Deuteronomy 32:46

Summary

Moses tells the people (referring back to the preceding song) to set their hearts on all the words he has testified to them, so that they will command their children to observe and do all the words of "this law."

Key words

• Si.mu ("set", H7760K) — qal imperative plural, a direct command addressed to the whole community.
• le.vav.Khem ("your heart", H3824 + H9026) — singular noun with plural suffix "your," construct form linking to "heart" as the object to be directed.
• me.'Id ("[am] warning/testifying", H5749B) — hiphil participle, describing Moses as one continuously engaged in the act of testifying, not a completed action.
• te.tza.Vum ("you will command them", H6680 + H9038) — piel imperfect with object suffix, denoting a future/ongoing intensive act of commanding directed at "them" (the children).
• li.sh.Mor la.'a.Sot ("to take care, to do", H8104J + H6213A) — two paired qal infinitives, expressing purpose: the manner of observance (guarding) followed by execution (doing).

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative marker va- attached to i.Yo.mer ("he said", H0559), continuing the sequence of Moses' speech. The core command Si.mu le.vav.Khem ("set your heart", H7760K + H3824) uses the singular noun lev ("heart") with a plural pronominal suffix, a common Hebrew idiom where an internal organ noun stays singular even when referring to multiple people's inner attention collectively.

The relative clause 'a.Sher 'a.no.Khi me.'Id ("which I am testifying", H0834A + H0595 + H5749B) uses a hiphil participle, marking Moses' testifying as a present, ongoing act rather than a single past declaration — the participle form frames him as one who habitually or currently bears witness.

The second relative clause, introduced again by 'a.Sher (H0834A), shifts to te.tza.Vum ("you will command them", H6680), a piel imperfect verb. The piel stem intensifies the act of commanding, and the imperfect aspect points to future or repeated action: the addressees are to pass this instruction on to their children. The purpose is expressed through two infinitives in sequence, li.sh.Mor ("to keep/guard", H8104J) and la.'a.Sot ("to do", H6213A), both governed by the preposition le- (H9005), indicating the goal of the commanding — first watchfulness, then active practice — applied to "all the words of the to.Rah ("law", H8451) ha.Zot ("this", H2063)."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Si.mu le.vav.Khem with προσέχετε τῆ καρδίᾳ ("pay attention with the heart"), using a dative rather than a direct object construction. The Vulgate's Ponite corda vestra ("place your hearts") keeps the plural "hearts" (corda), differing from the Hebrew singular le.vav (H3824) with plural suffix. The Vulgate also adds et implere universa quae scripta sunt legis hujus ("and to fulfill all things that are written of this law"), an expansion not present in the Hebrew infinitive pair li.sh.Mor la.'a.Sot.