Deuteronomy 28:31

Summary

The verse describes a series of losses imposed on the addressee: his ox slaughtered before his own eyes without his being able to eat from it, his donkey seized and not returned, and his flock given to enemies, with no one able to act as deliverer. All actions fall on the addressee's possessions while he remains passive, unable to intervene.

Key words

• ta.Vu.ach ("slaughtered", H2873) — qal passive participle, masculine singular; describes the ox as already in a completed state of being slaughtered, with no named agent expressed in the Hebrew.
• ga.Zul ("seized", H1497) — qal passive participle; like ta.Vu.ach, presents the donkey's condition as the result of an action without stating who performed it.
• ne.tu.Not ("given", H5414G) — qal passive participle, feminine plural, agreeing with tzo.ne.kha ("your flock", H6629G), a plural/collective noun; the flock is described as handed over as a completed state.
• mo.Shi.a' ("deliverer", H3467) — hiphil participle, masculine singular, functioning as a substantive ("one who delivers/saves"); its absence is asserted by 'Ein ("there is not", H0369).
• 'o.ye.Vei.kha ("your enemies", H0341+H9021) — qal participle used as a noun ("those who are hostile"), plural construct with the 2nd person suffix, naming the recipients of the flock.

What the text says

The verse is built on three parallel clauses, each following the same pattern: subject (an animal or livestock, marked with the 2nd person singular masculine suffix -kha) + passive participle describing its fate, followed by a negated verb or participle denying any benefit or remedy to the addressee. The ox (shor.kha) is ta.Vu.ach ("slaughtered") le.'ei.Nei.kha ("before your eyes", H5869J, dual construct), followed by ve.lo' to.Khal mi.me.nu ("and you will not eat from it") — a qal imperfect verb expressing that this deprivation extends into the future. The donkey (cha.mo.re.kha) is ga.Zul ("seized") mi.le.fa.Nei.kha ("from before you," H6440H), followed by ve.lo' ya.Shuv la.kh ("and it will not return to you"), using the qal imperfect ya.Shuv (H7725H) with no explicit subject — the return itself simply does not happen, without naming who withholds it. The flock (tzo.ne.kha) is ne.tu.Not ("given") le.'o.ye.Vei.kha ("to your enemies").

The final clause, ve.'Ein le.kha mo.Shi.a', shifts from participial description of the animals to a statement of absence using 'Ein ("there is not," H0369), a construct-based negative existential, combined with the hiphil participle mo.Shi.a' ("one who delivers"). This closes the sequence by generalizing the lack of remedy: no deliverer exists for the addressee at all, beyond the specific losses of ox, donkey, and flock already named.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders shor.kha as ὁ μόσχος σου ("your calf/young bull") rather than the more general "ox" of the Hebrew shor (H7794). The Vulgate uses Bos ("ox/cattle"), closer to the Hebrew term. For the final clause, the Vulgate reads non sit qui te adjuvet ("there is no one who might help you"), using a subjunctive construction, while the Hebrew 'Ein le.kha mo.Shi.a' is a nominal, non-verbal negative existential clause ("there is no deliverer for you").