What Does Deuteronomy 3:26 Mean?
But the LORD crossed over against me for your sakes, and would not hear and respond to me. And the LORD said to me, Enough for you. Do not go on to speak to me of this word again.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.THE KEY
Hebrew says “do not add” (אַל־תּוֹסֶף, al-tosif), then uses the same root דבר (d-b-r, “word/speak”) for “speak” (דַּבֵּר, dabbēr) and “matter” (דָּבָר, dābār), so the command closes both the speech and its subject.
THE MEANING
Here the reader meets an appeal that does not receive the requested answer: the LORD refuses plainly and closes the subject. “For your sakes” places the cost on the addressed community, even as Moses bears the refusal. His desire remains visible in the very exchange that ends the appeal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An earnest request must eventually be granted: Moses’ plea is refused, and the refusal is explicit.
THE ROOT
דַּבֵּר
dabbēr
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; word, thing, matter.
The text uses דַּבֵּר (dabbēr, “speak”) for the command and דָּבָר (dābār, “word/matter”) for its subject, both from דבר (d-b-r, “word/speak”). English separates speech from the matter spoken about; Hebrew binds them in one root, making the final command close the act and its object at once.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: Word, thing, matter.
דָּבָר
The matter Moses must stop speaking about is named with the same root as speaking itself.
dibbēr: To speak, address.
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb behind the command to stop speaking about the matter.
אַל־תּוֹסֶף
al-tosif
GROWS FROM
יסף
y-s-f
Add, increase, continue.
“Do not go on” in this verse is al-tosif. The English “speak no more” hides the verb “add”: the Hebrew says, “do not add to speaking any further.” The name Joseph carries the same “may he add” root, while this command bars further addition to the plea.
ALSO GROWS
yāsaf: To add, increase, continue.
יָסַף
The prohibition is framed as adding no further speech about this matter.
Yôsēf: Joseph; “may he add.”
יוֹסֵף
Joseph’s name carries the same root of addition that this command negates.
רַב־לָךְ
rav lakh
GROWS FROM
רבב
r-b-b
Be much or great; become numerous.
“suffice” in this verse is rav lakh. The phrase רַב־לָךְ (rav lakh, “much for you”) functions idiomatically as “enough for you.” The refusal remains plain, while its key word carries the language of muchness and measure.
ALSO GROWS
rav: Much, great, abundant.
רַב
This is the key word in the phrase rendered “Let it suffice thee.”
revavah: A myriad, ten thousand.
רְבָבָה
This branch carries the same root’s sense of great quantity.
THE PATTERN
A plea can be voiced directly and still meet a firm boundary.
The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, You have settled long enough in this mountain.And he said to me, "My favor is enough for you, for strength is carried to its end in weakness." Most gladly, then, I will boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Anointed One may pitch its tent over me.And he went a little farther, and fell upon his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.THE THREAD
The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, You have settled long enough in this mountain.Both verses use the same root רבב (r-b-b, “be much or great”) in the construction רַב־לָךְ (rav lakh, “much/enough for you”) and רַב־לָכֶם (rav lakhem, “much/enough for you,” plural). In Deuteronomy 1:6 it marks enough dwelling on the mountain; here it marks enough speaking about the matter, making sufficiency itself the repeated boundary.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us