Deuteronomy 1:18

Summary

Moses states that at that specific past time, he gave the people (via the leaders described earlier) commands covering all the matters they were to carry out. The verse closes the narrative unit begun with the appointment of judges in the preceding verses.

Key words

• 'a.tza.Veh ("I commanded", H6680) — Piel narrative form; the Piel stem gives an intensive nuance of commanding/charging, and the vav-consecutive links it as the next event in the narration ("and then I commanded").
• ba'Et hahiv' ("at that time", H6256 + H1931) — noun with preposition and article followed by the demonstrative pronoun hiv', fixing the command to a specific, previously mentioned moment in the story.
• kol-ha.de.va.Rim ("all the things/words", H3605 + H1697I) — construct chain "all of the words/things," the definite article marking a specific known set of matters.
• 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that defines what those "things" are.
• ta.'a.Su-n ("you will do", H6213A + H9013) — Qal imperfect second person plural with paragogic nun, an added -n ending giving emphasis or solemnity to the verb form, describing an action that is ongoing or yet to be performed.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on 'a.tza.Veh, marking it as the continuation of the sequence of events Moses is recounting from earlier in chapter 1. The verb is Piel, an intensive stem, suggesting more than simple instruction — a formal charging or commanding. The phrase ba'Et hahiv' ("at that time") anchors the action temporally, referring back to the situation just described (the appointment of leaders in the preceding verses), rather than to an unspecified moment.

The object of the command is introduced by the untranslated direct object marker 'et twice: first marking "you" ('etkhem) as the recipients, then marking "all the things" ('et kol-ha.de.va.Rim) as the content commanded. This second phrase uses a construct chain, "all of the things," with the definite article on de.va.Rim ("the things"), indicating a specific, bounded set of matters — not things in general. The relative clause 'a.Sher ta.'a.Sun ("which you will do") defines this set: it is precisely what the addressees were to carry out.

The final verb, ta.'a.Sun, is a Qal imperfect, a form that in Biblical Hebrew narrative can indicate continuing or future action relative to the reference point. Here it carries a paragogic nun, an extended ending that adds emphasis to the verb, underscoring the weight or solemnity of the instruction to "do" these things.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (Præcepique omnia quæ facere deberetis) omits an explicit rendering of "you" as a separate direct object and compresses the sentence, translating ta.'a.Sun with a modal sense ("deberetis," "you were obliged to do") rather than a plain future/imperfect "you will do." The LXX (ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν... πάντας τοὺς λόγους οὓς ποιήσετε) renders de.va.Rim as λόγους ("words"), where the Hebrew term can equally mean "things" or "matters," and uses a straightforward future ποιήσετε without reflecting the emphatic paragogic nun present in the Hebrew verb form.