Leviticus 20:22

Summary

This verse commands the addressees to keep and perform all of the divine chuqqot ("statutes", H2708) and mishpatim ("judgments", H4941G), with the stated consequence that "the land" will not "vomit" them out. The land is identified by a relative clause as the place to which the speaker (in first person) is bringing them to dwell.

Key words

• chuqqotai — chu.ko.Ta + i ("statutes" + "my", H2708 + H9020): feminine plural construct noun with 1st-person suffix, marking these as decrees belonging to the speaker.
• mishpatai — mish.pa.Ta + i ("judgments" + "my", H4941G + H9020): masculine plural construct noun with 1st-person suffix, paired with chuqqotai as a second category of legal material.
• ta.Ki' ("it will vomit up", H6958): hiphil imperfect, 3rd feminine singular — the causative form indicates the land is the grammatical subject performing an active expulsion, not merely a passive result.
• me.Vi' ("[am] about to bring", H0935P): hiphil participle, masculine singular, expressing an ongoing/imminent action tied to the 1st-person pronoun 'a.Ni ("I", H0589) immediately preceding it.
• la.She.vet ("to dwell", H3427): qal infinitive with prefixed preposition la ("to"), expressing purpose — the goal of the bringing-action.

What the text says

The verse opens with two sequential perfects, she.mar.Tem ("you will keep", H8104G) and 'a.si.Tem ("you will do", H6213A), both 2nd masculine plural, joined by the narrative vav (H9001) that continues a preceding chain of instruction. These verbs govern two direct objects marked by 'et (H0853, untranslated object marker): "all of my statutes" (kol-chuqqotai) and "all of my judgments" (kol-mishpatai), each a construct chain with the 1st-person suffix -i attaching ownership to the speaker. The object suffix -am ("them", on 'o.Ta+m) at the end of this clause resumes both nouns together, tying the "doing" back to the full set of statutes and judgments.

The second half of the verse turns to a negated clause: ve-lo-taKi' 'etkhem ha'aretz — "and the land will not vomit you out." Here ha'aretz ("the land", H0776G) is the grammatical subject of the hiphil imperfect taKi', a causative form of the verb "to vomit" (H6958), with 'etkhem ("you", 2m pl.) as its direct object. The land is further specified by the relative clause 'asher 'ani mevi' 'etkhem shamah lashevet bah — "where I am bringing you there to dwell in it." This clause stacks two locational elements: shamah ("there", H8033G with directional -ah) and the resumptive pronominal suffix on bah ("in it", H9034), both pointing back to ha'aretz. The participle mevi' ("bringing", H0935P) paired with the pronoun 'ani ("I") frames the action as ongoing from the speaker's perspective, while the infinitive lashevet ("to dwell", H3427) expresses the purpose of that bringing.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew taKi' ("it will vomit up") with προσοχθίσῃ ("be aggrieved/reject"), a term expressing displeasure rather than the physical image of vomiting present in the Hebrew verb. The Vulgate's evomat ("vomit out") preserves the vomiting imagery more closely, matching the Hebrew root sense. The Vulgate also omits an explicit equivalent for the 1st-person participle construction 'ani mevi' ("I am bringing"), rendering the clause with intraturi estis ("you are about to enter"), which shifts the grammatical subject from the speaker to the addressees themselves.