Leviticus 26:45

Summary

Leviticus 26:45 states that God will remember the berit ("covenant", H1285) made with the rishonim ("forefathers", H7223H), the generation brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations, so that he would be their God. The verse closes with the self-identification formula "I am Yehovah" (H3068G).

Key words

• za.khar.Ti — "I will remember" (H2142): qal perfect functioning as a sequential/consecutive form, continuing the narrative chain begun earlier in the passage; grammatically a completed-form verb used with future-oriented sense.
• be.Rit — "covenant of" (H1285): feminine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be bound to the following noun ("of the forefathers") rather than standing alone.
• ri.sho.Nim — "forefathers" (H7223H): masculine plural ordinal/adjective form used substantively as a noun, the second element of the construct chain with berit.
• 'a.Sher — "whom/which" (H0834A): relative particle introducing a clause that further identifies the referent — either the covenant or the forefathers — without specifying by itself which noun it modifies.
• li.Hyot ... le.lo.Him — "to become ... for God" (H1961 + H0430G): infinitive construct with the preposition le- expressing purpose ("in order to be"), followed by elohim, a masculine plural noun used with singular grammatical agreement to denote "God."

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain: a main verb (zakharti, "I will remember"), its object (berit rishonim, "covenant of the forefathers"), a relative clause defining that covenant/generation (asher hotzeti otam me'eretz mitzrayim, "whom I brought out from the land of Egypt"), a locative phrase (le'einei hagoyim, "to the eyes of the nations"), and a purpose clause (lihyot lahem lelohim, "to be to them for God"). The construct phrase berit rishonim ties "covenant" directly to "forefathers" as its grammatical possessor, so the Hebrew syntax presents the covenant as belonging to a specific earlier generation rather than describing the covenant itself with an adjective like "former." The relative particle asher then attaches a further description — the exodus event — to that same generation, using the hiphil perfect hotzeti ("I brought out"), a causative form indicating a completed act performed by the speaker.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew construct chain berit rishonim ("covenant of the forefathers") differs from the LXX's τῆς διαθήκης τῆς προτέρας ("the former covenant") and the Vulgate's foederis mei pristini ("my former/ancient covenant"), both of which treat "former/ancient" as an adjective modifying "covenant" rather than as a separate noun ("forefathers") in construct relation. Additionally, where the Hebrew specifies me'eretz mitzrayim ("from the land of Egypt"), the LXX text given reads ἐκ γῆς ἐξ οἴκου δουλίας ("from the land, from the house of slavery"), rendering the location descriptively rather than naming Egypt explicitly.