Deuteronomy 8:10

Summary

Deuteronomy 8:10 describes a three-step sequence: eating, being satisfied, and blessing Yehovah for the good land he has given. The verse links physical satisfaction directly to an act of blessing directed at the deity responsible for the land.

Key words

• 'a.khal.Ta ("you will eat", H0398) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a narrative chain begun elsewhere in the chapter.
• sa.Va.'e.ta ("you will be satisfied", H7646) — qal sequential perfect, the second link in the same chain, describing the result of eating.
• ve.rakh.Ta ("you will bless", H1288) — piel (intensive) sequential perfect; the piel stem marks this as a deliberate, intensified action rather than a simple one.
• Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, marked by the object marker 'et (H0853) as the direct object of the blessing.
• na.tan ("he has given", H5414G) — qal perfect, a completed action describing the prior gift of the land, introduced by the relative particle 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A).

What the text says

The verse is built on three verbs joined by the narrative/sequential vav (H9001): 'a.khal.Ta, sa.Va.'e.ta, and ve.rakh.Ta. All three share the same grammatical form — qal or piel sequential perfect, second person masculine singular — which creates a tight chain of consequence: eating leads to satisfaction, which leads to blessing. The shift from qal (simple stem) in the first two verbs to piel (intensive stem) in ve.rakh.Ta marks the blessing as a heightened or deliberate act, distinct from the more automatic bodily experiences of eating and being full.

The object of the blessing is marked explicitly by the direct object marker 'et (H0853) before Yah.weh, followed by 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("your God", H0430G + H9021), a construct phrase meaning "God of you." The reason for the blessing is introduced by the preposition 'al ("on/for", H5921A), governing "the land" (ha-'Aretz, H0776G), qualified by the adjective ha-to.Vah ("the good", H2896A). The relative clause 'a.Sher na.tan-la.kh ("which he has given to you") uses a qal perfect for na.tan, indicating an action already completed prior to the eating and blessing described in the main sequence — the land-gift precedes and grounds the response of blessing.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text has no equivalent for "Lord" alone; it uses the tetragrammaton Yah.weh (H3068G) together with 'e.lo.Hei.kha ("your God"). The LXX renders this as "Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου" (Lord your God), and the Vulgate similarly as "Domino Deo tuo," both replacing the divine name with a title ("Lord"/"Domino") rather than transliterating it. The English BSB and Spanish versions (RV1909, SBLIBRE) follow this same substitution pattern, using "LORD"/"Jehová"/"Señor" instead of a direct rendering of the name itself.