Genesis 18:5

Summary

Abraham invites the three visitors to eat a piece of bread so that they may sustain themselves before continuing their journey, noting that this is the reason they turned toward his tent. The visitors respond, agreeing to do as he has proposed.

Key words

• 'ekchah ("let me bring", H3947J) — qal infinitive form used as a first-person expression of intent, giving the sense "let me take/bring" rather than a flat future.
• sa'adu ("sustain", H5582) — qal imperative, plural, directly commanding the guests to nourish themselves; the verb governs libbekhem ("your heart", H3820A + H9026), the idiomatic object for physical strengthening.
• ta'avoru ("you will pass on", H5674A) — qal imperfect, marking the continuation of the journey as a future/ongoing action after the meal.
• 'al-ken (H5921B + H3651B) — preposition plus adverb forming a causal expression, "since/for this reason," linking the visit to its purpose.
• dibbarta ("you have said", H1696G) — piel perfect, completed action, used by the visitors to refer back to Abraham's own proposal.

What the text says

The verse is built around a sequence of imperative and cohortative-type forms that mark Abraham's speech as an offer followed by instruction. The clause opens with ve'ekchah ("so let me bring", H3947J), a first-person qal form expressing his intended action, followed by sa'adu ("sustain", H5582), a direct plural imperative addressed to the guests. This creates a two-part structure: what Abraham will do (bring bread) and what the guests should do (sustain their hearts). The imperfect ta'avoru ("you will pass on", H5674A) then shifts to describing the onward journey as a future consequence of the meal.

The causal clause ki-'al-ken 'avartem 'al-'avdekhem uses the perfect 'avartem ("you have passed by", H5674A) to state a completed fact — their passing by Abraham's servant-position — as the grounds for the invitation. The construct chain 'avde-khem ("your servant", H5650 + H9026) reflects Abraham referring to himself in the third person as "your servant," a common self-referential idiom in this kind of address. The narrative then shifts with the vav-consecutive verb yo'meru ("and they said", H0559), introducing the guests' reply, which repeats the adverb ken ("thus", H3651C) and closes with the piel perfect dibbarta ("you have said", H1696G), confirming agreement with Abraham's own words.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) reorders the clauses: it places "you will pass on your way" (μετὰ τοῦτο παρελεύσεσθε εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῶν) before "for this reason you turned aside to your servant," reversing the Hebrew sequence of instruction-then-reason. The LXX also adds the phrase "into your way" (εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ὑμῶν), an explicit destination not present in the Hebrew clause with ta'avoru. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew order more closely, rendering sa'adu as the imperative "confortate cor vestrum," matching the Hebrew's command form on "heart."