Deuteronomy 2:25

Summary

Yehovah announces that, beginning that very day, he will cause dread and fear of Israel to spread among all the peoples under heaven. Those peoples, upon hearing the report about Israel, will tremble and be in anguish.

Key words

• 'a.Chel ("I will begin", H2490C) — Hiphil (causative) imperfect, first person, marking the onset of an action Yehovah himself initiates from "this day" (hai.yom hai.zeh, H3117L/H2088).
• pach.de.kha ("dread of you", H6343 + H9021) — masculine singular noun in construct with the 2ms suffix, meaning the dread belongs to or emanates from "you" (the addressee, Israel/Moses).
• yir.'A.te.kha ("fear of you", H3374 + H9021) — feminine singular construct noun paired with pach.de.kha, forming a doublet ("dread and fear") that intensifies the description of the emotion inflicted on the nations.
• yish.me.'U.n ("they will hear!", H8085G + H9013) — Qal imperfect third person plural with paragogic nun, an added suffix that lends emphasis or solemnity to the verb "they will hear."
• ra.ge.Zu / cha.Lu ("they will tremble" / "they will be in anguish", H7264 / H2342I) — Qal sequential perfects continuing the narrative chain begun by the imperfect verbs, describing the resulting physical/emotional reaction "because of you" (mi.pa.Nei.kha, H6440G + H9021).

What the text says

The verse opens with a temporal phrase, hai.yom hai.zeh ("this day", H3117L/H2088), fronted for emphasis, followed by the Hiphil imperfect 'a.Chel ("I will begin", H2490C), indicating that Yehovah himself is the causative agent initiating an action starting now. The infinitive tet ("to put", H5414H) governs the direct objects pach.de.kha ("dread of you") and ve.yir.'A.te.kha ("and fear of you"), both nouns in construct with the second-person suffix, meaning the dread and fear belong to or originate from the addressee (Israel). These are placed 'al-pe.Nei ha.'a.Mim ("on the face of the peoples", H6440H/H5971A) — i.e., spread over them — and further specified as being under kol-ha.sha.Ma.yim ("all the heavens", H3605/H8064), a totalizing expression covering every nation.

The relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher ("who", H0834A) shifts to describe the peoples' reaction: yish.me.'U.n shim.'a.kha ("they will hear your report", H8085G+H9013 / H8088B), where the paragogic nun on the verb adds emphasis. The narrative then continues with two sequential perfects joined by the narrative vav (H9001): ra.ge.Zu ("they will tremble", H7264) and cha.Lu ("they will be in anguish", H2342I), both grammatically continuing the future-oriented action established by the earlier imperfects, despite being perfect in form — a common construction in Biblical Hebrew narrative sequences. The final phrase mi.pa.Nei.kha ("because of you", H6440G+H9021) attributes this trembling and anguish directly to the presence or report of the addressee.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders shim.'a.kha ("your report", H8088B) as "τὸ ὄνομά σου" ("your name"), differing from the Hebrew noun for "report" or "hearing." The Vulgate similarly reads "audito nomine tuo" ("having heard your name"), matching the LXX's shift from "report" to "name" rather than the Hebrew's shim.'a ("report", H8088B). The Vulgate also adds an image absent from the Hebrew and LXX, comparing the trembling to that of "parturientium" ("women in labor"), an interpretive expansion of cha.Lu ("they will be in anguish", H2342I).