Genesis 32:27

Summary

The verse records a brief exchange in which an unnamed figure asks Jacob for his name, and Jacob answers by stating it. The Hebrew text is built from two short speech reports joined by narrative sequence.

Key words

• va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) — qal verb with narrative vav, appearing twice (positions 2 and 9), marking each new speech act in sequence ("and then he said... and then he said").
• elav ("to him", H0413 + H9033) — preposition with pronominal suffix "him," indicating the direction of the question, toward Jacob.
• mah ("what?", H4100) — interrogative pronoun opening the direct question.
• shemekha ("your name", H8034 + H9021) — construct noun shem ("name") with 2nd person masculine singular suffix "your," forming the phrase "your name."
• Ya'aqov ("Jacob", H3290) — proper name, given as the one-word answer.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure is minimal and paratactic, typical of biblical narrative dialogue. Each speech is introduced by va-yomer ("and he said", H0559), a qal verb in the narrative (vav-consecutive) form that simply advances the story from one action to the next without added nuance of aspect or mood beyond sequence. The subject of the first va-yomer is left implicit (grammatically "he," referring to the previous speaker in context), while the recipient of the question is marked explicitly by elav ("to him", H0413 + H9033), a preposition plus pronominal suffix that specifies Jacob as the addressee.

The question itself, mah-shemekha ("what [is] your name?", H4100 + H8034 + H9021), is a compact nominal clause without a copular verb — Hebrew does not require an explicit "is" here. The noun shem ("name", H8034) appears in construct form, bound directly to the interrogative mah and carrying the second-person suffix -kha ("your"), so the phrase literally reads "what — your name," a construction that Hebrew accepts as a complete question without any additional verb.

The reply is equally economical: the second va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) introduces the one-word answer Ya'aqov ("Jacob", H3290), a proper name given with no further predicate or verb, matching the brevity of the question.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the question with an explicit verb, Τί τὸ ὄνομά σού ἐστιν ("What is your name?"), supplying the copula "is" (ἐστιν) that the Hebrew construct phrase mah-shemekha does not contain. The Vulgate similarly reads Quod nomen est tibi? ("What is the name to you?"), also adding an explicit verb "est" ("is"). The Hebrew original expresses the question without any verb, relying solely on the interrogative-plus-construct-noun structure.