Deuteronomy 11:22
כִּי אִם־שָׁמֹר תִּשְׁמְרוּן אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשֹׂתָהּ לְאַהֲבָה אֶת־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לָלֶכֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָיו וּלְדָבְקָה־בֽוֹ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
כִּי֩ אִם־שָׁמֹ֨ר תִּשְׁמְר֜וּן אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֗את אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם לַעֲשֹׂתָ֑הּ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם לָלֶ֥כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָ֖יו וּלְדָבְקָה־בֽוֹ׃
καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε πάσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας ὅσας ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοι σήμερον ποιεῖν, ἀγαπᾷν Τύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ προσκολλᾶσθαι αὐτῷ·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Si enim custodieritis mandata quæ ego præcipio vobis, et feceritis ea, ut diligatis Dominum Deum vestrum, et ambuletis in omnibus viis ejus, adhærentes ei,
Porque si guardan con diligencia todos estos mandamientos que les ordeno, de amar a Yehová su Dios, de andar por todos sus caminos y de aferrarse a él,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Porque si guardareis cuidadosamente todos estos mandamientos que yo os prescribo, para que los cumpláis; como améis á Jehová vuestro Dios andando en todos sus caminos, y á él os allegareis,
For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow — to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him —
✦ What the text says
Summary
Deuteronomy 11:22 states a conditional: only if the addressees keep all of "this commandment" that Moses is commanding them, will the results be loving Yehovah their God, walking in all his ways, and cleaving to him. The verse is built as a strong conditional clause followed by a chain of infinitive purposes.
Key words
- shamor ("certainly [to keep]", H8104J) + tishmerun ("you will keep", H8104G) — infinitive absolute paired with the imperfect verb, a construction that intensifies the verbal idea, roughly "keeping you shall keep" / "diligently keep."
- mitzvah ("commandment", H4687) — feminine singular noun, definite by the article ha (H9009) and specified by zot ("this", H2063), pointing to a specific body of instruction just referenced.
- metsavveh ("[am] commanding", H6680) — piel participle, describing Moses as the one presently/continually carrying out the act of commanding, not a completed past action.
- le'ahavah ("to love", H0157G), lalekhet ("to walk", H1980I), ledavqah ("to cleave", H1692) — three qal infinitives with the preposition le (H9005), each expressing purpose or result linked to keeping the commandment.
- bo ("him", suffix H9033) attached to the preposition be (H9003) — third-person masculine suffix, closing the verse by tying the action of cleaving directly to Yehovah (H3068G) named earlier in the verse.
What the text says
The verse opens with the compound particle ki 'im (H3588B + H0518B), a conditional marker meaning roughly "if indeed" or "except." This introduces the protasis built on the infinitive absolute shamor followed by the finite verb tishmerun, a common Biblical Hebrew pattern where the infinitive absolute before a finite verb of the same root intensifies or emphasizes the action — here, thorough or certain keeping. The paragogic nun (H9013) on tishmerun adds emphasis without changing the basic meaning "you will keep."
The object of this keeping is kol ha-mitzvah ha-zot ("all this commandment"), further specified by a relative clause 'asher 'anokhi metsavveh 'etkhem ("which I am commanding you"), using the participle metsavveh, which presents Moses' commanding as an ongoing act rather than a past, finished event.
The apodosis-like continuation is expressed through a series of infinitives with le-: la'asotah ("to do it"), le'ahavah ("to love"), lalekhet ("to walk"), and ledavqah ("to cleave"). These infinitives express purpose or consequence, chaining together doing, loving, walking, and cleaving as connected outcomes tied to the initial act of keeping the commandment.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew intensifying construction shamor tishmerun ("keeping you shall keep") is rendered in the LXX as ἐὰν ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε ("if by hearing you shall hear"), which uses a verb of hearing rather than keeping, though it preserves the same doubled/intensifying grammatical pattern. The LXX text given also reads Τύριον where a rendering of the divine name would be expected; the Vulgate and Hebrew both clearly identify the object of love as "Yehovah your God" / "Dominum Deum vestrum."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.