Genesis 27:26

Summary

Isaac speaks to the person before him, identified by the narrator as his son, and issues two commands: to come close and to kiss him. The verse is direct speech introduced by the narrative formula "and he said."

Key words

• ίyomer ("he said", H0559) — qal verb in narrative form, marking the transition into direct speech.
• avi ("my father", H0001G) — masculine singular noun in construct form with a pronominal suffix, identifying the speaker as Isaac in relation to the addressee.
• geshah ("draw near", H5066G) — qal imperative, second person masculine singular, with a paragogic he ending that adds emphasis to the command.
• na ("please", H4994) — interjection softening the imperative, giving the command a requesting tone rather than a bare order.
• sheqah ("kiss", H5401A) — qal imperative, second person masculine singular, also bearing the paragogic he, parallel in form to geshah.
• beni ("my son", H1121A + suffix) — construct noun with first-person suffix, term of address closing the utterance.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative verb va-yomer ("and he said", H0559), followed by the indirect object elav ("to him", H0413) and the subject Yitzchak avi ("Isaac his father", H3327 + H0001G), a construction that places the subject after the verb and object, a common word order in Biblical Hebrew narrative for reported speech introductions.

The direct speech itself consists of two parallel imperative clauses joined by the conjunction u- ("and", H9002): geshah-na ("draw near, please") and u-shqah-li ("and kiss me"). Both imperatives carry the paragogic he suffix, a grammatical feature that in this construction intensifies or softens the force of the command, and both are accompanied or followed by particles/suffixes indicating who is affected — the preposition-plus-suffix li ("to me", H9005+H9030) attached to the second verb specifies Isaac as the recipient of the kiss. The interjection na ("please", H4994) attached to the first imperative marks the request as polite rather than peremptory. The address concludes with the construct phrase beni ("my son", H1121A + H9020), used as a vocative.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the two Hebrew imperatives as ἔγγισόν ("come near") and φίλησόν ("kiss"), without a lexical equivalent for the Hebrew particle na ("please", H4994); the polite nuance carried by na in the Hebrew is not reflected in the Greek text. The Vulgate similarly gives accede ("draw near") and da mihi osculum ("give me a kiss") without a marker corresponding to na. The English and Spanish translations shown (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) vary in whether they render na explicitly: BSB includes "Please," while RV1909 uses "ahora" ("now"), and SBLIBRE omits a direct equivalent altogether.