תֵֽלְכ֔וּן (ṯê·lə·ḵūn) in Deuteronomy 6:14: Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
תֵֽלְכ֔וּן (ṯê·lə·ḵūn) in Deuteronomy 6:14
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Deuteronomy 6:14 links the English rendering "follow" with תֵֽלְכ֔וּן, Strong's H1980, and the parsing label V-Qal-Imperf-2mp | Pn.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form sharpens the verse as a direct covenant warning. The second-person plural ending keeps the address corporate, while the imperfect form functions in a prohibition shaped by the surrounding command.
How To Communicate It
Explain that the form is addressed to the people as a plural "you" and functions in a command context. This helps readers hear the warning without reducing the imperfect to simple future tense.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not treat the Hebrew imperfect as a simple English future in every passage.
- Do not use the stem label by itself to settle a theological claim.
- Do not turn this occurrence guide into a full word study for every use of the Strong's entry.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Qal
Imperfect
Second
Masculine
Plural
Pronominal suffix
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
The imperfect form should be read from the movement of this sentence rather than treated as a simple English future in every context.
This form carries the BSB rendering "follow" within Deuteronomy 6:14. Deuteronomy 6 presses covenant instruction into ordinary life: loving the Lord, remembering redemption, teaching the next generation, and walking in obedience.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The verbal prohibition rendered "follow" in Deuteronomy 6:14
The negative command warns Israel not to go after the gods of the surrounding peoples.
It addresses the covenant community as "you" plural and carries the forbidden action inside the command not to follow other gods.
It does not make the Hebrew imperfect a mere prediction of the future, and it does not let the morphology label replace the covenant warning of the verse.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form carries the forbidden action in a covenant warning against following other gods.
Verbal form in prohibition. marks the action forbidden to the addressed covenant community. Attached to the warning not to follow other gods. Governed by the negative command of Deuteronomy 6:14. The command context controls the force more than the imperfect label by itself.
Who is being warned not to follow other gods? The second-person plural form addresses the covenant people, not merely one individual.
Supporting: The person and number support the plural address, while the negative command context supplies the prohibition.
Hebrew imperfect forms can carry modal or command force in context and should not be reduced to English future tense. The masculine plural form is grammatical address to the covenant community and should not be turned into a claim that only males are addressed.
Imperfect means future: The imperfect label does not decide tense by itself; the negative command shapes the force here. masculine plural means only men: The form is grammatical address; the covenant context identifies the addressed people.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Deuteronomy 6:14 links the English rendering "follow" with תֵֽלְכ֔וּן, Strong's H1980, and the parsing label V-Qal-Imperf-2mp | Pn.
H1980 is represented here by the lemma הָלַךְ. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "follow" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The Qal imperfect second-person plural form occurs in a negative command in Deuteronomy 6:14; the command setting gives the form its warning force.
Deuteronomy 6 presses covenant instruction into ordinary life: loving the Lord, remembering redemption, teaching the next generation, and walking in obedience.
The form fits Deuteronomy's covenant pattern: redemption is remembered, the command is heard, and obedience is taught as life before the Lord.
When teaching Deuteronomy 6:14, connect the second-person plural ending to the corporate address and the negative command to the warning against following other gods.
Do not derive a full word study, grammar doctrine, or passage theology from V-Qal-Imperf-2mp | Pn alone. The form identifies the occurrence-level action within this warning.