Deuteronomy 28:25

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Deuteronomy 28:25 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Deuteronomy 28:25 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/deuteronomy/28/25.

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English Translation
Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
World English Bible · Public Domain
Highlights
  • 1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    Yahweh shall let you be struck down to the faces of your enemies; you will go out one way against him but will flee to his face seven ways. And you will become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    Jehovah will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and from among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    And the Lord shall cause thee to fall before thine enemies: thou shalt come out one way against them, and shalt flee seuen wayes before them, and shalt be scattered through all the kingdomes of the earth.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    `Jehovah giveth thee smitten before thine enemies; in one way thou goest out unto them, and in seven ways dost flee before them, and thou hast been for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth;
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    YHWH makes you struck before your enemies; in one way you go out to them, and in seven ways you flee before them, and you have been for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    Yahweh will cause you to be struck down before your enemies; you will go out one way against them but will flee before them seven ways. You will be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    Yahweh shall let you be struck down to the faces of your enemies; you will go out one way against him but will flee to his face seven ways. And you will become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    Jehovah will give thee up smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out against them one way, and by seven ways shalt thou flee before them; and thou shalt be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    The LORD will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thy enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    The Lord will have your enemies defeat you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will scatter seven different ways. Everyone on earth will be horrified at what happens to you.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    The Lord will let you be overcome by your haters: you will go out against them one way, and you will go in flight before them seven ways: you will be the cause of fear among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    The LORD will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them; and thou shalt be a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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לְזַעֲוָ֔ה
zaʻăvâh
H2189
“to/for · terror”
Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
Part of Speech
Preposition + Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Feminine
Number
Singular
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: by transposition for H2113

TWOT: 540a

a horror, trembling, object of terror or trembling
  1. יִתֶּנְךָ֨ nâthan H5414 “to give · you” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  2. יְהוָ֥ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
  3. נִגָּף֮ nâgaph H5062 “striking” Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  4. לִפְנֵ֣י pânîym H6440 “to/for · face(s) of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Construct
  5. אֹיְבֶיךָ֒ ʼôyêb H341 “enemy · you” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  6. בְּדֶ֤רֶךְ derek H1870 “in/at · way” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute
  7. אֶחָד֙ ʼechâd H259 “one” Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  8. תֵּצֵ֣א yâtsâʼ H3318 “to go out” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  9. אֵלָ֔יו ʼêl H413 “to · him” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  10. וּבְשִׁבְעָ֥ה shebaʻ H7651 “and · in/at · seven” Conjunction + Preposition + Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  11. דְרָכִ֖ים derek H1870 “ways” Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Absolute
  12. תָּנ֣וּס nûwç H5127 “to flee” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  13. לְפָנָ֑יו pânîym H6440 “to/for · face(s) · his” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  14. וְהָיִ֣יתָ hâyâh H1961 “and · to be” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  15. לְכֹ֖ל kôl H3605 “to/for · all of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  16. מַמְלְכ֥וֹת mamlâkâh H4467 “kingdoms of” Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct
  17. הָאָֽרֶץ ʼerets H776 “the · land” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute

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 →

18
words
16
distinct lemmas
Pentateuch
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is לְזַעֲוָ֔ה terror H2189 — appearing just 6 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

  • לְזַעֲוָ֔ה terror H2189

Shared distinctive vocabulary

לְזַעֲוָ֔ה terror H2189 occurs in 6 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 6 verbs
  • 9 nouns
  • 2 adjectives
  • 1 preposition

Verb forms

  • יִתֶּנְךָ֨ Qal · Imperfect
  • נִגָּף֮ Niphal · Participle Active
  • אֹיְבֶיךָ֒ Qal · Participle Active
  • תֵּצֵ֣א Qal · Imperfect
  • תָּנ֣וּס Qal · Imperfect
  • וְהָיִ֣יתָ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • לִפְנֵ֣י face H6440 ×2
  • בְּדֶ֤רֶךְ way H1870 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 40 words from the Hebrew and 38 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 18 Hebrew tokens and 32 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

11

Topical passages linked to Deuteronomy 28:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Isaiah 30:17 One thousand [shall flee] at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall you flee: until you be left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
  • Ezekiel 23:46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed.
  • Deuteronomy 28:7 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you: they shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways.
  • Jeremiah 24:9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
  • Leviticus 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
  • Deuteronomy 32:30 How should one chase a thousand, Two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had sold them, Yahweh had delivered them up?
  • Leviticus 26:36–37 "'As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they will fall when no one pursues.
  • Jeremiah 15:2–9 It shall happen, when they tell you, Where shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
  • Jeremiah 29:18 I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;
  • Jeremiah 34:17 Therefore thus says Yahweh: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

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 28:25 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

יִתֶּנְךָ֨ יְהוָ֥ה נִגָּף֮ לִפְנֵ֣י אֹיְבֶיךָ֒ בְּדֶ֤רֶךְ אֶחָד֙ תֵּצֵ֣א אֵלָ֔יו וּבְשִׁבְעָ֥ה דְרָכִ֖ים תָּנ֣וּס לְפָנָ֑יו וְהָיִ֣יתָ לְזַעֲוָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל מַמְלְכ֥וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ

Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Deuteronomy 28:25 Septuagint · lemma form

δίδωμι σύ κύριος ἐπικοπή ἐναντίον ὁ ἐχθρός σύ ἐν ὁδός εἷς ἐκἔρχομαι πρός αὐτός καί ἐν ἑπτά ὁδός φεύγω ἀπό πρόσωπον αὐτός καί εἰμί ἐν διασπορά ἐν πᾶς ὁ βασιλεία ὁ γῆ

The Lord give you up for slaughter before your enemies: you shall go out against them one way, and flee from their face seven ways; and you shall be a dispersion in all the kingdoms of the earth.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

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)

2

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.

  1. Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    יִתְּנִנָךְ יְיָ תְּבִיר קֳדָם סָנְאָךְ בְּאָרְחָא חֲדָא תִּפּוֹק לְוָתֵהּ וּבְשִׁבְעָא אָרְחָן תֵּעִרוֹק מִקָדָמוֹהִי וּתְהֵי לְזִיעַ לְכָל מַלְכְּוַת אַרְעָא

    (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.

  2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    יְשַׁוֵי יַתְכוֹן מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ תְּבִירִין קֳדָם בַּעֲלֵי דְבָבֵיכוֹן בְּאָרְחָא חַד תִּפְקוּן לִקְדָמוּתְהוֹן לְסִדְרֵי קְרָבָא וּבְשִׁבְעָתֵי אָרְחָן טַעֲיָין תֶּהֱווֹן מַפְכִין (י"ג עַרְקִין) מִן קֳדָמֵיהוֹן וְתֶהֱווֹן לְרִיחוּק לְכָל מַלְכוּת אַרְעָא

    The Word of the Lord will cause you to be broken before your enemies: by one way you will go out to battle, but by seven ways shall you flee confounded before them, to become an execration in all the kingdoms of the earth.

    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 28:25 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 →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Deu 28:25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Ver. 25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten.] David well understood the heaviness of this stroke, and therefore chose rather to fall into God’s hands another way, {2Sa 24:14} since "the tender mercies of the wicked are cruelties": -

“ Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem. ”

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

28:25 This verse reverses the blessing of 28:7; Israel would be forced to scatter from their enemies in seven directions—i.e., completely and totally.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Some read, thou shalt be a terror and fear, when they shall hear how God hath plagued thee.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) The contrary to Deu_28:7.

Removed.—Literally, a removing. The LXX. in this place has διασπορά, or dispersion, the word used for the dispersed Israelites in the New Testament. (See Revised Version, Joh_7:35; 1Pe_1:1.) The threat is repeated in Jer_15:4 for the sins of king Manaseeh.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

25. See on Deu_28:7; Deu_28:20 a.

tossed to and fro] Rather, for a trembling or a horror (Heb. leza‘avah). So the v. does not necessarily imply exile. Cp. Jer_15:4; Jer_24:9; Jer_29:18; Jer_34:17.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

The Lord shall smite thee with madness,.... At the calamities befallen them, and through the force of diseases on them:

and blindness; not of body, but of mind; with judicial blindness and hardness of heart:

and astonishment of heart; at the miserable condition they and their families should be in.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Scattered, as they are at present. The real import of the Hebrew is doubtful. Some agree with the Vulgate and Septuagint; (Haydock) others translate, Thou shalt be trembling, an object of astonishment and horror. Others, All who see thee shall quake; they shall insult over thee, wagging their head. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Removed. Heb. for a removing; to be tossed like a football from place to place, and from people to people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

25. To be smitten before thine enemies — In contrast with the blessing in the seventh verse.

Thou shalt go out one way… and flee seven — How graphic the description of an army marching to battle in confident expectation of victory, and then beaten disastrously, fleeing in every direction!

Shalt be removed — “Tossed about like a ball from one nation to another.” — Wordsworth.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Vers. 25, 26. Utter defeat in battle (the opposite of the blessing promised, ver. 7) and dispersion among the nations are threatened, with the utmost indignity to those who were slain, in their bodies being left unburied to be devoured by birds of prey and wild beasts (cf. 1Ki_14:11; Psa_79:2; Jer_7:33 Jer_16:4, etc.) Shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; literally, shalt be a tossing to and fro to all the kingdoms , etc.; "a ball for all the kingdoms to play with". (Schultz; cf. 2Ch_29:8; Jer_15:4 Jer_24:9 Jer_29:18, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)

Yahweh will cause you to be struck down before your enemies

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh will cause your enemies to strike you down" (See: Active or Passive)

to be struck down before

See how you translated this in Deuteronomy 28:7.

will flee before them seven ways

This means the Israelites will be afraid and panic and run away from their enemies. See similar wording in Deuteronomy 28:7. AT: "you will flee in seven directions" (See: Numbers)

seven ways

This is an idiom. AT: "in many different directions" (See: Idiom)

You will be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms

This can be stated in active form. AT: "The peoples of the other nations will drive you from one nation to another" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

kingdom

earth

die

body

heaven

beast

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

לזעוה [AND THOU SHALT] BECOME A זעוה, i.e. a cause of fright and trembling: it means that all who will hear of thy afflictions will tremblingly move away from you and will say, “Woe upon us, would that there should not befall us as has befallen them!”

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 18 words (16 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is zaʻăvâh (“terror”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. How does “terror” (zaʻăvâh) shape what this verse is saying?
  2. The word “terror” first appears here in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
  3. 2 Chronicles 29:8 shares the word «terror» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
  4. “face” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
  5. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  6. The verb «יִתֶּנְךָ֨» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
  7. Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

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Old Testament
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English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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