Genesis 26:16

Summary

Abimelech tells Isaac to leave the region, giving as reason that Isaac has become far more powerful than the Philistines themselves. The verse is a short direct speech embedded in the narrative, introduced by the standard narrative formula "and he said."

Key words

• va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) — narrative qal form marking the sequential action that advances the story.
• lekh ("go", H1980G) — qal imperative, a direct command addressed to Isaac (masculine singular "you").
• me-'immanu ("from with us", H5973B + H9035) — preposition plus pronominal suffix "our," expressing separation from the group Abimelech represents.
• ki ("for/that", H3588A) — subordinating particle introducing the reason clause that follows.
• 'atzamta ("you have become powerful", H6105A) — qal perfect, second person masculine singular, denoting a completed state reached by Isaac.

What the text says

The verse is built as a short embedded speech within the narrative flow. The vav-consecutive form va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) links this statement to the preceding narrative, identifying the speaker as Avimelekh ("Abimelech", H0040G) and the addressee as Yitzchak ("Isaac", H3327) via the preposition 'el ("to", H0413).

The speech itself has two parts: a command and its justification. The command is the imperative lekh ("go", H1980G), intensified by the phrase me-'immanu ("from with us", H5973B + H9035), literally "from being with us," indicating physical separation from the group. The justification is introduced by ki ("for/that", H3588A), which functions here as a causal connector explaining why the command is given.

The reason given is expressed with the qal perfect 'atzamta ("you have become powerful", H6105A), a verb form indicating a completed action with ongoing results — Isaac's power is presented as an established fact at the time of speaking, not an action still in progress. This is intensified by mimmennu me'od ("more than us, much/very", H4480A + H3966), where me'od ("much", H3966) functions adverbially to strengthen the comparison of power between Isaac and Abimelech's people.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew ki-'atzamta mimmennu me'od ("for you have become much more powerful than us") with hoti dynatōteros hēmōn egenou ("because you have become more powerful than us"), omitting an explicit equivalent for me'od ("much", H3966) as a separate intensifying word, though the comparative form conveys a similar sense. The Vulgate's quoniam potentior nobis factus es valde keeps a structure closer to the Hebrew, including valde ("very/much") as an equivalent to me'od. The Hebrew text also lacks an explicit subject noun before va-yomer other than Avimelekh itself, while the Vulgate adds ipse Abimelech ("Abimelech himself"), making the subject more emphatic than in the Hebrew clause.