Numbers 9:8

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Moses answered them, "Wait, that I may hear what Yahweh will command concerning you."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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יְצַוֶּ֥ה

tsâvâh

H6680

“to command”

Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 496× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 2:16

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1887

to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order - (Piel) - to lay charge upon - to give charge to, give command to - to give charge unto - to give charge over, appoint - to give charge, command - to charge, command - to charge, commission - to command, appoint, ordain (of divine act) - (Pual) to be commanded

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
8: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

4 verbs
2 nouns
2 prepositions
1 particle

Verb forms

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
עִמְד֣וּ Qal · Imperative
וְאֶשְׁמְעָ֔ה Qal · Imperfect
יְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 14 words from the Hebrew and 19 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 14 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 9:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Numbers 27:5 Moses brought their cause before Yahweh.
Psalms 85:8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, For he will speak peace to his people, his saints; But let them not turn again to folly.
Exodus 14:13 Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again.
Exodus 18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
2 Chronicles 20:17 You shall not need to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you.
Psalms 25:14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
Proverbs 3:5–6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, And don't lean on your own understanding.
Ezekiel 2:7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.

Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
John 7:17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.
John 17:8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
Acts 20:27 for I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
1 Corinthians 4:4 For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
Hebrews 3:5–6 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 9:8 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֖ם מֹשֶׁ֑ה עִמְד֣וּ וְאֶשְׁמְעָ֔ה מַה יְצַוֶּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה לָכֶֽם

Moses answered them, "Wait, that I may hear what Yahweh will command concerning you."

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 9:8 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εἶπον πρός αὐτός μωυσῆς ἵστημι αὐτοῦ καί ἀκούω τίς ἐντελέω κύριος περί σύ

And Moses said to them, stand there, and I will hear what charge the Lord will give concerning you.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַאֲמַר לְהוֹן משֶׁה אוֹרִיכוּ עַד דְאֶשְׁמָע מָה דְיִתְפַּקֵד מִן קֳדָם יְיָ עַל דִילְכוֹן

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

דֵין הוּא חַד מֵאַרְבָּעָה דִינִין דְעָלוּ קֳדָם משֶׁה נְבִיָא וְדָן יַתְהוֹן עַל מֵימְרָא דְקוּדְשָׁא בִּקְצַת מִנְהוֹן הֲוָה משֶׁה מָתִין מִן בִּגְלַל דַהֲווֹ דִינֵי נַפְשָׁתָא וּבִקְצַתְהוֹן הֲוָה משֶׁה זָרִיז מִן בִּגְלַל דַהֲווֹ דִינֵי מָמוֹנָא בְּאִלֵין וּבְאִלֵין אָמַר משֶׁה לָא שַׁמְעִית מִן בִּגְלַל לְמַלְפָא לְרֵישֵׁי סַנְהֶדְרַיְתָא דַעֲתִידִין לְמֵקוּם מִן בַּתְרֵיהּ דִיהוֹן מְתוּנִין בְּדִינֵי נַפְשָׁתָא וּזְרִיזִין בְּדִינֵי מָמוֹנָא וְלָא יְבַהֲתוּן לִמְשַׁיְילֵי דִינָא דְמִתְקַשֵׁי לְהוֹן אֲרוּם משֶׁה דְהַוָה רַבְּהוֹן דְיִשְרָאֵל צָרִיךְ דְיֵימַר לָא שְׁמָעִית בְּגִין כֵּן אָמַר לְהוֹן משֶׁה אוֹרִיכוּ עַד דְאֶשְׁמַע מַה דְאִתְפְּקִיד מִן קֳדָם יְיָ עַל דִלְכוֹן

This is one of four matters of judgment brought before Mosheh the prophet, which he decided according to the Word of the Holy One: in some of which Mosheh was deliberate, because they were judgments about life; but in the others Mosheh was prompt, they being (only) judgments concerning money: but in those (the former) Mosheh said, I have not heard; that he might teach the princes of the Sanhedrin who should arise after him to be deliberate in judgements regarding life, but prompt in judgments about money; and not to be ashamed to ask counsel in things too hard for them, inasmuch as Mosheh himself, the Rabbi of Israel, had need to say, I have not yet heard. Therefore, said Mosheh to them, Wait until I have heard what will be commanded from before the Lord concerning your case.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 9:8 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Num 9:8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.

Ver. 8. Stand still and I will hear.] Moses was but the echo of God’s voice; John Baptist, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness": St Paul "received of the Lord" what he delivered to the Church, {1Co 11:23} and took care that the faith of his hearers "might not be in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God." {1Co 2:4-5} Unwarranted doctrines come not cum gratia et privilegio.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Num 9:8. Moses said, I will hear what the Lord will command — It appears from hence that Moses went into the sanctuary to consult the oracle of God whenever he had occasion, and was answered by an audible voice from the mercy-seat, Num 7:8-9.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

9:8 Moses agreed to inquire of the Lord regarding this difficult case (cp. 7:89).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you--A solution of the difficulty was soon obtained, it being enacted, by divine authority, that to those who might be disqualified by the occurrence of a death in their family circle or unable by distance to keep the passover on the anniversary day, a special license was granted of observing it by themselves on the same day and hour of the following month, under a due attendance to all the solemn formalities. (See on Ch2 30:2). But the observance was imperative on all who did not labor under these impediments.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

John Gill's Exposition

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... From between the cherubim, after he had laid the case before him, and he gave him an answer:

saying; as follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

God having promised to answer and direct him upon his address to him in difficult cases.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

8. Stand still — R.V., “Stay ye that I may hear,” etc. Human reason is not a sufficient guide in religious questions. Moses evinces a strong faith in the accessibility of Jehovah, and a profound deference to his will. The judges of the Sanhedrin should not be ashamed to ask concerning the judgment which is too hard for them; for Moses, who was the master of Israel, had need to say, “I have not heard.” — Targum.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

Moses told them to wait (stand), and he would hear what the Lord, of whom he would inquire, would command.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 9 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tsâvâh (“to command”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to command” (tsâvâh) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Numbers 27:5, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיֹּ֥אמֶר» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 14 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 13 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.