Genesis 34:8

Summary

Hamor speaks to Jacob's sons on behalf of his son Shechem, stating that Shechem's nephesh ("self/soul") is attached to their daughter, and requesting formally that she be given to him as a wife.

Key words

• y'daBer ("he spoke", H1696G) — piel narrative verb, an intensive form of speaking, introducing Hamor's direct speech.
• chashKah ("it loves/is attached", H2836A) — qal perfect, third person feminine, agreeing with nafsh- ("self") as its subject; describes a completed state of attachment rather than an ongoing action.
• nafshO ("his self", H5315G + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, meaning literally "the self/soul of him"; functions as the grammatical subject of chashKah.
• biTechem ("your daughter", H1323G + H9026) — construct noun with 2nd person masculine plural suffix, "the daughter of you [all]," addressing the brothers collectively as the family unit.
• te.Nu na' ("give, please", H5414O + H4994) — qal imperative plus the particle na', softening the command into a polite request.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative verb va-y'daBer ("and he spoke", H1696G), a piel form marking the intensive act of speaking, followed by the subject Chamor ("Hamor", H2544) and the phrase iTam ("with them", H0854 + H9038), indicating that Hamor addresses the group directly. The speech is introduced by the infinitive le-'Mor ("to say", H0559), the standard formula for direct discourse.

Inside the reported speech, the grammatical subject of the sentence is nafshO ("his self", H5315G), a construct noun bearing a pronominal suffix referring to Shechem, whose name and filial relation (Shechem beni, "Shechem my son", H7927H + H1121A + suffix) precede it in apposition. The verb chashKah ("it loves/clings", H2836A) is qal perfect feminine, agreeing grammatically with the feminine noun nefesh ("self"), not with Shechem himself — the Hebrew idiom locates the attachment in the "self" rather than directly predicating it of the person. The object of this attachment is bitechem ("your daughter", H1323G), a construct noun with a second-person masculine plural suffix, addressing all the brothers as the collective holders of the daughter.

The second clause shifts to direct address: the imperative tenu ("give", H5414O) is softened by the particle na' ("please", H4994), followed by the direct object marker otah ("her", H0853 + H9034) and the double prepositional phrase lo le-'ishah ("to him, for a wife", H9033 + H0802H), specifying both recipient and purpose of the giving.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders chashKah nafshO ("his self clings/loves") as proeilato tē psychē ("he preferred/chose with his soul"), shifting the verb from an emotional attachment to a verb of preference or choice, though it retains reference to the psychē ("soul/self"). The Vulgate uses adhaesit anima ("his soul clung/adhered"), which stays closer to the Hebrew image of clinging expressed through the nefesh.