Deuteronomy 26:19

Summary

The verse describes two purposes joined by parallel infinitive clauses: that Israel be set "most high" above all nations, and that Israel be "a holy people" to Yehovah. Both purposes are marked by the preposition le- ("to/for") attached to infinitives, and the first purpose is further specified by a triad of nouns—praise, name, and honor.

Key words

• titteKha ("set", H5414H) — qal infinitive construct + 2ms suffix ("you"); combined with the prefix le- it forms a purpose clause: "to set you."
• elyon ("most high", H5945A) — masculine singular adjective functioning as the predicate of the infinitive clause, describing the status conferred on "you."
• tif'aret ("honor", H8597) — feminine singular noun, third member of a three-part list (tehillah, shem, tif'aret) each introduced by le-, giving the purpose of the elevation.
• hyoteKha ("be you", H1961) — qal infinitive construct + 2ms suffix, parallel in form to titteKha, introducing the second purpose clause ("and for you to be").
• qadosh ("holy", H6918G) — masculine singular adjective modifying 'am ("people", H5971A), forming the phrase "a holy people."

What the text says

The verse contains two infinitive-purpose constructions, both governed by the preposition le- and both taking a second-person pronominal suffix as their implied subject: u-le-titteKha ("and to set you") and ve-li-hyoteKha ("and for you to be"). This grammatical parallelism links the two outcomes as results of the same preceding action (not included in this verse), producing a structural balance between "being set above" and "being a people."

The first clause states the goal elyon ("most high") 'al kol ha-goyim ("above all the nations"), and this is qualified by a relative clause, 'asher 'asah ("which he has made", H6213H, qal perfect), describing the nations as ones that he made. The purpose of this elevation is then expressed through three parallel prepositional phrases—li-tehillah ("for praise"), u-le-shem ("and for a name"), u-le-tif'aret ("and for honor")—each using the same le- prefix, producing a triadic structure not always visible when the three nouns are compressed into a single translated word.

The second infinitive clause states the goal 'am qadosh ("a holy people") la-Yehovah 'eloheikha ("to Yehovah your God"). The verse closes with a comparative clause, ka'asher dibber ("as he has spoken", H1696I, piel perfect), referring to a prior spoken statement.

Differences between versions

The LXX text supplied here is fragmentary: it lacks a separate rendering of elyon and compresses the three-noun sequence (tehillah, shem, tif'aret) into a single term, ὀνομαστὸν ("renowned"), rather than three coordinated nouns as in the Hebrew.

The Vulgate renders 'asah ("he has made", H6213H) as creavit ("he created"), a stronger verb than the Hebrew 'asah, which denotes making/doing rather than creation from nothing. The Vulgate also adds the possessive suam ("his own") after gloriam, an addition not present as a separate word in the Hebrew triad tehillah / shem / tif'aret.