Leviticus 26:11

Summary

The verse states that God will place his mishkan ("dwelling place", H4908) among the people, and that his nefesh ("self/soul", H5315I) will not tig'al ("abhor", H1602) them. It continues a sequence of covenant promises using the sequential perfect verb form.

Key words

• na.ta.Ti ("I will put", H5414I) — qal sequential perfect, first person; continues a chain of future promises begun earlier in the passage, functioning as "and I will give/place."
• mishkani ("my dwelling place", H4908) — masculine singular construct noun with 1st person suffix; construct form ties it directly to the following prepositional phrase describing location.
• tokh'khem ("in your midst", H8432) — construct noun "midst of" plus 2nd person plural suffix, governed by the preposition be ("in", H9003); locates the dwelling place spatially among the addressees.
• tig'al ("it will abhor", H1602) — qal imperfect, 3rd feminine singular, agreeing with the feminine noun nafshi; the imperfect aspect marks this as an ongoing or future state rather than a single event.
• nafshi ("my self", H5315I) — feminine singular construct noun with 1st person suffix, serving as the grammatical subject of tig'al; construct form yields "my nefesh" as the acting subject.

What the text says

The verse divides into two clauses joined by ve ("and", H9002). The first clause, ve-natati mishkani be-tokh'khem, uses the sequential perfect natati to continue a series of prior promises: "and I will put my dwelling place in your midst." The construct chain mishkani...be-tokh'khem places the dwelling spatially "in the midst of you," with the pronominal suffix -khem (H9026) specifying the addressees as plural.

The second clause negates a verb of aversion: ve-lo tig'al nafshi 'etkhem. The subject is nafshi, "my self," grammatically feminine, matching the feminine imperfect verb tig'al. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) with suffix -khem (H9036) marks "you" as the object of the abhorring. The imperfect form of tig'al indicates this is framed as a continuing or repeated condition ("will not abhor," an ongoing negative-of-negative state) rather than a single completed action.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mishkani ("my dwelling place") as tēn diathēkēn mou ("my covenant"), a notable divergence from the Hebrew noun and from the Vulgate's tabernaculum meum ("my tabernacle"), which corresponds more closely to the Hebrew mishkan. For the second clause, the LXX's ou bdelyxetai hē psychē mou ("my soul will not detest") closely parallels the Hebrew tig'al nafshi, while the Vulgate's non abjiciet...anima mea ("my soul will not cast off") conveys rejection rather than the sense of abhorrence/loathing carried by tig'al.