Leviticus 18:4

Summary

Leviticus 18:4 commands the addressees (plural "you") to perform Yehovah's mishpatim ("judgments") and keep his chuqqot ("statutes"), specifying that this observance means "walking" in them. The verse closes with a self-identification formula, "I am Yehovah your God."

Key words

• mishpat ("judgments", H4941G) — masculine plural construct with the suffix -ay ("my"), forming "my judgments"; construct state links the noun directly to the pronominal suffix without an intervening preposition.
• ta'aseh ("you will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural; the imperfect aspect indicates ongoing or future action rather than a single completed act.
• chuqqah ("statutes", H2708) — feminine plural construct with suffix -ay ("my"), paralleling mishpatay in the first clause.
• tishmeru ("you will keep", H8104G) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, same verbal aspect as ta'aseh, creating grammatical symmetry between the two commands.
• lalechet ("walking", H1980I) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition la- ("by/to"); an infinitive expressing purpose or manner, attached to "in them" (bahem).

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel clauses, each with an object-marked noun in construct form with the first-person suffix ("my"), followed by a 2nd person masculine plural qal imperfect verb: 'et-mishpatay ta'asu ("my judgments you will do") and ve'et-chuqqotay tishmeru ("and my statutes you will keep"). Both nouns, mishpat and chuqqah, appear in plural construct form bound to the suffix -ay, marking them as belonging to the speaker. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) precedes each noun but is not translated; it simply marks the noun as a definite direct object of the verb.

The third element, lalechet bahem ("to walk in them"), uses the infinitive construct lalechet from the root H1980, preceded by the preposition la-. This infinitival phrase does not introduce a new command but qualifies how the two preceding actions (doing and keeping) are to be carried out — the "walking" is attached instrumentally or purposively to both prior verbs via the plural suffix "them" (bahem), which refers back to both mishpatim and chuqqot together.

The final clause, 'ani Yehovah 'eloheikhem ("I am Yehovah your God"), consists of the independent pronoun 'ani ("I", H0589) followed by the divine name and the noun 'elohim in construct form with the 2nd person plural suffix ("your God"). This nominal clause has no verb "to be" in the Hebrew; the grammar simply juxtaposes the pronoun and predicate.

Differences between versions

The LXX and Vulgate render both qal imperfects (ta'asu, tishmeru) as future/imperative forms in Greek and Latin ("φυλάξεσθε," "facietis," "servabitis"), consistent with the imperfect's future/ongoing sense in Hebrew. The Vulgate adds "et" ("and") before "ambulabitis," turning lalechet into a third coordinate command ("and you will walk in them") rather than preserving it as a dependent infinitive construction as in the Hebrew.