Deuteronomy 9:27

Summary

Moses asks Yehovah to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his servants, and pleads that Yehovah not turn his attention toward the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of the people.

Key words

• ze.Khor ("remember", H2142) — qal imperative, a direct command addressed to Yehovah, opening the plea.
• 'a.va.Dei.kha ("your servants", H5650 + suffix) — construct plural noun with 2nd person suffix, linking Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob together as belonging to Yehovah.
• Te.fen ("you turn", H6437G) — qal jussive, expressing a wish/request rather than a flat statement; combined with 'al ("may not", H0408) it forms a negative jussive, "may you not turn."
• ke.Shi ("[the] stubbornness of", H7190) — construct singular noun, grammatically bound to ha.'Am ha.Zeh ("this people", H5971A + H2088), the entity whose stubbornness is in view.
• rish.'O / cha.ta.T-o ("its wickedness" / "its sin", H7562 / H2403B) — both construct nouns with 3rd person singular suffixes ("his/its"), each parallel to ke.Shi, listing three qualities attached to the people.

What the text says

The verse opens with a single imperative verb, ze.Khor ("remember", H2142), followed by three proper names — 'av.ra.Ham (H0085), yitz.Chak (H3327), ya.'a.Ko (H3290) — each introduced by the preposition le ("to", H9005), all governed by the construct phrase 'a.va.Dei.kha ("your servants", H5650). Grammatically, the three patriarchs are not separate objects but are unified under the single construct noun "servants," marked as belonging to the addressee through the pronominal suffix -kha ("your").

The second half shifts to a negative jussive: 'al Te.fen ("may you not turn", H0408 + H6437G). The verb Te.fen is built on the root meaning "to turn/face," so the request is that Yehovah not direct his face or attention 'el ("to", H0413) three items, each marked by the same preposition and each a construct noun: ke.Shi ("stubbornness of", H7190), rish.'O ("its wickedness", H7562), and cha.ta.T-o ("its sin", H2403B). The first construct, ke.Shi ha.'Am ha.Zeh, explicitly names "this people" (H5971A, H2088) as the possessor of the stubbornness; the following two nouns carry pronominal suffixes ("its/his") instead of repeating the noun phrase, referring back to the same people. This creates a threefold list — stubbornness, wickedness, sin — all governed by the same negated verb and preposition.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew construct chain 'a.va.Dei.kha ("your servants") governing the three names is rendered in the LXX as τῶν θεραπόντων σου ("of your servants"), syntactically similar. The LXX adds a clause not present in the Hebrew word list given: οἷς ὤμοσας κατὰ σεαυτοῦ ("to whom you swore by yourself"). The Vulgate's ne aspicias ("do not look upon") matches the Hebrew jussive sense of Te.fen ("you turn", H6437G) more literally than the LXX's μὴ ἐπιβλέψῃς ("do not look upon/gaze"), both conveying a request not to direct attention rather than a flat prohibition. The BSB's "Overlook" softens the imagery of "turning the face" found in the Hebrew Te.fen.