Genesis 46:17

Summary

The verse lists the sons of Asher — Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah — together with their sister Serah, then adds the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malkiel. It is a genealogical notice within the larger list of Jacob's descendants who went to Egypt.

Key words

• bene ("sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct noun, used twice to introduce two levels of the genealogy: the sons of Asher and, nested within them, the sons of Beriah.
• Beri'ah ("Beriah", H1283G) — proper name appearing twice, once as a son of Asher (position 10) and once as the head of his own line (position 17), linking the two clauses.
• Serach ("Serah", H8294) — proper name marked grammatically as feminine, the only woman named in this list of Asher's children.
• achotam ("their sister", H0269 + suffix H9028) — feminine singular construct noun with a masculine plural possessive suffix, explicitly identifying Serah's relationship to the four preceding male names as their sister.
• u- ("and", H9002) — the conjunction repeated before nearly every name, giving the list its typical Hebrew genealogical rhythm of paratactic coordination rather than subordination.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a simple construct chain: u-bene Asher ("and the sons of Asher") governs four coordinated male names — Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah — followed by ve-Serach achotam ("and Serah their sister"), where the feminine singular construct noun achot with the plural suffix -am ("their") ties Serah back to all four brothers as a single collective referent. The second half repeats the same construct pattern, u-bene Beriah ("and the sons of Beriah"), introducing a new generation with Heber and Malkiel. The repetition of bene signals a shift from the first-generation list (Asher's own children) to a second-generation sublist (Beriah's children), a common structuring device in these genealogical chapters that Hebrew marks through repeated construct phrases rather than explicit transitional words.

Differences between versions

The LXX gives only four names before ἀδελφὴ αὐτῶν ("their sister") — Ἰεσσαί, Ἰεοὺλ, Βαριά, Σάαρ — where the Hebrew lists five names (Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah) plus Serah; the Greek appears to render only one name where the Hebrew has two (Ishvah and Ishvi), reducing the total count of Asher's sons named in that clause. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew's five-name structure (Jamne, Jesua, Jessui, Beria, plus Sara as sister), matching the Hebrew word order and count more closely than the LXX does. Proper names also differ in transliteration across all three (e.g., Hebrew Cheber vs. LXX Χόβωρ vs. Vulgate Heber), reflecting normal phonetic adaptation rather than a difference in genealogical content.