Deuteronomy 33:18

Summary

This verse opens the blessing of Yehovah's spokesman (Moses, per context) over the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar. It commands Zebulun to rejoice in its outward activity ("going out") and pairs this with Issachar's domestic life ("tents"), forming a two-part blessing built on contrasting movement and settlement.

Key words

• amar ("he said", H0559) — qal perfect, 3ms: marks the introductory formula, a completed act of speaking that opens the direct-speech blessing.
• semach ("rejoice", H8055) — qal imperative, 2ms: a direct command addressed grammatically only to Zebulun, yet its force extends over the following clause about Issachar since no second imperative appears.
• tzeteka ("your going out", H3318G) — qal infinitive with 2ms pronominal suffix -kha (H9041): functions as a verbal noun governed by the preposition be- ("in/when"), producing a temporal sense, "when you go out" or "in your going out."
• ohaleikha ("your tents", H0168G) — masculine plural noun in construct form with 2ms suffix -kha (H9021): the plural form indicates multiple dwelling-places, and the possessive suffix ties the tents to the addressee.
• Zevulun ("Zebulun", H2074) — proper name repeated twice (once as indirect object with le-, once as vocative), framing the introduction and the direct address.

What the text says

The verse divides into an introductory clause and a two-line blessing. The introductory clause, ve-li-Zevulun amar ("and to Zebulun he said"), uses the preposition li ("to/for") to mark Zebulun as the recipient of the speech, with the verb amar in the perfect indicating this act of speaking as a completed event within the larger blessing sequence of chapter 33.

The blessing itself begins with the imperative semach ("rejoice"), addressed in the second person masculine singular directly to Zebulun by name. The following prepositional phrase be-tzetekha uses an infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix, a common Hebrew construction that in English is rendered as a temporal or circumstantial clause: "in your going out." This suggests Zebulun's activity is tied to movement or outward action, without further specifying its nature in this verse alone.

The second half shifts to Issachar without a second imperative verb — the clause ve-Yissasskhar be-ohaleikha ("and Issachar in your tents") depends grammatically on the imperative supplied earlier for Zebulun. Notably, the pronominal suffix on ohaleikha ("your tents") is second person masculine singular, matching the suffix used for Zebulun, even though Issachar is being introduced as a separate named subject. The Hebrew thus maintains a second-person address pattern through both halves of the verse despite naming two different tribes.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders the tent-suffix as autou ("his") — "ἐν τοῖς σκηνώμασιν αὐτοῦ," a third-person possessive — where the Hebrew text carries the second-person suffix -kha ("your") on ohaleikha. The Vulgate's tabernaculis tuis ("your tents") and the Spanish and English versions shown preserve the second-person form found in the Hebrew, differing from the LXX's third-person rendering at this point.