Genesis 27:9

Summary

Rebekah instructs Jacob with two imperatives to go to the flock and fetch two good kids from the goats. She states her purpose with a verb in the imperfect: she will prepare from them a savory dish for his father, matching what the father loves.

Key words

• lekh ("go", H1980) — qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular, opening the command.
• na' ("please", H4994) — an interjection that softens the imperative, marking the request as an entreaty rather than a bare order.
• qach ("fetch", H3947) — second qal imperative, coordinated with lekh by ve- ("and"), continuing the sequence of commands.
• ge.da.Yei ("kids of", H1423) — masculine plural noun in construct state, linked to 'i.Zim ("goats", H5795) to form the phrase "kids of the goats"; the adjective to.Vim ("good", H2896A) then qualifies this whole construct pair.
• 'e.'e.Seh ("I may prepare", H6213) — qal imperfect with prefixed ve-, expressing purpose or intended result following the two imperatives, i.e., "so that I may prepare."
• 'a.Hev ("he loves", H157) — qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular, denoting a completed or established state ("he has loved / loves"), used inside the comparative clause ka'asher ("as", H834D).

What the text says

The verse is built on two paired imperatives, lekh ("go") and qach ("fetch"), joined by the conjunction ve- ("and"), with the particle na' softening the command into a request rather than a blunt order. The object of the second imperative is expressed through a construct chain: she.Nei ge.da.Yei 'i.Zim to.Vim, literally "two of the kids of the goats, good ones" — the cardinal number she.Nei ("two") stands in construct with ge.da.Yei ("kids of"), which is itself in construct with 'i.Zim ("goats"), and the adjective to.Vim ("good") modifies the entire chain rather than a single noun.

The clause of purpose is carried by ve.'e.'e.Seh, an imperfect verb prefixed with ve-, which in this construction indicates the intended consequence of the preceding commands — "so that I may prepare." The direct object marker 'et (glossed here as untranslated) with the suffix -am ("them") refers back to the two kids. The final clause, ka'asher 'a.Hev ("as he loves"), uses the qal perfect 'a.Hev, denoting a settled, ongoing disposition rather than a single completed event — the perfect aspect here conveys a habitual state ("as he has loved / as he loves") rather than a one-time past action.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew construct chain ge.da.Yei 'i.Zim to.Vim ("kids of the goats, good ones") is rendered in the LXX with two coordinated adjectives, ἁπαλοὺς καὶ καλούς ("tender and good"), splitting one Hebrew qualifier into two Greek terms and adding the notion of tenderness not present in the Hebrew wording. The Vulgate uses the superlative optimos ("the very best"), intensifying beyond the simple adjective to.Vim ("good") found in the Hebrew. Where the Hebrew perfect 'a.Hev ("he loves/has loved") suggests a settled state, the LXX uses the present tense φιλεῖ ("he loves"), and the Vulgate expands into a descriptive clause, quibus libenter vescitur ("which he eats with pleasure").