Deuteronomy 17:3

Summary

The verse describes a hypothetical case in which a person has gone away, served other gods, and bowed down to them — or to the sun, the moon, or the entire host of heaven — acts that Yehovah states he did not command.

Key words

• va-i.Ye.lekh ("and he has gone", H1980) — qal narrative form (vav-consecutive), continuing a chain of sequential past actions describing the offender's conduct.
• va-i.ya.'a.Vod ("and he has served", H5647) — qal narrative, second verb in the sequence, referring to worship or service rendered to elohim acherim.
• 'elohim 'acherim ("other gods", H0430 + H0312) — plural noun with plural adjective, the object of the forbidden service.
• va-i.yish.Ta.chu ("and he has bowed down", H7812) — hishtaphel narrative form, denoting physical prostration, the third act in the sequence.
• tzeva ha-shamayim ("host of the heavens", H6635 + H8064) — construct chain, "host/army of the heavens," referring collectively to celestial bodies beyond sun and moon.
• tzi.Vi.ti ("I have commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, first person, completed action: Yehovah as speaker denying having ordered this behavior.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of three narrative (vav-consecutive) verbs — yelekh ("he has gone", H1980), ya'avod ("he has served", H5647), yishtachu ("he has bowed down", H7812) — each attached by the narrative vav (H9001), presenting the offense as a sequence of connected actions: going, serving, bowing. The object of this sequence is first elohim acherim ("other gods", H0430 + H0312), then expanded through a series of prepositional phrases joined by 'o ("or", H0176A): la-shemesh ("to the sun", H8121), la-yareach ("to the moon", H3394), and le-khol tzeva ha-shamayim ("to all the host of the heavens", H3605 + H6635 + H8064), the last phrase using a double construct chain that groups all celestial bodies under one category, "host of the heavens."

The final clause, introduced by the relative particle 'asher ("which", H0834A) and the negation lo' ("not", H3808), attaches a first-person perfect verb, tzivviti ("I have commanded", H6680, piel), placing the statement directly in Yehovah's voice: the actions just listed were not something he ordered.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tzeva ha-shamayim ("host of the heavens") as τῶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ("of the ornament/order of heaven"), a phrasing distinct from the Hebrew construct "host." The LXX also shifts the final verb to third person, οὐ προσέταξεν ("he did not command"), where the Hebrew tzivviti is first person ("I have commanded"); the Vulgate's non praecepi ("I have not commanded") matches the Hebrew's first-person form. The Spanish SBLIBRE translates tzeva ha-shamayim as "estrellas del cielo" ("stars of heaven"), an interpretive rendering rather than a literal "host."