Deuteronomy 33:19

Summary

The verse describes an assembly of peoples at a mountain to offer legitimate sacrifices, followed by a statement about drawing abundance from the sea and hidden treasures buried in sand. The grammatical subject of the actions ("they") is not named within this verse itself, continuing from prior context.

Key words

• yikra'u ("they will summon", H7121G) — qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; expresses a future/ongoing action of calling or summoning, with the subject unspecified in this verse.
• har ("a mountain", H2022G) — masculine singular noun, functioning as the destination toward which the peoples ('amim, H5971A) are summoned.
• zivchei-tzedek ("sacrifices of righteousness", H2077 + H6664G) — construct chain: zivchei ("sacrifices of") governs tzedek ("righteousness"), producing "sacrifices characterized by righteousness."
• shefa yamim ("abundance of the seas", H8228 + H3220G) — another construct pair, "abundance of" governing "seas," describing what is drawn or sucked (yinaku, H3243G).
• sefunei temunei chol ("hidden things of hidden things of sand", H8226 + H2934 + H2344) — a double construct chain using two passive participles (sefunei, temunei) both governing chol ("sand"), intensifying the sense of concealment.

What the text says

The verse opens with two nouns in sequence, 'amim ("peoples") and har ("a mountain"), followed by the verb yikra'u ("they will summon"). Because Hebrew often places the object before the verb for emphasis, the peoples are being summoned to the mountain, though the grammatical subject performing the summoning is not stated in this verse and must be inferred from surrounding context. The adverb sham ("there") ties the next clause to that location: sacrifices of righteousness (zivchei tzedek) are offered there.

The second half is introduced by ki ("for/because"), a subordinating particle explaining the preceding action. Two construct chains follow: shefa yamim ("abundance of the seas") is the object of yinaku ("they will suck"), and sefunei temunei chol stacks two passive participles governing "sand," producing a doubled expression for concealment — literally "the hidden things of the hidden things of sand." This double participial construct has no single-word equivalent in translation and is typically rendered as "hidden treasures."

Differences between versions

The LXX reads ethnē exolethreusousin ("nations they will destroy"), diverging sharply from the Hebrew 'amim har-yikra'u ("peoples...they will summon [to] a mountain"). The LXX also uses second-person se ("you") in "will suckle you," where the Hebrew yinaku is third-person plural ("they will suck"). The Vulgate's Populos vocabunt ad montem ("They will call the peoples to the mountain") aligns closely with the Hebrew structure, but its phrase quasi lac sugent ("they will suck as if milk") adds a simile not present in the Hebrew text, which simply states yinaku ("they will suck") without comparison.