What Does Numbers 7:89 Mean?
And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the covering that was upon the ark of the witness, from between the two cherubim, and he spoke to him.
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 when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.THE KEY
The voice rises from above the covering, turning the place of testimony into a place of encounter.
THE MEANING
You come to the meeting place to speak, and a voice meets you from above the covering over the testimony. Speech moves through the encounter in both directions: you come to speak, and the voice addresses you. The testimony remains beneath the covering while the voice comes from the space between the cherubim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that what is covered is beyond encounter dissolves here: the voice is heard from above the covering.
THE ROOT
כַּפֹּרֶת
kappōret
GROWS FROM
כפר
Cover; make a covering.
The Hebrew name keeps the covering itself in view beneath the English phrase “mercy seat.” Its root family holds covering close to atonement, and here the voice speaks from above that covering over the testimony.
ALSO GROWS
kaphar: Cover.
כָּפַר
This verb keeps the root’s sense of covering present in the name of the seat.
kippur: Covering; atonement.
כִּפּוּר
This related form joins the idea of covering to the place where the voice is heard.
מֹשֶׁה
Mosheh
GROWS FROM
משה
Draw out.
“Moses” in this verse is Mosheh. The name מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh, “drawn out”) is linked in Exodus 2:10 to מָשָׁה (mashah), “draw out.” The one drawn out enters the meeting place and hears a voice addressing him.
ALSO GROWS
mashah: To draw out.
מָשָׁה
This verb supplies the name’s image of being drawn forth.
mĕšîtihû: “I drew him out,” referring to drawing Moses out of the water.
מְשִׁיתִהוּ
This form appears in the naming of Moses and gives his name its drawn-out nature.
לְדַבֵּר
ledabber
GROWS FROM
דבר
Speak; declare.
The root דבר frames the encounter: Moses comes to speak, hears a voice speaking, and then God speaks to him. Hebrew keeps speech close to the word or matter spoken, so the meeting is carried by communication, not sound alone.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter.
דָּבָר
The spoken encounter belongs to the same family as the word conveyed.
dibbur: Speech; utterance.
דִּבּוּר
This related form keeps the act of speaking visible through the verse’s repeated speech.
THE PATTERN
A meeting becomes reciprocal through speech that is heard.
And there I meet with you, and I speak with you from above the covering, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the witness, all that I command you to the children of Israel.And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.THE THREAD
And there I meet with you, and I speak with you from above the covering, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the witness, all that I command you to the children of Israel.Exodus names this covering as the place where God meets and speaks; Numbers shows that encounter taking place. The repeated image of speech from above the covering, between the cherubims, makes the covering itself part of the meeting.
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