Numbers 8:2

Summary

The verse records God's instruction to Moses to speak to Aaron regarding the seven lamps of the lampstand. It specifies that when Aaron sets up or kindles the lamps, they are to give light in the direction of the front of the lampstand.

Key words

• da.Ber ("speak", H1696G) — piel imperative, giving the command an intensive force; opens the verse as a directive from God to Moses.
• ha'aloteka ("your lifting up/causing to go up", H5927H) — hiphil infinitive construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix; the hiphil stem indicates a causative action (Aaron causing the lamps to go up, i.e., kindling or setting them), and the infinitive construct with be- prefix creates a temporal clause ("when you...").
• mul ("front of", H4136) — construct singular noun, first element of a double construct chain that specifies spatial direction.
• pnei ("face of", H6440G) — construct plural noun, second element of the same chain, linking mul to ha-menorah.
• ya'iru ("they will give light", H0215) — hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural; the causative stem shows the lamps as agents producing light, and the imperfect aspect indicates ongoing or repeated action.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with two verbs of speech in sequence: da.Ber (piel imperative) followed by 'a.mar.Ta (qal sequential perfect), a common construction in which the perfect continues the force of the initial imperative — together they mean "speak... and you shall say." This introduces direct discourse addressed to Aaron.

The core instruction uses a temporal clause built from the hiphil infinitive ha'aloteka ("in your causing-to-go-up," i.e., the lighting or setting up of the lamps), followed by the direct object ha-nerot ("the lamps") marked with 'et. The spatial direction is expressed through a double construct chain, mul pnei ha-menorah — literally "the front of the face of the lampstand" — a stacked construction that intensifies the sense of direct facing/orientation rather than general proximity.

The final clause, ya'iru shiv'at ha-nerot ("they will give light, the seven lamps"), places the verb before its subject, a common Hebrew word order. The verb ya'iru is hiphil imperfect, portraying the lamps as causing light to happen, with the imperfect aspect suggesting a repeated or ongoing action rather than a single event.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha'aloteka ("your lifting up") with ἐπιτιθῇς ("you place/set upon"), a different verbal image — placement rather than causing to ascend or kindling. The LXX phrase ἐκ μέρους κατὰ πρόσωπον ("from the part according to the face") parallels the Hebrew mul pnei but uses a prepositional phrase rather than a construct chain.

The Vulgate expands considerably beyond both the Hebrew and the LXX, adding material about the candelabrum's placement "in australi parte" (in the south side), an orientation "contra boream" (against the north), and a reference to "mensam panum propositionis" (the table of the bread of the presence) — none of which appear in the Hebrew or LXX text of this verse.