Deuteronomy 4:29

Summary

The verse promises that seeking Yehovah will result in finding him, provided the search is total — "with all your heart and with all your soul." The Hebrew text uses two different verbs for "seek" and shifts from plural to singular address within the same sentence.

Key words

• vikkashtem ("you will seek", H1245) — piel stem (intensive), 2nd person masculine plural, sequential perfect continuing the narrative chain begun earlier in the passage.
• matzata ("you will find [him]", H4672) — qal stem, 2nd person masculine singular, marking a grammatical shift from the plural subject of the previous verb.
• tidreshennu ("you will seek him", H1875) — qal imperfect, singular, a different root from vikkashtem; the pronominal suffix -nu ("him") attaches the object directly to the verb.
• levavekha ("your heart", H3824) — singular noun in construct with khol ("all", H3605), forming the phrase "all of your heart."
• nafshekha ("your being/soul", H5315) — singular noun in construct with khol ("all", H3605), paralleling levavekha to form "all of your soul."

What the text says

The sentence contains two distinct Hebrew verbs translated "seek" in English versions: baqash (H1245, piel, in vikkashtem) and darash (H1875, qal, in tidreshennu). Although both are rendered "seek," they are different roots and stems, and the second occurrence carries the object suffix -nu ("him") directly attached to the verb rather than using a separate pronoun. The clause built on ki tidreshennu ("for/when you seek him") functions as the condition under which matzata ("you will find") holds true.

A notable grammatical feature is the shift in person: vikkashtem is 2nd person masculine plural, addressing a group, while matzata, tidreshennu, levavekha, and nafshekha are all 2nd person masculine singular. The sentence moves from collective to individual address without any explicit marker signaling the change; it is visible only through the verb and suffix forms.

The double phrase be-khol-levavekha u-ve-khol-nafshekha ("with all your heart and with all your soul") uses parallel construct chains with khol ("all," H3605) governing both lev ("heart") and nefesh ("being/soul"), each carrying the same 2nd person singular suffix -kha. This grammatical parallelism intensifies the totality of the condition for seeking.

Differences between versions

The LXX text given reads "Κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν" ("the Lord our God"), using the first-person plural possessive "our," where the Hebrew eloheikha (H0430 + H9021) has the second-person singular suffix "your." The LXX also adds the phrase "ἐν τῆ θλίψει σου" ("in your affliction"), which has no corresponding element among the Hebrew words listed. The Vulgate reflects this same addition, rendering the final phrase as "tota tribulatione animæ tuæ" ("with all the tribulation of your soul") rather than a plain equivalent of "with all your soul," attaching the notion of "tribulation" to nafshekha where the Hebrew word itself carries no such sense in the data provided.