Numbers 9:18

Summary

The verse states that the movements of the Israelites — both departure and encampment — were governed by pi Yehovah ("the mouth of Yehovah", H6310I/H3068G), literally "the mouth of Yehovah." The duration of each encampment was tied to how long the cloud ('anan, H6051) remained (yishkon, H7931) over the tabernacle (mishkan, H4908).

Key words

• pi ("mouth of", H6310I) — masculine singular construct noun, repeated twice, forming the idiom "at the mouth of Yehovah," i.e., by his utterance or command.
• yis'u ("they set out", H5265) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural, describing the ongoing/habitual action of breaking camp.
• yachanu ("they encamped", H2583) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural, appearing twice (once mid-verse, once at the end), framing the verse structurally.
• yishkon ("it settled down", H7931) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular, describing the cloud's continuous resting.
• 'anan ("cloud", H6051) — masculine singular noun with definite article he (H9009), the subject controlling the duration of encampment.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two parallel clauses using the construct phrase 'al pi Yehovah ("on/at the mouth of Yehovah," H5921A + H6310I + H3068G), each governing a qal imperfect verb: yis'u ("they set out," H5265) for departure and yachanu ("they encamped," H2583) for stopping. This repetition creates a chiastic-like structure emphasizing that both actions — travel and rest — originate from the same source, expressed idiomatically as "the mouth of Yehovah" rather than a more abstract term for command.

The second half of the verse introduces a temporal clause using kol yemei 'asher ("all the days that," H3605 + H3117G + H0834A), which sets up a duration governed by the verb yishkon ("it settled down," H7931), describing the cloud's continuous resting 'al ha-mishkan ("over the tabernacle," H5921A + H4908). The verb yachanu reappears at the end, closing the verse by restating that the people remained encamped as long as this condition persisted. The repetition of yachanu (H2583) at both the middle and end of the verse creates an inclusio, reinforcing the link between the cloud's resting and the people's encampment.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders pi Yehovah ("the mouth of Yehovah") as διὰ προστάγματος κυρίου ("through the command of the Lord") for the first instance, but shifts to διὰ κυρίου ("through the Lord") for the second instance, omitting the idiom "mouth" entirely in both cases. The Vulgate uses ad imperium Domini ("at the command of the Lord") for both instances, similarly abstracting the literal "mouth" idiom into "command." The Hebrew's repeated concrete phrase pi Yehovah is thus rendered more abstractly in both the Greek and Latin traditions.