Deuteronomy 28:54
הָאִישׁ הָרַךְ בְּךָ וְהֶעָנֹג מְאֹד תֵּרַע עֵינוֹ בְאָחִיו וּבְאֵשֶׁת חֵיקוֹ וּבְיֶתֶר בָּנָיו אֲשֶׁר יוֹתִֽיר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
הָאִישׁ֙ הָרַ֣ךְ בְּךָ֔ וְהֶעָנֹ֖ג מְאֹ֑ד תֵּרַ֨ע עֵינ֤וֹ בְאָחִיו֙ וּבְאֵ֣שֶׁת חֵיק֔וֹ וּבְיֶ֥תֶר בָּנָ֖יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר יוֹתִֽיר׃
ἁπαλὸς ὁ ἐν σοὶ καὶ ὁ τρυφερὸς σφόδρα βασκανεῖ τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τὸν ἀδελφὸν καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐν κόλπῳ καὶ τὰ καταλελιμμένα τέκνα ἃ ἂν καταλειφθῇ,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Homo delicatus in te, et luxuriosus valde, invidebit fratri suo, et uxori, quæ cubat in sinu suo,
El hombre tierno entre ustedes, y muy delicado, su ojo será malo para con su hermano, para con la mujer que ama, y para con el resto de sus hijos que le quedan,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
El hombre tierno en ti, y el muy delicado, su ojo será maligno para con su hermano, y para con la mujer de su seno, y para con el resto de sus hijos que le quedaren;
The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse describes a man described as "gentle" and "very delicate" among the people, whose "eye will be evil" — that is, he will look with hostility or stinginess — toward his brother, the wife of his bosom, and the remaining children he has left. This continues the covenant-curse section describing extreme conditions of siege and famine.
Key words
- 'Ish ("man", H0376G) — the subject of the clause, defined further by two adjectives.
- Rakh ("gentle", H7390) — masculine singular adjective, modifying 'Ish, describing softness or tenderness of character/upbringing.
- tera' ("it will be evil", H7489A) — qal imperfect, feminine form agreeing with 'eino ("his eye"), indicating a future/ongoing state of malice.
- chei.K ("bosom", H2436G) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, forming the phrase "wife of his bosom," an idiom for an intimate spouse.
- yoTir ("it will remain", H3498) — hiphil imperfect, causative form: the subject himself is the one who "causes to remain," not merely one who "survives."
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with a doubly-modified subject: ha-'Ish ("the man") is qualified by two adjectives, ha-Rakh ("the gentle one") and he-'anog me'od ("the very delicate one"), both describing the same person before the main verb appears. The verb tera' ("it will be evil") is feminine because its subject is 'eino ("his eye," H5869I, feminine noun), a common Hebrew idiom in which "the eye being evil toward" someone expresses hostility, ill-will, or refusal to share. This idiom governs three prepositional phrases marked by be- ("against/toward"): "his brother," "the wife of his bosom," and "the remainder of his sons whom he causes to remain."
The final clause uses yoTir, a hiphil (causative) imperfect from the root behind "to remain." Grammatically this indicates that the man himself is the active cause of children remaining — i.e., those he still has with him — rather than describing the children as passively "surviving" on their own.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the idiom "his eye will be evil" with the single verb βασκανεῖ ("he will begrudge/envy"), collapsing the noun-based Hebrew idiom into a direct verb of envy. The Vulgate similarly uses invidebit ("he will envy"), also losing the "eye" idiom. Additionally, the Vulgate adds quæ cubat in sinu suo ("who lies in his bosom"), an explicit verb "lies" not present in the Hebrew construct phrase 'eshet chei.Ko ("wife of his bosom"). The Spanish and English translations render yoTir as "who remain" or "who have survived," shifting the Hebrew's causative sense (he "causes to remain") toward a passive sense (they "survive").
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.