Numbers 8:9

Summary

The verse instructs that the Levites be brought near before the Tent of Meeting, and that the entire congregation of the people of Israel be assembled. Both actions are addressed to a single person (Moses, per the wider context) using causative verb forms.

Key words

• hikravta ("you will bring near", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, second person masculine singular: the subject causes the Levites to approach, rather than approaching himself.
• ha-Leviyyim ("the Levites", H3881) — definite plural gentilic noun, marked as direct object by 'et (H0853), identifying the specific group brought near.
• lifnei ("before", H6440G) — construct plural noun functioning as a compound preposition, literally "to the face of," setting the spatial orientation toward the Tent.
• hikhalta ("you will assemble", H6950) — hiphil sequential perfect, second person masculine singular: parallel causative form to hikravta, causing the congregation to gather.
• 'adat ("congregation of", H5712) — feminine singular construct noun, linking to benei Yisra'el ("sons/people of Israel", H1121G + H3478) to form the phrase "congregation of the people of Israel."

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel clauses, each opening with a narrative vav (H9001) attached to a hiphil sequential perfect verb: ve-hikravta ("and you will bring near") and ve-hikhalta ("and you will assemble"). Both verbs are causative and second-person masculine singular, meaning the addressed individual does not perform the physical action of approaching or gathering but causes others to do so. This grammatical pattern places the responsibility for the action on the addressee while the Levites and the congregation are the ones who move.

The direct object marker 'et (H0853) precedes both objects — ha-Leviyyim ("the Levites") and kol-'adat benei Yisra'el ("all the congregation of the sons of Israel") — marking them clearly as the recipients of the causative action without adding independent meaning to the English rendering. The phrase lifnei 'ohel mo'ed ("before the tent of meeting") uses a construct chain: lifnei ("before/face of") governs 'ohel ("tent of"), which governs mo'ed ("meeting"), producing a compound spatial designation. The second clause's object, kol-'adat benei Yisra'el, is itself a chain of three construct nouns — "all," "congregation of," "sons of" — culminating in the proper name Yisra'el, describing a nested totality: the whole congregation composed of the people of Israel.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) renders lifnei with ἔναντι ("before/in the presence of"), matching the Hebrew's spatial sense without a separate word for "face." The Vulgate uses coram ("in the presence of") similarly. The Vulgate also shifts convocata into an ablative absolute construction ("with the whole multitude having been convoked"), differing syntactically from the Hebrew's parallel finite-verb structure, though the semantic content of assembling the congregation is preserved.