Deuteronomy 28:16

Summary

Deuteronomy 28:16 pronounces a curse formula covering two complementary spatial domains: the city and the open country. The structure repeats the same participle and pronoun twice, differing only in the location named, producing a totalizing statement that no place is exempt.

Key words

• 'aRur ("[will be] cursed", H0779) — qal passive participle, masculine singular; used twice, functioning as a predicate adjective describing the state of the subject rather than a finite verb with tense.
• 'aTah ("you", H0859A) — independent personal pronoun, masculine singular; repeated with each occurrence of 'aRur, making the subject explicit rather than relying on verbal inflection.
• 'ir ("city", H5892B) — feminine singular noun with prefixed preposition and article ba ("in the", H9003), marking the first location.
• sadeh ("open country", H7704G) — masculine singular noun with prefixed preposition and article ba ("in the", H9003), marking the second location.
• ve ("and", H9002) — conjunction linking the two parallel clauses into a single coordinated statement.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence consists of two parallel nominal clauses joined by ve ("and", H9002): 'aRur 'aTah ba'Ir ("cursed [are] you in the city") and ve'aRur 'aTah basSadeh ("and cursed [are] you in the open country"). Neither clause contains a finite verb; the predicate is carried by the passive participle 'aRur (H0779), which in Hebrew syntax can stand alone with a pronoun to form a complete clause of description or pronouncement, without specifying tense grammatically. The repetition of both the participle and the pronoun 'aTah (H0859A) in each half of the verse creates a balanced, mirrored structure rather than a single sentence with two objects — each location is stated as fully and independently cursed rather than as items in a list attached to one verb.

The two location terms, 'ir (H5892B, "city") and sadeh (H7704G, "open country"), are grammatically parallel: both are singular nouns preceded by the preposition-plus-article form ba (H9003, "in the"). This pairing sets up a merism — city and field representing the totality of inhabited and cultivated space — through grammatical symmetry alone, without any additional connecting or explanatory word.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew participle 'aRur (H0779) with the Greek adjective epikataratos ("cursed"), matching the Hebrew's non-finite, descriptive form. The Vulgate instead uses the finite future verb eris ("you will be") with maledictus only in the first clause, supplying tense explicitly where the Hebrew has none, and drops the pronoun and verb from the second clause, relying on ellipsis carried over from the first. The Hebrew's twofold repetition of 'aRur and 'aTah in both halves is thus rendered as a single explicit verb governing two locations in the Vulgate, while the LXX preserves the Hebrew's doubled participial structure.