Deuteronomy 1:32

Summary

The verse states that, despite the preceding events, the people did not trust in Yehovah their God. The Hebrew constructs this as a negated participial clause referring to an ongoing state of distrust "in this matter."

Key words

• ba.Dar ("thing/matter", H1697G) — masculine singular noun with preposition and article, referring back to the situation just described.
• 'ei.ne.khem ("you are not", H0369 + H9046) — construct form of the negative existential particle with 2nd person masculine plural suffix, used to negate the participle that follows; literally "there is not to you" trusting.
• ma.'a.mi.Nim ("trusting", H0539) — Hiphil participle masculine plural, denoting an ongoing or characteristic action ("the ones causing themselves to trust/believe") rather than a single completed act.
• Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, object of the verb via the preposition ba ("in").
• 'e.lo.hei.khem ("your God", H0430G + H9026) — construct plural noun with 2nd person masculine plural suffix, in apposition to the divine name.

What the text says

The clause opens with u.va.Dar ha.Zeh ("and in this thing/matter"), a prepositional phrase that anchors the statement to a specific situation described earlier in the narrative. The main predicate is built not with a finite verb but with the negative particle 'ei.ne.khem ("you are not") followed by the Hiphil participle ma.'a.mi.Nim ("trusting"). This construction — negative existential particle plus participle — expresses a durative or characteristic state rather than a single past action: it describes the people as being, in that moment, in a condition of not-trusting, rather than narrating a discrete act of disbelief.

The object of the trust is introduced by ba ("in") plus the tetragrammaton Yah.weh, followed in apposition by 'e.lo.hei.khem ("your God"), a construct phrase binding the divine name to the pronominal suffix "your." The whole clause thus reads structurally as: "and in this matter, you [are] not trusting-ones in Yehovah your God."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the participial construction with a finite aorist verb, ouk enepisteusate ("you did not trust"), turning the Hebrew's stative/participial nuance into a single completed past action. The Vulgate similarly uses the perfect credidistis ("you believed/trusted"), matching the LXX's punctual sense rather than the Hebrew's durative participle. The LXX also reads "our God" (tō theō hēmōn) where the Hebrew and Vulgate have "your God" ('e.lo.hei.khem / Deo vestro).