Deuteronomy 12:17
לֹֽא־תוּכַל לֶאֱכֹל בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ מַעְשַׂר דְּגָֽנְךָ וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ וּבְכֹרֹת בְּקָרְךָ וְצֹאנֶךָ וְכָל־נְדָרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּדֹּר וְנִדְבֹתֶיךָ וּתְרוּמַת יָדֶֽךָ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
לֹֽא־תוּכַ֞ל לֶאֱכֹ֣ל בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יךָ מַעְשַׂ֤ר דְּגָֽנְךָ֙ וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ֣ וְיִצְהָרֶ֔ךָ וּבְכֹרֹ֥ת בְּקָרְךָ֖ וְצֹאנֶ֑ךָ וְכָל־נְדָרֶ֙יךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּדֹּ֔ר וְנִדְבֹתֶ֖יךָ וּתְרוּמַ֥ת יָדֶֽךָ׃
οὐ δυνήσῃ φαγεῖν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσίν σου τὸ ἐπιδέκατον τοῦ σίτου σου καὶ τοῦ οἴνου σου καὶ τοῦ ἐλαίου σου, τὰ πρωτότοκα τῶν βοῶν σου, καὶ πάσας εὐχὰς ὅσας ἂν εὔξησθε καὶ τὰς ὁμολογίας ὑμῶν, καὶ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῶν χειρῶν σου·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Non poteris comedere in oppidis tuis decimam frumenti, et vini, et olei tui, primogenita armentorum et pecorum, et omnia quæ voveris, et sponte offerre volueris, et primitias manuum tuarum:
No podrás comer dentro de tus puertas el diezmo de tu grano, ni el de tu vino nuevo, ni el de tu aceite, ni el primogénito de tu rebaño o de tu manada, ni ninguno de tus votos que hayas hecho, ni tus ofrendas voluntarias, ni la ofrenda de tu mano;
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Ni podrás comer en tus poblaciones el diezmo de tu grano, ó de tu vino, ó de tu aceite, ni los primerizos de tus vacas, ni de tus ovejas, ni tus votos que prometieres, ni tus ofrendas voluntarias, ni las elevadas ofrendas de tus manos:
Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse prohibits eating, within one's own towns, a list of consecrated items: the tithe of grain, wine, and oil, the firstborn of herd and flock, votive offerings, freewill offerings, and hand-contributions. It forms part of a series of restrictions on where sacred produce may be consumed.
Key words
- tu.Khal ("you will be able", H3201) — qal imperfect, negated by lo'- ("not", H3808), forming the prohibition "you will not be able."
- sha'arekha (from sha'ar, "gates", H8179H) — masculine plural construct with 2nd person suffix, meaning "your gates," idiomatically referring to town settlements.
- ma'sar ("tithe of", H4643) — singular construct, opening a chain of construct nouns each governing the following word (grain, wine, oil).
- nedareikha ("your votive offerings", H5088) — masculine plural construct with suffix, modified by the relative clause asher tiddor ("which you will vow", H0834A + H5087), specifying vows already undertaken.
- terumat yadekha ("contribution of your hand", H8641 + H3027I) — construct chain ending the list, denoting a personally brought offering.
What the text says
The sentence is built on a single main verb, tu.Khal ("you will be able", H3201) in the qal imperfect, negated by lo'- ("not", H3808) and followed by the infinitive 'e.Khol ("to eat", H0398). This forms the governing clause: "you will not be able to eat." The locative phrase bi-sha'areikha ("in your gates", H8179H) specifies where this prohibition applies — within the settlements themselves, as opposed to a central location implied elsewhere in the chapter's context.
After the verb, a long series of construct-noun chains lists the objects of the prohibited eating: ma'sar deganekha ("tithe of your grain", H4643+H1715), tirosh'kha ("your new wine", H8492), yitzharekha ("your fresh oil", H3323), bekhorot beqarkha ("firstborn of your herd", H1060+H1241), tzonekha ("your flock", H6629G), kol-nedareikha ("all your votive offerings", H3605+H5088) — further qualified by the relative clause asher tiddor ("which you will vow", H0834A+H5087) — nidvoteikha ("your freewill offerings", H5071), and terumat yadekha ("contribution of your hand", H8641+H3027I). Each item is joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002), producing a cumulative list rather than a set of separate clauses. The repeated 2nd-person suffix -kha ("your", H9021) ties every item to the addressee, marking these as personal produce and personal vows, not communal property.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders bi-sh'arekha ("in your gates", H8179H) as ἐν ταῖς πόλεσίν σου ("in your cities"), interpreting "gates" as referring to towns rather than literal gate structures. The Vulgate similarly uses "in oppidis tuis" ("in your towns"). The Hebrew tzonekha ("your flock", H6629G) is rendered in the LXX simply as τῶν βοῶν σου ("of your oxen"), collapsing the separate herd/flock terms found in the Hebrew (beqarkha and tzonekha) into one category in the Greek text.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.