Deuteronomy 32:12

Summary

The verse states that Yehovah alone guided the subject (referred to by a third-person singular suffix, "him/it"), and that no foreign god was present with him. The sentence contrasts sole divine guidance with the absence of any other deity.

Key words

• Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, functioning as the subject of the sentence.
• ba.Dad ("alone", H0910) — a masculine singular noun used adverbially, emphasizing exclusivity of the action that follows.
• yan.Che.nu ("he guided him", H5148 + H9033) — hiphil imperfect verb (causative "to lead/guide") with a third-person masculine singular pronominal suffix ("him/it") attached as direct object.
• 'Ein ("there not", H0369) — a negative existential particle in construct form, denying existence of what follows.
• 'el ne.Khar ("god of foreignness", H0410K + H5236) — construct phrase literally "a god of foreignness," i.e., a foreign god, functioning as the subject of the negated existence clause.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parallel clauses joined by ve ("and", H9002). The first clause places Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) as subject, followed by ba.Dad ("alone", H0910) as an adverbial modifier, and then the verb yan.Che.nu ("he guided him", H5148) with its attached suffix serving as direct object. This word order — subject, adverb, verb+object — foregrounds the adverb "alone" between the divine name and the action, structurally isolating Yehovah's exclusivity before the verb even appears.

The second clause uses the existential negator 'Ein ("there not", H0369) in construct form, followed by i.Mo ("with him", H5973A + H9033) and then the construct phrase 'el ne.Khar ("god of foreignness", H0410K + H5236). The construct chain 'el ne.Khar literally reads "a god of foreignness," a Hebrew way of expressing "a foreign god" through the genitive-like construct relationship rather than an adjective. The clause structure — negator, prepositional phrase, subject — states that existence "with him" is denied specifically for this category of god.

Together the two clauses form a parallelism: the first asserts sole guidance by Yehovah, the second negates the presence of any other deity, reinforcing the exclusivity stated in the first clause through negation in the second.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) adds a phrase not present in the Hebrew data given: "αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν τῆς γῆς" ("them upon the strength of the land"), which extends beyond the two clauses reflected in the Hebrew text and the Vulgate. The Vulgate ("Dominus solus dux ejus fuit") renders yan.Che.nu ("he guided him") with the noun phrase "dux ejus fuit" ("was his leader") rather than a finite guiding verb, shifting the causative action of the Hebrew into a static descriptive title.