Deuteronomy 16:22

Summary

Deuteronomy 16:22 prohibits setting up a matztzevah ("sacred pillar", H4676) for oneself, giving as the reason that Yehovah the God of the addressee hates this object. The verse closes a short series of cultic prohibitions with a causal clause explaining the command.

Key words

• ta.Kim ("you will set up", H6965I) — Hiphil (causative) imperfect, second person masculine singular: expresses a future/ongoing prohibition, "you shall not cause to stand."
• le.Kha ("for yourself", H9005 + H9031) — preposition with second-person masculine suffix, marking the pillar as something erected for the subject's own benefit or use.
• matztzevah ("a sacred pillar", H4676) — feminine singular noun, the direct object of the prohibited action; a standing stone object.
• sa.Ne' ("he hates", H8130) — Qal perfect, third person masculine singular: a completed-aspect verb describing an existing disposition, not a one-time past event.
• 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("your God", H0430G + H9021) — construct plural noun with second-person suffix, forming the phrase "Yehovah your God" as the subject of the hating.

What the text says

The verse opens with the negation lo' ("not", H3808) followed directly by the Hiphil imperfect ta.Kim, producing a standard Hebrew prohibitive construction equivalent to "you shall not set up." The causative (Hiphil) stem of the root H6965I ("to rise, stand") indicates that the subject causes the pillar to stand upright, rather than simply standing themselves. The prepositional phrase le.kha ("for yourself") attaches the action to the personal interest of the addressee, a common feature in Hebrew legal prohibitions that marks self-directed action.

The relative clause introduced by 'asher ("which", H0834A) attaches the reason to the object matztzevah: "which Yehovah your God hates." The verb sa.ne' is in the Qal perfect, which in Biblical Hebrew often conveys a stative or characteristic condition rather than a single completed event — here rendering an ongoing attitude ("hates," not merely "hated once"). The subject of this hatred is Yehovah 'elohei-kha, using the construct form 'elohei ("God of", H0430G) bound to the suffix -kha ("your"), producing "Yehovah your God" as a fixed formulaic phrase common throughout Deuteronomy.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) splits the single Hebrew prohibition into two parallel clauses, "Nec facies... neque constitues statuam" ("neither shall you make... nor shall you set up a pillar"), where the Hebrew text presents only one verb, ta.Kim. The BSB and RV1909 follow the Hebrew more closely with a single prohibitive verb ("do not set up" / "no te levantarás"), while SBLIBRE renders the pillar prohibition in third-person plural ("se pondrán"), differing grammatically from the second-person singular address of the Hebrew ta.Kim and le.kha.