Deuteronomy 2:15

Summary

The verse states that Yehovah's hand acted directly against the generation being described, causing disturbance among them from within the camp, continuing until they were completely finished off.

Key words

• yad- ("[the] hand of", H3027H) — construct noun beginning the phrase "hand of Yehovah," an idiom expressing direct divine action or power exercised against a target.
• Ha.ye.tah ("it was", H1961) — qal perfect, third person feminine singular (agreeing with yad, "hand," a feminine noun), marking this as a completed state that held true over the period described.
• hu.Ma ("disturb", H2000) — qal infinitive with pronominal suffix "them," expressing purpose ("to disturb them"); paired with the preposition le- ("to," H9005) it functions as the goal of Yehovah's hand being upon them.
• Ke.rev ("[the] midst of", H7130G) — construct noun forming the phrase "from the midst of the camp," specifying the location from which the disturbance proceeded.
• tu.Ma ("were finished", H8552) — qal infinitive with suffix "they," used after 'ad ("until," H5704) to mark the endpoint of the action — continuing until the group was completely finished.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with ve-gam ("and also," H9002 + H1571), an emphatic conjunction pair that adds this statement onto what precedes it, marking it as an additional or intensified point. The subject is the construct phrase yad-Yahweh ("hand of Yehovah"), a common Hebrew idiom in which "hand" represents active power or force. The verb hayetah ("it was," H1961) agrees grammatically with the feminine noun yad ("hand"), and its perfect aspect indicates a settled, completed condition — the hand "was" upon them, described as an existing state rather than a single instantaneous act.

The purpose or result of that state is given through two infinitive constructions. First, le-humam ("to disturb them," H9005 + H2000 + H9038) uses the preposition le- to express purpose, attaching the pronominal suffix "them" directly to the infinitive. This action occurs mi-qerev ha-machaneh ("from the midst of the camp," H9006 + H7130G + H9009 + H4264), locating the disturbance as originating from within the camp itself. Second, the temporal boundary of this state is marked by 'ad tummam ("until they were finished," H5704 + H8552 + H9048), another infinitive with pronominal suffix, indicating the endpoint at which the process described was complete.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text says yad-Yahweh ("hand of Yehovah," H3068G), naming the tetragrammaton directly. The LXX renders this as "ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ θεοῦ" ("the hand of God"), substituting a generic divine title where the Hebrew has the personal name. The Vulgate omits the subject noun phrase entirely, beginning instead with "cujus manus" ("whose hand"), connecting the clause to the preceding verse without repeating the divine name or title present in the Hebrew and Greek.