Deuteronomy 6:16

Summary

Deuteronomy 6:16 issues a prohibition against testing Yehovah, using a verb form addressed to a plural audience. The clause is anchored by a comparison to a previous act of testing that occurred at a place identified as Massah.

Key words

• te.na.Su ("you will put to the test", H5254G) — piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural: an ongoing/future prohibition addressed to a group, not an individual.
• Yehovah (H3068G) — the tetragrammaton, the proper name functioning as the direct object of the prohibition (marked by 'et, H0853).
• 'e.lo.hei-khem ("your God", H0430G + H9026) — plural construct noun with a plural suffix ("your," referring to the group), literally "God of you-all."
• 'a.Sher ("as/that", H0834D) — relative particle introducing the comparative clause, linking the present command to a past event.
• ni.si.Tem ("you tested", H5254G) — piel perfect, 2nd person masculine plural: completed past action, same root as te.na.Su, creating a verbal echo between command and precedent.
• ma.Sah ("Massah", H4532) — proper place name, marked with the definite article prefix (ba-, "in the"), naming the specific location of the earlier testing.

What the text says

The verse is built as two parallel clauses sharing the same verbal root, nasah (H5254G), first in the piel imperfect (te.na.Su, prohibitive future/ongoing sense with lo', "not") and then in the piel perfect (ni.si.Tem, completed past action). This repetition creates a direct grammatical link between the prohibition and the event it references: the same action ("testing") is forbidden now that was performed before. The comparative particle 'a.Sher (H0834D), combined with ka- ("as", H9004), explicitly frames the past occurrence at Massah as the standard against which the present prohibition is measured.

Both verbs carry plural morphology (2nd person masculine plural), indicating the command and its historical reference are directed at and describe a group, not a single person. The object phrase 'et-Yehovah 'elohei-khem ("Yehovah your-all's God") uses a plural construct noun with a plural pronominal suffix, reinforcing that the divine name is possessed collectively by the addressed group.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew uses plural verb forms (te.na.Su, ni.si.Tem) and a plural suffix ('elohei-khem, "your" referring to a group). The LXX (ἐκπειράσεις, ἐξεπειράσατε, θεόν σου) and Vulgate (tentabis, tentasti, Deum tuum) render these with singular verb forms and a singular possessive ("your" as one person), addressing an individual rather than a group.

Regarding the place name, the Hebrew ba-ma.Sah (H4532) is a proper noun, "at Massah." The LXX translates it as ἐν τῷ Πειρασμῷ ("in the Testing/Temptation"), rendering the place name as a common noun describing the event rather than transliterating it. The Vulgate similarly renders it as "in loco tentationis" ("in the place of temptation"), also translating rather than preserving the proper name.