Deuteronomy 8:18

Summary

The verse instructs remembering Yehovah as the one who continually gives the ability to produce wealth, with the stated purpose that this provision serves to fulfill the covenant sworn to the ancestors. The clause structure links memory of God to a specific causal explanation (why one should remember) and then to that explanation's own underlying purpose.

Key words

• za.khar.Ta ("you will remember", H2142) — qal perfect used as sequential/consecutive perfect, continuing a chain of instructions rather than marking a single past event.
• ha.no.Ten ("the one giving", H5414) — qal participle with definite article, functioning as a substantive predicate; describes an ongoing, characteristic action rather than a one-time event.
• la.'a.Sot chayil ("to do/acquire wealth", H6213 + H2428) — infinitive construct + noun; the infinitive marks purpose or result of the "strength" (koach) just mentioned.
• ha.Kim ("to cause to stand/establish", H6965) — hiphil infinitive construct, causative form; expresses bringing something into effect, here the covenant.
• nish.Ba' ("he swore", H7650) — niphal perfect; the niphal stem for this root carries an inherently reflexive/passive-toned sense conventionally rendered as an oath-taking action, referring back to the antecedent act tied to berit ("covenant", H1285).

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative ve (H9001) attached to za.khar.Ta, signaling continuation within a sequence of commands. The direct object marker 'et (H0853, twice, items 3 and 19) marks Yehovah 'Eloheikha and later berito as grammatical objects without adding independent meaning of its own.

The causal particle ki (H3588A, item 7) introduces the reason for remembering: hu ha-noten — "he [is] the one giving." Because noten is a participle rather than a finite past-tense verb, the Hebrew presents this as a standing characteristic of the subject, not a completed past act — the giving is ongoing.

The purpose clause begins with lema'an (H4616), followed by the hiphil infinitive ha.Kim — "to establish/cause to stand" — governing the object berito ("his covenant"). The relative clause asher nishba' la-avoteikha ("which he swore to your fathers") specifies which covenant, using the niphal perfect nishba' without repeating the subject explicitly; the referent (Yehovah) is understood from the preceding clause.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the purpose clause with explicit repetition of the subject: ἣν ὤμοσεν κύριος τοῖς πατράσιν σου ("which the Lord swore to your fathers"), naming κύριος directly, where the Hebrew relative clause leaves the subject of nishba' unstated grammatically. The Vulgate uses impleret ("that he might fulfill") for the hiphil ha.Kim, a translation choice distinct from "establish" or "cause to stand," and phrases the oath clause as super quo juravit ("concerning which he swore") rather than as a direct relative clause on berit.