Deuteronomy 3:22

Summary

Moses tells the people not to fear the nations they are about to face, giving the reason: Yehovah their God is the one who fights on their behalf. The verse combines a prohibition with a causal clause explaining why the prohibition holds.

Key words

• lo' ("not", H3808) — negation placed before the verb, forming a direct prohibition rather than a simple negative statement.
• tira'um ("you must fear", H3372G) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, with the object suffix -m ("them", H9038) attached, meaning "you (all) shall fear them."
• ki ("for/that", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing the reason clause that follows.
• Yehovah (H3068G) followed by 'elohei-khem ("God of you [pl.]", H0430G + H9026) — construct chain, "Yehovah, God of you-plural," identifying the subject of the reason clause.
• ha-nilcham ("the one fighting", H3898A) — niphal participle with definite article ha-, functioning as a substantive predicate: "the one who fights," describing an ongoing role rather than a single completed act.

What the text says

The verse opens with a negated imperfect verb, lo' tira'um, which grammatically forms a prohibition addressed to a plural audience ("you all shall not fear them"), with the pronominal suffix -m referring back to the enemies mentioned in the preceding context. The particle ki then introduces the grounds for this command: a nominal clause built around the personal pronoun hu' ("he") and the article-plus-participle construction ha-nilcham ("the one fighting"). In Biblical Hebrew, a participle with the definite article functions almost like a noun or an ongoing-state predicate, so hu' ha-nilcham lakhem reads literally as "he [is] the one fighting for you," emphasizing continuous or characteristic action rather than a single fighting event. The subject of this clause is identified through the construct phrase Yehovah 'elohei-khem, "Yehovah, God of you (plural)," which ties the divine name to the collective addressee before the pronoun hu' restates and emphasizes that subject. The preposition la- with the suffix -khem ("for you," H9036) marks the beneficiary of the fighting action.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) renders the verb φοβηθήσῇ in the singular ("you shall fear"), differing from the Hebrew plural verb form tira'um. The LXX also has ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ("our God") where the Hebrew and Vulgate read "your God" ('elohei-khem / Deus vester), showing a divergence in the pronominal suffix between the Greek and the other two textual traditions.