Genesis 18:4

Summary

Genesis 18:4 records Abraham's words of hospitality to his three visitors, requesting that water be brought for washing their feet and inviting them to rest under the tree. The verse uses formal courtesy language combined with two imperative verbs directed at the guests.

Key words

• yu.kach ("let it be brought", H3947J) — hophal imperfect, a passive causative form with no named agent; the water "is caused to be brought" rather than someone explicitly bringing it.
• na' ("please", H4994) — an interjection of polite entreaty, softening the request that follows.
• me.'at-mayim ("a little of water", H4592/H4325G) — construct chain literally "a little of water," indicating a modest, specific quantity.
• ra.cha.tzu ("wash", H7364) — qal imperative masculine plural, a direct command addressed to the visitors themselves.
• hi.sha.'a.nu ("support yourself", H8172) — niphal imperative masculine plural; the niphal stem carries a reflexive/passive sense, meaning the guests are told to "cause themselves to be supported" or lean, rather than a simple active resting.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the hophal verb yu.kach, which grammatically removes the speaker as agent — the text does not say "I will bring" but rather "let it be caused to be brought." Combined with the particle na', this creates a formal, deferential request typical of hospitality speech, distancing the speaker from directly performing the action while still initiating it.

The two imperatives that follow — ra.cha.tzu ("wash") and hi.sha.'a.nu ("support yourselves") — are both addressed directly to the guests in second-person plural, making them the ones instructed to act, not Abraham acting upon them. The niphal stem of hi.sha.'a.nu is notable: rather than a plain reflexive "rest," it conveys the sense of causing oneself to be supported or leaned, which is grammatically more specific than a general resting posture.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew hophal yu.kach ("let it be brought," passive, no stated agent) corresponds to the LXX's passive imperative λημφθήτω ("let it be taken/brought"), preserving the impersonal construction. The Vulgate, however, shifts to the active first-person afferam ("I will bring"), introducing Abraham as the explicit agent — a divergence from the passive construction found in both the Hebrew and the LXX.

For hi.sha.'a.nu, the LXX renders it as καταψύξατε ("cool yourselves"), which differs from the Hebrew's sense of "support/lean" and from the Vulgate's requiescite ("rest"), the latter aligning more closely with the general meaning reflected in RV1909's recostaos and BSB's "rest yourselves."