Genesis 27:8

Summary

Rebekah addresses Jacob directly, using the vocative beni ("my son", H1121A+H9020), and commands him with an imperative to obey her instructions. The verse frames the following speech as an authoritative directive tied to what she is currently commanding him to do.

Key words

• 'a.Tah ("therefore/now", H6258) — adverb marking a logical transition, introducing the command that follows from the preceding narrative context.
• ve.N-i ("my son", H1121A + H9020) — construct noun with 1st-person suffix, a vocative address that frames the command in a familial, personal register.
• she.Ma' ("listen", H8085H) — qal imperative, masculine singular, the core verb of the sentence: a direct command to obey.
• be.ko.L-i ("to my voice", H6963A + H9020) — construct noun with suffix, object of the imperative via the preposition be ("to", H9003); expresses obedience as listening to a specific voice rather than a general instruction.
• me.tza.Vah ("commanding", H6680) — piel participle, feminine singular, describing Rebekah's ongoing action of commanding; the participle form marks this as a present, continuous act rather than a completed one.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with ve-'atah ("and now/therefore", H9002+H6258), a discourse marker that signals a shift from prior narration to direct command. The vocative beni ("my son") interrupts the imperative clause, a common Biblical Hebrew pattern placing the address between the command's introduction and its verb. The imperative shema' ("listen", H8085H) governs the prepositional phrase be-qoli ("to my voice", H6963A+H9020), where the construct noun with suffix creates a set phrase meaning obedience to a specific person's spoken authority, not merely auditory listening.

The final clause, la-'asher 'ani metzavah 'otakh ("to that which I am commanding you"), uses the relative particle 'asher (H0834A) to introduce what Jacob must obey. The verb metzavah is a piel participle, a verbal form indicating an action in progress or characteristic of the subject — here presenting Rebekah's command as immediate and ongoing rather than a single past instruction. The direct object marker 'et (H0853, appearing as 'otakh) plus the 2ms suffix marks Jacob as the object of the command explicitly, reinforcing that the instruction is directed personally at him.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders shema' be-qoli ("listen to my voice") as "acquiesce consiliis meis" ("agree to my counsels"), shifting the Hebrew's emphasis on obedient listening to a voice toward compliance with advice or plans. The LXX preserves closer structural parallelism, rendering la-'asher... metzavah with καθὰ ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί ("just as I command"), matching the Hebrew's relative clause more directly than the Vulgate's paraphrase.