וְיָקְטָ֣ן יָלַ֔ד אֶת־אַלְמֹודָ֖ד וְאֶת־שָׁ֑לֶף וְאֶת־חֲצַרְמָ֖וֶת וְאֶת־יָֽרַח׃
(Genesis 10:26)
And Yoqtan begot Almodad and Shelef and Ḥatsarmavet and Yaraḥ
A Whispering Verb in a Long Line of Names
This verse looks simple. A list. A chain. A father and four sons. No thunder. No war. No oracle.
Yet hidden inside this genealogical rhythm is a single verb that carries the entire architecture of continuity:
יָלַד
One verb. Qal. Perfect. Three consonants that quietly generate history.
Let us excavate the stem.
The Only Verb in the Room
| Form | Binyan | Morphology | Narrative Force |
|---|---|---|---|
| יָלַד | Qal | Perfect 3ms | Completed generative act |
1. Root Under the Microscope
Root: י־ל־ד
This root means “to bear, to beget, to give birth.”
In Qal it is simple, biological, direct.
But the simplicity is deceptive.
Unlike verbs of war or prophecy, יָלַד does not dramatize. It does not intensify. It does not reflexively spiral inward. It just states:
Life moved forward.
Phonologically, we observe:
• Regular Qal vowel pattern: qamats + pataḥ
• No doubling
• No prefix markers
• Clean triliteral stability
It is the grammatical equivalent of steady breathing.
2. Function & Form — Why Qal?
• Binyan: Qal (simple active)
• Form: Perfect 3rd masculine singular
• Subject: יָקְטָן
• Direct object marker repeated before each name: אֶת־
The Perfect form indicates completed action.
But in genealogies, the Perfect does something larger:
It stacks reality.
Each perfect verb is a brick.
Each brick is a generation.
If this were Piel, it would feel intensified.
If it were Hiphil, it might imply causing birth indirectly.
If Niphal, it would obscure agency.
But Qal is chosen because nothing is complicated.
He begot.
That is enough.
3. Syntax — The Weight of Repetition
Notice the structure:
וְיָקְטָן יָלַד אֶת־אַלְמֹודָד וְאֶת־שָׁלֶף וְאֶת־חֲצַרְמָוֶת וְאֶת־יָרַח
The verb appears once.
The object marker repeats four times.
Why?
Because Hebrew grammar forces you to feel each child individually.
The binyan is simple.
The syntax is deliberate.
The repetition of וְאֶת־ slows the rhythm.
It makes you hear the lineage unfold name by name.
4. Semantic & Theological Depth
This is not merely biological reproduction.
In Genesis 10, the so-called “Table of Nations,” the verb יָלַד maps the post-flood world.
Each Qal perfect is a geographic explosion.
Each son becomes territory.
Each name becomes a people.
Theologically:
YHWH’s promise of multiplication moves forward not with spectacle, but with grammar.
No miracles here.
Just morphology.
5. Compare the Root Across Binyanim
Click to explore how י־ל־ד behaves in other stems
• Qal — to bear, to beget (biological, straightforward)
• Niphal — to be born (passive emergence)
• Hiphil — to cause to bear (rare, causative nuance)
The Niphal version shifts agency away from the parent and toward the event of birth itself.
The Qal keeps the subject active and responsible.
In genealogies, Hebrew overwhelmingly prefers Qal.
Why?
Because lineage is not accidental. It is deliberate continuity.
6. Literary Function — Why So Undramatic?
This verse sits inside a genealogical stream.
No tension. No conflict.
And that is precisely the literary function.
After the chaos of the flood narrative, the grammar stabilizes.
Qal perfect after Qal perfect:
Order.
Structure.
World-building.
The stem does not shout.
It lays foundations.
7. Translation Pitfalls
Many English translations simply say “fathered” or “begot.”
But English compresses the rhythm.
Hebrew does not.
Hebrew allows the single verb to govern multiple marked objects.
The repeated אֶת־ keeps the cadence alive.
A Hebrew listener would hear lineage unfolding like footsteps.
English often turns it into a summary.
8. Speaker’s Voice — Hearing It in the Ancient World
Imagine reciting this to a desert audience.
You would not rush.
You would say:
יָקְטָן יָלַד…
Pause.
אֶת־אַלְמֹודָד…
Pause.
Each name matters.
The verb is not emotional.
But it is heavy.
It carries the future.
The Quiet Architecture of Qal
There is no battle here.
No prophecy.
No divine speech.
Yet the Qal perfect of יָלַד builds civilizations.
It is the most ordinary binyan.
And perhaps the most powerful.
Because history is not always shaped by dramatic verbs.
Sometimes it is shaped by one steady, completed act:
יָלַד
And the world continues.
