Genesis 34:17

Summary

This verse records the conditional threat spoken by Jacob's sons (implied context) to the Shechemites: if the men of the city do not agree to circumcision, the speakers will take "our daughter" and depart. The sentence is built as a protasis (the condition) followed by an apodosis (the consequence) using two sequential verbs of action.

Key words

• tishme'u ("you will listen", H8085G) — qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, expressing the ongoing/future condition being negated by lo' ("not", H3808).
• hiMol ("being circumcised", H4135A) — niphal infinitive, passive in force ("to be circumcised"), naming the required act without specifying who performs it.
• laqachnu ("we will take", H3947G) — qal sequential perfect, 1st person plural, continuing the narrative chain begun by the conditional clause; functions as a future consequence in context.
• bittenu ("our daughter", H1323G construct + H9025 suffix) — feminine singular noun in construct with the 1st person plural suffix, referring to a single daughter, not multiple.
• halakhnu ("we will go", H1980G) — qal sequential perfect, 1st person plural, closing the sequence of consequences.

What the text says

The verse opens with the compound particle ve'im ("and if", H9002+H0518A) marking a conditional clause. The condition itself is negated by lo' ("not", H3808) attached to tishme'u ("you will listen", H8085G), an imperfect verb indicating an unfulfilled future action — "if you do not listen to us." The object of listening is expressed through 'elenu ("to us", H0413+H9035), followed by the purpose clause lehiMol ("to be circumcised", H4135A), a niphal infinitive that leaves the agent unstated, consistent with a passive/reflexive sense of undergoing circumcision.

The apodosis begins with the narrative ve ("and", H9001) attached to laqachnu ("we will take", H3947G), a qal perfect used in sequential form to indicate a future result following the unmet condition. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) introduces bittenu ("our daughter", H1323G+H9025), a singular construct noun with a possessive suffix — grammatically one daughter, not several. The sequence closes with ve halakhnu ("and we will go", H1980G), another sequential perfect completing the chain of consequences: refusal leads to taking the daughter and departing.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew bittenu is singular ("our daughter"), matching the Vulgate's filiam nostram ("our daughter," singular) and RV1909's "nuestra hija." The LXX, however, renders this as τὰς θυγατέρας ἡμῶν ("our daughters," plural), a divergence from the Hebrew singular form. The BSB translation "our sister" reflects a different relational term than "daughter" found in the Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate texts.