Deuteronomy 34:9

וִֽיהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן־נוּן מָלֵא רוּחַ חָכְמָה כִּֽי־סָמַךְ מֹשֶׁה אֶת־יָדָיו עָלָיו וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֵלָיו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

Tap a word to see its entry

✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וִֽיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֗וּן מָלֵא֙ ר֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֔ה כִּֽי־סָמַ֥ךְ מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָדָ֖יו עָלָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁמְע֨וּ אֵלָ֤יו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃

Greek (Septuagint)

Καὶ Ἰησοῦς υἱὸς Ναυὴ ἐνεπλήσθη πνεύματος συνέσεως, ἐπέθηκεν γὰρ Μωυσῆς τὰς αὐτοῦ ἐπ’ αὐτόν· καὶ εἰσήκουσαν αὐτοῦ οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ καθότι ἐνετείλατο Κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Josue vero filius Nun repletus est spiritu sapientiæ, quia Moyses posuit super eum manus suas. Et obedierunt ei filii Israël, feceruntque sicut præcepit Dominus Moysi.

Spanish

Josué, hijo de Nun, estaba lleno del espíritu de sabiduría, porque Moisés había puesto sus manos sobre él. Los hijos de Israel lo escucharon e hicieron lo que Yehová le había ordenado a Moisés.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y Josué hijo de Nun fué lleno de espíritu de sabiduría, porque Moisés había puesto sus manos sobre él: y los hijos de Israel le obedecieron, é hicieron como Jehová mandó á Moisés.

English

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse states that Joshua son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. As a result, the people of Israel listened to him and acted according to what Yehovah had commanded Moses.

Key words

ma.Le' ("he was full", H4392) — masculine singular adjective describing Joshua's state, not a verb of becoming but a static description of fullness.
Ru.ach ("a spirit of", H7307G) — feminine singular noun in construct form, linking directly to chokh.mah ("wisdom", H2451) to form the phrase "spirit of wisdom."
sa.Makh ("he had laid", H5564) — qal perfect verb, marking a completed prior action (Moses laying hands), explaining the ki- ("for", H3588A) causal clause.
va.Yish.me.'u ("they listened", H8085H) — qal narrative form, chaining the story forward with "and then" sequencing typical of Hebrew narrative vav.
tzi.Vah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect verb, an intensive stem indicating a formal, authoritative act of command by Yehovah to Moses.

What the text says

The verse opens with a conjunction vi. ("and", H9002) attached to the proper name ho.Shu.a' ("Joshua", H3091G), introducing him as the subject. The construct chain bin- Nun ("son of Nun") identifies him genealogically. The adjective ma.Le' ("he was full", H4392) governs the construct phrase Ru.ach chokh.mah ("spirit of wisdom", H7307G + H2451), describing Joshua's internal state rather than an action he performed.

The causal particle ki- ("for", H3588A) introduces the reason for this fullness: the qal perfect verb sa.Makh ("he had laid", H5564) with Moses as subject, followed by the direct object marker 'et- (H0853) and ya.Da ("hands", H3027G) in dual construct form with the third-person suffix -o ("his"), and the preposition 'a.La ("on", H5921A) with a pronominal suffix referring to Joshua. This clause establishes a temporal sequence: the laying of hands preceded and caused the state of fullness.

The narrative then shifts with the vav-consecutive verb va.Yish.me.'u ("they listened", H8085H), whose subject is be.nei- Yis.ra.'El ("the people of Israel", H1121G + H3478), followed by another narrative verb va.ya.'a.Su ("they did", H6213A). The comparative clause ka.'a.Sher ("just as", H9004 + H0834D) introduces the piel perfect tzi.Vah ("he had commanded", H6680), with Yah.weh (H3068G) as subject and mo.Sheh ("Moses", H4872) as the object marked by 'et- (H0853). The piel stem of tzi.Vah carries an intensive nuance, distinct from a simple qal command form.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ru.ach chokh.mah ("spirit of wisdom") as πνεύματος συνέσεως ("spirit of understanding/insight"), using a different Greek noun than what a literal rendering of chokh.mah ("wisdom", H2451) would suggest. The Vulgate's spiritu sapientiae ("spirit of wisdom") aligns more closely with the Hebrew chokh.mah. The LXX also omits explicit mention of "hands" (χεῖρας is absent in the Swete text as given), stating only ἐπέθηκεν... τὰς αὐτοῦ ("he laid his... upon him"), which is elliptical compared to the Hebrew's explicit ya.Da ("hands", H3027G).

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.