Deuteronomy 9:10

Summary

Moses recounts that Yehovah gave him the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God, containing all the words that Yehovah had spoken to the people at the mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly.

Key words

• va-yiTen ("and he gave", H5414G) — qal narrative form, marking the sequential action that continues the story: "and then he gave."
• lu.Chot ("tablets of", H3871) — feminine plural construct, linked to sheNei ("two of", H8147), forming "two tablets of [stone]."
• ke.tu.Vim ("inscribed", H3789) — qal passive participle, masculine plural, describing the tablets as objects that were written upon, without naming the agent directly in this word.
• 'etz.Ba' ("finger of", H0676) — feminine singular construct, joined to 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430G), forming the phrase "finger of God."
• di.Ber ("he had spoken", H1696G) — piel perfect, denoting a completed, intensive act of speaking, attributed to Yehovah.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav construction va-yiTen... Yehovah ("and Yehovah gave"), placing the divine name as subject of the main verb. The direct object is marked by 'et (H0853, untranslated) before sheNei luChot ha-'avaNim ("two tablets of the stone[s]"), a construct chain identifying the tablets by their material. The participle ketuVim ("inscribed") is passive and modifies the tablets, followed by the agency phrase be-'etzBa' 'Elohim ("by the finger of God"), using the construct noun 'etzBa' ("finger of") bound to 'Elohim ("God").

The second half of the verse, introduced by va-'aleiHem ("and upon them"), describes the content of the inscription: kekhol ha-devaRim ("like all the words"), using the construct khol ("all of") governing ha-devaRim ("the words"). The relative particle 'aSher ("which") introduces a subordinate clause specifying which words: those that diBer Yehovah ("Yehovah had spoken"), using the piel perfect to denote a completed act of intensive speech. The prepositional phrases 'immaChem ("with you"), ba-Har ("on the mountain"), mi-Tokh ha-'Esh ("from the midst of the fire"), and be-Yom ha-kaHal ("on the day of the assembly") stack sequentially, each narrowing the circumstances of the original speech event — location, source, and occasion.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va-'aleiHem kekhol ha-devaRim... diBer with a pluperfect-style construction ("ἐγέγραπτο πάντες οἱ λόγοι," "had been written all the words"), making explicit that the words were written on the tablets, whereas the Hebrew text does not use a writing verb in this clause but rather states the words were "upon them" corresponding to what was spoken. The Vulgate similarly inserts "continentes omnia verba" ("containing all the words"), an interpretive addition not present as a separate verb in the Hebrew syntax, which structures the second clause through the preposition 'al ("upon") rather than a verb of writing or containing.