Deuteronomy 7:26

Summary

The verse commands that no to'evah ("abomination", H8441) be brought into one's house, warning that doing so would make the person cherem ("an object for destruction", H2764A) like the object itself. It closes by doubling the command to detest and abhor the object, restating that it is cherem.

Key words

• to.'e.Vah ("an abomination", H8441) — feminine singular noun, the object prohibited from entering the house.
• Che.rem ("an object for destruction", H2764A) — masculine singular noun, used twice: first predicated of the person (v. the subject "you"), then of the object itself, linking their fates through the same term.
• sha.Ketz + te.shak.ke.Tze.nu ("utterly detest" / "you will detest it", H8262) — infinitive followed by piel imperfect with 3ms suffix nu ("it", H9033); this infinitive-plus-finite-verb pairing intensifies the action, a construction often rendered "utterly" in translation.
• ta.'Ev + te.ta.'a.Ve.nu ("utterly abhor" / "you will abhor it", H8581) — same infinitive-plus-imperfect pattern as the previous verb, again intensified by the paired infinitive.
• ka.Mo.hu ("like it", H3644G + H9033) — preposition with 3ms suffix, comparing the person's potential status (cherem) to that of the to'evah.

What the text says

The verse opens with a negated imperfect, ve.lo'-ta.Vi' ("and you will not bring", H0935P), governing the noun to'evah as its direct object, moved into bei.te.kha ("your house", H1004B + H9021). The clause then shifts to a sequential perfect, ha.Yi.ta ("you will be", H1961), which continues the narrative logic begun by the preceding imperfect: the consequence of bringing in the to'evah is that the subject himself becomes cherem, "like it" (ka.mo.hu). The repetition of cherem for both the person and the object (in verse-final ki-cherem hu, "for it [is] cherem") ties the subject's potential fate grammatically to the status of the object itself.

The two verbs of detestation, sha.Ketz/te.shak.ke.Tze.nu and ta.'Ev/te.ta.'a.Ve.nu, both follow the pattern infinitive + finite piel imperfect with the same root, a construction in Biblical Hebrew that reinforces or intensifies the verbal action. Each takes the 3ms suffix nu ("it") referring back to the to'evah, so the sentence structure builds two consecutive intensified commands aimed at the same object before restating, with the independent pronoun Hu' ("it", H1931), that this object is cherem.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders to'evah as βδέλυγμα ("abomination") and cherem as ἀνάθημα ("that which is set apart/cursed"), matching the Hebrew semantic field closely. The Vulgate expands the text with explanatory phrases such as "ex idolo" ("from an idol") and "quasi spurcitiam... velut inquinamentum ac sordes," additions not present as separate lexical items in the Hebrew word list, which contains only to'evah and cherem without further specification of "idol" or "filth."