Genesis 22:20

Summary

The verse opens a new narrative unit with a temporal notice ("after these things") and reports that a message was brought to Abraham announcing that Milcah had borne sons to his brother Nahor. The report is introduced by the presentative particle hinneh ("there!", H2009), which marks the content of the news as vivid or noteworthy.

Key words

• va-y.Hi ("and it was", H1961/H9001) — narrative vav + qal form of "to be," a standard formula opening a new episode by anchoring it in time relative to what precedes.
• 'a.cha.Rei ha-de.va.Rim ha-'E.leh ("after the things, the these", H0310A/H1697I/H0428) — construct chain "after the words/things these," a fixed temporal expression linking this episode to prior events without specifying how much time passed.
• va-i.yu.Gad ("and it was told", H5046/H9001) — hophal (causative passive) narrative form: the agent who tells Abraham is not named, only that the report "was made to reach" him.
• Hi.neh ("there!", H2009) — interjection introducing the quoted content of the report, giving it immediacy inside the speech.
• yale.Dah ("she has borne", H3205) — qal perfect, third person feminine singular, marking Milcah's childbearing as a completed action prior to the moment of the report.

What the text says

The verse begins with the double narrative-vav construction va-y.Hi ... va-i.yu.Gad ("and it was ... and it was told"), a common Hebrew narrative pattern where a temporal clause ('a.cha.Rei ha-de.va.Rim ha-'E.leh, "after these things/words") precedes the main verb that advances the story. The verb yu.Gad is hophal, a passive causative stem, so the grammatical subject of the telling is left unexpressed — the text states that a report "was caused to be told" le-'Av.ra.Ham ("to Abraham," H0085), without identifying who delivered it.

The reported content is introduced by Hi.neh and structured around the qal perfect yale.Dah ("she has borne"), with mil.Kah (H4435G) as subject. The phrase gam hi' ("also she", H1571/H1931) uses an independent pronoun for emphasis, drawing attention to Milcah herself as the one who bore children, distinct from other bearing already narrated in the surrounding chapters. The object ba.Nim ("sons/children", H1121A) is followed by le-na.Chor 'a.chi-kha ("to Nahor your brother," H5152H/H0251G/H9021), where 'a.chi is in construct form ("brother of") governing the suffix -kha ("your"), directly addressing Abraham's relationship to Nahor within the reported speech.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va-i.yu.Gad ... le-'Av.ra.Ham with a plural participle λέγοντες ("saying," plural), whereas the Hebrew le-'mor (infinitive, "saying") and the passive yu.Gad do not specify a plural group of speakers. The Vulgate's nuntiatum est Abrahæ ("it was announced to Abraham") preserves the impersonal/passive sense of the Hebrew hophal, similar to the Hebrew structure, without naming an agent. The Spanish SBLIBRE adds "tu cuñada" ("your sister-in-law") for Milcah, a relational clarification not present as a separate word in the Hebrew text, which only states her name and the emphatic gam hi'.