this speech-event to what precedes it in the text.
• yedaBer ("he spoke", H1696G) — Piel (intensive) verb form in the narrative (vayyiqtol) pattern, third person masculine singular, indicating a completed act of speaking initiated within the story line.
• Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine proper name, functioning as the subject of the verb yedaBer.
• el- ("to", H0413) — preposition marking the addressee of the speech, here directing the action toward Moses.
• leMor ("saying", H0559) — Qal infinitive construct, functioning here to introduce the content of direct speech that follows in subsequent verses.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the verb-subject-object word order typical of narrative prose: va-yedaBer ("and he spoke") + Yehovah (subject) + el-Mosheh ("to Moses") + leMor ("saying"). The narrative vav on yedaBer signals sequence within the larger book, tying this speech act to the preceding material rather than presenting it as an isolated statement. The Piel stem of daBer is the standard stem used for the verb "to speak" in reported-speech formulas throughout the Torah; it does not carry a special intensifying nuance distinct from its ordinary lexical meaning in this construction.

The infinitive leMor ("saying") does not itself carry tense; its grammatical role is to open a quotation, functioning much like a colon in English does before direct speech. The verse itself contains no content of the speech — that begins in the following verse — so structurally this verse is entirely a formulaic frame, identifying speaker (Yehovah), addressee (Mosheh), and the introduction of forthcoming direct discourse.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders yedaBer with ἐλάλησεν ("he spoke") and leMor with the participle λέγων ("saying"), matching the Hebrew infinitive with a Greek participial construction rather than an infinitive. The Vulgate uses locutusque est ("and he spoke") for the verb with the enclitic -que performing the same connective function as the Hebrew narrative va, and dicens ("saying") as a present participle, paralleling the LXX's participial choice. The Hebrew leMor, by contrast, is grammatically an infinitive rather than a participle, though its function as speech-introducer is equivalent across all three versions.