Genesis 8:10

Summary

Genesis 8:10 narrates that the subject (Noah, implied from context) waited seven additional days, then sent the dove out from the ark a second time. The verse uses two sequential narrative verbs joined by vav, describing both the waiting period and the repeated action.

Key words

• vayyachel ("he waited", H2342K) — niphal narrative verb; the niphal stem here carries a passive/reflexive nuance, though the gloss renders it as an active "he waited."
• shiv'at ("seven of...", H7651) — cardinal number in construct state, grammatically bound to the following noun yamim to form "seven of days."
• yamim ("days", H3117G) — masculine plural noun, the head noun of the construct phrase, specifying the unit of time.
• vayyosef ("he repeated", H3254G) — hiphil (causative) narrative verb; literally "he caused to add/increase," functioning here as an auxiliary to express repetition of the following action.
• shalach ("to send out", H7971G) — piel infinitive; paired with vayyosef, it forms an idiomatic construction meaning "he did X again."

What the text says

The verse divides into two clauses joined by narrative vav, marking sequential action. The first clause, vayyachel od shiv'at yamim acherim ("he waited again seven of days other"), uses the niphal verb yachel (H2342K) followed by od ("again", H5750) and the construct phrase shiv'at yamim ("seven of days", H7651 + H3117G), modified by the adjective acherim ("other", H0312). This phrase specifies a second waiting period of seven days, distinct from an earlier one referenced elsewhere in the narrative.

The second clause employs a grammatical construction distinctive to Biblical Hebrew: vayyosef shalach — the hiphil verb yosef (H3254G, "he repeated/added") followed directly by the piel infinitive shalach (H7971G, "to send"). This verb-plus-infinitive pairing is an idiomatic way of expressing repeated action, equivalent to "he sent again." The infinitive itself carries no tense; the finite verb yosef supplies both the narrative sequence and the notion of repetition. The object is marked by 'et (H0853), an untranslated particle indicating that hayonah ("the dove", H3123) is the direct object, and the phrase concludes with min-hatevah ("from the ark", H4480A + H8392), specifying the point of departure.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew vayyosef shalach construction with two separate elements, πάλιν ("again") and ἐξαπέστειλεν ("he sent out"), splitting into adverb plus verb what the Hebrew expresses through a verb-plus-infinitive idiom. The Vulgate similarly uses rursum ("again") with dimisit ("he sent"), following the same analytic strategy as the LXX rather than reproducing the Hebrew's single compound construction.