Deuteronomy 28:47

Summary

Deuteronomy 28:47 gives the reason for the curses described in the surrounding verses: the people did not serve Yehovah with joy and inner gladness, despite having an abundance of everything. The verse functions as a causal clause explaining the punishment that follows in the passage.

Key words

• Tachat ("because", H8478J) — construct form of a noun meaning "underneath/instead of," here functioning as a causal conjunction introducing the reason for what follows.
• 'asher ("that", H0834A) — relative particle linking Tachat to the clause it governs, together forming "because that / for the reason that."
• 'avadta ("you have served", H5647H) — qal perfect, completed action, negated by lo ("not", H3808), giving "you did not serve."
• simchah ("joy", H8057) — feminine singular noun following the preposition be ("with", H9003), marking the manner in which service was lacking.
• rov ("[the] abundance of", H7230) — construct noun governed by me ("from", H9006), forming "from/because of the abundance," modifying kol ("everything", H3605).

What the text says

The verse opens with the compound causal expression Tachat 'asher ("because that"), which sets up the entire clause as an explanation tied to prior statements in the chapter. The negated verb lo 'avadta ("you did not serve") is a qal perfect, presenting the failure to serve as a completed, past action rather than an ongoing state. The object of that service is marked by the untranslated direct object marker 'et (H0853) before Yehovah 'eloheikha ("Yehovah your God"), where 'eloheikha (H0430G) is grammatically plural in form but functions as a singular title with a second-person masculine suffix ("your God").

The manner of the failed service is specified by two parallel prepositional phrases: be-simchah ("with joy") and u-ve-tuv levav ("and with goodness of heart"), both introduced by the preposition be ("with"). Tuv levav is a construct chain, literally "goodness of heart," expressing an inward emotional state rather than external behavior. The final phrase, me-rov kol ("from the abundance of everything"), uses the preposition me in a causal sense, attaching the notion of material abundance to the clause — the lack of joyful service is described in connection with, or despite, having "everything" in abundance.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tuv levav ("goodness of heart") as ἀγαθῇ διανοίᾳ ("good understanding/mind"), shifting the emphasis from "heart" to "mind." The Vulgate's cordisque laetitia ("and gladness of heart") keeps "heart" but changes "goodness" to "gladness," partially overlapping with simchah ("joy") already present earlier in the clause. The BSB's "in all your abundance" treats me-rov kol as a circumstantial phrase rather than the causal "because of the abundance" seen in the Vulgate's propter... abundantiam and the LXX's διὰ τὸ πλῆθος πάντων ("because of the abundance of all things").