Deuteronomy 2:24
קוּמוּ סְּעוּ וְעִבְרוּ אֶת־נַחַל אַרְנֹן רְאֵה נָתַתִּי בְיָדְךָ אֶת־סִיחֹן מֶֽלֶךְ־חֶשְׁבּוֹן הָֽאֱמֹרִי וְאֶת־אַרְצוֹ הָחֵל רָשׁ וְהִתְגָּר בּוֹ מִלְחָמָֽה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
ק֣וּמוּ סְּע֗וּ וְעִבְרוּ֮ אֶת־נַ֣חַל אַרְנֹן֒ רְאֵ֣ה נָתַ֣תִּי בְ֠יָדְךָ אֶת־סִיחֹ֨ן מֶֽלֶךְ־חֶשְׁבּ֧וֹן הָֽאֱמֹרִ֛י וְאֶת־אַרְצ֖וֹ הָחֵ֣ל רָ֑שׁ וְהִתְגָּ֥ר בּ֖וֹ מִלְחָמָֽה׃
νῦν οὖν ἀνάστητε καὶ ἀπάρατε, καὶ παρέλθατε ὑμεῖς τὴν φάραγγα Ἀρνῶν· ἰδοὺ παραδέδωκα εἰς χεῖράς σου τὸν Σηὼν βασιλέα Ἐσεβὼν τὸν Ἀμορραῖον καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ· ἐνάρχου κληρονομεῖν, σύναπτε πρὸς αὐτὸν πόλεμον.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Surgite, et transite torrentem Arnon: ecce tradidi in manu tua Sehon regem Hesebon Amorrhæum, et terram ejus incipe possidere, et committe adversus eum prælium.
“Levántense, emprendan su viaje y pasen por el valle de Arnón. He aquí que he entregado en su mano a Sehón el amorreo, rey de Hesbón, y a su tierra; comiencen a poseerla, y enfréntense a él en la batalla.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Levantaos, partid, y pasad el arroyo de Arnón: he aquí he dado en tu mano á Sehón rey de Hesbón, Amorrheo, y á su tierra: comienza á tomar posesión, y empéñate con él en guerra.
“ Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Yehovah commands Israel (in plural) to break camp and cross the Arnon valley, then declares — using a completed-action verb — that Sihon king of Heshbon and his land have already been handed over. The address then shifts to singular commands telling the addressee to begin taking possession and to engage Sihon in battle.
Key words
- Ku.mu ("arise", H6965B) — qal imperative plural, opening a three-verb chain of collective marching commands.
- na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414G) — qal perfect, 1st person; a completed-action form describing a future event as already accomplished.
- ya.de.kha ("your hand", H3027H + H9021) — construct noun with 2nd person masculine singular suffix, marking the shift to an individual addressee.
- ha.Chel ("begin", H2490C) — hiphil (causative) imperative singular, initiating the second block of commands.
- hit.Gar ("engage in strife", H1624) — hithpael imperative, a reflexive/reciprocal stem indicating mutual engagement "with him" (bo, H9033) in battle.
What the text says
The verse opens with three masculine plural imperatives — ku.mu ("arise", H6965B), se.'u ("set out", H5265), 'iv.ru ("pass over", H5674A) — addressed collectively, followed by the object nachal 'Arnon ("wadi of Arnon", H5158N + H0769) marked by the untranslated object marker 'et (H0853). The grammar then narrows to singular address: re.'Eh ("see", H7200I) introduces the perfect-tense declaration na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414G), a qal perfect that in Hebrew narrates a future certainty as already completed — the land and king are described as given before the crossing even occurs. The object of this giving is built through a chain of construct nouns: Melekh-Cheshbon ("king of Heshbon", H4428G + H2809) and 'artzo ("his land", H0776G + H9023), both governed by 'et (H0853).
The final pair of commands, ha.Chel ("begin", H2490C, hiphil) and rash ("take possession", H3423H), plus hit.Gar ("engage in strife", H1624, hithpael) with the preposition bo ("with him", H9033), return to singular address, framing the military action as both causative (initiating possession) and reflexive/reciprocal (mutual combat).
Differences between versions
The LXX (Swete) opens with νῦν οὖν ("now therefore"), a phrase absent from the Hebrew and the Vulgate. The LXX renders na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414G, perfect) as παραδέδωκα ("I have delivered/handed over"), while the Vulgate uses tradidi ("I have handed over"), both preserving the completed-action sense of the Hebrew perfect. The Vulgate compresses the opening three Hebrew imperatives into two Latin verbs (Surgite, et transite), whereas the LXX and Hebrew both preserve three distinct commands before the singular shift.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.