Genesis 24:58

Summary

Genesis 24:58 narrates that Rebekah is summoned and asked directly whether she will go with the man (Abraham's servant, representing Isaac's household), and she answers with a single affirmative verb: she will go.

Key words

• va-yiqre'u ("and they summoned", H7121) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural; continues the narrative chain with vav and indicates the family's collective action of calling Rebekah.
• ha- ("¿", H9008) — interrogative particle prefixed to the following verb, marking the sentence as a direct yes/no question rather than a statement.
• telekhi ("will you go", H1980G) — qal imperfect, second person feminine singular; the imperfect aspect expresses an action not yet completed, here future/potential, addressed specifically to a woman.
• ha-ish ha-zeh ("this man", H0376G + H2088) — noun with definite article followed by a demonstrative particle, both carrying the article, producing the standard Hebrew construction for "this [specific] man."
• elekh ("I will go", H1980G) — qal imperfect, first person singular, the same root as telekhi; Rebekah's answer echoes the verb of the question, shifting only the grammatical person.

What the text says

The verse is built on repeated narrative vav constructions (va-yiqre'u, va-yomeru, va-tomer), which chain a sequence of quick narrative actions: calling, speaking, and answering. This creates a terse, dialogue-driven rhythm typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative, where each new clause begins with "and then."

The core of the verse is a question-answer pair built on the same verbal root, halakh ("to go", H1980G), appearing first as telekhi ("will you go") in the second-person feminine imperfect, and then as elekh ("I will go") in the first-person imperfect. The interrogative particle ha- attached to telekhi signals that this is a direct question, not marked in Hebrew by punctuation but by this prefix. Rebekah's reply consists of a single word, elekh, without any additional particle of affirmation (such as "yes"); the affirmative force comes entirely from repeating the verb in first person, a construction that Hebrew allows but that other languages must render with an added "yes" or similar word.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the question and answer using the verb πορεύσομαι/πορεύσῃ ("to journey/travel"), matching the Hebrew's use of a single repeated root for both question and answer. The Vulgate renders Rebekah's single-word answer as "Vadam" ("I will go"), consistent with the Hebrew's one-word reply, while some modern translations (BSB, SBLIBRE) add "Sí" or quotation marks not present in the Hebrew text, making explicit the affirmative sense that in Hebrew is conveyed only through the verb's repetition.