Genesis 10:25
וּלְעֵבֶר יֻלַּד שְׁנֵי בָנִים שֵׁם הָֽאֶחָד פֶּלֶג כִּי בְיָמָיו נִפְלְגָה הָאָרֶץ וְשֵׁם אָחִיו יָקְטָֽן׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וּלְעֵ֥בֶר יֻלַּ֖ד שְׁנֵ֣י בָנִ֑ים שֵׁ֣ם הָֽאֶחָ֞ד פֶּ֗לֶג כִּ֤י בְיָמָיו֙ נִפְלְגָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ וְשֵׁ֥ם אָחִ֖יו יָקְטָֽן׃
καὶ τῷ Ἔβερ ἐγεννήθησαν δύο υἱοί· ὄνομα τῷ ἑνὶ Φάλεκ, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ διεμερίσθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ ὄνομα τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ Ἰεκτάν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Natique sunt Heber filii duo: nomen uni Phaleg, eo quod in diebus ejus divisa sit terra: et nomen fratris ejus Jectan.
Héber tuvo dos hijos. Uno se llamaba Péleg, porque en su tiempo se dividió la tierra; su hermano se llamaba Joctán.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y á Heber nacieron dos hijos: el nombre del uno fué Peleg, porque en sus días fué repartida la tierra; y el nombre de su hermano, Joctán.
Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse states that two sons were born to Eber: one named Peleg, whose name is explained by the fact that "the earth was divided" in his days, and the other named Joktan, identified as his brother.
Key words
- yulLad ("was born", H3205) — pual (intensive passive) perfect, third person masculine singular; indicates a completed passive event, "he was caused to be born," without naming an explicit agent.
- Peleg ("Peleg", H6389) — proper name of a person; the text links it phonetically and semantically to the following verb niflegah.
- niflegah ("was divided", H6385) — niphal (passive/reflexive) perfect, third person feminine singular, agreeing with ha'Aretz ("the earth", H0776G); denotes a completed action of division affecting the earth.
- ki ("for/that", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing the causal or explanatory clause that follows, connecting the name Peleg to the event described.
- shem ("name of", H8034) — masculine singular construct noun, used twice in the verse to introduce the naming formulas for both sons.
What the text says
The verse opens with u-le-'Ever yullad shenei vanim — "and to Eber were born two sons" — using the passive pual verb yullad ("was born", H3205), which places grammatical focus on the sons rather than on Eber as agent. The construct phrase shenei vanim ("two of sons", H8147 + H1121A) functions as a numbered pair introduced before the individual names are given.
The naming structure uses shem ha-'echad ("the name of the one", H8034 + H0259) followed by the name Peleg (H6389) in apposition, without a copular verb — Biblical Hebrew nominal sentences typically omit "to be." The explanatory clause begins with ki ("for", H3588A), a particle that introduces the reason for the name: be-yamav niflegah ha-'aretz ("in his days the earth was divided", H9003 + H3117G + H6385 + H0776G). The verb niflegah is niphal perfect feminine, agreeing with the feminine noun ha-'aretz ("the earth"), and shares its root (פלג) with the name Peleg, producing a wordplay between the name and the event described. The verse closes with a parallel naming formula for the brother, ve-shem 'achiv Yaqtan ("and the name of his brother [was] Yoqtan", H8034 + H0251G + H3355), again without an explicit verb "to be."
Differences between versions
The LXX renders yullad ("was born", passive singular) as ἐγεννήθησαν, a passive plural verb ("were born"), matching the plural subject "two sons" more explicitly than the Hebrew's singular passive form. The Vulgate similarly uses the plural "Natique sunt... filii duo" ("and two sons were born"). Both LXX (διεμερίσθη) and Vulgate (divisa sit) render niflegah ("was divided") with terms for division, preserving the causal link to the name Peleg/Phaleg, though the wordplay embedded in the Hebrew root פלג is less visible in Greek and Latin than in the Hebrew text itself.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.