Deuteronomy 16:17

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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כְּמַתְּנַ֣ת

mattânâh

H4979

“like/as · gift of”

Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct

Appears 17× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 25:6

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H4976

TWOT: 1443c

gift

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
8: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is כְּמַתְּנַ֣ת gift H4979 — appearing just 17 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

כְּמַתְּנַ֣ת gift H4979 occurs in 17 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
6 nouns
1 preposition
1 particle

Verb forms

נָֽתַן Qal · Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 21 words from the Hebrew and 20 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 16 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Deuteronomy 16:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have.
Deuteronomy 16:10 You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill-offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you:
Mark 12:41–44 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much.
Leviticus 27:8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him.
Ezra 2:63 The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Deuteronomy 16:17 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

אִ֖ישׁ כְּמַתְּנַ֣ת יָד֑וֹ כְּבִרְכַּ֛ת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן לָֽךְ

every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Deuteronomy 16:17 Septuagint · lemma form

ἕκαστος κατά δύναμις ὁ χείρ σύ κατά ὁ εὐλογία κύριος ὁ θεός σύ ὅς δίδωμι σύ

Each one according to his ability, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

גְבַר כְּמַתְּנַת יְדֵהּ כְּבִרְכָּתָא דַיְיָ אֱלָהָךְ דִי יְהַב לָךְ: ססס

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

גְּבַר הֵי כְּמֵיסַת מוֹהֲבוֹת יְדֵיהּ כְּבִרְכָתָא דַּיְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן דִּיהַב לְכוֹן

every one after the measure of the gifts of his hands, according to the blessing which the Lord your God hath bestowed upon you.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Deuteronomy 16:17 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

According to the ability that God hath given him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

John Gill's Exposition

Every man shall give as he is able,.... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law, but the wise men appointed it, as observed on Deu 16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them; see Co1 16:2 so Jarchi,"every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many burnt offerings and many peace offerings.''

so Jarchi,"every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many burnt offerings and many peace offerings.''

Deuteronomy 16:18

deu 16:18

deu 16:18

deu 16:18Judges and officers shall thou make thee,.... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges, and go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and all they do is by order of the judges; so Maimonides (s): the qualifications of judges to be chosen and constituted by the people are thus described by him. In the sanhedrim, greater or lesser, they place only men wise and understanding, expert in the wisdom of the law, and masters of great knowledge, and that know some of the other sciences, as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology, the ways of soothsayers, diviners, and wizards, and the vanities of idolatry, that they may know how to judge them; and they set in the sanhedrim only priests, Levites, and Israelites, who are genealogized; nor do they set an old man there, nor an eunuch, nor a king, but an high priest, if he is qualified with wisdom; and they must be free from blemishes, and of a good stature and appearance, and understand many languages, and not hear by an interpreter; and though all this was not precisely required of the sanhedrim of three judges, yet these same things ought to be in everyone of them, wisdom, and meekness, and fear, and hatred of money, and love of truth, and love of men, and to be of a good report (t) and these were to be placed in

all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes; that is, in every city, as Onkelos, and so Jarchi; and usually the courts of judicature were held in the gates of cities, and it was only in the land of Israel, not without it, that they were obliged to set up courts of judicature, as Maimonides (u) observes; who also asks, how many courts were fixed in Israel, and what the number they consisted of? to which he answers, they fixed at first the great court in the sanctuary, and it was called the great sanhedrim, and its number were seventy one; and again, they set up two courts of twenty three, one at the door of the court, and the other at the door of the mountain of the house (and so in the Misnah) (w); and they set up in every city in Israel, in which were one hundred and twenty (men or families) or more, a lesser sanhedrim, which sat in the gate, and their number were twenty three judges; in a city in which there were not one hundred and twenty, they placed three judges, for there is no court less than three (x):

and they shall judge the people with just judgment; give a right and just sentence in all cases that come before them, according to the laws of God, and the rules of justice and equity.

(s) Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 1. (t) Ib. c. 2. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. (u) Ib. c. 1. sect. 2. (w) Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 2. (x) Ib. sect. 3, 4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Thou shalt rejoice - In God and the effects of his favour, praising him with a glad heart.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

איש כמתנת ידו EVERY MAN [SHALL BRING] ACCORDING TO THE ABILITY OF HIS HAND TO GIVE — i.e. one who has a large household (lit., many eaters) and great possessions brings many burnt offerings and many peace offerings (Sifrei Devarim 143:10; Chagigah 8b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Deuteronomy, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 9 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mattânâh (“gift”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “gift” (mattânâh) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Genesis 25:6 shares the word «gift» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «נָֽתַן» is Qal Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Geneva Bible (1599) and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 16 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.