Genesis 13:8

Summary

Abram addresses Lot directly, proposing that there be no strife between them, extending the appeal explicitly to their respective herdsmen. He grounds the request in their kinship, stating that they are "brothers" or "men-brothers."

Key words

• teHi ("there be", H1961) — qal jussive form of the verb "to be," expressing a wish or command that something not happen ("let there not be").
• meriVah ("strife", H4808) — feminine singular noun, the subject of the jussive verb, naming the conflict Abram seeks to avoid.
• bein ("between", H0996G) — repeated four times in construct form, structuring the sentence into parallel pairs (me/you, my herdsmen/your herdsmen).
• ro'ai / ro'eikha ("my herdsmen" / "your herdsmen", H7462B) — qal participles used substantively ("the ones tending/grazing"), each with a pronominal suffix marking possession.
• anashim achim ("men, brothers", H0582 + H0251H) — two nouns in apposition, literally "men brothers," used together to express the relationship "we are brothers."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative sequence marker va- attached to yomer ("he said", H0559), the standard formula introducing direct speech. The core of Abram's request is built on the negated jussive al-na tehi — the negation al ("may not", H0408) combined with the particle na ("please", H4994) softens the prohibition into a polite plea, and tehi is the qal jussive of "to be," expressing a wish that a state not come into existence. The grammatical subject of this jussive is merivah ("strife," H4808), a feminine noun, hence the feminine form of the verb.

The four repetitions of bein ("between," H0996G), each in construct state with a following pronominal suffix or noun, create a structured chain: "between me and between you," "and between my herdsmen and between your herdsmen." This repetition of the preposition before each element (rather than a single "between X and Y") is a feature of Biblical Hebrew syntax that Spanish and English translations typically compress into a single "between."

The final clause, introduced by ki ("for/that," H3588A), gives the reason for the request: anashim achim anachnu — literally "men, brothers, we [are]." The construction places two plural nouns, anashim ("men," H0582) and achim ("brothers," H0251H), side by side in apposition before the pronoun anachnu ("we," H0587), a common Hebrew idiom for expressing "we are brothers" or "we are kinsmen."

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders ki-anashim achim anachnu as fratres enim sumus ("for we are brothers"), omitting a separate equivalent for anashim ("men"). The LXX similarly gives ἄνθρωποι ἀδελφοὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμέν ("we are men, brothers"), preserving both nouns as the Hebrew does. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation renders achim as "parientes" ("relatives/kin") rather than the more literal "brothers" found in RV1909 and BSB.