Genesis 26:2

Summary

Yehovah appears to the addressee (Isaac, per context in versions) and issues two directives: not to go down to Egypt, and instead to dwell in a land that will be specified through future divine speech. The verse combines a narrative report of a theophany with direct divine command.

Key words

• yera ("he appeared", H7200G) — niphal verb, narrative form; the niphal stem gives a passive/reflexive sense, so the subject is presented as "being seen" or "making himself seen" rather than actively seeing.
• tered ("you go down", H3381) — qal verb in jussive form after the negation 'al; this is a distinct grammatical construction from a simple prohibition, expressing a directive against a specific action rather than a general negative statement.
• shekhon ("dwell", H7931) — qal imperative; grammatically a direct command, in contrast to the jussive used for the negative instruction.
• 'omar ("I will say", H0559) — qal imperfect; marks ongoing or future action, here in a relative clause referring to future divine speech that has not yet occurred within the narrative.
• 'asher ("which", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that leaves the specific land unnamed at this point in the text.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative vav construction (va-yera) that reports the theophany as a sequential event: "and he appeared." The niphal stem of yera frames Yehovah as the one who becomes visible or manifests himself, rather than the addressee performing an act of seeing — a grammatical distinction the English "appeared" preserves but does not fully explain.

The divine speech that follows contains two grammatically distinct commands. The first, 'al-tered ("do not go down"), uses a jussive form after the negative particle 'al, a construction typically used for immediate or specific prohibitions tied to the moment of speech, rather than a general or permanent negative rule. The second command, shekhon ("dwell"), is a plain qal imperative, giving positive instruction to remain in a certain land.

The land itself is not named directly but is introduced through a relative clause: 'asher 'omar 'eleikha ("which I will say to you"). The verb 'omar here is an imperfect, indicating an action not yet completed — the specific location is deferred to a future disclosure not narrated within this verse. The directional suffix on mitzrayemah ("to Egypt") marks the goal of the forbidden motion, reinforcing that the instruction concerns direction and location rather than a general state.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the divine name as kyrios ("lord") where the Hebrew has Yehovah (H3068G), consistent with its regular substitution of the divine name. The Vulgate preserves Dominus, similarly generalizing the name. The LXX phrase Μὴ εἰς Αἴγυπτον omits an explicit verb equivalent to "go down," compressing the prohibition into a shorter construction than the Hebrew 'al-tered mitzrayemah.