Genesis 13:18

Summary

The verse narrates Abram's movement: he relocates his tent, arrives, and settles at the great trees of Mamre near Hebron, where he builds an altar to Yehovah. Four sequential verbs mark distinct stages of this action.

Key words

• ye'ehal ("he moved tent", H0167) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine singular, denoting the act of pitching or shifting one's tent.
• yavo' ("he went", H0935G) — qal narrative verb continuing the sequence, marking arrival.
• yeshev ("he dwelt", H3427) — qal narrative verb, indicating settled dwelling rather than mere passage.
• elonei ("[the] great trees of", H0436H) — masculine plural noun in construct state, linking to Mamre as the location name.
• yiven ("he built", H1129) — qal narrative verb, final action in the chain, introducing the altar construction.

What the text says

The verse is built entirely on four consecutive narrative (vav-consecutive) verbs — ye'ehal, yavo', yeshev, and yiven — each attached to the conjunction va ("and", H9001). This chain structure is a hallmark of Hebrew narrative prose: each verb picks up the action where the previous one left off, producing a tight sequence of movement, arrival, settlement, and construction. The subject Avram (H0087) is stated once, after the first verb, and governs all four actions implicitly.

The phrase be'elonei Mamre ("at the great trees of Mamre") uses a construct chain: elonei (plural construct of a noun referring to prominent trees) is bound to the proper name Mamre (H4471G), meaning the trees are specifically associated with or named after Mamre. This location is further specified by the relative clause asher be-Chevron ("which is at Hebron", H0834A + H9003 + H2275A), clarifying the geographic position relative to Hebron.

The final clause states that Abram yiven ("built") a mizbeach ("altar", H4196) la-YHWH ("to Yehovah", H9005 + H3068G). The preposition la marks the recipient or dedicatee of the altar.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew elonei ("great trees of") is rendered in the LXX as drun ("oak" or "oak grove," singular), and in the Vulgate as convallem ("valley"). These reflect different understandings of the term's meaning — the Hebrew data itself does not specify tree species, while the LXX specifies "oak" and the Vulgate shifts the sense to a valley setting.