Genesis 27:29

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you: be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a blessing on those who give you a blessing.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

יֽ͏ַעַבְד֣וּךָ עַמִּ֗ים *וישתחו **וְיִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֤וּ לְךָ֙ לְאֻמִּ֔ים הֱוֵ֤ה גְבִיר֙ לְאַחֶ֔יךָ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲוּ֥וּ לְךָ֖ בְּנֵ֣י אִמֶּ֑ךָ אֹרְרֶ֣יךָ אָר֔וּר וּֽמְבָרֲכֶ֖יךָ בָּרֽוּךְ׃

Transliteration

Yaʿabdûkā ʿammîm and-wəyištaḥăwû to-you ləʾummîm hĕwēh gəbîr to-ləʾaḥeykā and-wəyištaḥăwû to-you bənê ʾimmekā ʾōrəreykā ʾārûr and-ûməbārăkeykā bārûk

Grammar Details

• *Yaʿabdûkā*: Qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - they will serve you
• *ʿammîm*: noun, masculine plural - peoples
• *wəyištaḥăwû*: waw conjunctive + Hishtaphel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - and they will bow down
• *ləʾummîm*: noun, masculine plural - nations/peoples
• *hĕwēh*: Qal imperative, masculine singular - be
• *gəbîr*: noun, masculine singular - master/lord
• *ləʾaḥeykā*: preposition + noun, masculine plural construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - to your brothers
• *bənê*: noun, masculine plural construct - sons of
• *ʾimmekā*: noun, feminine singular construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your mother
• *ʾōrəreykā*: Qal participle, masculine plural construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - those cursing you
• *ʾārûr*: Qal passive participle, masculine singular - cursed
• *ûməbārăkeykā*: waw conjunctive + Piel participle, masculine plural construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - and those blessing you
• *bārûk*: Qal passive participle, masculine singular - blessed

Word Meanings

• *Yaʿabdûkā*: they will serve you/be your servants
• *ʿammîm*: peoples/nations/tribes
• *wəyištaḥăwû*: they will bow down/prostrate themselves
• *ləʾummîm*: nations/peoples/communities
• *gəbîr*: master/lord/ruler
• *ʾōrəreykā*: those cursing you/your cursers
• *ûməbārăkeykā*: those blessing you/your blessers

Referenced Verses

• Num 24:9 : 9 He took his sleep stretched out like a lion, and like a she-lion: by whom will his rest be broken? May a blessing be on everyone who gives you blessing, and a curse on everyone by whom you are cursed.
• Gen 12:3 : 3 To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
• Gen 27:37 : 37 And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son?
• Rom 9:12 : 12 It was said to her, The older will be the servant of the younger.
• Gen 9:25-26 : 25 Cursed be Canaan; let him be a servant of servants to his brothers. 26 And he said, Praise to the Lord, the God of Shem; let Canaan be his servant.
• Rev 19:16 : 16 And on his robe and on his leg is a name, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
• Gen 37:7 : 7 We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.
• Gen 49:8-9 : 8 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. 9 Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? 10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.
• Num 22:11-12 : 11 See, the people who have come out of Egypt are covering all the earth: now, put a curse on this people for me, so that I may be able to make war on them, driving them out of the land. 12 And God said to Balaam, You are not to go with them, or put a curse on this people, for they have my blessing.
• Num 23:8 : 8 How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?
• Gen 22:17-18 : 17 That I will certainly give you my blessing, and your seed will be increased like the stars of heaven and the sand by the seaside; your seed will take the land of those who are against them; 18 And your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, because you have done what I gave you orders to do.
• Gen 25:22-23 : 22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.
• Gen 25:33 : 33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.
• 2 Sam 8:1-9 : 1 And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines. 2 And he overcame the Moabites, and he had them measured with a line when they were stretched out on the earth; marking out two lines for death and one full line for life. So the Moabites became servants to David and gave him offerings. 3 And David overcame Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to make his power seen by the River. 4 And David took from him one thousand, seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and David had the leg-muscles of the horses cut, only keeping enough of them for a hundred war-carriages. 5 And when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to the help of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David put to the sword twenty-two thousand of the Aramaeans. 6 And David put armed forces in Aram of Damascus: and the Aramaeans became servants to David and gave him offerings. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went. 7 And David took their gold body-covers from the servants of Hadadezer and took them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Tebah and Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great store of brass. 9 And when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer, 10 He sent his son Hadoram to David, with words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had wars with Tou; and Hadoram took with him vessels of silver and gold and brass: 11 These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had overcome-- 12 The nations of Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon and the Philistines and the Amalekites and the goods he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men. 14 And he put armed forces in Edom; all through Edom he had armed forces stationed, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went. 15 And David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people. 16 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the army; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was keeper of the records; 17 And Zadok and Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, were priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; 18 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.
• 2 Sam 10:1-9 : 1 Now after this, death came to the king of the children of Ammon, and Hanun, his son, became king in his place. 2 And David said, I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father was a friend to me. So David sent his servants, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. 3 But the chiefs of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Does it seem to you that David is honouring your father by sending comforters to you? has he not sent his servants to go through the town and make secret observation of it, and overcome it? 4 So Hanun took David's servants, and after cutting off half the hair on their chins, and cutting off the skirts of their robes up to the middle, he sent them away. 5 When David had news of it, he sent men out with the purpose of meeting them on their way, for the men were greatly shamed: and the king said, Go to Jericho till your hair is long again, and then come back. 6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves hated by David, they sent to the Aramaeans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, and got for payment twenty thousand footmen, and they got from the king of Maacah a thousand men, and from Tob twelve thousand. 7 And hearing of this, David sent Joab and all the army and the best fighting-men. 8 And the children of Ammon came out and put their forces in position at the way into the town: and the Aramaeans of Zobah and of Rehob, with the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. 9 Now when Joab saw that their forces were in position against him in front and at his back, he took the best of the men of Israel and put them in line against the Aramaeans; 10 And the rest of the people he put in position against the children of Ammon, with Abishai, his brother, at their head. 11 And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help. 12 Take heart, and let us be strong for our people and for the towns of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him. 13 Then Joab and the people with him went forward to the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him. 14 And when the children of Ammon saw the flight of the Aramaeans, they themselves went in flight from Abishai, and came into the town. So Joab went back from fighting the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem. 15 And when the Aramaeans saw that Israel had overcome them, they got themselves together. 16 And Hadadezer sent for the Aramaeans who were on the other side of the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer's army, at their head. 17 And word of this was given to David: and he got all Israel together and went over Jordan and came to Helam. And the Aramaeans put their forces in position against David, and made an attack on him. 18 And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven hundred Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and Shobach, the captain of the army, was wounded, and came to his death there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their servants. So the Aramaeans, in fear, gave no more help to the children of Ammon.
• 1 Kgs 4:21 : 21 And Solomon was ruler over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the edge of Egypt; men gave him offerings and were his servants all the days of his life.
• 1 Kgs 11:15-16 : 15 And when David had sent destruction on Edom, and Joab, the captain of the army, had gone to put the dead into the earth, and had put to death every male in Edom; 16 (For Joab and all Israel were there six months till every male in Edom had been cut off;)
• 1 Kgs 22:47 : 47 At that time there was no king in Edom;
• 1 Chr 5:2 : 2 Though Judah became stronger than his brothers, and from him came the ruler, the birthright was Joseph's:)
• 2 Chr 25:11-14 : 11 Then Amaziah took heart, and went out at the head of his people and came to the Valley of Salt, where he put to death ten thousand of the children of Seir; 12 And ten thousand more the children of Israel took living, and made them go up to the top of the rock, pushing them down from the top of the rock so that their bodies were broken by the fall. 13 But the men of the band which Amaziah sent back and did not take with him to the fight, made attacks on the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, putting to death three thousand of their people and taking away a great store of their goods. 14 Now when Amaziah came back from the destruction of the Edomites, he took the gods of the children of Seir and made them his gods, worshipping them and burning offerings before them.
• Ps 2:6-9 : 6 But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being. 8 Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand. 9 They will be ruled by you with a rod of iron; they will be broken like a potter's vessel.
• Ps 60:1-9 : 1 <To the chief music-maker; put to Shushan-eduth. Michtam. Of David. For teaching. When he was fighting against Aram-naharaim and Aramzobah, when Joab came back, and put twelve thousand of the Edomites to death, in the Valley of Salt.> God, you have put us away from you, you have sent us in all directions, you have been angry; O be turned to us again. 2 By the power of your hand the earth is shaking and broken; make it strong again, for it is moved. 3 You have made the people see hard times; you have given us the wine of shaking for our drink. 4 Give a safe place to those who have fear of you, where they may go in flight from before the bow. (Selah.) 5 So that your loved ones may be made safe, let your right hand be my salvation, and give me an answer. 6 God has said in his holy place, I will be glad: I will make a division of Shechem, and the valley of Succoth will be measured out. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver; 8 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I put out my shoe; over Philistia will a glad cry be sounded. 9 Who will take me into the strong town? who will be my guide into Edom? 10 Have not you put us away, O God? and you have not gone out with our armies. 11 Give us help in our trouble; for there is no help in man. 12 Through God we will do great things, for through him our haters will be crushed under our feet.
• Ps 72:8 : 8 Let his kingdom be from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
• Isa 9:7 : 7 Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
• Isa 45:14 : 14 The Lord says, The workmen of Egypt, and the traders of Ethiopia, and the tall Sabaeans, will come over the sea to you, and they will be yours; they will go after you; in chains they will come over: and they will go down on their faces before you, and will make prayer to you, saying, Truly, God is among you; and there is no other God.
• Isa 49:7 : 7 The Lord who takes up Israel's cause, even his Holy One, says to him whom men make sport of, who is hated by the nations, a servant of rulers: Kings will see and get up from their places, and chiefs will give worship: because of the Lord who keeps faith; even the Holy One of Israel who has taken you for himself.
• Isa 49:23 : 23 And kings will take care of you, and queens will give you their milk: they will go down on their faces before you, kissing the dust of your feet; and you will be certain that I am the Lord, and that those who put their hope in me will not be shamed.
• Isa 63:1-6 : 1 Who is this who comes from Edom, with blood-red robes from Bozrah? he whose clothing is fair, stepping with pride in his great strength? I whose glory is in the right, strong for salvation. 2 Why is your clothing red, and why are your robes like those of one who is crushing the grapes? 3 I have been crushing the grapes by myself, and of the peoples there was no man with me: in my wrath and in my passion, they were crushed under my feet; and my robes are marked with their life-blood, and all my clothing is red. 4 For the day of punishment is in my heart, and the year for the payment of the price for my people has come. 5 And I saw that there was no helper, and I was wondering that no one gave them support: so my arm did the work of salvation, and my wrath was my support. 6 And in my passion the peoples were crushed under my feet, and broken in my wrath, and I put down their strength to the earth.
• Dan 2:44-45 : 44 And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever. 45 Because you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that by it the iron and the brass and the earth and the silver and the gold were broken to bits, a great God has given the king knowledge of what is to take place in the future: the dream is fixed, and its sense is certain.
• Zeph 2:8-9 : 8 My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of their land. 9 For this cause, by my life, says the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, truly Moab will become like Sodom and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, given up to waste plants and salt pools and unpeopled for ever: the rest of my people will take their property, the overflow of my nation will take their heritage.
• Mal 1:2-5 : 2 You have been loved by me, says the Lord. But you say, Where was your love for us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord: but Jacob was loved by me, 3 And Esau was hated, and I sent destruction on his mountains, and gave his heritage to the beasts of the waste land. 4 Though Edom says, We are crushed down but we will come back, building up the waste places; this is what the Lord of armies has said: They may put up buildings, but I will have them pulled down; and they will be named The land of evil-doing, and The people against whom the Lord keeps his wrath for ever. 5 And your eyes will see it; and you will say, The Lord is great even outside the limits of Israel.
• Matt 25:40 : 40 And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
• Matt 25:45 : 45 Then will he make answer to them, saying, Truly I say to you, Because you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.