Deuteronomy 3:8

Summary

This verse narrates the taking of land east of the Jordan from two Amorite kings, describing the territory's boundaries: from the Wadi Arnon in the south to Mount Hermon in the north. It functions as a summary statement following the accounts of the conquests of Sihon and Og.

Key words

• va.nikkach ("and we took", H3947G) — narrative vav plus qal verb, first person plural, opening the sentence as a continuation of the preceding narrative sequence.
• 'et ("", H0853) — direct object marker preceding ha'arets, signaling that "the land" is the grammatical object of "we took," untranslatable in English or Spanish.
• mi.yad ("from [the] hand of", H3027H) — construct noun with preposition, expressing the idiom "from the power/control of," here governing the following construct chain.
• she.nei mal.khei ("[the] two kings of", H8147 + H4428G) — a construct chain (dual noun governing a plural noun), which itself stands in construct before "the Amorite," producing a three-part chain: "two-of kings-of the-Amorite."
• be.'ever ("[were] on the other side of", H5676H) — construct noun with preposition, describing the location of the kings relative to the Jordan; the term itself is directionally neutral, indicating "the region across/beyond," without specifying which bank.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a single main clause with an extended chain of construct nouns describing possession and origin. The verb va.nikkach ("and we took," H3947G) opens the verse and governs the object marked by 'et ("", H0853) before ha'arets ("the land," H0776G). The phrase mi.yad she.nei mal.khei ha'emori ("from the hand of the two kings of the Amorite," H3027H + H8147 + H4428G + H0567) stacks three construct relationships to specify whose control the land was taken from — two kings, of the Amorite people. The relative clause introduced by 'asher ("who," H0834A) locates these kings be'ever hayarden ("on the other side of the Jordan," H5676H + H3383), a phrase whose directional meaning depends on the speaker's assumed vantage point, since 'ever ("side/region across," H5676H) does not itself specify east or west. The verse closes with two prepositional phrases marking the territory's extent: minnachal 'arnon ("from the wadi of Arnon," H5158N + H0769) to 'ad har chermon ("to the mountain of Hermon," H5704 + H2022G + H2768), using construct nouns for "wadi" and "mountain" followed by their proper names.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Septuagint) adds a clause not present in the Hebrew text as given: "ἐπονομάζουσιν τὸ Ἁερμὼν Σανιώρ" ("they call Hermon Sanior"), an explanatory naming note absent from the Hebrew of this verse. Regarding be'ever hayarden (H5676H + H3383), the LXX uses πέραν ("across/beyond") and the Vulgate trans ("across"), both directionally neutral like the Hebrew; the Spanish RV1909 renders this as "de esta parte" ("on this side"), while the BSB renders it "across the Jordan" — reflecting differing interpretive choices about the speaker's vantage point, since the Hebrew 'ever (H5676H) itself does not specify which side.