Genesis 23:7

Summary

The verse narrates two consecutive actions by Abraham: he rises to his feet and then bows down before the local population, identified as "the people of the land" and further specified as "the sons of Heth." The sentence structure marks these as sequential events using narrative verb forms.

Key words

• va-yYakom ("and he arose", H6965B) — qal narrative form; the vav-consecutive construction signals this action as the first step in a temporal sequence ("and then he arose").
• va-yYishtachu ("and he bowed down", H7812) — hishtaphel narrative form, the same consecutive pattern showing this bowing as the next event following the rising.
• 'am ("people of", H5971A) — construct form of "people," meaning it must be followed by a noun it modifies ("people of X"), here linked to "the land."
• 'Aretz ("land", H0776G) — feminine singular noun with the definite article ha (H9009) attached, giving "the land" as a specific, known referent.
• v.nei ("sons/people of", H1121G) — construct plural of "sons," here functioning idiomatically to mean "the people of Heth" rather than literal offspring.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative vav (H9001) attached to two verbs in sequence: va-yYakom ("and he arose") and va-yYishtachu ("and he bowed down"). This vav-consecutive chain is a standard feature of Hebrew narrative prose, marking a sequence of completed actions in the story's timeline — first the rising, then the bowing.

The object of Abraham's bowing is expressed through two parallel prepositional phrases, both introduced by the preposition le ("to", H9005): le-'am-ha-'Aretz ("to the people of the land") and li-v.nei-Chet ("to the sons of Heth"). Both 'am and v.nei are construct nouns, meaning grammatically they exist in a bound relationship with what follows — "people of" the land, "sons of" Heth. These two phrases appear to function in apposition, with the second phrase (v.nei Chet, "sons of Heth") specifying or renaming the group already called "the people of the land." The construct chain v.nei-Chet uses "sons" (H1121G) not in a literal genealogical sense but as a collective designation for the group associated with Heth (H2845), a named individual.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate adds the word videlicet ("namely" or "that is to say") before "filios Heth," making explicit the appositional relationship between "the people of the land" and "the sons of Heth" — a connection that in the Hebrew is implied by the syntax alone, without an explicit linking word. The LXX and Hebrew both present the two phrases in direct sequence without such an explanatory term.