Genesis 18

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52

   Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ θεός, "Now God was seen by him," where the Masoretic version reads ADONAI; the Greek turns to κύριος when the Lord speaks (18:13, 17, 20). πρὸς τῇ δρυὶ τῇ Μαμβρή, "at the oak of Mamre," singular, where the Masoretic version reads "the terebinths," as at 13:18 and 14:13. μεσημβρίας, "at noon," where the Masoretic version reads "in the heat of the day": the hour of Paul's light on the Damascus road (Acts 22:6). Abraham sits ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας, "at the door," the Greek's word for the Masoretic version's "doorway."

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 9, 22, 52

   Κύριε, "Lord," a vocative with no "my," where the Masoretic version reads "My lord" (אֲדֹנָי); the Greek has one word for the address and for the divine name, and the English prints the Greek's. εἰ ἄρα, "if then," where the Masoretic version reads "if, please." μὴ παρέλθῃς τὸν παῖδά σου, "do not pass by your servant," where it reads "do not, please, pass over from upon your servant." προσκυνέω, "bow down," is first fixed at 18:2: the Masoretic version's "prostrated himself."

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   Rulings 52, 53

   Swete prints νιψάτω, "let one wash," a third person singular, from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads the plural, "let them wash," and the Masoretic version "and wash your feet," addressed to the guests; the difference of person is marked. καταψύξατε, "cool off," where the Masoretic version reads "lean": it is the verb of Luke 16:24, where the rich man asks father Abraham to send Lazarus "to cool my tongue." ὕδωρ, "water," singular; and the Greek has no word for "a little" (מְעַט), seeded as a minus and marked. δένδρον, "tree," is the living tree; ξύλον "wood" is kept for the tree of life and the cross (61).

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 53, 54

   καὶ φάγεσθε, "and you shall eat," where the Masoretic version reads "and sustain your heart": the Greek has no word for "your heart" (לִבְּכֶם) or "a morsel of" (פַּת), both seeded as minuses and marked. οὗ εἵνεκεν ἐξεκλίνατε πρὸς τὸν παῖδα ὑμῶν, "on account of which you turned aside to your servant," where the Masoretic version reads "for thus you have passed over to your servant," and the pluses "this" and "into your way" are seeded and marked. Swete prints εἶπεν, "he said," singular, from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version have the plural, "they said"; and the answer is a command, Οὕτως ποίησον, "Thus do," where the Masoretic version reads "Thus you shall do."

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54, 143

   φύρασον τρία μέτρα σεμιδάλεως, "knead three measures of fine flour," where the Masoretic version reads "three seahs of meal, fine flour! Knead": the Greek has no word for "meal" (קֶמַח), which the alignment does not set and which is marked as a minus, and it puts "knead" before the flour. ἐγκρυφίας, "ash-cakes," loaves baked under the embers, where the Masoretic version reads "cakes" (עֻגוֹת). Matt 13:33 has three measures of flour again, under another word (σάτα, the seah).

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 137

   Swete prints ἔλαβον, from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ἔλαβεν, "he took," with the Masoretic version. The printed form is first person singular or third plural; the third plural is printed, "they took," as the reading that fits the narrative, and the difference of number is marked. μοσχάριον ἁπαλὸν καὶ καλόν, "a little calf, tender and beautiful," where the Masoretic version reads "a son of the herd, tender and good"; τὰς βόας, "the oxen," where it reads "the herd." The calf is the μόσχος of Luke 15:23 in its diminutive.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 53

   παρέθηκεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐφάγοσαν· αὐτὸς δὲ παριστήκει αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τὸ δένδρον, "and set it before them, and they ate; but he was [standing by]{G3936} them under the tree": the Greek has the eating before the standing, where the Masoretic version has it last ("and he was standing over them under the tree, and they ate"). παριστήκει, of παρίστημι "stand by," the attendant's stance (Luke 1:19, "I am Gabriel, who stand by before God"), is Swete's spelling. βούτυρον, "butter," where the Masoretic version reads "curds" (חֶמְאָה).

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 4, 52

   Ἐπαναστρέφων ἥξω πρὸς σὲ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον εἰς ὥρας, "coming back again I will arrive to you at this kairos, into hours," where the Masoretic version reads "Returning I will return to you at the living time" (כָּעֵת חַיָּה); εἰς ὥρας, "into hours," is the Greek's phrase for the season come round, a year on (18:14). καὶ ἕξει υἱὸν Σάρρα, "and Sarah shall have a son," a verb, where the Masoretic version reads "and look, a son to Sarah." Paul quotes the promise from 18:10 and 18:14 together: "At this kairos I will come, and there shall be to Sarah a son" (Rom 9:9). Σάρρα δὲ ἤκουσεν … οὖσα ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ, "Now Sarah heard … being behind him": in the Greek it is Sarah who is behind him, where the Masoretic version reads "and it was behind him" (וְהוּא, the doorway, or the speaker).

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 53

   πρεσβύτεροι προβεβηκότες ἡμερῶν, "elder, having gone forward in days," where the Masoretic version reads "old, coming into the days": Luke uses the same pair of words of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:7, 18, προβεβηκότες ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις), and he builds the annunciation on this chapter (18:14). ἐξέλειπεν δὲ Σάρρᾳ γίνεσθαι τὰ γυναίκια, "now the womanly things had failed to come to be for Sarah," where the Masoretic version reads "it had left off being for Sarah a path like the women." ἐξέλειπεν (of ἐκλείπω, "fail," Luke 22:32) and γυναίκια (of γυναικεῖος, "womanly," 1 Pet 3:7) are Swete's spellings. The Greek adds δέ, "now," opening a new circumstance, where the Masoretic version has no conjunction; it is marked as a difference of connective.

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 52

    Οὔπω μέν μοι γέγονεν ἕως τοῦ νῦν, "Not yet, on the one hand, has it come to be for me until now," where the Masoretic version reads "After I am worn out, has there been pleasure for me?": the Greek reads the consonants of עֶדְנָה "pleasure" as עַד הֵנָּה "until now," and makes Sarah's laughter a statement of her barrenness, not a question about delight. The alignment pairs the words, so the difference is marked as one of wording. Sarah laughs ἐν ἑαυτῇ, "in herself," where the Masoretic version reads "in her inward part." ὁ δὲ κύριός μου, "my lord," is the verse 1 Pet 3:6 has in view: "as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord."

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Swete prints Ὅτι ἐγέλασεν Σάρρα, an interrogative ὅτι, "Why did Sarah laugh," where the Masoretic version reads "Why is this, that Sarah laughed"; the Greek has no word for "is this" (זֶה). Ἆρά γε ἀληθῶς τέξομαι; "Shall I then even truly bear?", and ἐγὼ δὲ γεγήρακα, "but I have grown old," where the Masoretic version reads "and I am old." The plus "in herself" is seeded and marked.

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 46, 52

    μὴ ἀδυνατεῖ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ῥῆμα; "Is a word impossible with God?", where the Masoretic version reads "Is a word too wondrous for ADONAI?" (הֲיִפָּלֵא): the Greek turns wonder into possibility, and names God for the Tetragrammaton. Gabriel answers Mary with this verse: οὐκ ἀδυνατήσει παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πᾶν ῥῆμα, "no word shall be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37), after naming Elizabeth's old age and barrenness (Luke 1:36). ῥῆμα, "word," is both the thing said and the thing it tells of (Luke 2:15), and the English keeps one word for both. The plus "this" (kairos) is seeded with a query and is marked; εἰς ὥρας, "into hours," as at 18:10, where the Masoretic version reads "at the living time."

13. Decision↩ Back to the text

    Expected: "rose up" (KJV, RSV, NETS)

    Rulings 2, 20, 145

    ἐξαναστάντες, the intransitive aorist of ἐξανίστημι, "having risen up." The home gloss "raise up" is transitive ("raise up seed," 4:25); here the men rise, and "raise up" would give the verb an object it does not have. The split by construction that ἀνίστημι has (145d: "rise" / "make rise") is applied to the compound. συνπροπέμπων αὐτούς, "sending them off together," Swete's spelling of συμπροπέμπω, a participle of escort, where the Masoretic version reads "to send them away" (לְשַׁלְּחָם), a purpose; marked as a difference of word.

14. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54, 143

    ᾔδειν γὰρ ὅτι συντάξει, "For I knew that he will direct," where the Masoretic version reads "For I have known him, so that he may command": in the Hebrew the Lord's knowing is a choosing, with a purpose; in the Greek it is knowledge of what Abraham will do. τὰς ὁδούς, "the ways," plural, where the Masoretic version reads "the way." The Greek has πάντα ὅσα, "all, as many as," where the Masoretic version reads "what": the alignment does not seed πάντα, and it is marked as a plus. Swete prints μεθ’ ἑαυτόν, "after himself," and ἐπ’ αὐτόν, "about him," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads μετ’ αὐτόν and πρὸς αὐτόν, with no difference of sense.

15. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    καταβὰς οὖν ὄψομαι, "Having gone down, then, I will see," where the Masoretic version reads "Let me go down, please, and see"; συντελοῦνται, "they are completing it," one verb for the Masoretic version's "have they done—a finish?" (עָשׂוּ כָּלָה); and τὴν ἐρχομένην, "that is coming," present, where it reads "that has come." The plus "that" is seeded and marked.

16. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 46, 52, 54, 143

    Ἀβραὰμ δὲ ἦν ἑστηκὼς ἐναντίον Κυρίου, "but Abraham was standing before the Lord," where the Masoretic version reads "and Abraham—he was still standing before the face of ADONAI": the Greek has no word for "still" (עוֹדֶנּוּ), and the alignment does not set the lack; it is marked as a minus. The Masoretic verse is one of the tiqqune soferim: the rabbinic tradition holds that the scribes reversed an original "and ADONAI was still standing before Abraham" (Genesis Rabbah 49:7), and the Greek stands with the received order. The men ἦλθον εἰς Σόδομα, "came into Sodom," where the Masoretic version reads "went toward Sodom."

17. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 53, 54

    Μὴ συναπολέσῃς δίκαιον μετὰ ἀσεβοῦς, "Do not destroy together a just one with an ungodly one," a prohibition as Swete punctuates it, where the Masoretic version asks "Will you even sweep away the just with the guilty one?" The plus καὶ ἔσται ὁ δίκαιος ὡς ὁ ἀσεβής, "and the just one shall be as the ungodly," is seeded and marked; it states the outcome Abraham fears, and 18:25 repeats it. Rahlfs prints the verse as a question. ἀσεβής, "ungodly," is the word of Rom 4:5, "the one who justifies the ungodly," where the Masoretic version's "guilty one" (רָשָׁע) stands.

18. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54, 143

    ἐὰν ὦσιν πεντήκοντα ἐν τῇ πόλει δίκαιοι, "If there be fifty just in the city," where the Masoretic version reads "Perhaps there are fifty just in the middle of the city": the Greek has no word for "the middle of" (בְּתוֹךְ), which the alignment does not set; it is marked as a minus, as at 9:21. The lack of "even" (הַאַף, "will you even sweep away") is seeded and marked at "will you destroy." οὐκ ἀνήσεις τὸν τόπον, "will you not let go the place," where the Masoretic version reads "and not lift for the place" (נָשָׂא, bear the guilt away): ἀνίημι is to let go one's hold (Heb 13:5), and ἀφίημι "let go" answers it at 18:26, of one root (ἵημι). ἐὰν ὦσιν ἐν αὐτῇ, "if they be in it," where it reads "who are in its inward part." The alignment also reports one Greek word at 18:24 that has no place in Swete's verse: it belongs to the parallel text the alignment was made from, and Swete prints no word there, so nothing is marked (54).

19. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54

    μηδαμῶς σὺ ποιήσεις, "By no means shall you do," where the Masoretic version reads "Far be it for you from doing"; the second μηδαμῶς has no "for you" (לָּךְ), seeded as a minus and marked. ὁ κρίνων πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, οὐ ποιήσεις κρίσιν; "The one who judges all the land, will you not do judgment?", addressed to the judge in the second person, where the Masoretic version asks of him in the third: "Shall the judge of all the land not do judgment?" Paul argues from the same question: "is God unjust …? By no means (μὴ γένοιτο), for then how will God judge the kosmos?" (Rom 3:5–6). The clause "and the just one shall be as the ungodly" stands where the Masoretic version reads "and it be: like the just, like the guilty one."

20. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54, 143

    ἐν τῇ πόλει, "in the city," where the Masoretic version reads "in the middle of the city," marked as a minus as at 18:24. ἀφήσω πάντα τὸν τόπον, "I will let go all the place," where it reads "I will lift for all the place": ἀφίημι is the verb of forgiveness in the New Testament (Matt 6:12), held at "let go" (144d).

21. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Νῦν ἠρξάμην λαλῆσαι, "Now I have begun to speak," where the Masoretic version reads "Look, please, I have ventured to speak" (הוֹאַלְתִּי); and γῆ καὶ σποδός, "land and ashes," where it reads "dust and ashes" (עָפָר וָאֵפֶר): the Greek loses the rhyme and uses the word it gives the land itself. Abraham speaks πρὸς τὸν κύριον, "to the Lord," where the Masoretic version reads "to Adonai" (the written אֲדֹנָי, 49).

22. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 53, 54, 143

    Μή τι, κύριε, ἐὰν λαλήσω, "Let it not be anything, Lord, if I speak," addressed to the Lord in the second person, where the Masoretic version reads "Let it not, please, flare for Adonai, and let me speak": the Greek has no word for "flare" (יִחַר, of anger), which the alignment does not set; it is marked as a minus. Swete prints Οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσω ἐὰν εὑρεθῶσιν ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα, "I will not destroy, if they be found there, thirty," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ἐὰν εὕρω, "if I find," with the Masoretic version. "Destroy" stands where the Masoretic version reads "I will not do it," here and at 18:29.

23. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Ἐπειδὴ ἔχω λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν κύριον, "Inasmuch as I have to speak to the Lord," where the Masoretic version reads "Look, please, I have ventured to speak to Adonai" (18:27): ἔχω with an infinitive is "have it to do," be able or be bound to.

24. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54, 143

    As at 18:30, the Greek has no word for "flare," marked as a minus. ἐὰν λαλήσω ἔτι ἅπαξ, "if I speak further once," where the Masoretic version reads "let me speak only this turn" (אַךְ הַפַּעַם): ἅπαξ, "once," is the word of Heb 9:26–28 and 12:26–27, "yet once more." The numbers of the plea are the same in both versions: fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten (18:24–32).