Genesis 35:29
וַיִּגְוַע יִצְחָק וַיָּמָת וַיֵּאָסֶף אֶל־עַמָּיו זָקֵן וּשְׂבַע יָמִים וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ עֵשָׂו וְיַעֲקֹב בָּנָֽיו׃ פ
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּגְוַ֨ע יִצְחָ֤ק וַיָּ֙מָת֙ וַיֵּאָ֣סֶף אֶל־עַמָּ֔יו זָקֵ֖ן וּשְׂבַ֣ע יָמִ֑ים וַיִּקְבְּר֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ עֵשָׂ֥ו וְיַעֲקֹ֖ב בָּנָֽיו׃ פ
καὶ ἐκλιπὼν ἀπέθανεν, καὶ προσεπρὸς τὸ γένος αὐτοῦ πρεσβύτερος καὶ πλήρης ἡμερῶν· καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν Ἠσαὺ καὶ Ἰακὼβ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Consumptusque ætate mortuus est: et appositus est populo suo senex et plenus dierum: et sepelierunt eum Esau et Jacob filii sui.
Exhaló su último suspiro y murió a una edad muy avanzada, anciano y satisfecho de la vida, y fue a reunirse con sus antepasados. Sus hijos Esaú y Jacob lo sepultaron.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y exhaló Isaac el espíritu, y murió, y fué recogido á sus pueblos, viejo y harto de días; y sepultáronlo Esaú y Jacob sus hijos.
Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse narrates the death of Isaac: he expires, dies, and is gathered to his people, described as old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob bury him.
Key words
- va-yig'va' ("and he expired", H1478) — qal narrative form, first in the chain of three verbs describing the moment of death.
- va-yamot ("and he died", H4191) — qal narrative, second verb, reinforcing the fact of death alongside yig'va'.
- va-ye'asef ("and he was gathered", H0622) — niphal (passive/reflexive) narrative form; unlike the two preceding active qal verbs, this one presents Isaac as the recipient of the action "gathering," done to him rather than by him.
- zaqen ("an old [man]", H2205H) — masculine singular adjective describing Isaac's state at death.
- seva' ("satisfied of", H7649) — construct adjective governing yamim ("days", H3117G), forming the phrase "satisfied of days."
What the text says
The verse is built on a chain of four narrative (vav-consecutive) verbs, each marked by the prefix va- (H9001) that links the clauses sequentially: "and he expired... and he died... and he was gathered... and they buried." This chain structure is typical of Hebrew narrative prose, presenting the events as a rapid sequence rather than as separate, unconnected statements.
Grammatically notable is the shift from qal (active) verb forms — yig'va' and yamot — to the niphal form ye'asef, which grammatically marks Isaac as undergoing the action of "being gathered to his people" ('el-'amay, "to X of his people," H5971B in construct) rather than performing it himself. The phrase 'el-'amav uses the construct plural noun 'ammay with a possessive suffix ("his people"), a plural form despite referring to a singular collective.
Isaac is qualified by two construct/adjective phrases: zaqen ("old") and seva' yamim ("satisfied of days"), the second using a construct adjective (seva') governing the plural noun yamim ("days"). The closing clause names the agents of burial — 'Esav and Ya'aqob — marked as banayv ("his sons," construct plural with suffix), and the object 'oto ("him") is marked by the untranslated direct object particle 'et (H0853) plus suffix.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the three Hebrew verbs (yig'va', yamot, ye'asef) with two Greek verbs (ἐκλιπὼν ἀπέθανεν, "having failed, he died," and προσετέθη, "was added"), compressing the first two Hebrew verbs into one participial construction. The Vulgate similarly condenses with "Consumptusque ætate mortuus est" ("and consumed by age, he died"), merging zaqen ("old") into the phrase "consumed by age" rather than keeping it as a separate adjective as in the Hebrew.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.