Deuteronomy 29:21

Summary

The verse describes Yehovah setting apart a particular individual (the offender introduced in the preceding context) from all the tribes of Israel, marking him for harm, in accordance with the curses of the covenant written in the book of the law.

Key words

• hiv.diL ("he will separate", H0914) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect verb: Yehovah is the causer of the separating action, continuing the narrative sequence begun earlier.
• ra.'Ah ("harm", H7451C) — feminine singular noun preceded by the preposition le ("for", H9005), marking the purpose or destination of the separation: "for harm."
• Kol ("all", H3605) — masculine singular construct noun ("all of…"), used twice in the verse (with shivtei Yisra'el and with alot ha-berit), each time linking to the following noun in a construct chain.
• 'a.Lot ("[the] oaths of", H0423) — feminine plural construct noun, meaning here "the curses/oaths of," bound to ha-berit ("the covenant", H1285).
• ke.tu.Vah ("is written", H3789) — qal passive participle, feminine singular, agreeing with ha-berit ("the covenant"), describing the covenant's oaths as things already recorded in a text.

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative ve- ("and", H9001) attached to the sequential perfect verb hiv.diL ("he will separate", H0914), whose subject is Yehovah (H3068) and whose object is the pronominal suffix -o ("him", H9033) fused onto the verb. This hiphil form casts Yehovah as the active, causative agent of the separation — he does not merely allow it but brings it about. The purpose of this separation is expressed by le-ra'ah ("for harm", H9005 + H7451C), a prepositional phrase indicating the negative outcome toward which the individual is directed.

The phrase mi-kol shivtei Yisra'el ("from all the tribes of Israel", H9006 + H3605 + H7626H + H3478) uses a construct chain to specify the scope from which the person is singled out — separated away from the collective body of all the tribes. The comparison particle ke- ("according to", H9004) introduces a second construct chain, kol alot ha-berit ("all the oaths/curses of the covenant", H3605 + H0423 + H9009 + H1285), establishing that the manner and measure of this harm corresponds to the curses already stipulated in the covenant. The passive participle ketuvah ("is written", H3789) modifies ha-berit, anchoring these curses to a specific written document, further identified by the construct sefer ha-torah ha-zeh ("the book of this law", H5612H + H9009 + H8451 + H9009 + H2088).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ra'ah ("harm", H7451C) with the plural κακά ("evils"), while the Hebrew uses a singular noun. The Vulgate renders the separation-and-harm sequence with consumat...in perditionem ("let him consume...into destruction"), a stronger phrase than the Hebrew's hivdilo le-ra'ah ("he will separate him for harm"). The Vulgate also adds ac foederis ("and of the covenant") after "book of the law," creating a phrase distinguishing "law" and "covenant" as two elements, whereas the Hebrew construct chain sefer ha-torah ha-zeh ("book of this law") ties the curses only to "the covenant" (ha-berit) earlier in the verse, not to a second reference to "covenant" near the book title.