Deuteronomy 12:8

Summary

This verse instructs against continuing a certain pattern of worship practice "here" and "today" — one where each person acts according to what seems right in their own eyes. The Hebrew frames this as a contrast between present improper practice and a future standard.

Key words

• lo' ("not", H3808) — negation particle that sets up the prohibition governing the entire verse.
• ta'aSun ("you must do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, marked with the paragogic nun (H9013), an archaic suffix adding emphasis or solemnity to the plural verb form.
• ke-khol 'asher ("according to all that", H3605 + H0834A) — the comparative construction ke- ("according to") prefixed to khol ("all") introduces the standard being rejected: everything the group is currently doing.
• 'ish ("everyone/each man", H0376I) — a singular noun functioning distributively, introducing the individualized clause that follows.
• ya.Shar be-'einav ("right in his eyes", H3477G + H5869I) — ya.Shar is an adjective ("right/straight") governed by the prepositional phrase be-'einav ("in his eyes"), with 'einayv being the dual construct form of "eyes" plus the third-person masculine singular suffix -v ("his", H9023).

What the text says

The sentence opens with a negated verb, lo' ta'aSun, addressed to a plural group ("you all"), and the presence of the paragogic nun gives this second-person plural verb an emphatic or heightened tone compared to the standard imperfect form. The prohibition is defined by a comparative clause: ke-khol 'asher 'anachnu 'oSim poh ha-yom — "according to all that we are doing here, this day." Here 'anachnu ("we") is an explicit personal pronoun accompanying the participle 'oSim ("doing"), which in Hebrew grammar often marks continuous or characteristic action rather than a single completed act — the participle form frames the current practice as ongoing.

The final clause shifts from plural address to singular distributive structure: 'ish kol ha-yashar be-'einav, literally "each man, all that is right in his own eyes." The construct phrase be-'einav ("in his eyes") uses the dual form of 'ayin ("eye", H5869I) since Hebrew treats eyes as a natural pair, and the possessive suffix -v ties the standard of "rightness" to each individual's own perception rather than to a fixed external norm. The adjective ya.Shar ("right/straight") describes what is deemed correct from that personal vantage point.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ke-khol 'asher ("according to all that") as πάντα ἃ ("all that"), omitting the explicit comparative ke- ("according to") found in the Hebrew, though the sense of comparison is preserved contextually. The Vulgate adds ibi ("there"), a locative word not present in the Hebrew text's poh ("here", H6311), producing a spatial nuance not explicit in the Hebrew original.