Deuteronomy 7:11

Summary

Deuteronomy 7:11 instructs the addressee to keep three categories of divine instruction — commandment, statutes, and judgments — described as what "I" (Yehovah, speaking through Moses) am commanding "this day," with the stated purpose of doing them.

Key words

• sha.mar.Ta ("you will keep", H8104J) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; continues the narrative sequence from the preceding verses as a direct instruction to the addressee.
• mitz.Vah ("commandment", H4687) — feminine singular noun, the first of three objects governed by the verb, each marked with the object marker 'et (H0853).
• chu.Kim ("statutes", H2706G) — masculine plural noun, second object in the series.
• mish.pa.Tim ("judgments", H4941G) — masculine plural noun, third object in the series.
• me.tza.ve. ("[am] commanding", H6680) — piel participle, construct form with the suffix -kha ("you", H9031), literally "the one commanding you"; the piel stem intensifies the act of commanding, and the participle indicates an ongoing or present action rather than a one-time past event.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on sha.mar.Ta (H8104J), linking it to the preceding context and framing it as a continuation of address rather than a new topic. The main verb governs three parallel objects — mitz.Vah (H4687, singular), chu.Kim (H2706G, plural), and mish.pa.Tim (H4941G, plural) — each introduced by the untranslated object marker 'et (H0853) and each carrying the definite article ha (H9009). The singular/plural contrast between "commandment" and the other two terms is preserved in the Hebrew morphology, though it does not necessarily indicate a difference in weight or category beyond grammatical number.

The relative clause 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A) introduces a description of these three items: they are what 'a.no.Khi ("I", H0595) — an independent pronoun adding emphasis to the speaker's identity — is me.tza.ve. ("commanding", H6680), a piel participle construct with the pronominal suffix -kha (H9031). The participle form suggests the commanding is presented as a present, ongoing act tied to hai.Yom ("this day", H3117G), rather than a completed past instruction. The final phrase la.'a.so.Tam combines the preposition la (H9005) with the qal infinitive 'a.so.Ta ("to do", H6213A) and the plural suffix -m ("them", H9038), expressing purpose: the commandments, statutes, and judgments are given "to do them."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the three Hebrew nouns as τὰς ἐντολὰς ("the commandments," plural) where the Hebrew has mitz.Vah (H4687) in the singular, and adds the possessive αὐτοῦ ("his") after each of the three terms, a possessive marker not present in the Hebrew text as given. The Vulgate uses præcepta, cæremonias, and judicia, choosing "ceremonies" for the Hebrew chu.Kim (H2706G, "statutes"), a translation choice that shifts the semantic field of that term compared to the Hebrew and the LXX's δικαιώματα.