Deuteronomy 12:5

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

Instead, seek the place that the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put His name and make His presence dwell, and go there.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֠י אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ מִכָּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם לָשׂ֥וּם אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שָׁ֑ם לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ וּבָ֥אתָ שָֽׁמָּה׃

Transliteration

kî ʾim-to-the māqôm which-yiḇḥar YHWH ʾĕlōhêḵɛm from-all-šiḇṭêḵɛm to lāśûm ʾet-šəmô there to šiḵnô tidrəšû û-ḇāʾtā there

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *ʾim*: conjunction - if/but
• *māqôm*: masculine singular noun - place
• *yiḇḥar*: qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - he will choose
• *YHWH*: divine name
• *ʾĕlōhêḵɛm*: masculine plural noun with 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your God
• *šiḇṭêḵɛm*: masculine plural noun with 2nd person masculine plural suffix - your tribes
• *lāśûm*: preposition + qal infinitive construct - to put/place
• *šəmô*: masculine singular noun with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his name
• *šiḵnô*: masculine singular noun with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his dwelling
• *tidrəšû*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural - you shall seek
• *û-ḇāʾtā*: conjunction + qal perfect 2nd person masculine singular - and you shall come

Word Meanings

• *kî* *ʾim*: but rather/except/but only
• *yiḇḥar*: choose/select/elect
• *lāśûm*: to put/to place/to set
• *šiḵnô*: his dwelling/his habitation/his abode
• *tidrəšû*: seek/inquire/require/resort to

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  But you shall seek the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His habitation you shall come:

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the place{H4725} which Jehovah{H3068} your God{H430} shall choose{H977} out of all your tribes,{H7626} to put{H7760} his name{H8034} there, even unto his habitation{H7933} shall ye seek,{H1875} and thither thou shalt come;{H935}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the place{H4725} which the LORD{H3068} your God{H430} shall choose{H977}{(H8799)} out of all your tribes{H7626} to put{H7760}{(H8800)} his name{H8034} there, even unto his habitation{H7933} shall ye seek{H1875}{(H8799)}, and thither thou shalt come{H935}{(H8804)}:

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  but ye shall enquere the place which the Lorde youre God shall haue chosen out of all youre trybes to put his name there and there to dwell.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  but the place which ye LORDE youre God shal chose out of all yor trybes (that he maye let his name dwell there) shal ye seke,

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  But ye shal seeke the place which the Lord your God shall chose out of all your tribes, to put his Name there, and there to dwell, and thither thou shalt come,

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  But ye shall seeke the place which the Lorde your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and there to dwell, and thyther thou shalt come:

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  ¶ But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, [even] unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  but unto the place which Jehovah your God doth choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His tabernacle ye seek, and thou hast entered thither,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But unto the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But unto the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come;

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  But let your hearts be turned to the place which will be marked out by the Lord your God, among your tribes, to put his name there;

• World English Bible (2000)

  But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there.

Referenced Verses

• Deut 12:11 : 11 Then to the place the Lord your God chooses for His name to dwell, you shall bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes, your special gifts, and all the choice offerings you have vowed to the Lord.
• 2 Chr 7:12 : 12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
• Deut 16:2 : 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover offering to the Lord your God, from your flock and herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to place His name.
• Deut 26:2 : 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and put it in a basket. Then you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His name,
• 1 Kgs 8:29 : 29 'May Your eyes be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You said, “My name shall be there,” to hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.'
• Ps 78:68 : 68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
• Josh 18:1 : 1 The entire assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, where they set up the Tent of Meeting, and the land was subdued before them.
• 1 Kgs 8:16 : 16 'Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where My name might be, but I chose David to rule My people Israel.'
• 1 Kgs 8:20 : 20 The LORD has fulfilled His word that He spoke: I have arisen in place of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have also built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
• 1 Kgs 8:27 : 27 'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even the heavens, the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built!'
• Deut 12:13 : 13 Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see.
• Exod 15:2 : 2 The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will glorify Him; the God of my father, and I will exalt Him.
• Exod 25:22 : 22 I will meet with you there and speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, about everything I will command you regarding the Israelites.
• Num 7:89 : 89 Whenever Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement cover that was on the ark of the covenant, between the two cherubim. And the LORD spoke to him.
• Ps 87:2-3 : 2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken of you, city of God. Selah.
• Ps 132:13-14 : 13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 14 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.'
• Isa 66:1-2 : 1 This is what the Lord says: 'The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is the house you could build for Me, and where is My resting place?'. 2 My hand made all these things, and so all these came into being,' declares the Lord. 'But I will look to this one: to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
• John 4:20-22 : 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.
• Acts 7:48-50 : 48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says: 49 Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?
• Eph 2:20-22 : 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. 21 In Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.
• Col 2:9 : 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.
• Heb 12:22 : 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
• Rev 14:1 : 1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were 144,000 who had His Father's name written on their foreheads.
• 1 Kgs 14:21 : 21 Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.
• 1 Chr 22:1 : 1 Then David said, 'This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offerings for Israel.'
• Josh 9:27 : 27 On that day, Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly and for the altar of the LORD at the place He would choose. And they continue to do so to this day.