Deuteronomy 28:13

Summary

The verse states that Yehovah (H3068) will place the addressee "as head" and "not as tail," positioning him "only upward" and "not downward." This outcome is made conditional on listening to and keeping the commandments given "this day."

Key words

• netaneKha ("he will make you", H5414I) — qal sequential perfect; continues the narrative chain from prior verses, expressing a future consequence rather than an isolated statement.
• rosh ("head", H7218A) and zanav ("tail", H2180) — both masculine singular nouns used metaphorically, contrasted through the parallel prepositions le- ("into") in items 5 and 9.
• ma'lah ("upwards", H4605) with the directional he (H9011) — reinforces motion/orientation "toward" the upper position, paired antithetically with matah ("downwards", H4295).
• tishma' ("you will listen", H8085H) — qal imperfect introduced by ki ("if", H3588A), marking the entire blessing as conditioned on this ongoing/future act of listening.
• metzaveKha ("commanding you", H6680) — piel participle in construct, denoting the one who is presently and continually giving the command, contrasted with lishmor and la'asot (infinitives, "to keep" and "to do", H8104J/H6213A).

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative vav attached to the sequential perfect netaneKha, which grammatically continues a chain of consequences begun earlier in the passage — the subject is Yehovah (H3068), the object is "you" (second person masculine singular suffix). The core statement uses two parallel prepositional phrases with le- ("into"): "into head" and "not into tail," followed by a second pair using the same structure with ma'lah ("upwards") and matah ("downwards"). The directional he attached to ma'lah adds a sense of directional movement "toward" the upper position, a nuance not always visible in translation, where both terms may simply appear as static adverbs "above" and "below."

The second half of the verse is governed by the conditional particle ki ("if"), which subordinates the entire preceding blessing to the act of "listening" (tishma', imperfect, ongoing/future aspect) to "the commandments of Yehovah your God" (construct chain mitzvot Yehovah Eloheicha). The commanding itself is expressed through a piel participle, metzaveKha ("the one commanding you"), which grammatically frames Moses' speech as a continuous present action ("I am commanding you this day"), rather than a completed past act. The final two infinitives, lishmor ("to keep") and la'asot ("to do"), joined by ve- ("and"), specify the manner of compliance — keeping and performing — as the purpose or result of listening.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the conditional clause somewhat differently, tying the outcome to hearing "the voice" (φωνῆς) of the Lord's God, where the Hebrew specifies "the commandments" (mitzvot, H4687) directly as the object of tishma'. The Vulgate's "si tamen audieris mandata" aligns closely with the Hebrew's use of mitzvot. The LXX also reads "τότε" ("then") absent from the Hebrew structure, which uses raq ("only", H7535) instead to emphasize exclusivity of position "upward."