Deuteronomy 4:24

Summary

The verse states that Yehovah, the God of the addressee, is characterized as a consuming fire and as a jealous God. The sentence is a causal clause ("for..."), giving a reason connected to the surrounding context.

Key words

• ki ("for", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing a causal or conditional clause, linking this statement to what precedes it.
• 'esh ("fire", H0784) — common gender singular noun, the predicate noun describing Yehovah.
• 'okhelah ("consuming", H0398) — qal participle, feminine singular, agreeing with 'esh ("fire"); the participle form presents the action as an ongoing characteristic rather than a single event.
• hu' ("he", H1931) — third person pronoun functioning as the copula ("is") linking the subject Yehovah 'eloheikha to the predicate 'esh 'okhelah.
• qanna' ("jealous", H7067H) — masculine singular adjective modifying 'el ("a God", H0410G), forming a second predicate noun phrase.

What the text says

The verse is built as a nominal (verbless) clause with two parallel predications about the subject Yehovah 'eloheikha ("Yehovah your God"). The first predication uses the pronoun hu' ("he") as a copula: "Yehovah your God — he — [is] a fire consuming." The noun 'esh ("fire") is feminine, and the participle 'okhelah ("consuming") agrees with it in gender, functioning adjectivally to describe the fire as one that actively consumes. This participial construction indicates an ongoing or characteristic action rather than a completed or singular event.

The second predication, 'el qanna' ("a jealous God"), stands in apposition or parallel to the first, without a copula. Here 'el ("God", H0410G) is modified by the adjective qanna' ("jealous," H7067H), both masculine singular. The two phrases — "a fire consuming" and "a jealous God" — are structured in synonymous parallelism, both functioning as predicates of the same subject, reinforcing the description through repetition with variation.

The opening particle ki ("for", H3588A) ties this description to a preceding statement, marking this clause as a reason or explanation rather than an independent assertion.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'esh 'okhelah ("fire consuming") with the Greek participle καταναλίσκον ("consuming"), matching the Hebrew participial construction. The Vulgate renders it as ignis consumens ("consuming fire"), also preserving the participial sense. All three traditions (Hebrew, LXX, Vulgate) present the same two-part structure — "consuming fire" and "jealous God" — without semantic divergence in this verse.