Genesis 26:7
וַֽיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אַנְשֵׁי הַמָּקוֹם לְאִשְׁתּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲחֹתִי הִוא כִּי יָרֵא לֵאמֹר אִשְׁתִּי פֶּן־יַֽהַרְגֻנִי אַנְשֵׁי הַמָּקוֹם עַל־רִבְקָה כִּֽי־טוֹבַת מַרְאֶה הִֽיא׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַֽיִּשְׁאֲל֞וּ אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ לְאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא כִּ֤י יָרֵא֙ לֵאמֹ֣ר אִשְׁתִּ֔י פֶּן־יַֽהַרְגֻ֜נִי אַנְשֵׁ֤י הַמָּקוֹם֙ עַל־רִבְקָ֔ה כִּֽי־טוֹבַ֥ת מַרְאֶ֖ה הִֽיא׃
ἐπηρώτησαν δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦ τόπου περὶ Ῥεβέκκας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπεν ὅτι Ἀδελφή μού ἐστιν· ἐφοβήθη γὰρ εἰπεῖν ὅτι Γυνή μού ἐστιν, μή ποτε ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτὸν οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦτόπου περὶ Ῥεβέκκας, ὅτι ὡραία τῇ ὄψει ἦν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Qui cum interrogaretur a viris loci illius super uxore sua, respondit: Soror mea est: timuerat enim confiteri quod sibi esset sociata conjugio, reputans ne forte interficerent eum propter illius pulchritudinem.
Cuando los hombres del lugar le preguntaban por su esposa, él respondía: “Es mi hermana”. Tenía miedo de decir que era su esposa, pues pensaba: “Los hombres de este lugar me matarán por causa de Rebeca, porque es muy hermosa”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y los hombres de aquel lugar le preguntaron acerca de su mujer; y él respondió: Es mi hermana; porque tuvo miedo de decir: Es mi mujer; que tal vez, dijo, los hombres del lugar me matarían por causa de Rebeca; porque era de hermoso aspecto.
But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “ She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “ She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “ The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
The men of the place ask Isaac about his wife, and he answers that Rebekah is his sister. The narrator explains his motive: he feared being killed by the men of the place because of Rebekah's beauty.
Key words
- yish'alu ("they asked", H7592) — qal narrative verb, plural, marking the sequential action that opens the episode.
- achoti ("[is] sister", H0269 + suffix H9020) — construct noun with 1st person suffix, forming the direct speech "my sister," Isaac's stated answer.
- yare' ("he was afraid", H3372G) — qal perfect, a completed state describing the reason behind Isaac's speech, introduced by ki ("for", H3588A).
- pen ("lest", H6435) — subordinating particle introducing the feared outcome, governing the imperfect verb that follows.
- yaharguni ("they should kill me", H2026 + suffix H9030) — qal imperfect with 1st person object suffix, expressing a feared future/potential action rather than a completed one.
- tovat mar'eh ("good of appearance", H2896A + H4758) — adjective in construct with a noun, literally "good of appearance," describing Rebekah.
What the text says
The verse is built on a chain of narrative verbs joined by the vav consecutive (va, H9001): yish'alu ("they asked"), yomer ("he said"). This chain moves the action forward step by step: the men ask, Isaac answers. The direct speech "achoti hi" ("she [is] sister-of-me") uses the construct noun achoti with the independent pronoun hi ("she", H1931) placed after the predicate, a common Hebrew word order for identifying statements.
The clause introduced by ki yare' ("for he was afraid") shifts from narrated action to the narrator's explanation of motive, using the qal perfect yare' to present the fear as an established fact prior to or underlying the speech. This is followed by an infinitive construction, le'mor ("to say", H0559 with preposition H9005), showing what he was afraid to say — namely, "ishti" ("my wife"), the truthful alternative he avoided.
The feared consequence is introduced by pen ("lest," H6435), governing the imperfect verb yaharguni ("they would kill me"), which expresses a hypothetical/future action rather than something that has occurred. The final clause repeats ki ("for," H3588A) to give the reason for the men's supposed danger: Rebekah is tovat mar'eh ("good of appearance"), a construct phrase literally meaning "good of appearance," closed by the independent pronoun hi ("she").
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the initial question as peri Rebekkas tēs gynaikos autou ("concerning Rebekah, his wife"), naming Rebekah explicitly in the men's question, where the Hebrew only has le'ishto ("about his wife", H0802H) without naming her at that point — the Hebrew withholds her name until later in the verse. The Vulgate similarly generalizes with super uxore sua ("concerning his wife") without the name, closer to the Hebrew structure at that point but summarizing the direct speech into indirect discourse (respondit: Soror mea est), whereas the Hebrew preserves direct quotation throughout with va-yomer ("and he said").
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.