Deuteronomy 5:9

Summary

The verse prohibits bowing down to or serving other gods (referring back to the images mentioned in the preceding verse), grounding this prohibition in Yehovah's self-identification as a jealous God who responds to the iniquity of those who hate him across multiple generations.

Key words

• tish.ta.chaVeh ("you must bow down", H7812) — hithpael imperfect, expressing reflexive/self-directed prostration as an ongoing prohibited action.
• ta'avDem ("you must be enticed to serve", H5647H) — hophal imperfect, a causative-passive form indicating being made to serve rather than simply serving.
• qanNa' ("jealous", H7067H) — masculine singular adjective modifying 'el ("God", H0410G), describing the quality of the deity named.
• Poked ("who visits", H6485I) — qal participle, masculine singular, presenting an ongoing characteristic action ("the one who visits/watches over") rather than a single event.
• so.ne.'Ai ("those who hate me", H8130 + H9030) — qal participle construct with 1st person suffix, identifying the object of the visiting action as those in a continuing state of hatred toward the speaker.

What the text says

The verse opens with two parallel negative commands built on the negation lo' ("not", H3808), each governing a verb with a 3rd person masculine plural pronominal suffix (Hem / m, H9038) referring back to the objects mentioned earlier in the passage. The first verb, tishtachaveh (H7812), is a hithpael form, a stem often used for reflexive or self-involved actions — here, physically bowing oneself down. The second verb, ta'avdem (H5647H), appears in the hophal, a causative-passive stem; the grammatical data glosses it as "you must be enticed to serve," suggesting the action of serving is framed as something one is caused or drawn into rather than a simple active verb.

The clause beginning with ki (H3588A) introduces the reason for the prohibition: the identity of the speaker. The pronoun 'anokhi ("I", H0595) combines with the name Yehovah (H3068G) and 'Elohekha ("your God", H0430G construct + H9021 suffix) to form a self-declaration. This is followed by the noun 'el ("God", H0410G) modified by the adjective qanna' ("jealous", H7067H), and then by the participle poqed (H6485I), which describes an ongoing action — "visiting" — rather than a completed one. The object of this visiting is 'avon ("iniquity", H5771G) in construct with avot ("parents", H0001G, feminine plural noun despite referring to fathers/parents), extended through three prepositional phrases using 'al ("on", H5921A) across banim ("children", H1121A), shileshim ("third generation", H8029), and ribe'im ("fourth generation", H7256). The final phrase, le-sone'ai (H8130 + H9030), a participle construct with a first-person suffix, specifies that this action concerns "those who hate me," syntactically qualifying the entire preceding chain of generational references.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders poqed (H6485I, "visiting") as ἀποδιδοὺς ("repaying/rendering"), a different semantic emphasis than the Hebrew participle's connotation of "visiting" or "attending to." The LXX also renders 'avon ("iniquity", H5771G) with ἁμαρτίας ("sins"), a distinct lexical choice from the Hebrew term. The Vulgate's reddens ("rendering/repaying") parallels the LXX's ἀποδιδοὺς rather than the Hebrew's "visiting" sense. The Hebrew shileshim and ribe'im (H8029, H7256, "third generation," "fourth generation") appear in the LXX as τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεὰν ("third and fourth generation"), and in the Vulgate as in tertiam et quartam generationem, both matching the Hebrew's generational structure despite the earlier lexical divergence.