Genesis 15:20 — Word Study
WLCוְאֶת־ הַחִתִּ֥י וְאֶת־ הַפְּרִזִּ֖י וְאֶת־ הָרְפָאִֽים׃
BSAHittitesChittîy [descendants of Heth] PerizzitesPᵉrizzîy [a Canaanite tribe] Rephaitesrâphâʼ [a group of giants, the Raphaite]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| הַחִתִּ֥י | the Hittite[s] | Particle, noun gentilic masculine singular absolute |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| הַפְּרִזִּ֖י | the Perizzite[s] | Particle, noun gentilic masculine singular absolute |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| הָרְפָאִֽים׃ | the Rephaites | Particle, noun gentilic masculine plural absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, |
| KJV | And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, |
| ASV | and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, |
| YLT | and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, |
| WEB | the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, |
| BBE | And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, |
The translations agree on the listing of the Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites.
The verse consists of a series of noun phrases listing the groups without a finite verb, emphasizing their significance.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Genesis 15:20
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — God's Covenant with Abramgenerated
Genesis 15:20 is part of God's promise to Abram, where He outlines the boundaries of the land that will belong to Abram's descendants. This covenant is significant in the narrative of the Patriarchs, establishing the land of Canaan as their inheritance. The mention of various groups highlights the diversity of the inhabitants in the land at that time, which the Israelites would later encounter.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Genesis 14:5 | In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim, |
| 2 | Isaiah 17:5 | as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — רְפָאִים, ha.re.fa.'Imgenerated
The term רְפָאִים (refa'im) refers to a group of giants, specifically associated with the Rephaim, an ancient race mentioned in the Old Testament. This word is plural, indicating a collective identity among these giants, who are often linked to notable figures like Goliath.
The Rephaim are described in various contexts throughout the Bible, often highlighting their formidable nature. The parsing as a noun indicates they are a distinct group, and their mention here serves to illustrate the challenges that Abram's descendants would face in claiming the land.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the mention of the Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites in Genesis 15:20.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, listing a series of noun phrases that identify different peoples. The finite verb is implicit in the context, as the LORD is the speaker making a covenant.
The Hebrew word order places emphasis on the groups being named, highlighting their significance in the promise of land to Abram's descendants.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates רְפָאִים as ραφαϊν, which indicates a direct correspondence to the Hebrew term, preserving the idea of giants. This choice reflects an understanding of the Rephaim as notable figures in the biblical narrative.
The use of the Greek word does not alter the meaning but maintains the connection to the original Hebrew context.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Genesis 15:20 lists the Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites as groups living in the land that God promised to Abram's descendants. These names represent the peoples that the Israelites would encounter as they entered the land.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The Hittites were descendants of Heth, mentioned in Genesis 10:15, and were a significant group in the ancient Near East.
Perizzites were members of a Canaanite tribe that lived in southern Canaan before the Israelite conquest.
The Rephaim were known as giants, with notable figures like Goliath among them, representing formidable challenges for the Israelites.
Their mention underscores the diversity of peoples in the land that would be inherited by Abram's descendants, highlighting the challenges they would face.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the diversity of peoples in the land promised to Abram's descendants?
- How does understanding the historical context of these groups enhance our reading of the biblical narrative?
- In what ways can the challenges faced by Abram's descendants be reflected in our own lives today?
- What does this covenant reveal about God's promises and His plans for His people?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Genesis 15:20 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd the Hittites,.... Who had their name from Heth, a son of Canaan, see Genesis 10:15; they dwelt about Hebron, in the south of the land of Canaan: and the Perizzites; these dwelt in the wood
Read John Gill on Genesis 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, The Hittites.
Read Robert Jamieson on Genesis 15 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsGenesis 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, Genesis 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, Genesis 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.Ver. 19-21. The Kenites, and the Kenezzites.] R. Salomon noteth, that whereas ten nations are here reckoned up, seven only were given to the Israelites. He addeth also, that the Kenites, Kenezzites, and Cadmonims were the same with the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, all which were at length to be possessed by the Israelites.
Read John Trapp on Genesis 15 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges20. the Hittite] See note on Genesis 10:15. Probably indicating the presence of Hittite settlements in Canaan—bands who had roamed southward from the great Hittite kingdom of the north. the Perizzite, and the Rephaim] See notes on Genesis 13:7, Genesis 14:5.
Read Cambridge on Genesis 15 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible20. Hittites — Descendants of Heth. See on Genesis 10:15. Perizzites — See on Genesis 13:7. Rephaim — See on Genesis 14:5. For an account of the tribes mentioned in Genesis 15:21, see on Genesis 10:16; Genesis 10:19.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Genesis 15 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Tyndale line
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
Strictly literal
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim,
and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites,
From the Latin
And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
Simplified
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Samaritan Pentateuch all agree on the wording of this verse. The Samaritan Pentateuch matches the Masoretic Text word for word, confirming the consistency of the text across these traditions.
וְאֶת־ הַחִתִּ֥י וְאֶת־ הַפְּרִזִּ֖י וְאֶת־ הָרְפָאִֽים׃
6 of the 6 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ואת החתי ואת הפרזי ואת הרפאים
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Genesis 15:20
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
חִתִּי (Chittiy) refers to a Hittite, a descendant of Heth, who is mentioned in the context of the Canaanite lineage in the Old Testament. The term denotes both an individual and the nation that inhabited regions of Anatolia and later parts of Lebanon. It is linked to the broader family of nations descended from Canaan, as noted in Genesis 10:15.
חִתִּי adj. et n.gent. Hittite(s)
base
H2850 חִתִּי Hittite(s)
2850 Chittiy khit-tee'
patronymically from 2845; a Chittite, or descendant of
Cheth:--Hittite, Hittities.
see HEBREW for 02845
חִתִּי (chit.ti) — Hittite.
Someone descended from Heth who was a man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.10.15;
son of: Canaan (H3667);
brother of: Sidon (H6721), Jebusite (H2983), Amorite (H0567), Girgashite (H1622), Hivite (H2340), Arkite (H6208), Sinite (H5513), Arvadite (H0721), Zemarite (H6786) and Hamathite (H2577); also called Hittite (KJV: "of Heth") frequently
Group of chet (חֵת "Heth" H2845)
§ Hittite = "descendant of Heth"
the nation descended from Heth, the 2nd son of Canaan; once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey), later in north Lebanon
Art | Ngmsa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ngmsa
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
פְּרִזִּי (Perizzite) refers to an inhabitant of the open country, specifically one of the tribes in Canaan. The term is associated with a people who lived in southern Canaan before the Israelite conquest, and it may mean 'belonging to a village.' The Perizzites are first mentioned in Genesis 13:7.
פְּרִזִּי 23 adj.gent. Perizzite
base
H6522 פְּרִזִּי Perizzite
6522 Prizziy per-iz-zee'
for 6521; inhabitant of the open country; a Perizzite, one of
the Canaanitish tribes:--Perizzite.
see HEBREW for 06521
פְּרִזִּי (pe.riz.zi) — Perizzite.
Someone descended from Periz(?), first mentioned at Gen.13.7
§ Perizzite = "belonging to a village"
a people who inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest
Art | Ngmsa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ngmsa
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
רָפָה (rapha') refers to a giant, specifically associated with the Rephaim, an ancient race of giants mentioned in the Old Testament. The term encompasses both the individual Rapha and the collective Rephaim, who are described as descendants of Rapha. The entries highlight the connection to invigorating or healing, but primarily focus on the notion of giants.
רָפָה, רָפָא as n.pr.m. Hā-Rāphā
base
רְפָאִים n.pr.gent. old race of giants
base
H7497a רָפָה, רָפָא Hā-Rāphā H7497b רְפָאִים n. pr. gent. old race of giants
7497 rapha' raw-faw'
or raphah {raw-faw'}; from 7495 in the sense of invigorating;
a giant:--giant, Rapha, Rephaim(-s). See also 1051.
see HEBREW for 07495
see HEBREW for 01051
רָפָה (ra.pah) — Rapha.
A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.21.16;
father of: Goliath (H1555), Ishbi-benob (H3430), Saph (H5593), Lahmi (H3902), huge_man (H4060A); also translated "giant";
Also named: re.pha.im (רְפָאִים "Raphaite" H7497H)
§ giant, Rephah
רְפָאִים (re.pha.im) — Rephaim.
1) giants, Rephaim
1a) old tribe of giants
2) People descended from Repha(?), first mentioned at Gen.14.5
Also named: zam.zom (זַמְזֻמִּים "Zamzummin" H2157)
רְפָאִים (re.pha.im) — (Valley of) Rephaim.
Combined with e.meq (עֵ֫מֶק " Valley" H6010P)
This name means giants,
רְפָאִים (re.pha.im) — Raphaite.
Descendants from Rapha, who lived at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.21.16;
father of: Goliath (H1555), Ishbi-benob (H3430), Saph (H5593), Lahmi (H3902), huge_man (H4060A); also translated "giant";
Art | Ngmpa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine plural absoluteHTd/Ngmpa