Genesis 26:3

Summary

God commands Isaac to sojourn in "this land," promising presence and blessing, then states the reason: the land will be given to Isaac and his descendants, fulfilling the oath sworn to Abraham. The verse moves from imperative to purpose clauses to a causal explanation grounded in a prior divine oath.

Key words

• gur ("sojourn", H1481A) — qal imperative, a direct command establishing the main action of the verse: temporary dwelling, not permanent settlement.
• 'eh.Yeh ("I may be", H1961) — imperfect with vav, expressing purpose or result following the imperative: "so that I may be."
• 'a.va.re.Khe.kha ("I will bless you", H1288) — piel imperfect with vav, continuing the same purpose chain as 'eh.Yeh; the piel stem intensifies the verbal action.
• 'e.Ten ("I will give", H5414G) — qal imperfect, marking future/ongoing action; introduced after the emphatic fronting le.kha ("to you") and ki ("for", H3588A).
• ha.ki.mo.Ti ("I will establish", H6965I) — hiphil sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain (vav + perfect) and expressing causative action: causing the oath to stand.

What the text says

The verse opens with the qal imperative gur ("sojourn", H1481A), a direct address to Isaac. This is followed by two verbs in the imperfect with conjunctive vav — 'eh.Yeh ("I may be", H1961) and 'a.va.re.Khe.kha ("I will bless you", H1288) — a common Hebrew construction where an imperative is followed by imperfect+vav forms to express purpose or consequence: "sojourn... so that I may be with you and bless you."

The clause introduced by ki ("for", H3588A) contains a fronted double prepositional phrase, le.kha ("to you") u.le.zar.'a.kha ("and to your offspring", H2233H in construct form), placed before the verb 'e.Ten ("I will give", H5414G). This fronting places emphasis on the recipients (Isaac and his offspring) before the verb itself, a structure not preserved in the English or Spanish translations, which follow verb-first or standard word order.

The final clause shifts to a vav + perfect construction, va.ha.ki.mo.Ti ("and I will establish", H6965I), which continues the sequence of future actions begun by the imperfects earlier in the verse — a narrative chain typical of Hebrew prose linking successive divine actions. The object is ha.she.vu.'Ah ("the oath", H7621), qualified by the relative clause 'a.Sher nish.Ba'.ti ("which I swore", H7650, niphal perfect), grounding the promise to Isaac in a previously completed oath to 'av.ra.Ham 'a.Vi.kha ("Abraham your father", H0085, H0001G).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders gur ("sojourn") with παροίκει, a verb also conveying temporary dwelling, matching the Hebrew nuance. The Vulgate uses peregrinare ("sojourn as a stranger"), similarly preserving the sense of temporary residence. Where the Hebrew has ha.ki.mo.Ti ("I will establish", H6965I) as a distinct clause, the Vulgate renders it with a participial construction, complens ("fulfilling"), subordinating this action to the preceding statement rather than presenting it as a separate future act in sequence.