Genesis 14:13

וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי וְהוּא שֹׁכֵן בְּאֵֽלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא הָאֱמֹרִי אֲחִי אֶשְׁכֹּל וַאֲחִי עָנֵר וְהֵם בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית־אַבְרָֽם׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וַיָּבֹא֙ הַפָּלִ֔יט וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאַבְרָ֣ם הָעִבְרִ֑י וְהוּא֩ שֹׁכֵ֨ן בְּאֵֽלֹנֵ֜י מַמְרֵ֣א הָאֱמֹרִ֗י אֲחִ֤י אֶשְׁכֹּל֙ וַאֲחִ֣י עָנֵ֔ר וְהֵ֖ם בַּעֲלֵ֥י בְרִית־אַבְרָֽם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

παραγενόμενος δὲ τῶν ἀνασωθέντων τις κατοικῶν Ἀβρὰμ τῷ περάτῃ· αὐτὸς δὲ κατῴκει ἐν τῇ δρυὶ τῇ Μαμβρῆ ὁ Ἄμορις τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Ἐσχὼλ καὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Αὐνάν, οἳ ἦσαν συνωμόται τοῦ Ἀβράμ.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Et ecce unus, qui evaserat, nuntiavit Abram Hebræo, qui habitabat in convalle Mambre Amorrhæi, fratris Escol, et fratris Aner: hi enim pepigerant fœdus cum Abram.

Spanish

Uno de los que escaparon fue a contarle todo esto a Abram el hebreo, que vivía cerca del encinar de Mamre el amorreo. Mamre era hermano de Escol y de Aner, los cuales eran aliados de Abram.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y vino uno de los que escaparon, y denunciólo á Abram el Hebreo, que habitaba en el valle de Mamre Amorrheo, hermano de Eschôl y hermano de Aner, los cuales estaban confederados con Abram.

English

Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse reports that an escapee informed Abram, called "the Hebrew," about the recent battle and captures. It then locates Abram geographically, near the terebinths of Mamre, and identifies Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner as men bound to Abram by a covenant relationship.

Key words

ha.Palit ("the fugitive", H6412A) — definite singular noun; identifies a specific survivor who brings the news, not an anonymous report.
ha.'Ivri ("Hebrew", H5680) — gentilic adjective attached to Abram, marking his group identity within the narrative.
sho.Khen ("dwelling", H7931) — qal participle, expressing an ongoing state ("the one dwelling") rather than a completed action, describing Abram's residence as continuous.
'e.lo.Nei ("great trees of", H0436H) — masculine plural noun in construct state, linking to Mamre; construct chains like this join two nouns into a single phrase ("the terebinths of Mamre").
ba.'a.Lei ("partners of", H1167I) — masculine plural construct noun, paired with brit ("covenant", H1285) to form the phrase "covenant-partners," describing the relationship of Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner to Abram.

What the text says

The verse opens with two consecutive narrative verbs, vayyavo ("he came", H0935G) and vayyagged ("he told", H5046), both in the qal/hiphil narrative form that marks sequential action: the fugitive arrives, then reports. The object of the report is le-Avram ha-'Ivri, "to Abram the Hebrew," where the gentilic ha.'Ivri functions as an appositive identifier rather than a proper name extension.

The next clause shifts from narrative past-tense verbs to a participial construction: ve-hu shoken ("and he was dwelling"). This participle expresses a background state, contrasting with the finished actions of arrival and report — it tells where Abram already was living when the news came, not a new event. The location is given through a construct chain, 'elonei Mamre, "terebinths of Mamre," followed by ha-Emori ("the Amorite", H0567), which describes Mamre.

The final clause introduces Eshcol and Aner through parallel construct phrases, achi Eshkol ("brother of Eshcol") and achi Aner ("brother of Aner"), both governed by Mamre as subject. The concluding statement, hem ba'alei brit-Avram ("they were covenant-partners of Abram"), uses the construct noun ba'alei plus brit to describe a formal bond, without specifying its content beyond the term "covenant."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew ha-'Ivri ("the Hebrew") is rendered in the LXX as τῷ περάτῃ ("to the one from across/beyond"), a translation reflecting the root sense of "Hebrew" as "one from across" rather than treating it as a fixed ethnic label. The Hebrew 'elonei Mamre ("terebinths/great trees of Mamre") appears in the Vulgate as in convalle Mambre ("in the valley of Mamre"), substituting a topographical term for the Hebrew's arboreal one. The LXX also structures the relationship between Mamre, the Amorite, and the brothers differently, attaching ὁ Ἄμορις in a way that does not clearly mirror the Hebrew's construct chain identifying Mamre as "the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner."

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.