Deuteronomy 22:7

Summary

Deuteronomy 22:7 instructs that when a bird's nest is found (per the preceding verse), the mother must be released while the young may be taken. The verse closes with a stated consequence: that the one who does this "may go well" and "prolong days."

Key words

• sha.Le.ach ("certainly let go", H7971) — piel infinitive absolute, paired with the following verb to intensify or emphasize the command; it has no tense on its own but reinforces certainty.
• te.sha.Lach ("you will let go", H7971) — piel imperfect, second person masculine; together with the infinitive absolute above, forms the emphatic construction "you shall surely let go."
• ti.kach ("you will take", H3947) — qal imperfect, second person masculine; a simple (non-intensive) verb describing the permitted action toward the young.
• le.Ma.'an ("so that", H4616) — subordinating particle introducing a purpose clause, linking the preceding instruction to its stated result.
• ha.'a.rakh.Ta ("you will prolong", H748) — hiphil (causative) verb in sequential perfect form, continuing the sequence begun by yi.tav ("it may go well", H3190); the causative stem indicates the days are caused to be long, not merely occurring so.

What the text says

The verse opens with the construction sha.Le.ach te.sha.Lach — an infinitive absolute followed by the finite imperfect of the same root, H7971. This doubling is a common Biblical Hebrew pattern that intensifies the verb, often rendered in English as "you shall surely let go" or "you must certainly send away." The object is ha.'Em ("the mother", H517), marked by the direct object particle 'et. This is followed by a parallel clause: ve.'et ha.ba.Nim ti.kach la.kh — "and the young ones you shall take for yourself" — using the simple qal imperfect ti.kach (H3947) rather than an intensive form, marking a contrast in grammatical weight between the two actions: the release of the mother is emphasized, the taking of the young is stated plainly.

The purpose clause begins with le.Ma'an (H4616), introducing the jussive yi.tav ("it may go well", H3190) and continuing with the sequential perfect ha.'a.rakh.Ta (H748), a hiphil causative form of the root meaning "to be long." The causative stem frames the prolonging of days as a caused outcome rather than a spontaneous state, tied grammatically to the preceding instruction through the vav-sequential construction, which chains this clause as a continuation of the same action sequence.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the emphatic infinitive-plus-imperfect construction as ἀποστολῇ ἀποστελεῖς ("by sending you shall send"), a Greek calque preserving the Hebrew's doubling for emphasis. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) instead uses sed abire patieris ("but you shall permit to go away"), which does not reproduce the same repetitive emphasis found in the Hebrew or the Greek. The Vulgate also reorders the clauses, placing "captos tenens filios" ("holding the young captive") before the purpose clause, differing in sequence from the Hebrew's mother-then-young ordering.