Deuteronomy 27:5

Summary

The verse instructs that an altar be built there to Yehovah, described as "your God," made specifically of stones. It then prohibits the use of iron on these stones when constructing the altar.

Key words

• va.Ni.ta ("you will build", H1129) — qal sequential perfect; continues the narrative chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage, marking this as the next required action.
• miz.Be.ach ("an altar", H4196) — masculine singular noun; appears twice in the verse, first as the object built "to Yehovah," then in construct form specifying its material.
• miz.Bach ("altar of", H4196) — same noun in construct state, meaning "altar of X"; here linked to 'a.va.Nim to form the phrase "altar of stones."
• 'a.va.Nim ("stones", H0068G) — feminine plural noun; the construct chain miz.Bach 'a.va.Nim specifies the altar's material as stones, as opposed to other construction elements.
• ta.Nif ("you will wield", H5130B) — hiphil imperfect, a causative form indicating an action performed upon an object; combined with the negation lo'- ("not", H3808), it forms the prohibition against lifting or wielding iron.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative vav attached to va.Ni.ta, marking it as a continuation of a sequence of instructions rather than an isolated command. The sequential perfect form here functions to carry forward the flow of directives given in the preceding verses, indicating that building the altar is the next step in an ongoing set of actions.

The phrase miz.Be.ach la.Yah.weh 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("an altar to Yehovah your God") uses the construct noun 'e.lo.Hei. ("God", H0430G) with the second-person suffix kha ("your", H9021), a common construction pairing the divine name with a possessive form. This is followed by a second use of mizbeach, now in construct state (miz.Bach) with 'a.va.Nim ("stones"), specifying the material composition of the altar as a defining characteristic rather than an incidental detail.

The final clause uses the hiphil imperfect ta.Nif ("you will wield") with the negation lo'-, producing a prohibition. The hiphil stem here carries a causative sense — the action of causing an iron tool to move or strike against the stones — and the imperfect aspect frames this as an ongoing or general restriction rather than a single completed act. The prepositional phrase 'a.lei.Hem ("on them", H5921A + H9038) refers back to the stones, tying the prohibition directly to the material named in the construct phrase.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the final clause differently from the Hebrew and the LXX. Where the Hebrew states a direct prohibition — "you shall not wield iron over them" (lo'-taniф 'aleihem barzel) — and the LXX similarly reads "you shall not cast iron upon it" (οὐκ ἐπιβαλεῖς ἐπ’ αὐτὸ σίδηρον), the Vulgate instead uses a relative clause describing the stones as already "untouched by iron" (quos ferrum non tetigit, "which iron has not touched"), shifting the grammatical framing from a command about future action to a description of the stones' prior condition.