Genesis 2:5

וְכֹל׀ שִׂיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִֽהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ וְכָל־עֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה טֶרֶם יִצְמָח כִּי לֹא הִמְטִיר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים עַל־הָאָרֶץ וְאָדָם אַיִן לַֽעֲבֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וְכֹ֣ל׀ שִׂ֣יחַ הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה טֶ֚רֶם יִֽהְיֶ֣ה בָאָ֔רֶץ וְכָל־עֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה טֶ֣רֶם יִצְמָ֑ח כִּי֩ לֹ֨א הִמְטִ֜יר יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאָדָ֣ם אַ֔יִן לַֽעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ πᾶν χλωρὸν ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ πάντα χόρτον ἀγροῦ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι. οὐ γὰρ ἔβρεξεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἦν ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν·

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

et omne virgultum agri antequam oriretur in terra, omnemque herbam regionis priusquam germinaret: non enim pluerat Dominus Deus super terram, et homo non erat qui operaretur terram:

Spanish

aún no había en la tierra ningún arbusto del campo, ni había brotado ninguna hierba, porque Yehová Dios todavía no había hecho llover sobre la tierra, ni había nadie que la cultivara.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y toda planta del campo antes que fuese en la tierra, y toda hierba del campo antes que naciese: porque aun no había Jehová Dios hecho llover sobre la tierra, ni había hombre para que labrase la tierra;

English

Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

✦ What the text says

Summary

Genesis 2:5 describes a state of the earth prior to certain conditions: no shrub of the field yet existed, no vegetation of the field had sprouted, because Yehovah Elohim had not caused rain to fall on the earth, and there was no human to till the ground. The verse establishes a causal chain between absence of rain, absence of vegetation, and absence of a human cultivator.

Key words

Si.ach ("shrub of", H7880) — masculine singular construct noun, linked to sa.Deh ("field", H7704G) to form "shrub of the field"; the construct state ties the plant specifically to uncultivated/open land.
Te.rem ("not yet", H2962) — appears twice (lines 6 and 15), marking temporal priority before an event; it governs the verbs that follow, framing both plant-verbs as not-yet-realized.
yih.Yeh ("was", H1961) — Qal imperfect of "to be," here used with Te.rem to express an action not yet completed, i.e., a state not yet reached rather than a simple past negation.
him.Tir ("he had caused rain", H4305) — Hiphil (causative) perfect of the root for rain; the causative stem indicates an agent actively producing rain, not rain occurring on its own.
'a.Vod ("till", H5647I) — Qal infinitive construct, used after the preposition la. ("to", H9005), forming a purpose clause: "to till/in order to till" — explaining the function absent because 'aDam ("human", H0120G) is stated as 'Ayin ("there not", H0369).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two parallel Te.rem + imperfect clauses (lines 1–16) describing vegetation not yet existing or sprouting "on the earth" (ba.Aretz, H0776G with H9003). This parallel structure is followed by a causal clause introduced by ki ("for", H3588A) plus a negated perfect verb, lo' him.Tir ("he had not caused rain," H3808 + H4305), attributing the absence of vegetation to the absence of rain caused by Yehovah Elohim (H3068G + H0430G). A second clause, joined by ve ("and", H9002), states 'aDam 'Ayin ("a human, there was not," H0120G + H0369) — a nominal clause without a verb "to be," using 'Ayin as an existential negator — followed by the infinitive purpose clause la'aVod... ha'adaMah ("to till... the ground," H5647I + H0127G). The grammar thus links three absent elements — rain, vegetation, and a human tiller — within a single dependent structure explaining the state of the earth before these were present.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders him.Tir ("he had caused rain," H4305) as ἔβρεξεν ("he sent rain"), using an active verb without the causative-stem nuance markable in the Hiphil. The Vulgate's "non pluerat Dominus Deus" preserves the causative sense ("had not rained... God") similarly to the Hebrew. Both LXX and Vulgate render 'aDam 'Ayin as a full clause with a finite verb ("was not," οὐκ ἦν / non erat) plus a purpose or relative clause, where the Hebrew uses a nominal existential construction ('Ayin) followed directly by an infinitive.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.