Deuteronomy 16:2

Summary

The verse instructs that the pesach ("passover", H6453) sacrifice be offered to Yehovah from the flock and herd, at the specific location that Yehovah will choose in order to cause his name to dwell there.

Key words

• za.Vach.ta ("you will sacrifice", H2076) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain from the preceding verse; expresses an action the addressee (masculine singular "you") is to carry out as part of an ongoing sequence of instructions.
• Pe.sach ("a passover", H6453) — masculine singular title, functioning as the direct object of the sacrificing verb, naming the specific offering.
• tzon ("flock", H6629) and va.Kar ("herd", H1241) — two common-gender singular nouns joined by u ("and", H9002), together specifying the animal sources from which the pesach may be taken.
• yiv.Char ("he will choose", H0977) — qal imperfect, third person, denoting a future or ongoing action attributed to Yehovah regarding the place; introduced by the relative particle 'a.Sher ("where", H0834A).
• sha.Ken ("cause to dwell", H7931) — piel infinitive, an intensive causative form indicating the purpose of the choosing: to make the shem ("name", H8034) reside there, with the pronominal suffix o ("his", H9023) attaching possession to Yehovah.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav (ve, H9001) attached to the sequential perfect za.Vach.ta, linking this instruction to the surrounding sequence of commands. The direct object is Pe.sach, followed by the prepositional phrase la-Yehovah 'e.lo.Hei-kha ("to Yehovah your God"), where 'e.lo.Hei (H0430) appears in construct plural form governed by the suffix kha ("your", H9021). The source of the offering is given by two nouns in apposition, tzon and va.Kar, without a verb of taking, simply listing flock and herd as the material from which the sacrifice derives.

The second half of the verse is governed by the preposition ba ("in the", H9003) attached to ma.kOm ("place", H4725), followed by the relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher. Within this clause, yiv.Char (imperfect) assigns the choosing of the place to Yehovah as subject, and the purpose of that choice is expressed through the piel infinitive sha.Ken, governing the construct noun she.M with suffix o. The infinitive construction with le ("to", H9005) marks purpose: the choosing of the place is oriented toward causing the name to dwell there, closed by the adverb Sham ("there", H8033).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the purpose clause as ἐπικληθῆναι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐκεῖ ("that his name be called there"), differing from the Hebrew le-shaken shemo sham ("to cause his name to dwell there"), which uses a causative dwelling verb rather than a verb of naming or invocation. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew sense more closely with ut habitet nomen ejus ibi ("that his name may dwell there").