Genesis 9:8

Summary

The verse reports that God spoke to Noah and to his sons who were with him. It functions as the introductory formula for the divine speech that follows in the subsequent verses (the covenant with Noah and every living creature).

Key words

• vayomer ("he said", H0559) — qal verb in narrative form (vav + prefix), marking a new step in the story sequence: "and then he said."
• Elohim ("God", H0430) — masculine plural noun used here with a singular verb (vayomer), the standard grammatical pattern for this divine name in narrative prose.
• banav ("his sons", H1121) — masculine plural noun in construct form with the pronominal suffix "his," indicating sons in relation to Noah.
• ito ("with him", H0854) — preposition with 3rd person masculine singular suffix, specifying that the sons were together with Noah at the moment of speech.
• le'mor ("saying", H0559) — infinitive construct of the same root as vayomer, functioning as a formulaic marker introducing direct speech ("...saying:").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain introduced by the narrative va- prefix on yomer, which signals sequential action in the storyline. The subject Elohim takes a singular verb form despite its plural noun pattern, which is standard usage for this divine name throughout the narrative. The recipients of the speech are marked twice with the preposition 'el ("to"): first "to Noah" ('el-Noach), then "and to his sons" (ve'el-banav), followed by the phrase ito ("with him"), which clarifies that the sons' presence is tied to Noah's location rather than introducing a separate group. The verse closes with the infinitive le'mor ("saying"), a common formula in Biblical Hebrew narrative that opens direct speech, here pointing forward to the content that follows in the next verses.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate opens with Haec quoque dixit ("This too God said"), adding a connective phrase not present in the Hebrew text, which simply begins with the narrative verb vayomer ("and he said"). The LXX text as given shows τῷ ("to the") without an explicit name before καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ ("and to his sons"), differing from the Hebrew's explicit repetition of "to Noah and to his sons." The Spanish SBLIBRE translation omits an equivalent for ito ("with him"), while RV1909 and BSB both retain it ("con él" / "with him").