16
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh way·yō·mer ’el- mō·šeh ’es·p̄āh- lî šiḇ·‘îm ’îš miz·ziq·nê yiś·rā·’êl ’ă·šer yā·ḏa‘·tā kî- hêm ziq·nê wə·šō·ṭə·rāw hā·‘ām wə·lā·qaḥ·tā ’ō·ṯām ’el- ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ wə·hiṯ·yaṣ·ṣə·ḇū šām ‘im·māḵ
Word by word25 · parsed
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
The narrative verb way·yō·mer (“and he said,” root ’āmar) — the same plain verb God uses throughout. There is no rebuke in it: God answers the despairing complaint of vv. 11–15 (per K&D, “without blaming the words of His servant”) with a remedy.
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular
√ ʼâçaph — to gather for any purposeVerbQalImperativemasculine singularthird person feminine singular
’es·p̄āh, imperative of ’āsap̄ (“gather”). The remedy for Moses’ crushing solitude begins with an ingathering of help — the same root will name the fish that cannot be gathered (v. 22) and the leader who withdraws (v. 30).
לִּ֞יlîMe
Prepositionfirst person common singular
√ shibʻîym — seventyNumbercommon plural
šiḇ·‘îm, “seventy.” Ellicott reads it as “composed of the two sacred numbers seven and ten”; the Pulpit Commentary prefers “fullness.” The later Jews traced their Sanhedrin of seventy to this verse — a connection most of the named voices call historically loose.
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
√ zâqên — oldPreposition-mAdjectivemasculine plural construct
ziq·nê (construct of zāqēn, “old / elder”), the standing office since Exodus 3:16. The word doubles in the verse: chosen from the elders, and known to be elders.
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine singular
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)Pronounthird person masculine plural
√ zâqên — oldAdjectivemasculine plural construct
√ shôṭêr — properly, a scribe, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
šō·ṭə·rāw — the shōṭerîm, an order continued from the days of bondage (Exodus 5:6). Pairing elders (deliberative) with officers (executive) gathers both the deliberative and administrative heads of the nation.
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)ArticleNounmasculine singular
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular construct
√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iNounmasculine singular
√ yâtsab — to place (any thing so as to stay)Conjunctive wawVerbHitpaelConjunctive perfectthird person common plural
wə·hiṯ·yaṣ·ṣə·ḇū (Hithpael of yāṣaḇ) — “let them present themselves,” a deliberate taking of position at the Tent. The same rare verb (in 45 vv) recurs whenever Israel is formally convened before the LORD.
√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionsecond person feminine singular