Genesis 13:17

Summary

This verse contains a divine command to Abram, instructing him to rise and traverse the land in its full length and breadth, followed by the reason: the land is being given to him. The verse combines two imperative verbs with a causal clause explaining the command.

Key words

• kum ("arise", H6965B) — qal imperative, calling for physical action to begin; often paired with another imperative to intensify a command.
• hit.ha.Lekh ("walk about", H1980I) — hithpael imperative, the reflexive/intensive stem conveying repeated or extended movement ("walk back and forth," "traverse"), not a single walk but a covering motion through the land.
• 'a.re.Ka ("its length", H0753) — construct noun with pronominal suffix "her/its," referring back to 'A.retz ("land", H0776G); grammatically bound to the land's dimension.
• ki ("for/that", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing the causal clause that grounds the command in a stated action.
• 'et.te.Ne.nah ("I will give it", H5414G) — qal imperfect first person, with the imperfect aspect indicating an action presented as ongoing, future, or in process, attached to the pronominal suffix "it" (referring to the land).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with two stacked imperatives, kum ("arise") and hit.ha.Lekh ("walk about"), both second person masculine singular. The doubling of imperatives is a common Hebrew construction where the first verb (kum) functions almost as an auxiliary intensifying the second, main action verb. The hithpael stem of hit.ha.Lekh is significant: rather than a simple qal "walk," the reflexive/iterative force of hithpael suggests movement back and forth, covering territory repeatedly rather than a single directional walk.

The phrase le'arkah u-lerachbah ("to its length and to its breadth") uses two construct nouns, each bearing the feminine pronominal suffix -ah ("her/its"), referring back to 'A.retz ("land," a feminine noun). This construction specifies the manner or extent of the walking — through the entire dimensional span of the land, not merely part of it.

The causal particle ki introduces the reason for the command: leka 'ettenennah ("to you I will give it"). The verb 'ettenennah is qal imperfect first person singular with a third feminine singular suffix attached ("it," referring to the land). The imperfect form here is commonly rendered as a future ("I will give"), though the imperfect aspect in Hebrew can also express an action in the process of happening.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ("and to your seed for the age/forever"), a phrase not present in the Hebrew text provided, which ends simply with 'ettenennah ("I will give it"). The Vulgate's daturus sum ("I am about to give / I will give") reflects a periphrastic future construction, differing formally from the Hebrew imperfect 'ettenennah, though both convey a future-oriented sense.