Genesis 26:24

Summary

Yehovah appears to Isaac at night and identifies himself as the God of Abraham. He follows with a reassurance against fear, a declaration of presence, and two promises expressed as sequential future actions: blessing and multiplying descendants, done for the sake of Abraham.

Key words

• yera' ("he appeared", H7200G) — niphal (passive/reflexive) verb marking the divine appearance as something that "showed itself" to Isaac rather than an active self-presentation.
• 'anokhi ("I", H0595) — independent personal pronoun used twice (lines 12 and 22), adding emphasis to the divine self-identification and to the assurance "I am with you."
• tira' ("you be afraid", H3372G) — qal jussive form following the negation 'al, producing a prohibition ("do not fear") rather than a simple negative statement.
• berakhti ("I will bless", H1288) — piel sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), continuing the narrative sequence begun by tira'; the piel stem intensifies the verbal action.
• 'avdi ("my servant", H5650) — construct noun with first-person suffix, identifying Abraham as "servant" belonging to the speaker (Yehovah).

What the text says

The verse opens with two narrative-chain verbs, yera' ("he appeared") and yo'mer ("he said"), both introduced by the narrative vav, which structures the episode as a sequence: appearance, then speech. The niphal form of yera' presents the appearing as something happening to Isaac, grammatically distinct from an active "he showed himself."

The divine speech itself begins with self-identification through the construct chain 'elohei avraham avikha ("God of Abraham, your father") — a genitive construction linking Yehovah directly to the patriarchal lineage. The prohibition 'al-tira' uses the jussive mood, giving the negation a directive force ("do not be afraid") rather than a flat denial. The causal clause ki-'itkha 'anokhi ("for I am with you") repeats the pronoun 'anokhi, reinforcing the first-person presence already established in the opening self-identification.

The two promises, berakhti ("I will bless you") and hirbeiti ("I will multiply"), are both sequential perfects (vav-consecutive), a Hebrew verbal pattern that continues the flow of future action initiated by the preceding jussive. The final phrase ba'avur avraham 'avdi uses the construct noun 'avdi ("my servant") with a first-person suffix, framing Abraham's status as servant of the speaker as the stated reason (ba'avur, "for the sake of") for the blessing extended to Isaac.

Differences between versions

In the closing phrase, the Hebrew text reads ba'avur avraham 'avdi, "for the sake of Abraham my servant" (H5650, "servant"). The Vulgate matches this with "propter servum meum Abraham" ("because of my servant Abraham"). The LXX, however, renders this phrase as διὰ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πατέρα σου, "for the sake of Abraham your father" — substituting "your father" (πατέρα σου) where the Hebrew and Vulgate have "my servant."