Genesis 16:2

Summary

Sarai speaks to Abram, stating that Yehovah has kept her from bearing children, and proposes that he go to her maidservant so that she might obtain offspring through her. Abram complies with what Sarai says.

Key words

• atzaRani ("he has restrained me", H6113) — qal perfect with 1st person suffix; a completed action, "he has restrained/withheld me," with Yehovah as explicit subject.
• ledet ("bearing children", H3205) — qal infinitive following the preposition mi- ("from"), forming the phrase "from bearing," expressing the goal from which Sarai is blocked.
• shifchati ("my maidservant", H8198) — feminine singular noun in construct with the 1st person suffix "my," identifying the specific woman Abram is directed toward.
• ibbaNeh ("I will be built up", H1129) — niphal (passive/reflexive) imperfect, literally "I will be built," an ongoing/future action expressed through a verb built on the root for "house/building," used here for obtaining offspring.
• yishma' ("he listened", H8085) — qal narrative form (vav-consecutive), marking Abram's response as the next event in the sequence, "and he listened."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative vav on toMer ("she said", H0559), continuing the story sequence and introducing Sarai's direct speech to Abram ('el-'avRam, "to Abram"). Her statement begins with the double interjection hinneh-na' ("here, please" / "look now, please", H2009 + H4994), a rhetorical marker drawing attention before the main clause. The verb atzaRani (H6113), a qal perfect with the 1st person object suffix -ni ("me"), places Yehovah (YHWH, H3068) as grammatical subject of an action already completed: he has restrained her. The infinitive construction mi-Ledet (H9006 + H3205) specifies what she has been restrained from — "from bearing."

The second half of her speech shifts to imperative mood: bo'-na' ("go, please", H0935 + H4994), a direct request addressed to Abram, followed by the destination 'el-shifchaTi ("to my maidservant", H8198 with 1st person suffix). The adverb 'uLai ("perhaps", H0194) introduces uncertainty around the resulting clause ibbaNeh mimenNah ("I will be built from her", H1129 + H4480), where the niphal imperfect verb form carries a passive/reflexive sense tied etymologically to "building," paired with mimenNah ("from her") indicating the source.

The narrative resumes with the vav-consecutive va-yishMa' ("and he listened", H8085), followed by le-qol saRai ("to the voice of Sarai", H6963 construct + H8297), a construct phrase literally meaning "to the voice of Sarai" rather than simply "to Sarai."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders le-qol saRai ("to the voice of Sarai") as τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῆς ("her voice"), replacing the proper name with a pronoun. The Vulgate expands the introductory formula to "dixit marito suo" ("she said to her husband"), naming the relationship rather than repeating "Abram" as the Hebrew does. Where the Hebrew niphal ibbaNeh ("I will be built up") ties the verb to the "building" root, the LXX uses τεκνοποιήσεις ("you will produce children") and the Vulgate "suscipiam filios" ("I may obtain sons"), both shifting focus from Sarai's building/being-built imagery to the direct outcome of childbearing.