Deuteronomy 27:26

Summary

The verse pronounces a curse on anyone who does not carry out the words of "this law," and specifies that the curse applies to failure in observing them. The people's collective response, "amen," closes the cycle of curses that runs through Deuteronomy 27.

Key words

• 'aRur ("[is] cursed", H0779) — qal passive participle, masculine singular; functions as a predicate stating a state imposed on the subject, not a wish but a declared condition.
• yaKim ("he will carry out", H6965I) — hiphil imperfect; the hiphil stem is causative, so the verb does not simply mean "to stand" but "to cause [the words] to stand," i.e., to put them into effect or uphold them.
• divRei ("[the] words of", H1697G) — masculine plural construct; grammatically linked to ha-toRah ("the law") that follows, forming the phrase "the words of the law."
• la'aSot ("observing", H6213A) — qal infinitive with prefixed preposition la; expresses purpose or manner, clarifying what it means to "carry out" the words — namely, by doing them.
• 'aMar ("it will say", H0559) — qal sequential perfect; continues the narrative chain begun by the participle clause, marking the people's spoken response as the next event in sequence.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the participle 'aRur standing alone, followed by the relative clause 'asher lo yaqim ("who does not carry out"), which identifies the target of the curse. The hiphil form of yaqim (H6965I) is significant: it is not the simple verb "to stand" but its causative counterpart, meaning "to cause to stand" or "to uphold/establish." Applied to divrei ha-torah ha-zot ("the words of this law"), it conveys maintaining or enacting those words rather than merely acknowledging them. The infinitive la'asot ("observing," H6213A) with the object suffix otam ("them") restates and specifies the action — doing them — reinforcing the causative sense of yaqim rather than adding a separate condition.

The second half of the verse shifts from the curse formula to a narrative report: ve-'amar kol ha'am 'amen ("and all the people will say amen"), using the sequential perfect 'amar to mark this as the next act in the ceremonial sequence, the people's verbal ratification of the curse just pronounced.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the subject as πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ("every man"), an addition not present in the Hebrew, which has only the relative pronoun 'asher ("who"). Where the Hebrew has the single causative verb yaqim, the LXX uses ἐμμένει ("abides/remains"), and the Vulgate uses permanet ("remains"), adding a second clause, nec eos opere perficit ("nor does he complete them by deed"), splitting into two verbs what the Hebrew expresses with one. For the closing word, the Hebrew 'amen (H0543) is transliterated in the Vulgate as Amen, while the LXX translates it as Γένοιτο ("may it be").