Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
הערת לימוד
Study Note
Moses' command to 'take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently' addresses the epistemological danger of forgetting — specifically, forgetting the theophanic events the community witnessed at Horeb. The doubled warning ('lest thou forget... lest they depart from thy heart') employs two distinct verbs to describe how covenant memory erodes: active forgetting (shakach) and gradual departure (sar) from the heart. The obligation to transmit to 'sons and sons' sons' establishes intergenerational covenant transmission as a non-optional parental and communal duty, anticipating Deuteronomy 6:7's pedagogy. The Passover Haggadah's four-sons framework and the Jewish tradition of Shabbat table liturgy as covenant memory formation both grow from this deuteronomic pedagogical imperative.
תרגומים נוספים
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children;
`Only, take heed to thyself, and watch thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from thy heart, all days of thy life; and thou hast made them known to thy sons, and to thy sons' sons.
Only take care, and keep watch on your soul, for fear that the things which your eyes have seen go from your memory and from your heart all the days of your life; but let the knowledge of them be given to your children and to your children's children;
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