Deuteronomy 19:9

Summary

Deuteronomy 19:9 states a conditional: if the addressee keeps "this commandment" in its entirety—loving Yehovah and walking in his ways continually—then three additional cities of refuge are to be added to the three already designated. The verse links moral/covenantal obedience to a concrete legal outcome (expanding asylum cities from three to six).

Key words

• ki- ("if", H3588A) — subordinating particle opening the conditional clause that governs the entire verse's logic.
• tishmor ("you will keep", H8104J) — qal imperfect, marking the condition as an ongoing or future action ("if you keep/will keep").
• mitzvah ("commandment", H4687) — singular noun with definite article and demonstrative zot ("this"), referring to a single unified commandment rather than a set of separate laws.
• metzavekha ("commanding you", H6680) — piel participle, presenting Yehovah's command as a continuous, present act ("the one commanding you") rather than a completed past instruction.
• yasafta ("you will add", H3254H) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain begun by the conditional clause and marking the resulting action once the condition is met.

What the text says

The verse opens with the particle ki- ("if", H3588A) attached directly to the verb tishmor ("you will keep", H8104J), establishing a conditional clause that extends through several infinitives. The object is kol-hamitzvah hazot — "all the commandment, the this one" — using the singular mitzvah (H4687) rather than a plural form, so the Hebrew frames obedience as adherence to one comprehensive command rather than a list of individual statutes.

The relative clause asher anokhi metzavekha hayom ("which I am commanding you today") uses the piel participle metzavekha (H6680), which grammatically presents the commanding as an ongoing act tied to "today" (hayom, H3117G), rather than a completed historical instruction. Two further infinitives, le'ahavah ("to love", H157G) and lalekhet ("to walk", H1980I), specify the content of the commandment: loving Yehovah and walking in his ways, the latter modified by kol-hayamim ("all the days").

The apodosis begins with ve-yasafta (H3254H), a sequential perfect continuing the logical chain from the conditional opening — "and you will add." The suffixed lekha ("for yourself") and the numeral shalosh ("three", H7969) specify the addition of three more cities 'al ha-shalosh ha'elleh ("to these three"), referring back to a previously established set of three cities.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew uses a singular mitzvah ("commandment") with the demonstrative zot ("this"), treating the requirement as one unified command. The LXX renders this with a plural, τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας ("these commandments"), treating it as multiple discrete commands rather than one comprehensive one. The LXX also opens with ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς ("if you hear/obey"), which introduces the semantic component of "hearing" not explicitly present in the Hebrew verb tishmor ("keep", H8104J). The Vulgate adds duplicabis ("you will double [the number]"), a clause not present in the Hebrew or the Greek text supplied.