Deuteronomy 13:4

אַחֲרֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֹתוֹ תִירָאוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֹתָיו תִּשְׁמֹרוּ וּבְקֹלוֹ תִשְׁמָעוּ וְאֹתוֹ תַעֲבֹדוּ וּבוֹ תִדְבָּקֽוּן׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

אַחֲרֵ֨י יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם תֵּלֵ֖כוּ וְאֹת֣וֹ תִירָ֑אוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֹתָ֤יו תִּשְׁמֹ֙רוּ֙ וּבְקֹל֣וֹ תִשְׁמָ֔עוּ וְאֹת֥וֹ תַעֲבֹ֖דוּ וּב֥וֹ תִדְבָּקֽוּן׃

Greek (Septuagint)

ὀπίσω Κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν πορεύεσθε, καὶ τοῦτον φοβηθήσεσθε καὶ τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσεσθε κοὶ αὐτῷ προστεθήσεσθε.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Dominum Deum vestrum sequimini, et ipsum timete, et mandata illius custodite, et audite vocem ejus: ipsi servietis, et ipsi adhærebitis.

Spanish

Caminarán en pos de Yehová su Dios, le temerán, guardarán sus mandamientos y obedecerán su voz. Le servirán y se aferrarán a él.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

En pos de Jehová vuestro Dios andaréis, y á él temeréis, y guardaréis sus mandamientos, y escucharéis su voz, y á él serviréis, y á él os allegaréis.

English

You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.

✦ What the text says

Summary

Deuteronomy 13:4 lists a series of six commands directed toward Yehovah, all expressed as second-person plural imperfect verbs: to walk after him, fear him, keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cleave to him. The verse consists of paired object references (using the direct object marker and pronominal suffixes) that repeatedly point back to Yehovah as the object of each action.

Key words

teLekhu ("you will walk", H1980I) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; opens the chain with the idiom "walk after," using the construct acharei ("after", H0310A).
tira'u ("you will fear", H3372H) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the object is marked by oto (H0853 + H9033), "him," not a noun.
tishmoru ("you will keep", H8104G) — qal imperfect, governs the construct plural noun mitzvotav ("his commandments", H4687 + H9023).
tishma'u ("you will listen", H8085H) — qal imperfect; takes the prepositional phrase ve-qolo ("and to his voice", H6963A + H9023) rather than a direct object.
tidbaqun ("you will cleave", H1692) — qal imperfect with paragogic nun (H9013), marking emphasis at the close of the sequence.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of six imperfect verbs, each in second-person masculine plural, forming a sequence of parallel clauses joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). Every clause but one takes Yehovah as its object, alternating between the direct object marker 'oto ("him", H0853 + H9033) — used with "fear," "serve," and "cleave to" — and prepositional or construct forms — used with "walk after," "keep his commandments," and "listen to his voice." This alternation shows that Hebrew varies its syntax depending on whether the verb takes a direct object or requires a preposition, though all six verbs converge on the same referent, Yehovah.

The final verb, tidbaqun ("you will cleave", H1692), carries a paragogic nun ending, a grammatical feature that adds emphasis without changing the verb's tense or person. This closing device marks the final item in the sequence as the climax of the escalating list of actions.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the Vulgate (VULCLEM) both contain six verbs: sequimini ("walk after"), timete ("fear"), custodite (mandata, "keep the commandments"), audite (vocem, "listen to the voice"), servietis ("you will serve"), and adhærebitis ("you will cleave"). The LXX text as given (LXXSWETE) contains only four verbs — πορεύεσθε ("walk"), φοβηθήσεσθε ("fear"), ἀκούσεσθε ("you will hear," attached to "his voice"), and προστεθήσεσθε ("you will be added/joined to him") — omitting equivalents for "keep his commandments" and "serve him" found in the Hebrew and the Vulgate.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.