Deuteronomy 11:28

Summary

Deuteronomy 11:28 describes the curse (ha-qelalah, H7045) that follows if the people fail to obey the commandments of Yehovah their God. The verse specifies two consequences of disobedience: turning aside from the commanded way, and following gods they have not known.

Key words

• ha-qelalah ("the curse", H7045) — feminine singular noun, definite; continues syntactically from a previous verse where "the blessing" was likely paired with it, since this verse opens with the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) attached to it rather than a full verb.
• tishme'u ("you will obey", H8085H) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural; expresses a future/ongoing condition ("if you do not obey") governed by the conditional particle 'im ("if", H0518A).
• sartem ("you will turn aside", H5493I) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the conditional chain begun with the imperfect tishme'u; this verb form links consequence to condition within the same "if" clause.
• metzavveh ("commanding", H6680) — piel participle, masculine singular, describing Moses ('anokhi, "I", H0595) as the one presently giving the command "this day" (ha-yom, H3117G).
• yeda'tem ("you have known", H3045) — qal perfect, second person masculine plural, describing the negated state of prior acquaintance with the "other gods" ('elohim 'acherim, H0430J + H0312).

What the text says

The verse is structured as a conditional clause built around 'im ("if", H0518A) plus a negated imperfect verb, lo' tishme'u ("you will not obey", H8085H): "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of Yehovah your God." The subject ha-qelalah ("the curse", H7045) stands at the head of the sentence without its own verb, suggesting it depends grammatically on material preceding this verse (commonly a parallel clause about blessing). The condition then extends through a second verb in the sequential perfect, ve-sartem ("and you will turn aside", H5493I), from ha-derekh ("the way", H1870G) that Moses, described with the participle metzavveh ("commanding", H6680), is presently commanding.

The final clause uses the infinitive lalekhet ("to walk", H1980N) followed by 'acharei ("after", H0310A) to describe the direction of this turning aside: walking after 'elohim 'acherim ("other gods", H0430J + H0312). These gods are further qualified by a relative clause using the perfect verb yeda'tem ("you have known", H3045), negated by lo' ("not", H3808), marking them as previously unknown to the audience.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha-derekh ("the way", H1870G) with a verb of wandering (πλανηθῆτε), while the Hebrew uses the verb sartem ("you will turn aside", H5493I) descriptively without connotation of error or deception. The LXX also adds the verb λατρεύειν ("to serve/worship") before "other gods," which is not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew text, where the infinitive lalekhet ("to walk", H1980N) alone governs the phrase "after other gods." The Vulgate's ostendo ("I show/point out") for metzavveh ("commanding", H6680) shifts the sense from active command to demonstration of the way, differing from the Hebrew piel participle's meaning of commanding.