Deuteronomy 33:29

Summary

The verse is a closing beatitude over Israel, declaring the nation unique because it has been rescued by Yehovah, who acts as its shield and sword. It ends with a description of enemies submitting and Israel treading upon their high places.

Key words

• 'ashreikha ("how blessed are you", H0835) — a construct plural noun functioning as an exclamation, literally "blessednesses of you," opening the verse with emphatic praise.
• nosha' ("it has been saved", H3467) — niphal perfect of the root meaning "to save," marking Israel as the passive recipient of a completed divine act rather than an agent.
• ga'avatekha ("your eminence/pride", H1346) — construct noun with 2ms suffix, paired with cherev ("sword") to describe the weapon metaphorically as embodying Israel's "excellence."
• yikkachashu ("they will cringe/be found false", H3584) — niphal imperfect with prefixed vav, describing the enemies' reaction as an ongoing or resulting state introduced by the conjunction.
• bamoteimo ("their high places", H1116) — feminine plural construct with 3mp suffix, the object beneath Israel's feet in the final clause.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the exclamatory construct 'ashreikha followed directly by the vocative Yisra'el ("Israel", H3478), producing "How blessed are you, Israel!" The rhetorical question mi khamokha ("who is like you?") is followed by an appositional description of Israel as 'am nosha' ba-Yehovah — "a people saved by/in Yehovah" — using the niphal form nosha' to stress that the salvation is something done to Israel, not achieved by it.

The next clause, magen 'ezrekha ("shield of your help") and va'asher cherev ga'avatekha ("and who is the sword of your eminence"), extends the description begun by mi khamokha: the relative particle 'asher links back to Yehovah, presenting him under the double image of shield and sword — protective and offensive — tied grammatically to Israel through the second-person suffixes -kha repeated throughout the verse.

The final two clauses shift to result/consequence: ve-yikkachashu 'oyeveikha lakh ("and your enemies will cringe to you") uses the niphal imperfect to depict an ongoing submission, while ve-'attah 'al-bamoteimo tidrokh ("and you will tread on their high places") returns to Israel as the active subject, using the qal imperfect tidrokh for a continuing or future action.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew bamoteimo ("their high places", H1116) is rendered in the LXX as τὸν τράχηλον αὐτῶν ("their neck") and in the Vulgate as eorum colla ("their necks"), both replacing the geographic/cultic image of "high places" with an anatomical image of submission. Additionally, the LXX turns the noun magen ("shield") into a verb, ὑπερασπιεῖ ("he will shield/protect"), where the Hebrew keeps it as a construct noun describing Yehovah's role rather than a finite verb.