Exodus 16:9 - On the “community” label

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן אֱמֹ֗ר אֶֽל־כׇּל־עֲדַת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל קִרְב֖וּ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֣י שָׁמַ֔ע אֵ֖ת תְּלֻנֹּתֵיכֶֽם׃

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community:* Advance toward GOD, who has heard your grumbling.”

*whole Israelite community See note at v. 2.

(The above rendering and its footnote come from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation.)


On the expression כׇּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל and its use as a metonym, see the section “Gender and Figurative Language” in this introduction, pp. 3–4; and see my comment to 12:3, where the term כׇּל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל is similarly employed.