Genesis 24:23

Summary

The verse records a question posed by a man (Abraham's servant, in context) to a woman he has just met at a well. He asks whose daughter she is, and requests that she tell him whether there is room in her father's house for him to spend the night.

Key words

• va-yomer ("and he said", H9001+H0559) — narrative vav plus qal verb, the standard formula introducing direct speech in Biblical Hebrew narrative sequence.
• bat-mi ("daughter of whom", H1323G+H4310) — construct noun bat joined to interrogative mi, forming a question about lineage rather than a statement.
• ha.Gi.di ("tell", H5046) — hiphil (causative) imperative, feminine singular, a direct command addressed to a woman; the hiphil stem carries the causative sense of "make known."
• na' ("please", H4994) — particle softening the imperative, marking the request as polite entreaty rather than a bare command.
• ha-yesh ("is there?", H9008+H3426) — interrogative particle ha attached to the existential particle yesh, opening a yes/no question about existence ("is there...?").
• la-lin ("to spend the night", H9005+H3885A) — preposition la plus qal infinitive of lin, functioning as a purpose infinitive ("in order to lodge").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built from two linked questions joined by the narrative sequence typical of Biblical Hebrew dialogue. The first question, bat-mi 'at ("daughter of whom [are] you"), uses a construct chain (bat + interrogative mi) without a verb "to be" — Hebrew often omits the copula in nominal clauses, so the pronoun 'at ("you") stands directly after the construct phrase. The imperative ha.Gi.di is grammatically marked as feminine singular, confirming the addressee is a woman, and the hiphil stem gives it the sense of "cause to be known/declare," reinforced by the softening particle na'.

The second clause opens with the interrogative ha attached to the existential particle yesh ("there is"), a common construction for yes/no questions about existence or availability. The object of the question, maqom lanu lalin ("place for us to lodge"), places the noun maqom ("room/place") before the prepositional phrase lanu ("for us") and the purpose infinitive lalin ("to spend the night"), so the Hebrew asks literally "is there, in the house of your father, a place for us, to lodge?" — a construction that stacks the possessive genitive (beit-avikh, "house of your father") before the predicate noun maqom.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὴν ("he questioned her") before καὶ εἶπεν ("and said"), a doubling not present in the Hebrew, which has only the single verb va-yomer ("and he said"). The Vulgate and Hebrew both use a single introductory verb. The Spanish SBLIBRE and BSB render lanu ("for us") as referring to a group ("mis hombres y yo" / "for us"), matching the plural pronominal suffix nu in the Hebrew text.