Deuteronomy 32:20

Summary

Deuteronomy 32:20 records a statement (attributed to Yehovah in the surrounding poem) announcing an intention to hide the divine face from the people and to observe what their future outcome will be, giving as reason their character as a generation marked by perversity and lack of faithfulness.

Key words

• va-Yomer ("and he said", H0559) — narrative vav plus qal verb, marking the transition into direct speech within the poetic sequence.
• 'as.Ti.rah ("I will hide", H5641) — hiphil causative form, indicating an active, deliberate act of concealment (making [my face] hidden), first person.
• fa.Nay ("my face", H6440H + H9020) — plural construct noun with 1st person suffix; Hebrew treats "face" as grammatically plural, though referring to a single face.
• 'a.cha.ri.Tam ("their end/outcome", H0319 + H9028) — feminine singular construct noun with 3rd person plural suffix, denoting a future state or result.
• tah.pu.Khot ("perversities", H8419) — feminine plural noun in construct chain with dor ("generation", H1755), forming "generation of perversities."
• 'e.Mun ("faithfulness", H0529) — masculine singular noun negated by lo' ("not", H3808), producing "in whom there is no faithfulness."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative marker va-Yomer ("and he said"), continuing the speech begun earlier in the poem. The speaker states 'as.Ti.rah fa.Nay me.Hem — "I will hide my face from them" — using the hiphil form of H5641, which frames the hiding as a deliberate, caused action rather than a passive state. The noun fa.Nay ("my face") appears in its customary plural construct form, a standard Hebrew usage for "face" that does not imply multiple faces.

The next clause, 'er.'Eh mah 'a.cha.ri.Tam ("I will see what their end [will be]"), uses the qal imperfect 'er.'Eh, which can carry ongoing or future nuance, paired with the interrogative mah ("what") and the construct noun 'a.cha.ri.Tam ("their end/outcome"). This creates a rhetorical structure: the hiding of the face is linked to an observation of consequence — what will happen to the people as a result.

The causal particle ki ("for/because", H3588A) introduces the explanation: dor tah.pu.Khot Hemah — "they are a generation of perversities" — a construct chain where dor ("generation") is qualified by the plural abstract noun tah.pu.Khot ("perversities/perversion"). The final clause, banim lo' 'e.Mun bam ("children in whom there is no faithfulness"), negates the noun 'e.Mun ("faithfulness") using lo', describing the banim ("children/sons") as lacking this quality "in them" (bam).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'as.Ti.rah fa.Nay as "Ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου" ("I will turn away my face"), differing from the Hebrew's hiphil "I will hide" (H5641). The LXX also translates tah.pu.Khot as "ἐξεστραμμένη" ("turned/perverted"), a participial form, where the Hebrew has an abstract plural noun in construct. The Vulgate's "considerabo novissima eorum" ("I will consider their last things/end") corresponds closely to the Hebrew 'er.'Eh mah 'a.cha.ri.Tam, though it renders the verb with a sense of careful consideration rather than the simpler "to see" of the Hebrew qal.