Deuteronomy 20:5

Summary

Deuteronomy 20:5 records instructions the officials (sho.te.Rim, H7860) give to the people before battle: any man who has built a new house but has not yet dedicated it is to be sent home, so that he does not die in war and have another man dedicate it in his place.

Key words

• sho.te.Rim ("officials", H7860) — qal participle, masculine plural, meaning "the ones doing" the function of officiating; the definite article marks a specific known group.
• ba.Nah ("he has built", H1129) — qal perfect, describing a completed action prior to the speech-time; sets up the condition of the man addressed.
• cha.na.Kh + o ("he has dedicated it", H2596 + H9033) — qal perfect with pronominal suffix "it," referring back to bayit ("house", H1004B); negated by lo' ("not", H3808), marking incomplete dedication.
• ye.Lekh ("let him go", H1980G) and ya.Sho ("let him return", H7725G) — qal imperfect/jussive forms expressing permission or instruction, not simple future; they convey "he may/should go... and return."
• yach.ne.Khe.nu ("he will dedicate it", H2596 + H9033) — qal imperfect with suffix, parallel to cha.na.Kh, describing a potential future action by "another man" ('ish 'acher, H0376G + H0312).

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on di.be.Ru ("they will say", H1696G), a piel sequential perfect continuing the narrative sequence begun in the surrounding verses. The officials speak "to the people" ('el-ha-'Am, H0413 + H5971A) using the infinitive le.Mor ("saying", H0559), a standard formula introducing direct speech. The content of the speech is framed as a rhetorical question: mi ha-'ish 'asher ("who is the man who...", H4310 + H0376G + H0834A), followed by a relative clause describing the man's situation — he "has built a new house" (ba.Nah bayit chadash) but "has not dedicated it" (ve-lo' chana.Kho).

The two verbs ye.Lekh and ya.Sho are qal imperfect/jussive forms, which grammatically express instruction or permission ("let him go... and let him return") rather than plain future statements. This nuance — the jussive mood — signals that the officials are issuing a directive, not merely predicting an event. The clause introduced by pen ("lest", H6435) with ya.Mut ("he should die", H4191, imperfect) expresses the purpose or concern behind the directive: avoiding a scenario where the builder dies in battle before completing the dedication of his house, and "another man" ('ish 'acher) instead performs yach.ne.Khe.nu ("dedicates it", H2596 + H9033) in his place.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders bayit chadash ("new house", H1004B + H2319H) as "οἰκίαν κοινὴν" ("common/shared house"), differing from the Hebrew adjective "new." The Vulgate follows the Hebrew sense more closely with "domum novam" ("new house"). Additionally, the LXX and Vulgate render the jussive verbs (ye.Lekh, ya.Sho) as imperatives/subjunctives ("πορευέσθω," "vadat... revertatur"), consistent with the Hebrew jussive mood expressing directive force.