Deuteronomy 28:25

Summary

Deuteronomy 28:25 describes Yehovah causing Israel to be struck down before its enemies, fleeing in every direction after having advanced in only one, and becoming an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth. The verse combines a divine causative action with a vivid contrast of directions (one vs. seven) to depict total military collapse.

Key words

• yiten ("he will make/give", H5414) — qal imperfect, third person; Yehovah is the grammatical subject causing the action described by the following participle.
• nigaf ("defeated/struck", H5062) — niphal participle, masculine singular; describes the passive state Israel is put into, "the one being struck."
• te'tze' ("you will go out", H3318) — qal imperfect, second person masculine; describes the initial advance "by one direction."
• tanus ("you will flee", H5127) — qal imperfect, second person masculine; parallels te'tze' but multiplies the paths (seven) of retreat.
• za'avah ("terror", H2189) — feminine singular noun; the resulting condition Israel becomes for other nations, introduced by the preposition le ("into/to").

What the text says

The sentence opens with yiten-kha Yehovah ("Yehovah will give/make you"), followed by the niphal participle nigaf ("struck/defeated"), which functions almost adjectivally — Yehovah is the one causing the passive state of being struck, rather than Israel striking or being struck by a named human enemy. The phrase lifnei 'oyeveikha ("before your enemies") specifies the setting of this defeat.

The following clause builds a numerical contrast: bederekh 'echad te'tze' 'elav ("by one way you will go out to him") versus uvshiv'ah derakhim tanus lefanav ("and by seven ways you will flee before him"). Both verbs (te'tze', tanus) are qal imperfects in the second person masculine, keeping Israel as the grammatical subject of movement, while the numerical shift from "one" to "seven" (from 'echad, H0259, to shiv'ah, H7651) creates a rhetorical emphasis on the disproportion between confident advance and scattered retreat.

The final clause shifts to a sequential perfect, vehayita leza'avah ("and you will become a terror"), marked by the narrative ve (H9001) that continues the sequence of consequences. The noun za'avah is governed by le, indicating transformation into a state, and is followed by lekhol mamlekhot ha'aretz ("to all the kingdoms of the earth"), a construct chain marking totality of geographic/political scope.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders nigaf ("defeated/struck") with episkopēn ("visitation" or "oversight"), a term with a different semantic field than the Hebrew participle describing military defeat. The Vulgate’s corruentem ("falling/collapsing") stays closer to the sense of physical defeat found in the Hebrew. For za'avah ("terror"), the LXX uses diaspora ("scattering"), while the Vulgate’s dispergaris ("you will be scattered") also shifts toward dispersal rather than the Hebrew’s sense of becoming an object of dread among nations.