Genesis 25:2
וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת־זִמְרָן וְאֶת־יָקְשָׁן וְאֶת־מְדָן וְאֶת־מִדְיָן וְאֶת־יִשְׁבָּק וְאֶת־שֽׁוּחַ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַתֵּ֣לֶד ל֗וֹ אֶת־זִמְרָן֙ וְאֶת־יָקְשָׁ֔ן וְאֶת־מְדָ֖ן וְאֶת־מִדְיָ֑ן וְאֶת־יִשְׁבָּ֖ק וְאֶת־שֽׁוּחַ׃
ἔτεκεν δὲ αὐτῷ τὸν Ζεβρὰν καὶ τὸν Ἰεξὰν καὶ τὸν τὸν καὶ τὸν Μαδιάμ καὶ τὸν Ἰεσβὸκ καὶ τὸν Σωύε.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
quæ peperit ei Zamran et Jecsan, et Madan, et Madian, et Jesboc, et Sue.
la cual le dio a luz a Zimrán, Jocsán, Medán, Madián, Isbac y Súa.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
La cual le parió á Zimram, y á Joksan, y á Medan, y á Midiam, y á Ishbak, y á Sua.
and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse continues the genealogical notice of Genesis 25:1, stating that the unnamed woman ("she") bore six sons to Abraham: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sentence is a simple narrative list built around one verb governing six direct objects.
Key words
- Te.led ("she bore", H3205) — Qal verb, third person feminine singular, attached to the narrative vav; it establishes the main action of the sentence and implies sequential narration ("and then she bore").
- l+o ("to him", H9005/H9033) — preposition with a third-person masculine singular pronominal suffix, indicating the recipient of the birth, i.e., the father to whom the sons are attributed.
- 'et ("", H0853) — the direct object marker, repeated five times before each new name; it has no independent meaning but signals that each following name is a grammatical object of Te.led.
- ve. ("and", H9002) — the coordinating conjunction repeated before each name after the first, producing a paratactic (chain-like) list structure typical of Hebrew genealogies.
- mid.Yan ("Midian", H4080G) — one of the six proper names, morphologically a simple noun functioning as a personal name, object of the verb.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence has a single finite verb, Te.led ("she bore," H3205), followed by a prepositional phrase lo ("to him," H9005+H9033) identifying the father, and then a series of six proper names, each introduced by the object marker 'et (H0853) and joined by the conjunction ve ("and," H9002). This produces a repetitive, list-like rhythm: "and-object-name, and-object-name..." which is characteristic of Hebrew genealogical enumeration and cannot be fully reproduced in English, where the object marker disappears and only the conjunction "and" remains visible.
The subject "she" is not named in this verse itself; the pronoun is carried by the verb's feminine singular form and depends on the preceding verse for its referent. The construction places all emphasis on the sequence of names rather than on the subject, since Hebrew genealogical lists typically foreground the offspring.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew lists six names: zim.Ran (H2175), ya.ke.Shan (H3370), me.Dan (H4091), mid.Yan (H4080G), yish.Bak (H3435), and Shu.ach (H7744). The Vulgate and RV1909/BSB/SBLIBRE all reproduce six corresponding names (Zamran/Zimran, Jecsan/Jokshan, Madan/Medan, Madian/Midian, Jesboc/Ishbak, Sue/Shuah), with only orthographic variation. The provided LXX (Swete) text shows "τὸν τὸν" between Ἰεξὰν and Μαδιάμ, an apparent gap or corruption where a name (corresponding to Hebrew me.Dan, "Medan") is missing from the Greek as transmitted here.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.