Deuteronomy 4:5

Summary

Moses instructs the assembly to observe that he has already taught them the statutes and judgments that Yehovah commanded him. The purpose clause states this teaching is so that these laws be enacted once the people enter and take possession of the land.

Key words

• re.'Eh ("see", H7200I) — qal imperative, singular command directing attention, opening the verse as an appeal to observe/pay attention.
• li.Mad.ti ("I have taught", H3925G) — piel perfect, intensive stem indicating thorough, completed instruction; the perfect aspect marks the teaching as already accomplished before this statement.
• tzi.Va.ni ("he commanded me", H6680 + H9030) — piel perfect with 1st person suffix, showing Moses as the recipient of Yehovah's command, distinguishing the chain: Yehovah → Moses → people.
• 'a.Sot ("to do", H6213A) — qal infinitive, expressing purpose/result ("in order to do"), linking the teaching of statutes to their future enactment.
• ba.'Im ("are about to go", H0935G) — qal participle, plural, expressing an ongoing or imminent action ("the ones going"), describing the people's present movement toward the land.

What the text says

The verse opens with the imperative re.'Eh ("see", H7200I), a singular command form addressed to the audience collectively, calling for attention before the content that follows. The main clause uses li.Mad.ti ("I have taught", H3925G) in the piel perfect, which intensifies the basic sense of teaching and marks it as a completed act with continuing relevance — Moses presents his teaching as an accomplished fact preceding the moment of speaking.

The object of this teaching is expressed through two paired plural nouns, chu.Kim ("statutes", H2706G) and mish.pa.Tim ("judgments", H4941G), joined by the conjunction u ("and", H9002). The comparative clause ka.'a.Sher tzi.Va.ni Yah.weh 'e.lo.Ha.i ("just as Yehovah my God commanded me") uses the piel perfect tzi.Va ("he commanded", H6680) with the 1st person suffix ni ("me", H9030), establishing that Moses' teaching mirrors a prior divine command directed at him personally, marked by the construct form 'e.lo.Ha.i ("God of me", H0430G + H9020).

The purpose of this teaching is given by the infinitive 'a.Sot ("to do", H6213A) preceded by the preposition la ("to", H9005), forming a purpose clause: "to do thus." The following relative clause locates this action be.Ke.rev ha.'A.retz ("in the midst of the land", H7130G + H0776G), specified further by 'a.Sher 'a.Tem ba.'Im Sha.ma le.rish.Tah ("where you are going there to possess it"). The participle ba.'Im ("are about to go", H0935G) presents the people's entry as an action in progress or imminent, while the infinitive rish.Ta ("to take possession of", H3423H) with the 3rd feminine singular suffix h ("it", H9034) refers back to 'A.retz ("land", H0776G), grammatically feminine.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders re.'Eh ("see", H7200I) as the plural imperative ἴδετε ("see," plural), while the Hebrew imperative re.'Eh is singular in form. The Vulgate departs further, rendering the opening not as an imperative but as Scitis ("you know"), a declarative statement rather than a command, differing from both the Hebrew and the LXX in mood.