Genesis 26:8
וַיְהִי כִּי אָֽרְכוּ־לוֹ שָׁם הַיָּמִים וַיַּשְׁקֵף אֲבִימֶלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּעַד הַֽחַלּוֹן וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה יִצְחָק מְצַחֵק אֵת רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיְהִ֗י כִּ֣י אָֽרְכוּ־ל֥וֹ שָׁם֙ הַיָּמִ֔ים וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים בְּעַ֖ד הַֽחַלּ֑וֹן וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה יִצְחָק֙ מְצַחֵ֔ק אֵ֖ת רִבְקָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃
ἐγένετο δὲ πολυχρόνιος ἐκεῖ· παρακύψας δὲ Ἀβιμέλεχ ὁ βασιλεὺς Γεραρῶν διὰ τῆς θυρίδος ἴδεν τὸν Ἰσαὰκ παίζοντα μετὰ ς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Cumque pertransissent dies plurimi, et ibidem moraretur, prospiciens Abimelech rex Palæstinorum per fenestram, vidit eum jocantem cum Rebecca uxore sua.
Isaac ya llevaba mucho tiempo allí cuando Abimelec, rey de los filisteos, se asomó a una ventana y lo vio acariciando a su esposa Rebeca.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y sucedió que, después que él estuvo allí muchos días, Abimelech, rey de los Filisteos, mirando por una ventana, vió á Isaac que jugaba con Rebeca su mujer.
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse narrates that after Isaac had spent a long time in that place, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac engaged in intimate playfulness with Rebekah, whom the text identifies as his wife.
Key words
- 'a.re.khu ("they had become long", H0748) — qal perfect, plural, referring to ha.yya.mim ("the days"): the days had "lengthened," i.e., a substantial period had elapsed.
- ya.Shkef ("he looked down", H8259) — hiphil narrative form of the verb, a causative stem suggesting an act of leaning or peering intently through an opening.
- me.tza.Chek ("was playing/laughing", H6711) — piel participle, masculine singular, from a root associated with laughter/play; the piel (intensive) stem and participial form present it as an ongoing, visible action Abimelech witnesses.
- hiNeh ("there!", H2009) — interjection marking the sudden, vivid perception of what Abimelech sees, drawing the reader into his viewpoint.
- 'ish.To ("his wife", H0802H + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, explicitly labeling Rebekah as Isaac's wife at the moment of the sighting.
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yehi ("and it was", H1961) followed by the subordinating ki ("that/when", H3588A), a common structure introducing a temporal clause: "and it happened that...". This clause states that ha.yya.mim ("the days") had "grown long" ('a.re.khu, H0748) for Isaac there (sham, H8033G), marking an extended stay rather than a specific event.
The main action begins with a chain of narrative vav-forms: Abimelech "looked down" (ya.Shkef, hiphil, H8259) through ha.challon ("the window", H2474), then "saw" (yar', qal, H7200G). The sequence culminates in ve-hinneh ("and behold", H2009), a device that shifts the narrative perspective to Abimelech's immediate viewpoint at the moment of seeing.
What he sees is expressed with the participle metzachek ("playing/laughing", piel, H6711), describing Isaac in an ongoing action with Rebekah, introduced by 'et ("with", H0854). The final phrase ishto ("his wife", H0802H) with the third-person suffix explicitly identifies Rebekah's relationship to Isaac at this narrative point.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew participle metzachek (H6711, piel of a root tied to laughter/play) is rendered by the LXX as paizonta ("playing"), by the Vulgate as jocantem ("joking/playing"), while the BSB translates it as "caressing," a more physically specific rendering than the Hebrew participle's general sense of playful activity. The LXX also names Abimelech "king of Gerar" (Geraron) rather than "king of the Philistines" as in the Hebrew (pelishtim, H6430G) and Vulgate (Palæstinorum).
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.