Deuteronomy 13:14

Summary

The verse describes the required procedure once a report of idolatry reaches the community: a threefold act of investigation, followed by a formal declaration that the matter has been confirmed as true and that the specific "abomination" has indeed taken place within the group. The verse builds toward a moment of disclosure, marked by the particle hinneh ("behold", H2009), where the outcome of the inquiry is stated.

Key words

• da.rash.Ta ("you will investigate", H1875) — qal sequential perfect, the first of three verbs describing the inquiry, continuing a chain begun by the narrative vav.
• hei.Tev ("thoroughly", H3190) — hiphil absolute infinitive; it does not add a new action but intensifies the three preceding verbs, functioning adverbially ("do well" = "thoroughly").
• hi.Neh ("there!", H2009) — an interjection that shifts the sentence from the process of searching to the presentation of a result, introducing the following clause as something suddenly evident.
• na.Khon ("[is] certain", H3559) — niphal participle, a passive/stative form describing the "matter" (da.Var, H1697) as having reached a settled, verified state, without naming who verifies it.
• ne.'es.Tah ("it has been done", H6213) — niphal perfect, again passive in form, stating that the "abomination" (to.'e.Vah, H8441) has occurred, with the grammatical subject being the deed itself rather than an agent.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with three verbs — da.rash.Ta, cha.kar.Ta, and sha.'al.Ta — all sequential perfects joined by the narrative vav (H9001), which in this construction reads as a chain of required future actions ("you shall investigate, and you shall search, and you shall enquire"). This threefold repetition of near-synonymous verbs for inquiry is reinforced by the infinitive absolute hei.Tev, which intensifies the preceding actions rather than introducing a new one.

The second half of the verse turns from process to outcome. The interjection hi.Neh announces a disclosure: the "matter" (da.Var, H1697, definite with article ha, H9009) is described with the niphal participle na.Khon, a passive/stative form meaning it is found "established" or "certain," alongside the noun 'e.Met ("truth", H0571). This is followed by ne.'es.Tah, a niphal perfect verb agreeing grammatically with "the abomination" (ha.to.'e.Vah, H8441, feminine), stating that the deed "has been done." Both niphal forms avoid naming an agent, focusing instead on the state or completion of the matter itself. The phrase closes with be.kir.Be.cha ("in your midst", H7130 + H9021), a construct noun with pronominal suffix locating the abomination spatially within the addressed group.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew presents three verbs of inquiry (da.rash.Ta, cha.kar.Ta, sha.'al.Ta) plus the intensifying infinitive hei.Tev. The LXX renders this with two verbs, ἐρωτήσεις καὶ ἐραυνήσεις, followed by the adverb σφόδρα ("exceedingly"), reducing the fourfold Hebrew construction to a twofold one. The Vulgate similarly gives two adverbial phrases, "sollicite et diligenter," attached to a single imperative-like "quaere."

Where the Hebrew uses hi.Neh ("behold") to introduce the confirmed matter, the LXX uses ἰδοὺ ἀληθῶς σαφῶς ("behold, truly, clearly"), and the Vulgate restructures the clause conditionally ("si inveneris certum esse quod dicitur"), making explicit a conditional sense that the Hebrew hinneh-clause does not grammatically mark as a conditional "if."