Deuteronomy 12:30
הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן־תִּנָּקֵשׁ אַחֲרֵיהֶם אַחֲרֵי הִשָּׁמְדָם מִפָּנֶיךָ וּפֶן־תִּדְרֹשׁ לֵֽאלֹהֵיהֶם לֵאמֹר אֵיכָה יַעַבְדוּ הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וְאֶעֱשֶׂה־כֵּן גַּם־אָֽנִי׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֗ פֶּן־תִּנָּקֵשׁ֙ אַחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם אַחֲרֵ֖י הִשָּׁמְדָ֣ם מִפָּנֶ֑יךָ וּפֶן־תִּדְרֹ֨שׁ לֵֽאלֹהֵיהֶ֜ם לֵאמֹ֨ר אֵיכָ֨ה יַעַבְד֜וּ הַגּוֹיִ֤ם הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם וְאֶעֱשֶׂה־כֵּ֖ן גַּם־אָֽנִי׃
πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ μὴ ἐκζητήσῃς ἐπακολουθῆσαι αὐτοῖς μετὰ τὸ ἐξολεθρευθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ προσώπου σου, λέγων Ἠὼς ποιοῦσιν τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα τοῖς θεοῖς αὐτῶν; ποιήσω κἀγώ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
cave ne imiteris eas, postquam te fuerint introëunte subversæ, et requiras cæremonias earum, dicens: Sicut coluerunt gentes istæ deos suos, ita et ego colam.
ten cuidado de no caer en la trampa de seguirlas después de que sean destruidas de delante de ti, y de no indagar en sus dioses, diciendo: “¿Cómo sirven estas naciones a sus dioses? Yo haré lo mismo”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Guárdate que no tropieces en pos de ellas, después que fueren destruídas delante de ti: no preguntes acerca de sus dioses, diciendo: De la manera que servían aquellas gentes á sus dioses, así haré yo también.
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “ How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
Deuteronomy 12:30 warns the addressee not to be drawn into following the practices of the nations after they have been destroyed, and not to inquire into how those nations served their gods with the intention of imitating them. The verse closes with a quoted rhetorical question expressing the temptation: asking how the nations served their gods in order to "do likewise."
Key words
- hi.Sha.mer ("take heed", H8104J) — niphal imperative, giving the verse its opening command tone: a reflexive/passive form functioning as "guard yourself."
- ti.na.Kesh ("you should be ensnared", H5367) — niphal imperfect after the particle pen, describing a passive result (being trapped) rather than an active choice.
- hi.sha.me.Da ("have been destroyed", H8045) — niphal infinitive construct, marking the temporal clause "after they are destroyed," using the same niphal (passive) stem as tinnaqesh, linking the ideas of destruction and ensnarement.
- 'ei.Khah ("how?", H0349B) — interrogative particle introducing the quoted question embedded in the warning, representing the hypothetical inquiry to avoid.
- ya.'av.Du ("do they serve", H5647H) — qal imperfect, third person plural, describing the ongoing worship practice of the nations that is the object of the forbidden inquiry.
What the text says
The verse is built on two parallel prohibitions, each introduced by the particle pen ("lest", H6435): first, "lest you be ensnared following them" (pen tinnaqesh 'acharehem), and second, "lest you enquire of their gods" (u-fen tidrosh le-'lohehem). Both main verbs — tinnaqesh (H5367) and the earlier hishamer (H8104J) — appear in the niphal stem, which in Biblical Hebrew often carries a passive or reflexive sense; here it frames "being ensnared" as something that happens to the subject rather than a simple active verb, giving the warning a sense of unintended entrapment.
The temporal clause "after they have been destroyed" uses the niphal infinitive construct hishamedam (H8045), tying the destruction of the nations grammatically to the moment of danger: the risk of ensnarement is specified as occurring after, not before, this destruction. The second half of the verse quotes a hypothetical internal speech introduced by le'mor ("saying", H0559) and the interrogative 'eikhah ("how?", H0349B), presenting the forbidden reasoning in first-person direct speech: the speaker imagines asking how the nations served their gods (ya'avdu, H5647H) in order to do the same (ve-'e'eseh-ken gam-ani, "so I may do likewise, even I").
Differences between versions
The LXX compresses the two Hebrew pen-clauses into a single construction, "μὴ ἐκζητήσῃς ἐπακολουθῆσαι αὐτοῖς" ("do not seek to follow after them"), merging the ideas of "being ensnared" (Hebrew tinnaqesh) and "inquiring" (Hebrew tidrosh) rather than keeping them as two distinct warnings as in the Hebrew.
The Vulgate renders the opening warning as "cave ne imiteris eas" ("beware lest you imitate them"), introducing the verb "imitate," which is not present in the Hebrew tinnaqesh ("be ensnared", H5367). Additionally, where the Hebrew specifies inquiring "of their gods" (le-'lohehem, H0430J), the Vulgate speaks of "requiras caerimonias earum" ("seek their ceremonies"), substituting "ceremonies" for "gods."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.