Deuteronomy 4:16

Summary

The verse continues a warning against idolatry, using a purpose/result clause ("lest you...") followed by a chain of nouns describing what must not be made: a carved image shaped like any figure, in the likeness of a male or a female.

Key words

• Pen ("lest", H6435) — introduces a negative purpose clause governing the following verbs; sets up a warning about unintended consequence.
• tashchitun ("you should act corruptly", H7843) — hiphil (causative) imperfect with paragogic nun, giving emphasis to the warned-against action; the causative stem implies bringing about corruption, not merely being corrupt.
• asitem ("you will make", H6213H) — sequential (waw-consecutive) perfect continuing the same clause begun by pen; grammatically it extends the prohibition ("lest you act corruptly... and make").
• pesel ("an image of", H6459) — construct noun, the first link in a chain of construct nouns that piles up descriptive terms for the forbidden object.
• tavnit ("a likeness of", H8403) — construct noun introducing the final specification: male or female form.

What the text says

The clause opens with pen ("lest", H6435) governing tashchitun ("you should act corruptly", H7843), an imperfect verb with paragogic nun — a form that adds emphasis or solemnity to the warning. The following verb, asitem ("you will make", H6213H), is a sequential perfect (waw-consecutive) that continues the same subordinate clause rather than starting a new independent statement; grammatically both verbs share the force of pen, so the sense is "lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves..."

What follows is a stack of construct nouns, each one modifying the next: pesel ("an image of", H6459) construct with temunat ("a form of", H8544), construct with kol ("any", H3605), governing samel ("figure", H5566). This produces a layered phrase — "an image, a form of any figure" — before a second noun, tavnit ("a likeness of", H8403), introduces the final qualifier: zachar ("a male", H2145) o ("or", H0176A) neqevah ("a female", H5347). The construct chain functions like a series of nested descriptions narrowing down the forbidden object from general (any image) to specific (shaped like a male or female figure).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tashchitun ("act corruptly", H7843) with ἀνομήσητε ("act unlawfully"), shifting the semantic field from corruption/ruin to lawlessness. Where the Hebrew stacks pesel, temunat, kol-samel as one long construct chain, the LXX separates this into γλυπτὸν ὁμοίωμα ("carved likeness") and πᾶσαν εἰκόνα ("every image") as two distinct phrases rather than nested constructs. The Vulgate compresses pesel and temunat into a single phrase, "sculptam similitudinem" ("a carved likeness"), and treats kol-samel separately as "aut imaginem" ("or an image"), differing from the Hebrew's continuous construct stacking.