Deuteronomy 28:6

Summary

The verse pronounces a blessing on the addressee (singular "you") in two complementary situations: at the moment of "coming in" and at the moment of "going out." The structure is a symmetrical, doubled statement using the same passive participle twice.

Key words

• baRukh ("[will be] blessed", H1288) — qal passive participle, masculine singular; describes a state resulting from an action of blessing, not an active verb. It appears twice, framing both halves of the verse identically.
• 'aTah ("you", H0859A) — independent personal pronoun, masculine singular, the subject receiving the state described by baRukh.
• vo'E ("coming", H0935G) — qal infinitive, functioning here as a verbal noun after the preposition be ("when", H9003), forming the phrase "in your coming."
• tzeTe ("going out", H3318G) — qal infinitive, parallel in form and function to vo'E, forming "in your going out."
• kha ("your", H9041) — pronominal suffix attached to both infinitives, marking the subject of the action ("your coming," "your going out"), matching the pronoun 'aTah.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two parallel clauses joined by u ("and", H9002). Each clause has the identical skeleton: participle baRukh + pronoun 'aTah + preposition be + infinitive with suffix kha. This repetition creates a chiastic-like symmetry in sound and structure, differing only in the infinitive used: vo'E ("coming") in the first clause and tzeTe ("going out") in the second.

Grammatically, baRukh is a passive participle, meaning the state of being blessed is presented as already established or ongoing, not as an event happening once. The infinitives vo'E and tzeTe, governed by the preposition be, function temporally — "in/when your coming" and "in/when your going out" — indicating the circumstances or moments during which the state of blessing applies. The pronominal suffix kha on each infinitive ties the action back to the same subject named by 'aTah, reinforcing that the one addressed is both the one blessed and the one performing the coming and going.

The pairing of "coming in" and "going out" forms a merism, a figure using two contrasting terms to indicate the entirety of movement or activity, without the text specifying further contexts (such as travel, daily activity, or military campaign).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders baRukh with εὐλογημένος, also a passive participle, and translates the infinitives as εἰσπορεύεσθαι ("going in") and ἐκπορεύεσθαι ("going out"), preserving the participial and infinitival structure closely. The Vulgate uses "Benedictus eris" (future "you will be blessed") followed by present participles "ingrediens et egrediens" ("entering and leaving"), which shifts the doubled Hebrew clause structure into a single sentence with two coordinated participles rather than repeating the blessing formula twice as the Hebrew and LXX do.