Deuteronomy 31:6

Summary

Deuteronomy 31:6 is a command addressed to a plural audience (Israel), urging strength and courage in the face of enemies, grounded in the assertion that Yehovah their God accompanies them and will not abandon them. The verse combines four imperative/jussive commands with a causal clause explaining the basis for the command.

Key words

• chiz.Ku ("be strong", H2388G) — qal imperative, masculine plural, opening command directed at the whole group.
• 'im.Tzu ("be bold", H0553) — qal imperative, masculine plural, paired with the first verb to reinforce the call to courage.
• ta.'ar.Tzu ("you be terrified", H6206) — qal jussive, masculine plural, negated by 'al ("may not", H0408), forming a prohibition against dread.
• ho.Lekh ("[one who] goes", H1980G) — qal participle, masculine singular, with definite article ha ("the", H9009), describing Yehovah as the one continuously "going" with the addressee.
• yar.pe. ("he will abandon", H7503) — hiphil imperfect, third person masculine singular, expressing a future/ongoing action negated by lo' ("not", H3808).

What the text says

The verse opens with two paired imperatives, chiz.Ku ("be strong", H2388G) and 'im.Tzu ("be bold", H0553), both qal masculine plural forms addressed to a group. These are followed by two negated jussives, ti.re.'U ("you be afraid", H3372G) and ta.'ar.Tzu ("you be terrified", H6206), each preceded by the negation 'al ("may not", H0408), which in Biblical Hebrew grammar marks a prohibition tied to the moment of speaking rather than a general negative statement. The phrase mi.pe.nei.Hem ("of them", H6440L + H9028) specifies the source of the potential fear — "their face," an idiom using the construct noun pe.nei ("before", H6440L) with a third-person plural suffix.

The causal clause begins with ki ("for", H3588A), introducing the reason for the commands. The subject Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) is followed by 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("your God", H0430G + H9021), a construct form with a second-person singular suffix — notable because the preceding imperatives were plural, while this suffix and those in the final clause are singular ("your," masculine singular), producing a grammatical shift from plural address to singular address within the same verse. The personal pronoun hu' ("he", H1931) followed by the article-participle ha.ho.Lekh ("the one going", H9009 + H1980G) forms an emphatic construction: "he is the one going," stressing identity and continuous accompaniment. The verse closes with two parallel negated imperfect verbs, yar.pe. ("he will abandon", H7503, hiphil) and ya.'az.Ve. ("he will forsake", H5800A, qal), each carrying a second-person singular object suffix -kha ("you", H9031), both negated by lo' ("not", H3808), producing a doubled assurance using two different verbal stems (hiphil and qal) and roots.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the plural imperatives of the Hebrew as singular forms (ἀνδρίζου, ἴσχυε — singular), while later in the verse it uses plural pronouns (μεθ' ὑμῶν, ἐν ὑμῖν), differing from the Hebrew's consistent singular suffixes (-kha) in the second half of the verse. The Vulgate follows a plural-to-singular pattern similar to the Hebrew, using "tuus" and "te" (singular) in the causal clause. The BSB and SBLIBRE render the opening verbs as plural ("Be strong," "Sean fuertes") corresponding to the Hebrew's plural imperatives, while maintaining singular pronouns ("you," "your") in the latter clause, mirroring the Hebrew's internal number shift.