Genesis 29:19

Summary

Laban responds to Jacob's proposal, stating that it is better to give his daughter to Jacob than to another man, and instructs Jacob to remain with him. The verse uses a comparative construction built entirely from two parallel infinitive clauses.

Key words

• tov ("good", H2896A) — masculine singular adjective functioning as the predicate of the whole sentence; it governs the comparison that follows.
• titi ("to give", H5414G) — qal infinitive construct with a 1st-person suffix ("my giving"), appearing twice to form the two halves of the comparison.
• mi ("more than", H9006) — comparative preposition attached to the second infinitive, creating the "more than" structure between the two options.
• 'ish 'acher ("another man", H0376G + H0312) — noun plus adjective, naming the alternative party to whom Rachel could be given.
• sheva ("remain", H3427) — qal imperative with paragogic he (H9012), giving the command an emphatic or urgent tone, followed by 'immadi ("with me", H5978+H9030).

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative marker va (H9001) attached to yomer ("he said", H0559), the standard formula introducing direct speech. Laban's statement itself has no finite main verb of comparison; instead, the comparison is built from two infinitival clauses joined by the preposition mi ("more than", H9006): "my giving her to you" (titi otah lakh) versus "my giving her to another man" (titi otah le-ish 'acher). The adjective tov ("good", H2896A) stands at the head of the sentence and evaluates the first option relative to the second — a construction where the infinitive serves as the grammatical subject of the adjective, a common way in Biblical Hebrew to express "it is better that X than Y" without a separate copula.

The second sentence is a short imperative: sheva ("remain", H3427) carries a paragogic he (H9012), a suffix that in Hebrew grammar often adds emphasis or volitional force to a command, followed by 'immadi ("with me", H5978 + H9030). The two clauses — the comparative statement and the imperative — are juxtaposed without a connecting conjunction, giving Laban's speech a terse, decisive character in the Hebrew.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the comparative construction with the adjective βέλτιον ("better") followed by two infinitives (δοῦναί με), matching the Hebrew's infinitival comparison closely. The Vulgate uses melius est ut... dem quam, a subjunctive clause structure, which restates the same comparison but through a different syntactic device (a purpose/result clause rather than paired infinitives). Both versions preserve the sense of Laban's statement and the closing imperative "stay/remain with me," without introducing lexical divergence from the Hebrew's core terms.