Genesis 19

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 138

   Swete's verse ends with πρὸ τοῦ κοιμηθῆναι, "before falling asleep," the clause with which the Masoretic version opens 19:4 ("Not yet had they lain down"); the alignment pairs the words across the verse line, and the Greek has them here. The Greek has no word for the Masoretic version's "very much" after "pressed," marked as a minus. The verb, παρεβιάζετο, is Swete's from Alexandrinus (Rahlfs reads κατεβιάζετο, of the same sense); it is the verb of 19:9 and of Luke 24:29, "they pressed him hard, saying, Stay with us." ἄζυμα, "unleavened bread," is the Greek's regular word for the Masoretic version's matzot, and the name of the feast in the Gospels (Mark 14:1, 12).

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 145

   οἱ Σοδομεῖται, "the Sodomites," where the Masoretic version reads "the men of Sodom": the Greek names the people by the city's gentilic and has no second "men."

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   ἵνα συγγενώμεθα αὐτοῖς, "so that we may consort with them," where the Masoretic version reads "and let us know them." The Greek replaces the Hebrew's euphemism (יָדַע, "know," as at 4:1 and 19:8) with its own: συγγίνομαι is "be with, keep company," and of a man and a woman the act of sex (Herodotus 1.199; Sus 11 Theodotion). The Greek leaves no doubt what the men of the city want; it keeps "come to know" for the daughters in 19:8.

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 143

   Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, has no word for the Masoretic version's "to the doorway" (הַפֶּתְחָה): Lot goes out "to them," and the door is shut behind him. Rahlfs reads πρὸς τὸ πρόθυρον, "to the porch," with the Masoretic version, and the alignment, built on that text, seeds nothing; the lack is marked as a minus. Swete's καί, "and," stands where Rahlfs has δέ.

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   Μηδαμῶς, "By no means," where the Masoretic version reads "Please" (אַל־נָא, the "not" of a plea): the Greek turns the plea into a refusal, and adds "to them."

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 53

   Swete prints ὑπὸ τὴν στέγην τῶν δοκῶν μου, "under the roof of my beams," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην, "under the shelter," and the Masoretic version "in the shadow of my beam." χρήσασθε αὐταῖς, "use them," stands for the Masoretic version's "do to them," and μηδὲν ἄδικον, "anything unjust," for its "a word"; καθὰ ἀρέσκῃ ὑμῖν, "even as it pleases you," is the Greek's regular phrase for "as is good in your eyes." The Greek also has "I will bring them out," a future, where the Masoretic version has "let me bring them out, please"; the "please" is marked as a minus.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 145

   Swete prints εἰσῆλθες παροικεῖν, "You entered to sojourn," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads εἷς ἦλθες, "you came, one man," which keeps the Masoretic version's "This one." In both the Greek speaks to Lot in the second person, where the Masoretic version speaks of him in the third, and turns the Masoretic version's "and judging, he judges!" into a question: μὴ καὶ κρίσιν κρῖναι; "surely not to judge a judgment as well?" The μή of the question expects the answer no. The Greek has no word for the Masoretic version's second "And they said," marked as a minus: the two speeches are one, and "Withdraw there!" (Ἀπόστα ἐκεῖ) answers "Approach—farther off!" ἀφίστημι, "withdraw," is the verb of 12:8 and 14:4.

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   ἀορασία, "blindness," literally "not-seeing," is the Greek's word for the Masoretic version's סַנְוֵרִים, "dazzling," here and at 2 Kgs 6:18, where Elisha's attackers are struck the same way; Wisdom 19:17 recalls this night ("as those at the doors of the just one, wrapped in yawning darkness"). The Greek also has παρελύθησαν, "they were loosened," the verb of the paralysed (Luke 5:18, 24; Heb 12:12), where the Masoretic version reads "they wearied themselves": the Greek men give up because their limbs fail. "Door" (θύρα) stands in all three places where the Masoretic version has "doorway" (פֶּתַח) or "door."

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   Ἔστιν τίς σοι ὧδε, "Is there anyone of yours here," where the Masoretic version reads "Still, who is yours here?": the Greek reads עֹד, "still," as a question of being. It has "sons-in-law," plural, where the Masoretic version has the singular, and "or if there is another of yours" where it reads "and all that is yours." The Greek's ἢ … ἢ, "or … or," stands for the Masoretic version's "and … and."

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 54, 141, 143

    ἃς ἔχεις, "whom you have," where the Masoretic version reads "who are found here"; the Greek adds the command καὶ ἔξελθε, "and go out," which the alignment does not seed, and it is marked as a plus. ἡνίκα δὲ ὄρθρος ἐγίνετο, "Now when dawn was coming to be," where the Masoretic version reads "as the dawn went up"; and ταῖς ἀνομίαις, "the lawlessnesses," plural, where it reads "the iniquity." συναπόλλυμι, "destroy together," is the Greek's verb for the Masoretic version's "be swept away" (ספה) here and at 18:23–24.

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 53, 54

    καὶ ἐταράχθησαν, "And they were troubled," where the Masoretic version reads "And he lingered" (וַיִּתְמַהְמָהּ): the Greek makes the whole household afraid, not Lot alone slow. οἱ ἄγγελοι, "the messengers," where the Masoretic version reads "the men." Swete prints τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν, "their hand," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version have "his hand." ἐν τῷ φείσασθαι Κύριον αὐτοῦ, "in the Lord's sparing him," a verb where the Masoretic version has the noun "pity." The Greek has no words for the Masoretic version's close of the verse, "and they brought him out and settled him outside the city," marked as a minus; it begins 19:17 with "when they had brought them out outside."

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141

    Σώζων σῶζε τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχήν, "Saving, save your own soul," doubles the verb where the Masoretic version reads once "Slip away for your soul!"; the first verb is marked as a plus. The Greek has "they said," plural, where the Masoretic version reads "he said." At the end Swete prints μή ποτε συνπαραλημφθῇς, "lest you be taken along with them," from Alexandrinus, where the Masoretic version reads "lest you be swept away" and Rahlfs μήποτε συμπαραλημφθῇς, the same words in another spelling. συμπαραλαμβάνω is "take along with" (Acts 12:25; 15:37–38); "with them" is the English of its prefix.

13. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Δέομαι, κύριε, "I beg, Lord," where the Masoretic version reads "Not so, please, Adonai!" (אַל־נָא אֲדֹנָי): the Greek has no "not." In the Masoretic version Lot refuses before he asks; in the Greek he only asks.

14. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    ἔλεος, "mercy," where the Masoretic version reads "favor" (חֵן), and δικαιοσύνη, "justice," where it reads "loyalty" (חֶסֶד). Genesis in Greek renders חֶסֶד by δικαιοσύνη again at 20:13, 21:23 and 24:27, where the rest of the Greek Bible mostly has ἔλεος; here both words stand side by side. The Greek has "which you are doing on me," a present, where the Masoretic version reads "which you have done with me"; and "lest the bad things overtake me," plural, where it reads "lest the bad cling to me."

15. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141, 143

    Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, ends the verse ἕνεκεν σοῦ, "on account of you"; Rahlfs and the Masoretic version end "and my soul shall live." The alignment cannot pair the words and does not seed them; they are marked as a plus. The Greek has "there I shall be saved," a future passive, where the Masoretic version has "Let me slip away, please, there"; the "please" is marked as a minus.

16. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    ἐθαύμασά σου τὸ πρόσωπον, "I have marveled at your face," where the Masoretic version reads "I have lifted your face" (נָשָׂאתִי פָנֶיךָ, to grant a request). The Greek idiom is to show regard for a person, and in the New Testament it is a fault: Jude 16, "marveling at faces for the sake of gain." Here it is the messenger's favor to Lot.

17. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 145

    The city is Σήγωρ, the same Zoar as Ζόγορα at 13:10 (145f), printed in its familiar form. In the Masoretic version the name answers Lot's plea, "is it not a trifle?" (מִצְעָר, 19:20), and צוֹעַר sounds like it. The Greek has μικρά, "small," in 19:20, and Σήγωρ does not echo it, so the Greek reader is told only that the city was named "for this reason." Swete prints the city's name with ἐκείνης, "that," and the verb ἐπωνόμασεν, "named," where Rahlfs has ἐκάλεσεν, "called."

18. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141, 143

    Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, has ἐν αἷς κατῴκει ἐν αὐταῖς Λώτ, "in which Lot was dwelling," after "these cities," the clause of 19:29 repeated; Rahlfs and the Masoretic version lack it here. The alignment cannot pair the words and does not seed them; they are marked as a plus. The Greek also has "all that springs up out of the land," with "all" seeded as a plus, where the Masoretic version reads "the growth of the ground."

19. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Jesus' saying "Remember Lot's woman" (Luke 17:32) follows his telling of this day: "on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky" (Luke 17:29, from 19:24). The Greek has στήλη, "pillar," the word for the standing stones Jacob sets up (28:18; 35:14), where the Masoretic version reads "post" (נְצִיב); and εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, "to what was behind," where it reads "from behind him." Wisdom 10:7 calls the pillar "a memorial of an unbelieving soul."

20. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    φλὸξ τῆς γῆς, "a flame of the land," where the Masoretic version reads "the fume of the land"; the Greek has two words, φλόξ and ἀτμίς, "vapor," for the Masoretic version's one, קִיטֹר, "fume," said twice. The Greek also has no word for the Masoretic version's "all" before "the face of the land," marked as a minus.

21. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141, 143

    Swete's text has πάσας τὰς πόλεις, "all the cities," where the Masoretic version reads "the cities"; the alignment does not seed the word, and it is marked as a plus. The Greek has "the Lord" (Κύριον) where the Masoretic version reads "Elohim" for the one who rubbed out the cities, and names "the Lord" again, seeded as a plus, in the last clause, where the Masoretic version has only "he"; between them it keeps ὁ θεός, "God," where the Masoretic version also reads "Elohim."

22. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 53

    Swete prints Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν, "And … went out," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ἀνέβη δέ, "went up," with the Masoretic version. The Greek has ἐκάθητο, "sat," the verb of 19:1, where the Masoretic version reads "dwelt" (the same Hebrew verb, יָשַׁב, is "sit" of posture and "dwell" of a place); for the Masoretic version's second "dwelt" the Greek has ᾤκησεν, "dwelt."

23. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141, 143

    δεῦρο οὖν, "Come then," as at 19:9 and 19:22; Swete's οὖν, from Alexandrinus, has no counterpart in the alignment, and it is marked as a plus.

24. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 2, 37

    κοιμάομαι is "fall asleep" (CORE), and with μετά it is the Greek's euphemism for the Masoretic version's "lie with" (שָׁכַב עִם), as the Hebrew's is; the chain is held through 19:32–35. The Greek has ἐξαναστήσωμεν σπέρμα, "let us raise up seed," the phrase of the levirate law that the Sadducees quote (Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28), where the Masoretic version reads "keep seed alive."

25. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 54, 141, 143

    μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς, "with her father," where the Masoretic version reads "with him"; the noun, which the alignment does not seed, is marked as a plus, as "the Lord" is at 19:29.

26. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52

    The Greek gives the name its meaning: λέγουσα Ἐκ τοῦ πατρός μου, "saying, 'From my father,'" reading מוֹאָב as מֵאָב, "from a father." The Masoretic version gives the name without a reason. "He is the father of the Moabites" stands where the Masoretic version reads "the father of Moab": the people, not the land (145f).

27. Decision↩ Back to the text

    Expected: "Benammi" (KJV), "Ben-ammi" (RSV), "Amman, saying, 'Son of my family'" (NETS)

    Rulings 2, 3, 18, 145

    The Greek names the son Ἀμμάν, "Amman," the name of the Ammonites' land and of their city (Rabbath-Ammon, Deut 3:11), and gives in apposition what the Masoretic version's name means: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ γένους μου, "the son of my kin," for בֶּן־עַמִּי, "son of my people." Amman is a different name and prints as it sounds, marked (18, 145f). γένος keeps "kind" as its home gloss (Gen 1; 1 Cor 12:10); with a person it is the family one is born of (Acts 4:6; 7:13; Phil 3:5), where the collocation decides (3), and "kin" is printed. "The Ammonites" is Swete's Ἀμμανῖται, the familiar people in a Greek spelling, where the Masoretic version reads "the sons of Ammon."

28. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 54, 141, 143

    The explanation of the name, which the Masoretic version does not give (it leaves "Ben-ammi" untranslated), is marked as a plus, as the explanation of Moab is in 19:37. No verb of saying introduces it, so it has no quotation marks (51).