What Does Numbers 25:16 Mean?
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,THE KEY
The LORD’s speech reaches Moses by name, and Moses’ name carries the image of someone drawn out.
THE MEANING
The verse presents the word as a direct address, not as something left abstract. Moses’ name carries the image of being drawn out, so the one receiving speech is also named through emergence.
THE ROOT
וַיְדַבֵּר
vayedabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; its related noun means word, matter, or thing.
“spake” in this verse is vayedabber. The verb belongs to the same root as davar, “word” or “matter,” joining speech with the thing spoken. The verse presents the LORD’s words as a content-bearing address, then names the person receiving it.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
Speech and the matter it carries share a root, so the address is more than sound: it bears something definite.
devarim: Words, matters, or affairs
דְּבָרִים
The plural keeps the same overlap between words and matters, joining what is spoken with what is at stake.
מֹשֶׁה
Mosheh
GROWS FROM
משה
To draw out, especially from water; Scripture links Moses’ name to being drawn out.
“Moses” in this verse is Mosheh. The name carries the image of being drawn out. Here the one addressed bears that image in his name as he receives the word.
ALSO GROWS
mashah: To draw out
מָשָׁה
This is the verb linked to Moses’ name, giving the recipient’s name the image of emergence.
meshithihu: I drew him out
מְשִׁיתִהוּ
This form appears in the explanation of Moses’ name and makes the image personal: someone is drawn out.
THE PATTERN
Divine speech becomes a personal summons when it reaches someone by name.
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.And he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you pursue me?THE THREAD
And now go, and I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you will speak.The Hebrew word translated “say” comes from the same דבר root as “spake” in this verse. Here the LORD speaks to Moses; there Moses is taught what to speak, so the word carries forward through the one who receives it.
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