Deuteronomy 32:49

Summary

Yehovah instructs Moses to ascend Mount Nebo, part of the Abarim range in the territory of Moab facing Jericho, and to look out over the land of Canaan — the land Yehovah is giving to the Israelites as their possession. The verse combines two imperatives (going up, then seeing) followed by relative clauses that locate the mountain and identify the land's recipients.

Key words

• 'a.Leh ("go up", H5927G) — qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular; opens the verse as a direct command to Moses.
• ha.'a.va.Rim ("Abarim", H5682) — proper name with definite article, marking the mountain range as a specific, known place ("the Abarim").
• 'a.Sher ("which/that", H0834A) — relative particle used three times in the verse, each time introducing a clause that further specifies location (Moab, facing Jericho, given to Israel).
• no.Ten ("about to give", H5414G) — qal participle, masculine singular; the participle form expresses an action in progress or imminent, not a completed past grant.
• 'a.chu.Zah ("a possession", H0272) — feminine singular noun, marking the purpose/result of the giving: the land becomes a lasting holding for Israel.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel imperative-plus-object structures joined by u ("and", H9002): first 'a.Leh 'el-har ha'Avarim ("go up to the mountain of Abarim"), then u.re.'Eh 'et-'Eretz Kena'an ("and see the land of Canaan"). Each object is immediately qualified by chains of construct nouns (har... har Nevo, "mountain of... mountain of Nebo") and relative clauses introduced by 'a.Sher. This construct-chain and relative-clause stacking is typical of Biblical Hebrew geographic description: the mountain is first named generally (Abarim), then specifically (Nebo), then located within a country (Moab), then positioned relative to another city (Jericho).

The participle no.Ten ("giving", H5414G) rather than a finite past-tense verb signals that the giving of the land is presented as an ongoing or about-to-be-realized act from Yehovah's perspective at the moment of speaking, not a completed transaction. The final phrase la.'a.chu.Zah ("for/to a possession", H0272 with preposition H9005) states the purpose of the gift — the land is to become a fixed holding for ve.Nei Yis.ra.'El ("the sons of Israel", H1121G/H3478).

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text places Mount Nebo be.'Eretz Mo'av — "in the land of Moab" (H0776G/H4124G). The LXX (Swete) instead reads ὅ ἐστιν ἐν γῇ Χανάαν, "which is in the land of Canaan," differing from the Hebrew's designation of Moab. The Vulgate expands the place name ha'Avarim with an explanatory gloss, "Abarim, id est, transitum" ("Abarim, that is, the crossing"), a translation addition not present in the Hebrew word list. The Vulgate also adds "et morere in monte" ("and die on the mountain"), a clause not found among the Hebrew words supplied for this verse.