Deuteronomy 32:3

Summary

The verse presents a speaker announcing that he will proclaim the name of Yehovah, followed by a plural command to those listening to ascribe greatness to "our God." It functions as an introductory declaration before the extended poetic content that follows in the passage.

Key words

• ki ("for", H3588A) — a subordinating particle here functioning to introduce the reason or basis for what follows, often translated "for" or "because."
• shem ("name of", H8034) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it is grammatically bound to the following word (Yehovah), forming the phrase "the name of Yehovah."
• 'ekra' ("I will proclaim", H7121I) — qal imperfect, first person singular. The imperfect aspect indicates ongoing or future action, so the speaker frames this as an act he is about to perform or continues to perform.
• havu ("ascribe", H3051) — qal imperative, masculine plural. This shifts the address from the speaker's own action (singular "I") to a command directed at multiple listeners ("you all").
• lelohei-nu ("to our God", H0430G + H9025) — masculine plural noun in construct with a first-person plural pronominal suffix. The plural form of elohim combined with "our" creates the phrase "our God," with the plural grammatical form of the noun not indicating multiple deities in this construction.

What the text says

The verse divides into two grammatically distinct clauses. The first clause, introduced by ki ("for", H3588A), contains a first-person singular verb, 'ekra' ("I will proclaim", H7121I), in the qal imperfect. This grammatical form conveys an action either in progress or anticipated, so the speaker positions himself as the one who proclaims or is about to proclaim "the name of Yehovah" (shem Yehovah). The construct relationship between shem ("name of", H8034) and Yehovah (H3068G) binds these two words into a single phrase, "the name of Yehovah," rather than treating "name" as an independent noun.

The second clause pivots to direct address using havu ("ascribe", H3051), a masculine plural imperative. This grammatical shift moves from the speaker's individual declaration to a command aimed at a group. The object of this command is godel ("greatness", H1433), which the group is instructed to attribute le-Elohei-nu ("to our God", H0430G + H9025). The prefixed preposition le ("to", H9005) marks the noun Elohei-nu as the recipient of the ascribed greatness. The suffix -nu ("our", H9025) attaches directly to Elohei ("God of", H0430G), forming a construct chain that ties the noun to the speaking community collectively, rather than to the speaker alone.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text reads lelohei-nu ("to our God"), a construct form with the preposition le ("to") attached. The LXX renders this as τῷ θεῷ ("to the God") without an explicit possessive pronoun corresponding to "our" in this clause, differing from the Hebrew's inclusion of the first-person plural suffix. The Vulgate, by contrast, includes Deo nostro ("to our God"), matching the Hebrew's possessive construction more closely than the LXX rendering shown here.