Exodus 22:28

Summary

The verse contains two parallel prohibitions: one against cursing 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430G), and one against cursing a na.Si' ("leader", H5387A) among one's people. Each clause uses a different Hebrew verb for "to curse," and both are constructed with a negated imperfect verb form addressed to "you" (masculine singular).

Key words

• 'E.lo.Him ("God", H0430G) — masculine plural noun form, here functioning as the object of the first prohibition.
• te.ka.Lel ("you must curse", H7043) — piel (intensive) imperfect; the piel stem of this root often carries a sense of treating something as light, contemptible, or worthless.
• na.Si' ("a leader", H5387A) — masculine singular noun, identifying the human figure protected by the second clause.
• 'a.me.Kha ("your people", H5971A + H9021) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, linking the leader to the community ("leader of your people").
• ta.'Or ("you must curse", H0779) — qal (simple) imperfect, from a different root than te.ka.Lel, denoting cursing in a more basic or direct sense.

What the text says

The verse is built as two mirrored clauses, each following the pattern: object + negation (lo', H3808) + imperfect verb. The first clause places 'E.lo.Him before the negated verb te.ka.Lel, fronting the object for emphasis, a common Biblical Hebrew word order for prohibitions. The second clause follows the same pattern with na.Si' as object and ta.'Or as the verb, joined by the conjunction ve. ("and", H9002).

The two Hebrew verbs are not the same root: te.ka.Lel derives from qalal (H7043) in the piel stem, an intensive form often associated with treating something as insignificant or worthless, while ta.'Or derives from arar (H0779) in the simple qal stem, a more basic term for cursing. The Hebrew text thus distinguishes the two prohibitions lexically, even though English and Spanish translations in the data (BSB "blaspheme... curse"; RV1909 "denostarás... maldecirás") render them with different verbs as well, though not necessarily reflecting the same root distinction found in Hebrew.

The noun 'E.lo.Him is grammatically plural in form (masculine plural, H0430G), a feature of Hebrew that can denote singular deity or plural "gods" depending on context and verbal agreement.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'E.lo.Him as Theous ("gods," plural), and the Vulgate renders it as Diis ("to gods," plural dative/ablative), both taking the plural form of the Hebrew noun literally. The Hebrew verbal construction (lo' + imperfect) governs 'E.lo.Him as a singular direct object of a prohibition in the TAHOT text, without the LXX/Vulgate's explicit plural rendering being required by Hebrew syntax alone. Additionally, the LXX and Vulgate both pluralize na.Si' ("a leader," singular in Hebrew) as archontas ("rulers") and are consistent with singular principi ("prince") in the Vulgate, showing a divergence between LXX's plural and Vulgate's singular treatment of this term.