Genesis 24:4

Summary

Genesis 24:4 records Abraham's instruction that his servant must go to his own land and family ('artzi, H0776G + moladti, H4138) to select a wife for Isaac, rather than taking one from the local Canaanite population (referenced in the preceding verse). The sentence uses two verbs in sequence: first "you will go," then "you will take."

Key words

• ki ("for/that", H3588A) — a subordinating particle introducing the content of what is being sworn; here it functions to mark the positive alternative within an oath structure (contrasted with a prior prohibition).
• 'artzi ("my land", H0776G + H9020) — noun in construct form with a first-person suffix, meaning "the land of me." The construct state binds it grammatically to the implied relationship of origin.
• moladti ("my kindred", H4138 + H9020) — construct noun with suffix, denoting the birthplace-family group. Paired with 'artzi via the conjunction ve- (H9002), the two nouns form a single destination.
• telekh ("you will go", H1980G) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular; expresses the first required action, grammatically open-ended (future/modal).
• lakachta ("you will take", H3947G) — qal sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), continuing the narrative chain begun by telekh. This verb form signals that the action follows logically/temporally from the first.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause opens with ki (H3588A), a particle that here introduces the positive command embedded within Abraham's oath (the servant is being made to swear to this content). The two destinations — 'el 'artzi ("to my land") and ve'el moladti ("and to my kindred") — are joined by the conjunction ve- (H9002) and both governed by the single imperfect verb telekh (H1980G, "you will go"). This construction places emphasis on the double destination before the verb, a common Biblical Hebrew word order for topicalization.

The verb lakachta (H3947G) is a sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), a form that in narrative Hebrew continues the action initiated by the preceding imperfect. This grammatical linkage presents "going" and "taking a wife" as two connected stages of a single directive rather than as isolated commands. The object 'ishah ("a wife", H0802H) is unmarked by the definite article, indicating a nonspecific woman. The phrase livni le-Yitzchak ("for my son, for Isaac") uses two prepositions with le- (H9005), first attaching to v'ni ("my son", H1121A construct + suffix) and then in apposition to the proper name Yitzchak (H3327), clarifying which son is meant.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) inserts a relative clause not present in the Hebrew: οὗ ἐγενόμην ("where I was born"), expanding on 'artzi ("my land"). It also renders moladti (H4138, "kindred") as φυλήν μου ("my tribe"), and adds ἐκεῖθεν ("from there") at the end of the verse, a locative marker absent from the Hebrew text. The Vulgate (Clementine) compresses the two destinations into "terram et cognationem meam" ("land and my kindred") without repeating the preposition, and otherwise follows the Hebrew sequence of "go" then "take" closely.