Numbers 8:7

Summary

Numbers 8:7 gives Moses instructions for purifying the Levites: he is told to sprinkle them with water of purification, after which they themselves pass a razor over their whole body, wash their clothing, and so purify themselves. The verse moves from a command addressed to Moses to a sequence of actions performed by the Levites.

Key words

• ta'aseh ("you will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular, addressed to Moses; sets up the instruction as something he is to carry out.
• tahar ("purify", H2891) — appears twice with different stems: here as piel infinitive le-taharam ("to purify them"), an intensive causative action done to the Levites.
• hazeh ("spatter", H5137A) — hiphil imperative, singular; a causative command ("cause [water] to spatter") still directed at Moses.
• he'eviru ("they will cause to pass", H5674A) — hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person plural; the subject shifts from Moses to "they," causing the razor to pass over the body.
• hitteharu ("they will purify themselves", H2891) — hithpael sequential perfect, 3rd person plural; the same root tahar now in the reflexive stem, describing the Levites accomplishing purification upon themselves.

What the text says

The sentence opens with koh ta'aseh lahem ("thus you will do to them"), a 2ms imperfect verb addressed to Moses, followed by the piel infinitive le-taharam ("to purify them") stating the purpose. The imperative hazeh ("spatter/sprinkle") continues addressing Moses in the singular, instructing him to sprinkle "water of chattat" (sin offering, H2403I) on the Levites.

After this, the grammatical subject changes: three verbs in sequential perfect — he'eviru ("they will cause to pass" [a razor]), kibbesu ("they will wash" [their clothes], piel), and hitteharu ("they will purify themselves", hithpael) — all carry 3rd person plural subjects. This shift moves the action from Moses performing a rite on the Levites to the Levites themselves carrying out the remaining steps of the process. The final verb's stem change from piel (le-taharam, "to purify them," an action done to the object) to hithpael (hitteharu, "they purify themselves," a reflexive action) marks a shift within the Hebrew verbal system itself: the same root tahar is used first as an action performed on the Levites and last as an action they perform on their own person, closing the sequence with self-directed completion of the purification.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders hazeh as a 2nd person singular future (περιρανεῖς, "you will sprinkle"), preserving the address to Moses, and translates the final Hebrew hithpael hitteharu ("they will purify themselves") as καθαροὶ ἔσονται ("they will be clean"), a stative construction rather than a reflexive one. The Vulgate uses passive/jussive forms (aspergantur, "let them be sprinkled"; radant, "let them shave"; mundati fuerint, "having been cleansed"), framing the sequence with passive and subjunctive verbs where the Hebrew uses active sequential perfects with the Levites as grammatical subjects of their own purification.