Genesis 13:4

Summary

The verse describes Abram returning to the site of the altar he had previously built between Bethel and Ai, and there invoking the name of Yehovah. The Hebrew marks this as a return to a specific, previously established location tied to prior worship.

Key words

• meqOm ("place of", H4725) — construct form linking directly to ha-mizbeach, producing "the place of the altar" rather than a generic location.
• mizbeach ("altar", H4196) — the noun defining what was built there; carries the definite article via the preceding construct chain.
• 'asher ("which/that", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause describing what Abram had done at that place.
• ba-ri'shonah ("at the former [time]", H7223G) — an ordinal/adverbial expression indicating "the first time" or "previously," specifying that this altar-building was an earlier event.
• vayyiqra ("and he called", H7121G) — verb with narrative vav, marking sequential action: after arriving, Abram then calls.
• be-shem YHWH ("in/by the name of Yehovah", H8034 + H3068G) — construct phrase functioning as the object of the calling, with be- indicating the means or content of the invocation.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the preposition 'el ("to", H0413) governing the construct chain meqOm ha-mizbeach — literally "the place of the altar" — which identifies the destination not simply as a location but as the specific place marked by a structure Abram had made. The relative clause 'asher 'asah sham ba-ri'shonah ("which he had made there at the former [time]") uses a qal perfect verb, indicating completed prior action relative to the main narrative timeline: the altar-building happened before the events now being narrated.

The narrative then shifts with the vav-consecutive verb vayyiqra ("and he called"), a qal form marking the next event in sequence. The subject Abram (H0087) is stated explicitly in the Hebrew, followed by sham ("there", H8033G) repeated from the earlier clause, reinforcing that the calling occurs at that same altar-place. The final phrase be-shem YHWH uses the preposition be- attached to shem ("name", H8034) in construct with the divine name, forming an idiom for invocation — the calling is directed toward or by means of that name.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew names the structure as mizbeach ("altar"), and the Vulgate matches this with altaris ("of the altar"). The Greek text supplied, however, uses σκηνήν ("tent") rather than a term for altar, diverging from both the Hebrew and the Latin at this point. Additionally, the Hebrew explicitly states the subject Abram performing the invocation, a detail the Greek clause here does not repeat, leaving the subject implicit from context.