Genesis 20:15

Summary

Abimelech tells Abraham that his land is open to him, inviting him to settle wherever he chooses. The statement combines a declaration of availability (hinneh... lefaneikha, "here... before you") with an imperative granting free choice of location (ba-tov be-eineikha, "in the good in your eyes").

Key words

• hi.Neh ("there!", H2009) — an interjection that draws attention to what follows, functioning like "behold" to introduce the offer.
• 'ar.Tz ("land", H0776G) — noun in construct form with the suffix i ("my"), meaning "my land"; the construct state links it directly to the possessive suffix.
• fa.Nei.kha ("before you", H6440G + H9021) — plural construct noun panim ("face/front") with pronominal suffix "your", forming the idiom "before you" / "at your disposal".
• Tov ("good", H2896A) — adjective, here substantivized with the article (ba-tov, "in the good [place]"), indicating whatever is judged favorable.
• 'ei.Nei.kha ("your eyes", H5869I + H9021) — dual construct noun "eyes of" with suffix "your", forming the idiom "in your eyes" = "in your judgment/opinion".
• Shev ("dwell", H3427) — qal imperative masculine singular, a direct command form ("settle/dwell").

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative va-yomer ("and he said", H0559), introducing Abimelech's direct speech. The core of the offer is built on two idiomatic constructions typical of Biblical Hebrew: artzi lefaneikha ("my land [is] before you", H0776G + H6440G) and ba-tov be-eineikha ("in the good in your eyes", H2896A + H5869I). Neither idiom contains an explicit verb "to be" in Hebrew; the copula is implied, a common feature of nominal clauses in this language.

The second idiom, ba-tov be-eineikha, uses the adjective Tov ("good", H2896A) with the definite article functioning nominally ("the good [place/option]"), combined with the plural construct eineikha ("your eyes", H5869I), an idiom that expresses subjective judgment or preference — literally "in the good that is in your eyes." This phrase sets up the final word of the verse, the imperative Shev ("dwell", H3427), which grammatically completes the sentence: "in whatever [place] is good in your eyes, dwell."

The imperative appears at the very end of the Hebrew clause, after the locative phrase, a common Hebrew word order where the command word closes the sentence rather than opening it as in English or Spanish translations.

Differences between versions

The LXX inserts τῷ Ἀβραάμ ("to Abraham") after "Abimelech said," specifying the addressee explicitly, which is not present in the Hebrew text at this point. The LXX also renders the idiom ba-tov be-eineikha with a conditional relative clause, οὗ ἐάν σοι ἀρέσκῃ ("wherever it pleases you"), restructuring the Hebrew's nominal idiom into a Greek subjunctive construction. The Vulgate similarly paraphrases with ubicumque tibi placuerit ("wherever it will have pleased you"), using a future-perfect subjunctive verb form absent from the Hebrew's noun-based phrasing.