Genesis 12:17

Summary

The verse reports that Yehovah struck Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, explicitly linking this action to the matter of Sarai, Abram's wife. The sentence is a short narrative unit with a single main verb followed by its direct objects and a causal clause.

Key words

• va-yenagga' ("and he struck", H5060) — piel narrative form; the piel stem intensifies the action of "touching/striking," suggesting a forceful or severe blow rather than a light touch.
• nega'im ("plagues", H5061) — masculine plural noun, functioning as an adverbial accusative describing the means/manner of the striking ("with plagues").
• gedolim ("great", H1419A) — masculine plural adjective modifying nega'im, intensifying the severity of the plagues.
• beito ("his house", H1004M + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, meaning "house of him," i.e., Pharaoh's household, joined to Pharaoh as a second direct object via the repeated object marker 'et.
• devar ("matter of", H1697M) — construct noun introducing the causal phrase "on account of the matter of," linking the plagues to the situation involving Sarai.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative vav attached to yenagga' ("and he struck"), establishing Yehovah as subject and Pharaoh as the first direct object, marked by 'et. The verb is in the piel stem, which in this root (naga', "to touch") carries an intensive nuance — not a mere touch but an affliction. Two direct objects are marked separately with 'et: first Pharaoh himself, then "his house" (beito), each receiving the action of the verb, though the plagues (nega'im gedolim) apply to both.

The phrase nega'im gedolim functions adverbially, describing the instrument or form of the striking — "with great plagues." The final clause, introduced by 'al-devar ("on account of the matter of"), supplies the cause: the situation involving Sarai (H8297), described in construct as 'eshet Avram ("wife of Abram," H0802H + H0087). The construct chain 'eshet Avram ties Sarai's identity directly to her marital relationship, which is the stated reason for the affliction.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds kai ponerois ("and evil/severe"), an additional adjective not present in the Hebrew, which has only gedolim ("great"). The LXX also renders the divine name as ho theos ("God") rather than transliterating or otherwise marking the tetragrammaton Yehovah (H3068G) as the Vulgate does with Dominus ("the Lord"). The Vulgate's plagis maximis corresponds closely to the Hebrew nega'im gedolim without the added second adjective found in the LXX.