Deuteronomy 3:6

Summary

The verse recounts the destruction of the kingdom of Sihon at Heshbon, describing it as a repetition of an action already carried out earlier. The text lists the categories of inhabitants destroyed: the "city of men," the women, and the little ones.

Key words

• na.cha.Rem ("we totally destroyed", H2763A) — hiphil (causative) verb in the narrative chain; the causative stem intensifies the action beyond simple destruction.
• ha.cha.Rem ("we totally destroyed", H2763A) — the same root repeated as an infinitive absolute; in Biblical Hebrew this construction (finite verb + infinitive of the same root) reinforces or restates the verb's action.
• 'ir ("city of", H5892B) — feminine singular construct noun, grammatically bound to the following word rather than standing alone.
• me.Tim ("men", H4962) — masculine plural noun that completes the construct chain begun by 'ir, forming the phrase "city of men."
• ka.'a.Sher ("as", H0834D) — relative particle introducing the comparison to the earlier destruction of Sihon.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a narrative-chain verb, va.na.cha.Rem ("and we totally destroyed"), taking the direct object marker 'o.Tam ("them") before the comparative clause "as we had done to Sihon king of Heshbon." The verb root ch-r-m (H2763A) then reappears as an infinitive absolute, ha.cha.Rem, a grammatical pattern in which the infinitive of the same root as the main verb restates or emphasizes the action already expressed. This repetition ties the destruction of Heshbon's territory back to the earlier destruction of Sihon, presenting both as instances of the same completed action.

The list of what was destroyed is built through a construct chain: kol-'ir me.Tim ("every city of men") joins the noun 'ir ("city of") directly to me.Tim ("men") without a conjunction, forming a single grammatical unit. This unit is then followed by two separate items joined by ve ("and"): ha.na.Shim ("the women") and ha.Taf ("the little one[s]"). Grammatically, then, the Hebrew presents three units: "city-of-men," "the women," "the little ones" — rather than four separate, coordinated nouns.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders the phrase as πᾶσαν πόλιν ἑξῆς ("every city in succession/one after another"), which does not carry the "of men" component found in the Hebrew construct chain 'ir me.Tim; it lists women and children afterward as separate items. The Vulgate, by contrast, renders four coordinated elements — civitatem, virosque ac mulieres et parvulos ("city, and men, and women, and little ones") — treating "men" as a distinct item alongside "city," rather than bound to it as in the Hebrew construct form.