Genesis 20:7

Bible in Basic English (1941)

So now, give the man back his wife, for he is a prophet, and let him say a prayer for you, so your life may be safe: but if you do not give her back, be certain that death will come to you and all your house.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְעַתָּ֗ה הָשֵׁ֤ב אֵֽשֶׁת־הָאִישׁ֙ כִּֽי־נָבִ֣יא ה֔וּא וְיִתְפַּלֵּ֥ל בּֽ͏ַעַדְךָ֖ וֶֽחְיֵ֑ה וְאִם־אֵֽינְךָ֣ מֵשִׁ֗יב דַּ֚ע כִּי־מ֣וֹת תָּמ֔וּת אַתָּ֖ה וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר־לָֽךְ׃

Transliteration

And-now hāšēḇ wife-hā-'îš for-nāḇî' he wə-yiṯpallēl for-you we-ḥyēh and-if-not-you mēšîḇ da' that-môṯ tāmûṯ you and-all-that-to-you

Grammar Details

• *wə-'attāh*: waw conjunction + adverb - and now
• *hāšēḇ*: Hiphil imperative masculine singular - return/restore
• *'ēšeṯ*: common noun, feminine singular construct - wife of
• *hā-'îš*: definite article + common noun, masculine singular - the man
• *kî*: conjunction - that
• *nāḇî'*: common noun, masculine singular - prophet
• *hû'*: 3rd masculine singular personal pronoun - he
• *wə-yiṯpallēl*: waw consecutive + Hithpael imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he will pray
• *ba'adḵā*: preposition + 2nd masculine singular suffix - for you
• *we-ḥyēh*: waw conjunction + Qal imperative masculine singular - and live
• *wə-'im*: waw conjunction + conditional particle - and if
• *'ênḵā*: particle of negation + 2nd masculine singular suffix - you are not
• *mēšîḇ*: Hiphil participle masculine singular - returning
• *da'*: Qal imperative masculine singular - know
• *môṯ*: Qal infinitive absolute - surely
• *tāmûṯ*: Qal imperfect 2nd masculine singular - you will die
• *'attāh*: 2nd masculine singular personal pronoun - you
• *wə-ḵol*: waw conjunction + noun, masculine singular construct - and all of
• *'ăšer*: relative particle - that
• *lāḵ*: preposition + 2nd masculine singular suffix - to you/belonging to you

Word Meanings

• *hāšēḇ*: return/restore/bring back
• *nāḇî'*: prophet/spokesman/inspired man
• *yiṯpallēl*: pray/intercede/mediate
• *ḥyēh*: live/be alive/stay alive
• *mēšîḇ*: return/restore/bring back
• *da'*: know/understand/perceive
• *môṯ tāmûṯ*: surely die/certainly die (emphatic construction)

Referenced Verses

• 1 Sam 7:5 : 5 Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you.
• Job 42:8 : 8 And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.
• 2 Sam 24:17 : 17 And when David saw the angel who was causing the destruction of the people, he said to the Lord, Truly, the sin is mine; I have done wrong: but these are only sheep; what have they done? let your hand be against me and against my family.
• Num 16:32-33 : 32 And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods. 33 So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people.
• 2 Kgs 5:11 : 11 But Naaman was angry and went away and said, I had the idea that he would come out to see such an important person as I am, and make prayer to the Lord his God, and with a wave of his hand over the place make the leper well.
• 2 Kgs 19:2-4 : 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame; for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so then make your prayer for the rest of the people.
• 1 Chr 16:22 : 22 Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.
• Job 34:19 : 19 Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.
• 1 Sam 7:8 : 8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines.
• 1 Sam 12:19 : 19 And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king.
• 1 Sam 12:23 : 23 And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way.
• Gen 2:17 : 17 But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you.
• Gen 12:15 : 15 And Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house.
• Gen 12:17 : 17 And the Lord sent great troubles on Pharaoh's house because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
• Gen 20:18 : 18 For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
• Exod 4:16 : 16 And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God.
• Exod 7:1 : 1 And the Lord said to Moses, See I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.
• Exod 12:1-3 : 1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 Let this month be to you the first of months, the first month of the year. 3 Say to all the children of Israel when they are come together, In the tenth day of this month every man is to take a lamb, by the number of their fathers' families, a lamb for every family:
• Exod 18:17 : 17 And Moses' father-in-law said to him, What you are doing is not good.
• Lev 6:4 : 4 Then having taken off his linen robes and put on other clothing, he is to take it away into a clean place, outside the tent-circle.
• Lev 6:7 : 7 And this is the law for the meal offering: it is to be offered to the Lord before the altar by the sons of Aaron.
• 1 Kgs 13:6 : 6 Then the king made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, as it was before.
• 1 Kgs 18:1-9 : 1 Now after a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go and let Ahab see you, so that I may send rain on the earth. 2 So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. Now there was no food to be had in Samaria. 3 And Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. (Now Obadiah had the fear of the Lord before him greatly; 4 For when Jezebel was cutting off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred of them, and kept them secretly in a hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water.) 5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers, and see if there is any grass to be had for the horses and the transport beasts, so that we may be able to keep some of the beasts from destruction. 6 So they went through all the country, covering it between them; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another by himself. 7 And while Obadiah was on his way, he came face to face with Elijah; and seeing who it was, he went down on his face and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah? 8 And Elijah in answer said, It is I; now go and say to your lord, Elijah is here. 9 And he said, What sin have I done, that you would give up your servant into the hand of Ahab, and be the cause of my death? 10 By the life of the Lord your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you; and when they said, He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you. 11 And now you say, Go, say to your lord, Elijah is here. 12 And straight away, when I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will take you away, I have no idea where, so that when I come and give word to Ahab, and he sees you not, he will put me to death: though I, your servant, have been a worshipper of the Lord from my earliest years. 13 Has my lord not had word of what I did when Jezebel was putting the Lord's prophets to death? how I kept a hundred of them in a secret hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water? 14 And now you say, Go and say to your Lord, Elijah is here; and he will put me to death. 15 And Elijah said, By the life of the Lord of armies, whose servant I am, I will certainly let him see me today. 16 So Obadiah went to Ahab and gave him the news; and Ahab went to see Elijah. 17 And when he saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? 18 Then he said in answer, I have not been troubling Israel, but you and your family; because, turning away from the orders of the Lord, you have gone after the Baals. 19 Now send, and get Israel together before me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal who get their food at Jezebel's table. 20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and got the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go on balancing between two opinions? if the Lord is God, then give worship to him; but if Baal, give worship to him. And the people said not a word in answer. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Now, let them give us two oxen; and let them take one for themselves, and have it cut up, and put it on the wood, but put no fire under it; I will get the other ox ready, and put it on the wood, and put no fire under it. 24 And do you make prayers to your god, and I will make a prayer to the Lord: and it will be clear that the one who gives an answer by fire is God. And all the people in answer said, It is well said. 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Take one ox for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are more of you; and make your prayers to your god, but put no fire under. 26 So they took the ox which was given them, and made it ready, crying out to Baal from morning till the middle of the day, and saying, O Baal, give ear to us. But there was no voice and no answer. And they were jumping up and down before the altar they had made. 27 And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake. 28 So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them. 29 And from the middle of the day they went on with their prayers till the time of the offering; but there was no voice, or any answer, or any who gave attention to them. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and all the people came near. And he put up again the altar of the Lord which had been broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Lord had said, Israel will be your name: 32 And with the stones he made an altar to the name of the Lord; and he made a deep drain all round the altar, great enough to take two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and, cutting up the ox, put it on the wood. Then he said, Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time; 34 And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time. 35 And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full. 36 Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. 37 Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again. 38 Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain. 39 And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. 40 And Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them get away. So they took them, and Elijah made them go down to the stream Kishon, and put them to death there. 41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, Up! take food and drink, for there is a sound of much rain. 42 So Ahab went up to have food and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he went down on the earth, putting his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, Go now, and take a look in the direction of the sea. And he went up, and after looking said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times; and he went seven times. 44 And the seventh time he said, I see a cloud coming up out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. Then he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Get your carriage ready and go down or the rain will keep you back. 45 And after a very little time, the heaven became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went in his carriage to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he made himself strong, and went running before Ahab till they came to Jezreel.
• Ps 25:14 : 14 The secret of the Lord is with those in whose hearts is the fear of him; he will make his agreement clear to them.
• Ps 105:9-9 : 9 The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; 10 And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement; 11 Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage: 12 When they were still small in number, and strange in the land; 13 When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people. 14 He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them, 15 Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.
• Jer 14:11 : 11 And the Lord said to me, Make no prayer for this people for their good.
• Jer 15:1 : 1 Then the Lord said to me, Even if Moses and Samuel came before me, I would have no desire for this people: send them away from before me, and let them go.
• Jer 27:18 : 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make request to the Lord of armies that the vessels which are still in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.
• Ezek 3:18 : 18 When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; and you give him no word of it and say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his evil way, so that he may be safe; that same evil man will come to death in his evil-doing; but I will make you responsible for his blood.
• Ezek 33:8 : 8 When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.
• Ezek 33:14-16 : 14 And when I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; if he is turned from his sin and does what is ordered and right; 15 If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him. 16 Not one of the sins which he has done will be kept in mind against him: he has done what is ordered and right, life will certainly be his.
• 1 Cor 14:4 : 4 He who makes use of tongues may do good to himself; but he who gives the prophet's word does good to the church.
• Heb 1:1 : 1 In times past the word of God came to our fathers through the prophets, in different parts and in different ways;
• Heb 13:4 : 4 Let married life be honoured among all of you and not made unclean; for men untrue in married life will be judged by God.
• Jas 5:14-16 : 14 Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord. 15 And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness. 16 So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working.
• 1 John 5:16 : 16 If a man sees his brother doing a sin which is not bad enough for death, let him make a prayer to God, and God will give life to him whose sin was not bad enough for death. There is a sin whose punishment is death: I do not say that he may make such a request then.
• Rev 11:5-6 : 5 And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death. 6 These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is.