Deuteronomy 27:4
וְהָיָה בְּעָבְרְכֶם אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן תָּקִימוּ אֶת־הָאֲבָנִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם בְּהַר עֵיבָל וְשַׂדְתָּ אוֹתָם בַּשִּֽׂיד׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְהָיָה֮ בְּעָבְרְכֶ֣ם אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן֒ תָּקִ֜ימוּ אֶת־הָאֲבָנִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֜י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֛ם הַיּ֖וֹם בְּהַ֣ר עֵיבָ֑ל וְשַׂדְתָּ֥ אוֹתָ֖ם בַּשִּֽׂיד׃
Καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἂν διαβῆτε τὸν Ἰορδάνην, στήσετε τοὺς λίθους τούτους οὓς ἐγὼ, ἐντέλλομαί σοι σήμερον ἐν ὄρει Γαιβάλ, καὶ κονιάσεις αὐτοὺς κονία.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quando ergo transieritis Jordanem, erigite lapides, quos ego hodie præcipio vobis in monte Hebal, et lævigabis eos calce:
Cuando hayas cruzado el Jordán, colocarás estas piedras que hoy te ordeno en el monte Ebal, y las cubrirás con yeso.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Será pues, cuando hubieres pasado el Jordán, que levantaréis estas piedras que yo os mando hoy, en el monte de Ebal, y las revocarás con cal:
And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse instructs that after the people cross the Jordan river, they are to set up specific stones on Mount Ebal — stones that Moses is currently commanding them about — and then coat those stones with lime/plaster.
Key words
- ve.haYah ("it will be", H1961) — qal sequential perfect; opens the verse as a narrative hinge, "and it will happen that..."
- be.'a.ve.re.Khem ("when you have crossed", H5674A + H9046) — infinitive construct with 2nd person plural suffix, functioning as a temporal clause ("in your crossing")
- ta.Ki.mu ("you will set up", H6965I) — hiphil (causative) imperfect; the people cause the stones to stand upright
- me.tza.Veh ("commanding", H6680) — piel participle, masculine singular; portrays Moses' command as an ongoing act in the moment of speaking, not a completed past order
- sad.Ta ("you will whitewash", H7874) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the chain of actions after taKimu
What the text says
The verse is built as a sequential chain: vehayah ("and it will be") opens the sentence, followed by a temporal clause using the infinitive 'avrekhem ("your crossing") to mark the moment — after the Jordan crossing. The main action then unfolds through two verbs joined by the narrative vav-sequence: taKimu ("you will set up," hiphil imperfect) and vesadta ("and you will whitewash," qal sequential perfect). This chain structure ties the setting-up of the stones and their whitewashing into one continuous, sequential action tied to the crossing event.
The participle metzaVeh ("[I am] commanding") is notable grammatically: it is not a finished past command but an act in progress at the time of speaking, reinforced by anokhi ("I", H0595) placed explicitly before it and by hayom ("this day," H3117G) following. This construction frames the instruction as a present, ongoing charge from the speaker rather than a past decree.
The object marker 'et (H0853) appears three times (before "Jordan," before "the stones," before "you") without any independent translation value — it simply flags the definite direct objects of the verbs.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew names the mountain 'eiVal (H5858C, "Ebal"). The LXX renders this as Γαιβάλ (Gaibal), a different transliteration, while the Vulgate gives "Hebal." All three refer to the same location but preserve distinct spelling traditions of the proper name.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.