Deuteronomy 31:26

Summary

Moses instructs that this book of the law be taken and placed beside the ark of the covenant of Yehovah, so that it will remain there as a witness. The verse uses two sequential verb forms to describe a chain of actions: taking the scroll, placing it, and its resulting function as a witness.

Key words

• la.Ko.ach ("take", H3947) — infinitive absolute; in Biblical Hebrew this form can function as a command, giving the instruction force even without a standard imperative form.
• Se.fer ("book of", H5612) — masculine singular construct, linking to ha.tTo.rah ("the law", H8451) to form the phrase "book of the law."
• sam.Tem ("you will put", H7760) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine plural; continues the narrative sequence begun by the infinitive absolute, effectively carrying imperative force ("you shall put").
• 'a.Ron ("ark of", H0727) — masculine singular construct, part of the chain "ark of the covenant of Yehovah."
• ha.yah ("it will become/be", H1961) — qal sequential perfect, third person masculine singular; introduces the resulting state, "and it will be there."

What the text says

The sentence opens with the infinitive absolute la.Ko.ach ("take"), a grammatical form that intensifies or substitutes for an imperative, setting the tone of direct instruction. This is followed by the sequential perfect sam.Tem ("you will put"), which continues the same instructional chain — a common Hebrew narrative technique where an infinitive absolute followed by sequential perfects reads as a series of commands or consequences: take → put → [it will] be.

The object being handled is described through a construct chain: Se.fer ("book of") + ha.tTo.rah ("the law") + ha.zeh ("this"), meaning "this book of the law." The location is given through another construct chain: mi.Tzad ("from the side of") + 'a.Ron ("ark of") + be.rit ("covenant of") + Yehovah + 'e.lo.hei.khem ("your God"), stacking genitive relationships to specify precisely where the scroll is to be placed — beside the ark of the covenant of Yehovah.

The final clause, ve.ha.yah sham be.kha le.'ed ("and it will be there in/with you for a witness"), uses the sequential perfect ha.yah to mark a resulting state rather than a further command. The preposition be. ("in") attached to kha ("you") literally places the witness function "in you," without any word for "against" in the Hebrew text itself.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew phrase be.kha ("in you") is rendered by the LXX as ἐν σοὶ ("in you"), matching the Hebrew's neutral preposition. The Vulgate, however, renders this as "contra te" ("against you"), introducing an adversarial nuance not present in the Hebrew preposition be. or the LXX's ἐν. The English translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) follow the Vulgate's interpretive choice, rendering "against you" rather than the more literal "in/with you."