Genesis 16:11

Summary

The angel of Yehovah (mal'akh YHWH, H4397H/H3068G) addresses Hagar directly, announcing her pregnancy, the birth of a son, and the name she is to give him — Yishma'el ("Ishmael", H3458G). The verse closes with the etymological explanation of the name: Yehovah has heard her affliction.

Key words

• hinnakh (הִנָּ֥ךְ) — H2009 + H9042: the interjection hinneh ("here/behold") fused with a 2nd-person feminine suffix, directly pointing at Hagar without any verb "to be."
• harah (הָרָ֖ה) — H2030A: an adjective, feminine singular, describing a state rather than an action — "pregnant," not "you conceived."
• yoladt (יֹלַ֣דְתְּ) — H3205: participle form feminine singular, glossed "the one doing," used here to describe an imminent/future action, "you will bear."
• qarat (וְקָרָ֤את) — H7121H: sequential perfect (vav + perfect), continuing the narrative chain and functioning as an instruction/prediction — "you will call."
• shama (שָׁמַ֥ע) — H8085G: perfect verb, "he has listened/heard," completed action, which explains the meaning built into the name Yishma'el ("God hears").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative va (H9001) attached to yomer ("he said," H0559), a standard qal narrative form introducing direct speech. The speech itself begins with hinnakh harah — literally "behold-you pregnant" — a construction with no finite verb: the interjection hinneh plus a pronominal suffix plus an adjective. This creates an immediate, pointing statement about Hagar's present condition rather than a report of a past action.

The following clause, ve-yoladt ben ("and you will bear a son"), uses a participle (H3205) rather than a finite future verb, a common pattern in Biblical Hebrew for describing an action already set in motion or imminent. The next clause, ve-qarat shemo Yishma'el ("and you will call his name Ishmael"), uses the sequential perfect (vav + perfect, H7121H), a form that continues a chain of connected future/injunctive actions begun by the participle.

The final clause, introduced by ki ("for/because," H3588A), gives the etymological basis for the name: shama YHWH el 'onyekh ("Yehovah has listened to your affliction"). The perfect verb shama (H8085G) indicates a completed action, and the noun 'oni ("affliction," H6040) appears in construct with the suffix "your," specifying whose affliction was heard. The name Yishma'el itself contains the root shama ("to hear"), making the explanatory clause a direct wordplay on the name just given.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders hinnakh harah as "you have in the womb" (ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχεις), a paraphrase using a verb of possession where the Hebrew has an adjective with no verb. For qarat (sequential perfect), the LXX uses a plain future (κολέσεις), which does not convey the sequential/injunctive nuance carried by the Hebrew form. The Vulgate's concepisti ("you have conceived") renders the adjective harah as a completed verbal action, differing from the stative adjectival form in the Hebrew.