Deuteronomy 5:7

Summary

Deuteronomy 5:7 records a prohibition addressed in the second person singular: the addressee is not to have other gods "upon my face" (i.e., in Yehovah's presence). The verse uses a negated verbal clause combined with a construct phrase indicating spatial/relational presence.

Key words

• lo' ("not", H3808) — the standard negation particle used with imperfect verbs to express prohibition or negative future.
• yih.Yeh ("it will belong / it will be", H1961) — qal imperfect third person masculine singular of the verb "to be"; here functioning with the preposition le to mean "belong to."
• le.Kha ("to you", H9005 + H9031) — preposition with second person masculine singular pronominal suffix, marking the addressee as the one to whom something might or might not "belong."
• 'E.lo.Him 'a.che.Rim ("other gods", H0430J + H0312) — plural noun with plural adjective in agreement, the grammatical subject of the clause.
• pa.Na.i ("my face", H6440G + H9020) — masculine plural noun in construct form with first person singular suffix, forming the idiom "upon my face" ('al panai).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built around the verb yih.Yeh ("it will be/belong"), negated by lo', with the preposition le plus suffix (le.Kha, "to you") indicating possession — literally "there will not be to you other gods." The grammatical subject is 'E.lo.Him 'a.che.Rim ("other gods"), a plural noun modified by a plural adjective in standard Hebrew agreement pattern.

The final phrase, 'al panai ("upon my face"), uses the construct form of panim ("face", plural in Hebrew even when referring to a single face) with the first-person singular suffix. This construct phrase functions as a prepositional idiom meaning "before me" or "in my presence" — the plural form of "face" is a grammatical feature of the noun itself in Hebrew, not an indication of multiple faces. The construct chain ties the concept of presence directly to the speaker (Yehovah, based on the first-person suffix), making the clause about the location or context of possession rather than merely a general prohibition.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders 'al panai as pro prosōpou mou ("before my face"), using a different preposition (pro, "before") than a literal "upon," though conveying similar spatial meaning. The Vulgate renders the phrase as in conspectu meo ("in my sight"), shifting from a "face" idiom to a "sight/view" idiom. Both versions preserve the sense of presence but use different idiomatic constructions than the Hebrew 'al ("upon") plus construct panim ("face").