Deuteronomy 9:14

Summary

In this verse, Yehovah tells Moses to let him act alone so he can destroy the people and erase their name completely, promising instead to make Moses into a nation stronger and more numerous than the one being destroyed.

Key words

• He.ref ("refrain", H7503) — hiphil causative imperative: a command to stop acting, meaning "let go" or "release," addressed to Moses.
• 'ash.mi.De.m ("I may destroy", H8045) — hiphil causative imperfect with vav, expressing purpose or consequence following the imperative: "so that I may destroy them."
• 'em.Cheh ("I may wipe out", H4229A) — qal imperfect with vav, parallel in function to the previous verb, continuing the chain of purpose: "and so I may wipe out."
• she.Mam ("their name", H8034 + H9028) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, meaning "the name of them," object of the wiping-out action.
• goy 'a.Tzum va.Rav ("a nation mighty and great", H1471A + H6099 + H7227A) — noun with two coordinated adjectives describing the future nation promised to Moses.

What the text says

The verse opens with the imperative He.ref ("refrain", H7503), a hiphil form that carries causative force — literally "cause [yourself] to stop" or "let go," directed at Moses. This is followed by a chain of three verbs in the imperfect with vav conjunction: 'ash.mi.De.m ("I may destroy", H8045), 'em.Cheh ("I may wipe out", H4229A), and 'e.'e.Seh ("I may make", H6213H). This grammatical pattern — imperative followed by vav + imperfect — expresses purpose or result: "let go, so that I may destroy... and wipe out... and make." The subject shifts from Moses (addressed) to Yehovah (acting) across these verbs, all in first person.

The phrase mi.Tachat ha.Sha.mayim ("from under the heavens", H8478G + H9009 + H8064) uses a construct noun (Tachat, "under") governing "the heavens," forming a spatial idiom for total erasure — the name is to vanish from everywhere under the sky, not just from a specific location.

The final clause uses two coordinated adjectives, 'a.Tzum ("mighty", H6099) and Rav ("great", H7227A), both modifying goy ("nation", H1471A), followed by the comparative construction mi.Menu ("more than it", H4480A + H9033), which draws a direct comparison between the promised nation and the one being destroyed.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders He.ref ("refrain", H7503) as ἔασόν με ("allow me"), shifting the imperative's addressee-focus toward permission language, though the underlying sense of yielding control is preserved. The Vulgate's dimitte me ("let me go/release me") similarly frames the command as a request for release. Where the Hebrew has two adjectives ('a.Tzum "mighty" and Rav "great"), the LXX adds a third term, μέγα ("great") alongside ἰσχυρὸν ("strong") and πολὺ ("many"), producing three descriptors instead of two. The Vulgate's super gentem ("over a nation") differs from the Hebrew's le.goy ("into a nation", H9005 + H1471A), which indicates transformation into a nation rather than rule over one.