Genesis 21:27

Summary

Abraham takes sheep and cattle and gives them to Abimelech, and the two of them establish a covenant. The verse narrates three sequential actions using consecutive verb forms typical of Hebrew narrative prose.

Key words

• yiqqach ("he took", H3947G) — qal narrative form, marking the first sequential action: Abraham's taking of the animals.
• tzon ("sheep", H6629G) and baqar ("cattle", H1241) — common-gender singular nouns used collectively, joined by the conjunction u ("and", H9002), naming the livestock given.
• yitten ("he gave", H5414G) — qal narrative form continuing the sequence, indicating the transfer of the animals to Abimelech.
• yikhretu ("they made/cut", H3772H) — qal narrative plural form; the verb's root meaning "to cut" is the standard verb for concluding a covenant.
• sheneihem ("the two of them", H8147 + H9028) — dual construct noun with pronominal suffix, specifying that both parties jointly performed the covenant-making.

What the text says

The verse is built on three narrative verb forms linked by the vav consecutive (va, H9001), each introducing a new stage of action: yiqqach ("he took"), yitten ("he gave"), and yikhretu ("they made"). This chain produces the typical Hebrew narrative rhythm of "and then... and then..." moving the story forward in sequence rather than describing simultaneous events.

The object of the first two verbs is the pair tzon ("sheep") and baqar ("cattle"), both singular common-gender nouns functioning collectively, connected by the conjunction u-. Abraham is the subject of the first two verbs; the shift to the plural verb yikhretu ("they made") signals a change of subject to both parties together, reinforced by sheneihem ("the two of them"), a dual form with a possessive suffix that explicitly marks joint action. The noun berit ("covenant", H1285) is feminine singular and serves as the direct object of yikhretu, whose root literally denotes "cutting" — the verb regularly used for establishing this kind of agreement in the Hebrew text.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders tzon and baqar as πρόβατα ("sheep") and μόσχους ("calves/young cattle"), where the Hebrew baqar (H1241) refers more generally to "cattle" without specifying age. The Vulgate uses boves ("oxen/cattle"), closer to the general Hebrew sense. For yikhretu ("they made/cut"), the LXX uses διέθεντο (from διατίθημι, "to arrange/dispose"), and the Vulgate uses percusserunt ("they struck"), both established idioms for covenant-making in their respective languages, differing from the Hebrew's literal "cutting" imagery tied to the verb's root.