Genesis 32:17

Summary

Jacob instructs the first of his servants what to say when Esau meets him. The verse sets up a hypothetical encounter (introduced by ki) in which Esau will ask three questions: whose servant the man is, where he is going, and to whom the animals ahead of him belong.

Key words

• y.Tzav ("he commanded", H6680) — piel imperfect with narrative vav, marking the main storyline action: Jacob's act of giving orders.
• ki ("that/if", H3588A) — a subordinating particle introducing the conditional/temporal clause about the anticipated meeting with Esau.
• yif.ga.she.kha ("he will meet you", H6298 + H9031) — qal imperfect verb with second-person suffix, expressing a future/contingent event: Esau's meeting with the servant.
• le.mi ("to whom?", H9005 + H4310) — preposition plus interrogative pronoun, repeated twice in the verse to frame Esau's expected questions about ownership.
• fa.Nei.kha ("before you", H6440G + H9021) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, literally "the face of you," used here to mean "ahead of you," locating the animals in front of the servant.

What the text says

The verse opens with va-y.Tzav ("and he commanded", H9001+H6680), a piel verb marking intensive or directive action, followed by et-ha-ri.Shon ("the first", H0853+H9009+H7223G), the object of the command — the lead servant among those Jacob has sent ahead. The infinitive le.mor ("saying", H9005+H0559) introduces direct speech, a common Hebrew construction for reported commands.

The subordinate clause begins with ki (H3588A), which here functions to introduce the anticipated circumstance — "when/if Esau meets you." The verb yif.ga.she.kha (H6298) is qal imperfect, denoting a future, possibly conditional event. This is followed by a sequential perfect, vi-sh.'e.le.kha ("and he will ask you", H7592+H9031), continuing the same time frame as the imperfect before it — a common Hebrew pattern (imperfect followed by sequential perfect) for describing successive future actions.

The reported questions Esau will ask are built on repeated interrogative constructions: le-mi ("to whom", H9005+H4310) appears twice, once regarding the servant himself ("to whom do you belong") and once regarding the animals ("to whom do these belong"). Between these two questions sits ve-'anah te.Lekh ("and where are you going", H9002+H0575+H1980G), an interrogative particle plus qal imperfect verb. The final phrase, le-fa.Nei.kha ("before you", H6440G+H9021), uses the construct form of "face" with a pronominal suffix to indicate spatial position — the animals traveling ahead of the servant.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew ki (H3588A) is rendered by the LXX as Ἐάν ("if"), by the Vulgate as Si ("if"), and by the BSB as "When" — reflecting the particle's dual conditional/temporal range, which each version resolves differently. The Hebrew phrase le-mi 'atah ("to whom [do you belong], you", H9005+H4310+H0859A) is rendered by the LXX as τίνος εἶ ("whose are you") and by the SBLIBRE as "¿De quién eres sirviente?" ("whose servant are you"), adding "servant" not explicit in the Hebrew wording itself.