Deuteronomy 28:9

Summary

The verse states that Yehovah will establish the addressee as a holy people, fulfilling an earlier oath, on the condition that the addressee keeps the commandments of Yehovah and walks in his ways. The sentence combines a causative divine action with a conditional clause specifying the human response required.

Key words

• yeqimekha ("he will establish", H6965I) — Hiphil (causative) imperfect with 2ms suffix "you": Yehovah causes the addressee to be established, not a simple qal "to rise/stand."
• le'am qadosh ("as/for a holy people") — 'am (H5971A) is a masculine singular noun in construct-like use with the adjective qadosh (H6918G), naming the status the addressee is being made into.
• nishba ("he swore", H7650) — Niphal perfect; the niphal stem here carries a reflexive/passive nuance often used for oath-taking, referring back to a completed prior swearing.
• ki ("if/that", H3588A) — a conditional particle opening the clause that sets the requirement (tishmor) for the promise to hold.
• tishmor ("you will keep", H8104G) — Qal imperfect 2ms, expressing an ongoing/future condition ("if you keep") rather than a completed act.
• ve-halakhta ("and you will walk", H1980I) — a sequential (waw-consecutive) perfect continuing the conditional chain begun by tishmor, so the two verbs together form one condition: keeping commandments and walking in the ways.

What the text says

The main clause places Yehovah (Yehovah, H3068G) as subject of the Hiphil verb yeqimekha, meaning the action of "establishing" is caused by him upon the addressee (2ms suffix). The phrase lo le'am qadosh specifies the purpose/result: "for himself, as a holy people" — the preposition le- before 'am qadosh marks the status into which the addressee is placed. The clause ka'asher nishba lakh ("as he swore to you") uses the Niphal perfect nishba, referring to a prior completed oath, and modifies the establishing action by comparison ("just as he swore").

The second half is governed by the particle ki, introducing a condition. The verb tishmor (Qal imperfect) governs the direct object marked by 'et before mitzvot Yehovah eloheikha ("commandments of Yehovah your God" — both mitzvot and elohei are plural construct forms). The following verb ve-halakhta is a sequential perfect attached by the narrative vav, continuing the same conditional force as tishmor: the condition is twofold — keeping the commandments and walking in "his ways" (bidrakhav, plural construct with 3ms suffix "his").

Differences between versions

The LXX reads ὤμοσεν τοῖς πατράσιν σου ("he swore to your fathers"), where the Hebrew has nishba lakh ("he swore to you"). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely with juravit tibi ("he swore to you"). Additionally, the LXX condition reads ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου ("if you hear the voice of the Lord"), differing from the Hebrew's ki tishmor et-mitzvot Yehovah ("if you keep the commandments of Yehovah"), while the Vulgate's si custodieris mandata Domini ("if you keep the commandments of the Lord") aligns with the Hebrew verb and object.