Genesis 20:7

Summary

The verse records a divine command to Abimelech: to return the wife of "the man" (Abraham) because he is a prophet who can pray on his behalf so that he may live. A conditional consequence follows — if the man does not return her, death is certain for him and all who belong to him.

Key words

• ha.Shev ("return", H7725G) — hiphil imperative, causative form of the verb "to return/turn back," meaning "cause [her] to return." The causative stem marks this as an act the addressee must actively perform, not merely a wish.
• na.Vi' ("prophet", H5030) — masculine singular noun functioning as a predicate nominative after the particle ki ("for/that"), giving the reason for the command: the man's status justifies the action required.
• yit.pa.Lel ("he may pray", H6419) — hithpael imperfect with vav, reflexive stem of the root for prayer. The hithpael form conveys a self-involved, reflexive action ("to pray for oneself" extended toward another), and the vav-imperfect sequence continues the logical result of the preceding imperative.
• me.Shiv ("returning [her]", H7725G) — hiphil participle of the same root as ha.Shev, used here to describe an ongoing or characteristic condition ("if you are not one who returns"), contrasting with the imperative form used earlier.
• Mot + ta.Mut ("certainly " + "you will die", H4191) — infinitive absolute paired with the imperfect of the same root, a construction that intensifies the verbal action, expressing certainty rather than mere possibility.

What the text says

The sentence opens with ve.'a.Tah ("and now/therefore"), marking a logical transition to the command itself. The core imperative ha.Shev ("return") is immediately followed by its object, 'e.shet-ha.'Ish ("the wife of the man"), using a construct chain that identifies the woman by her relationship to "the man" rather than by name. The causal clause ki-na.Vi' hu' ("for he is a prophet") provides the grounds for the command, and the resulting purpose clause ve.yit.pa.Lel ba.'ad.kha ("so he may pray for you") uses the reflexive hithpael stem, followed by the qal imperative ch.Yeh ("live"), forming a chain: return → he will pray → you will live.

The second half pivots on the conditional particle ve.'im ("and if"), paired with the negated existential construct 'ei.ne.kha ("you are not") plus the participle me.Shiv ("one returning"), describing a hypothetical ongoing failure to comply. The consequence is introduced by the imperative da' ("know") followed by ki ("that"), and the certainty of the outcome is grammatically reinforced by the infinitive absolute Mot stacked before the finite verb ta.Mut ("you will die"), a construction that intensifies the verbal idea without adding a separate lexical item for "certainly." The scope of the consequence extends beyond the addressee alone through ve.khol-'a.Sher-la.kh ("and all who belong to you").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha.Shev 'e.shet-ha.'Ish as ἀπόδος τὴν γυναῖκα τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ("give back the woman to the man"), making explicit the recipient ("to the man") where the Hebrew construct phrase 'e.shet-ha.'Ish ("wife of the man") does not use a dative but a genitive-type construct. The Vulgate similarly adds viro suo ("to her husband"), specifying the relationship more explicitly than the Hebrew construct phrase alone conveys.