Genesis 10:23

Summary

Genesis 10:23 lists the descendants of Aram, one of the sons of Shem mentioned earlier in the Table of Nations. The verse names four figures — Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash — presented as bene Aram ("sons of Aram", H1121A/H0758G).

Key words

• ve.Nei ("[the] sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct form of "son", grammatically bound to the following name Aram; the construct state signals a genitive relationship ("sons of X") rather than a standalone noun.
• 'a.Ram ("Aram", H0758G) — proper name, the father figure to whom the four sons are attached; functions as the absolute noun completing the construct chain begun by ve.Nei.
• 'utz ("Uz", H5780G) — first name in the list, introduced without a conjunction, immediately following Aram in apposition as the first son named.
• Chul ("Hul", H2343) — second name, joined to the list by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) prefixed to it.
• Mash ("Mash", H4851) — final name in the series, introduced with the conjunctive form va (H9002), the vav taking a different vowel pointing before this particular consonant cluster.

What the text says

The Hebrew syntax opens with u-vene Aram ("and the sons of Aram"), a construct chain that establishes Aram as the head of a genealogical unit before listing his sons. Notably, the first name, Uz (H5780G), follows without any conjunction — it stands directly in apposition to "sons of Aram," while the remaining three names (Chul, Gether, Mash) are each joined by the conjunction "and" (H9002). This creates a slight asymmetry in the list's internal punctuation: one name is presented as the direct referent of the construct phrase, while the other three are additively conjoined. The vav prefixed to Mash is pointed as va rather than ve, a phonetic variation before this word's initial consonant cluster, but it carries the same conjunctive function as the other instances of H9002 in the verse.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew fourth name is Mash (H4851). The LXX renders this as Μόσοχ (Mosoch), a form that diverges phonetically from the Hebrew consonants. The Vulgate gives "Mes," which is closer to the Hebrew Mash than the LXX's Μόσοχ but still shows a vowel shift. The remaining three names — Uz, Hul, and Gether — are rendered with closer phonetic correspondence across the LXX (Ὤς, Οὔλ, Γάθερ), the Vulgate (Us, Hul, Gether), and the Hebrew source text.