Deuteronomy 5:33

Summary

The verse instructs the people to walk in the entire path that Yehovah their God commanded them, with the stated purpose that they may live, that it may go well for them, and that they may prolong their days in the land they will possess.

Key words

• Derekh ("way", H1870G) — masculine singular noun, in construct with kol ("all", H3605), forming "all the way/path," here referring to the totality of commanded conduct rather than a single road.
• Tzivvah ("he has commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, third person, indicating a completed intensive act of command by the subject that follows (Yehovah).
• Telekhu ("you will walk", H1980I) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, expressing ongoing or future action; the verb of movement governs the whole clause about "the way."
• Techyun ("you may live", H2421) — qal jussive with paragogic nun (H9013), second person masculine plural; the paragogic nun adds emphasis to the volitional/purpose form.
• Ha'arakhtem ("you will prolong", H0748) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, second person masculine plural; the causative stem indicates causing days to be long, i.e., extending duration.

What the text says

The sentence opens with a prepositional phrase, bekhol haderekh ("in all the way", H9003 + H3605 + H9009 + H1870G), placed before the verb telekhu ("you will walk", H1980I) — a fronting that in Hebrew syntax places emphasis on the scope ("all the way") rather than on the act of walking itself. The relative clause asher tzivvah Yehovah Eloheikhem etkhem ("which Yehovah your God has commanded you") specifies that this "way" is defined by a completed act of command (piel perfect tzivvah), with etkhem ("you", H0853+H9036) marking the people as the object of that command.

The purpose clause introduced by lema'an ("so that", H4616) governs three linked outcomes: techyun ("you may live", jussive with paragogic nun), tov lakhem ("it will be good for you", sequential perfect of tov, H2895), and ha'arakhtem yamim ("you will prolong days", hiphil sequential perfect). The shift from jussive to sequential perfect forms (ve-tov, ve-ha'arakhtem) shows the outcomes are presented as a continuing chain following from obedience, each morphologically tied to the previous by the narrative vav (H9001). The final clause, ba'aretz asher tirashun ("in the land which you will possess"), again uses paragogic nun on tirashun ("you will take possession of", H3423H), echoing the emphatic form seen earlier on techyun.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tzivvah... etkhem telekhu with an infinitive construction, "ἐνετείλατό σοι... πορεύεσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ" ("commanded you... to walk in it"), restructuring the Hebrew's relative-clause-plus-imperfect into a command-plus-infinitive syntax. Where the Hebrew has techyun ("you may live") in the plural, the LXX reads "καταπαύσῃ σε" ("he may give you rest"), a divergence in verb and even implied subject. The Vulgate's "ambulabitis" keeps the plural imperative-like future closer to the Hebrew telekhu, and "protelentur dies" ("days may be extended") uses a passive construction where the Hebrew ha'arakhtem is an active causative form with the people as subject.