Deuteronomy 12:5

Summary

Deuteronomy 12:5 instructs the Israelites that, in contrast to worshipping at any location, they must seek out specifically the place that Yehovah their God will choose from among their tribes—the place where he will establish his name—and go there.

Key words

• ki 'im ("that... except", H3588B + H0518B) — a paired conditional particle functioning together as a strong adversative, "but rather" or "only," marking a sharp contrast with what precedes.
• yivchar ("he will choose", H0977) — qal imperfect, denoting an act not yet completed, here future/ongoing: Yehovah's choosing of the place is presented as a matter still to unfold.
• lasum ("to put", H7760H) — infinitive construct with prefixed le-, expressing purpose: "in order to place" his name there.
• leshikhno ("for his dwelling", H7931) — infinitive construct with 3rd person masculine singular suffix, parallel in form to lasum, expressing a second purpose clause tied to the same choice of place.
• tidreshu ("you will resort/seek", H1875) — qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural, carrying injunctive force ("you shall seek"), followed by u-vata ("and you will go", H0935G), a sequential perfect that continues the same command in sequence ("and you shall come").

What the text says

The verse opens with the compound particle ki 'im, which does not simply mean "if" but functions as a strong restrictive contrast — "rather" or "only" — setting up an exclusive alternative to whatever practice was rejected in the preceding verses. The core of the sentence is the relative clause 'asher yivchar Yehovah 'elohei-khem mikkol shivtei-khem ("where Yehovah your God will choose from all your tribes"), in which 'elohei-khem is a construct-plus-suffix form literally "God of you (plural)."

Two parallel infinitive clauses follow, both introduced by the preposition le-: lasum et-shemo sham ("to put his name there") and leshikhno ("for his dwelling"). Their parallel infinitival form ties both ideas — placing the name and establishing a dwelling — to the same choice of place, without necessarily distinguishing them as separate actions.

The main clause is carried by two verbs: tidreshu, an imperfect functioning as a command ("you shall seek/resort to"), followed by u-vata shammah, a vav-sequential perfect that continues the injunctive sense ("and you shall go there"). This imperfect-plus-sequential-perfect chain is a common way in Biblical Hebrew to express a sequence of commanded actions.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mikkol shivteikhem ("from all your tribes") as "ἐν μιᾷ τῶν πόλεων ὑμῶν" ("in one of your cities"), differing from the Hebrew's tribal reference; the Vulgate's "de cunctis tribubus vestris" follows the Hebrew more closely. For leshikhno ("for his dwelling"), the LXX has "ἐπικληθῆναι" ("to be called upon"), while the Vulgate splits the purpose into two clauses, "ut ponat nomen suum ibi, et habitet in eo" ("to place his name there, and dwell in it"). The LXX text given here shows only "ἐκζητήσατε ἐκεῖ" ("seek there"), without a distinct verb corresponding to the Hebrew's second verb u-vata ("and you shall go").