Deuteronomy 13:1

Summary

This verse opens a conditional clause describing the appearance of a prophet or a dream-interpreter among the people. It states that such a figure will arise and will give a sign or a wonder as a form of validation for what follows.

Key words

• ki ("if", H3588A) — a conditional particle that opens the protasis (the "if" clause), setting up a hypothetical scenario rather than a narrated event.
• yaKum ("he will arise", H6965B) — qal imperfect, expressing a future or potential action: the prophet's "arising" is not yet realized but anticipated.
• choLem ("dreamer of", H2492B) — a qal participle in construct form, meaning "one who is dreaming of," linking directly to chaLom ("dream", H4159... actually H2472) to form the phrase "dreamer of a dream."
• naTan ("he will give", H5414G) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the action begun by yaKum; despite being a perfect form, it functions as a future action following the initial verb, typical of Hebrew narrative/conditional sequencing.
• 'ot ("a sign", H0226G) — feminine singular noun, paired with moFet ("a wonder", H4159) to form a double expression of confirming acts.

What the text says

The verse is structured as a conditional (protasis) sentence, marked by ki ("if", H3588A) at the very start. The subject of the conditional is introduced through two parallel nouns joined by 'o ("or", H0176A): navi' ("a prophet", H5030) and choLem chaLom ("a dreamer of a dream", H2492B + H2472). The second noun phrase uses a participle in construct state directly governing the noun "dream," a common Hebrew construction where the participle functions almost like a title ("dreamer-of-dreams") rather than a full relative clause.

The verb yaKum ("he will arise", H6965B) is in the qal imperfect, marking the action as incomplete, potential, or future — consistent with the conditional framing established by ki. The clause "in your midst" (be-kirbe-kha, H9003 + H7130G + H9021) uses a construct noun with a pronominal suffix, literally "in the midst of you," locating the action within the community addressed by the singular "you" (masculine).

The narrative vav prefixed to naTan ("and he will give", H5414G) links the two verbs in sequence: first the prophet "arises," then he "gives" a sign. Grammatically, naTan is a sequential perfect, a form that, following an initial imperfect verb in a conditional sentence, continues the same future/hypothetical time frame — despite its perfect morphology, it does not indicate past action here. The final phrase repeats the disjunctive pattern seen earlier: 'ot ("a sign", H0226G) 'o ("or", H0176A) moFet ("a wonder", H4159), presenting two possible types of confirming acts.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders naTan ("he will give", H5414G) as "prædixerit" ("he will have foretold"), shifting the sense from "giving" a sign to "predicting" one, which is a semantic divergence from the Hebrew's more neutral "give." The LXX uses δῷ ("may give"), which aligns more closely with the Hebrew naTan. The Hebrew choLem chaLom ("dreamer of a dream") is rendered by the Vulgate as "qui somnium vidisse se dicat" ("one who says he has seen a dream"), an expanded phrase not present as such in the Hebrew construct form.