Genesis 20

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   εἰς γῆν πρὸς λίβα, "to a land toward the southwest," where the Masoretic version reads "to the land of the Negev," as at 12:9 and 13:1, 3, 14: the Greek names a quarter of the sky, not a region.

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 54

   The Greek gives Abraham's reason, which the Masoretic version leaves unsaid here: "for he feared to say that 'She is my woman,' lest the men of the city kill him because of her." The words are those the Masoretic version itself gives Isaac at Gerar (26:7, "for he feared to say, 'my woman,' lest the men of the place kill me on account of Rebekah"), and Abraham's own explanation in 20:11. The seeded pluses are marked as one clause; Swete's μή ποτε, "lest," between them, is Rahlfs' μήποτε in another spelling.

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 143

   The alignment marks the Masoretic version's "to him" as lacking, but Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, has αὐτῷ, "to him," where Rahlfs lacks it, and nothing is lacking here. The Greek has ἐν ὕπνῳ, "in sleep," where the Masoretic version reads "in a dream" (also 20:6), and ἀποθνήσκεις, "you are dying," where it reads "you are dead." συνῳκηκυῖα ἀνδρί, "cohabiting with a man," stands for the Masoretic version's "owned by an owner" (בְּעֻלַת בָּעַל): the Greek names the marriage by the shared house (1 Pet 3:7), not by ownership.

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54

   The Greek has ἥψατο, "touched," where the Masoretic version reads "had drawn near," and ἀπολεῖς, "will you destroy," where it reads "will you kill." It adds ἀγνοοῦν, "ignorant," marked as a plus: the nation is "ignorant and just," where the Masoretic version reads "a just one too." The form ἥψατο is the middle of ἅπτω, the verb ἅπτομαι "touch" of 3:3 and 20:6.

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ, "in a clean heart," where the Masoretic version reads "in the wholeness of my heart" (also 20:6), and ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ χειρῶν, "in justice of hands," where it reads "in the cleanness of my palms": the Greek moves "clean" from the hands to the heart (Matt 5:8). The Greek has no word for the Masoretic version's "she too" (וְהִיא גַם הִוא, partly rendered by "And she"), marked as a minus, and adds "to me."

6. Decision↩ Back to the text

   Expected: "suffered I thee not to touch her" (KJV), "I did not let you touch her" (RSV, NETS)

   Rulings 2, 144

   ἀφίημι keeps "let go" as its home gloss (144d); with an infinitive it is to allow, as in "Let the children come to me" (Matt 19:14) and "he did not let the demons speak" (Mark 1:34), and "let go" there would say that God released Abimelech. "Let" is printed. The Masoretic version reads "I did not give you to touch her." The Greek also has ἐφεισάμην, "I spared," where the Masoretic version reads "I withheld," and no word for its "too" before it, marked as a minus.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 11, 46

   ἄνθρωπος, "human" by default, is "man" here because a woman, "the woman," stands in the same verse (11), and ἀνήρ is not in the verse; the Masoretic version has אִישׁ, "the man." προφήτης, "prophet," the first in the Bible to be called one: God names Abraham so to a foreign king, and the prophet's work here is to pray for the king (20:17). Ps 104:15 LXX takes up the scene for all the patriarchs: "Do not touch my anointed ones (τῶν χριστῶν μου), and do not do evil to my prophets." The Masoretic version also reads "prophet" (נָבִיא).

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   μή τι ἡμάρτομεν εἰς σέ, "surely we have not sinned against you in anything," a question that expects the answer no, in the plural, where the Masoretic version reads "what have I sinned against you." ἔργον ὃ οὐδεὶς ποιήσει, "a work that no one will do," where it reads "deeds that are not done." The Greek adds τοῦτο, "this," to the first question.

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   ἐκ πατρός, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐκ μητρός, "from father, but not from mother," where the Masoretic version reads "the daughter of my father she is, only not the daughter of my mother": the Greek has no "daughter" and no "my," and "but" stands for "only."

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 52, 53, 54

    ἐξήγαγέν με ὁ θεός, "God brought me out," with the verb of the Exodus (Exod 20:2), where the Masoretic version reads "elohim made me stray" with a plural verb (הִתְעוּ). Swete prints the command ποίησον, "do," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ποιήσεις, "you shall do," with the Masoretic version's "which you shall do"; the Greek has no word for its "which," marked as a minus, nor for "your" before "justice." δικαιοσύνη, "justice," stands for the Masoretic version's "loyalty" (חֶסֶד), as at 19:19. The Greek adds ὅτι, "that," before the quoted words.

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 145

    Swete prints τῷ Ἀβράμ, "to Abram," from Alexandrinus, the name before 17:5, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version read "Abraham"; it is printed as Swete has it and marked. The Greek adds χίλια δίδραχμα, "a thousand didrachms," marked as a plus, the sum Abimelech names to Sarah in 20:16; the δίδραχμον is the two-drachma coin of the temple tax (Matt 17:24).

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    The Greek differs widely from the Masoretic version here and is printed as it stands. Where the Masoretic version reads "a thousand of silver," the Greek has "a thousand didrachms." Where it reads "Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes for all who are with you; and with all—you are set right" (הִנֵּה הוּא־לָךְ כְּסוּת עֵינַיִם לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר אִתָּךְ וְאֵת כֹּל וְנֹכָחַת), the Greek has "These will be for you for honor of your face, and for all the women who are with you; and in all things speak truth." The Greek reads "covering of the eyes" as a gift that honors Sarah's face before her household (πάσαις, "all," is feminine), and the last word, וְנֹכָחַת, "and you are set right," as a command to Sarah: ἀλήθευσον, "speak truth," the verb of Eph 4:15. In the Greek, the king's rebuke to Abraham's half-truth (20:2, 12) is made to Sarah.