Genesis 18:7

Summary

Genesis 18:7 narrates Abraham running to the herd, selecting a calf described as tender and good, giving it to a servant, who then hurries to prepare it. The verse is built as a rapid sequence of actions using consecutive narrative verb forms.

Key words

• ratz ("he ran", H7323) — qal perfect; note that the phrase 'el-ha-baqar ("to the herd") precedes this verb rather than following it, an unusual word order that places emphasis on the destination.
• ben-baqar ("young one of the herd", H1121/H1241) — construct chain literally "son of the herd," an idiomatic way of designating a calf.
• rakh ("tender", H7390) and tov ("good", H2896) — two adjectives joined by va ("and", H9002), both modifying the calf.
• yemaher ("he hurried", H4116) — piel narrative form; the piel stem here carries an intensive nuance of speed, reinforcing the pace of the servant's action.
• la'asot 'oto ("to prepare it", H6213 + H0853 + suffix) — infinitive construct with the direct object marker and pronominal suffix "it," referring back to the calf.

What the text says

The clause opens with the prepositional phrase ve-'el-ha-baqar ("and to the herd") placed before the verb ratz ("he ran") and its subject Avraham. This fronting shifts the normal verb-first order of Hebrew narrative, drawing attention to the herd as the goal of the action before naming who performs it. After this initial clause, the text shifts into a chain of three verbs joined by the narrative va ("and," H9001): vayyiqqach ("and he took"), vayyiten ("and he gave"), and vayyemaher ("and he hurried"). This chain marks a sequence of consecutive completed actions, a structure typical of Hebrew narrative prose, giving the sentence a brisk, cumulative rhythm.

The calf itself is called ben-baqar, "a young one of the herd," modified by two adjectives, rakh ("tender") and tov ("good"), joined by the conjunction va. The final clause uses the infinitive construct la'asot ("to prepare/do") governed by the preposition la, with the object marker 'oto ("it") pointing back to the calf, expressing purpose: the servant hurries in order to prepare it.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the final infinitive la'asot ("to do/prepare") as coxit ("he cooked"), a more specific term than the Hebrew's general verb of action or preparation. The LXX form elabon ("they took" or "I took") is grammatically ambiguous between first-person singular and third-person plural, differing from the Hebrew vayyiqqach, which unambiguously marks Abraham (third-person singular) as the one who takes the calf.