Genesis 22

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 4, 52, 54

   τὸν ἀγαπητὸν ὃν ἠγάπησας, "the beloved, whom you have loved," where the Masoretic version reads "your only one, whom you love" (יְחִידְךָ): the Greek renders יָחִיד, "only one," by ἀγαπητός, "beloved," here and at 22:12, 16. The voice from the sky at the baptism and the transfiguration takes up the Greek: "You are my son, the beloved" (Mark 1:11; 9:7), and Heb 11:17 gives the Hebrew sense in another Greek word, "he was bringing up the only-begotten" (μονογενής). The Greek has no word for the Masoretic version's "please" after "Take" nor for "for yourself" after "go," marked as minuses.

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52

   εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ὑψηλήν, "to the high land," where the Masoretic version reads "to the land of Moriah": the Greek does not print the name but describes the place. The Vulgate reads in terram visionis, "into the land of vision," hearing the name in רָאָה "see" (22:8, 14). The Masoretic version's only other Moriah is the mountain of Solomon's temple (2 Chr 3:1).

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54

   The Greek adds καὶ ἦλθεν, "And he came," marked as a plus, and ends the verse with τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ, "on the third day," which the Masoretic version reads at the head of 22:4 ("On the third day Abraham lifted his eyes"): in the Greek the third day is the day of arrival. It has ἀναστάς, "having risen," where the Masoretic version reads "started early," as at 21:14, and "two servants" where it reads "two of his lads."

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   ἕως ὧδε, "as far as here," where the Masoretic version reads "as far as yonder" (עַד־כֹּה, 124j, 130). ἀναστρέψωμεν is hortatory, "let us come back."

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 74

   Genesis Rabbah 56:3 likens Isaac carrying the wood to one who carries his cross on his shoulder; the Christian reading sets the scene beside John 19:17, "carrying the cross by himself."

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   Τί ἐστιν, τέκνον; "What is it, child?" where the Masoretic version reads "Here I am, my son" (הִנֵּנִי בְנִי): the Greek, which has "Here I am" for הִנֵּנִי at 22:1, 11, makes Abraham's answer to Isaac a question. It has "Father!" for "My father!", and λέγων, "saying," for the Masoretic version's "And he said."

7. Decision↩ Back to the text

   Expected: "God will provide himself a lamb" (KJV), "God will provide himself the lamb" (RSV), "God will see to a sheep for himself" (NETS)

   Ruling 2

   ὄψεται ἑαυτῷ, "will see for himself," keeps the verb "see" (ὁράω), as the Masoretic version keeps יִרְאֶה: the place is named for it in 22:14. "Provide" is the sense English readers inherit from the Vulgate's providebit. The Greek has "a sheep" without the article.

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   συμποδίσας, "having fettered," tied foot to foot, where the Masoretic version reads "trussed" (עָקַד, 124b), the verb that gives the scene its Jewish name, the Binding (Akedah). The Greek also has ἐπέθηκεν τὰ ξύλα, "laid the wood on it," where the Masoretic version reads "arrayed the wood."

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   λαβεῖν τὴν μάχαιραν, "to take the sword," where the Masoretic version reads "and took the knife": in the Greek the stretching out of the hand is toward the blade.

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    The Greek has "the beloved" for "your only one" (see 22:2), and δι’ ἐμέ, "because of me," where the Masoretic version reads "from me": in the Greek the son is not spared for God's sake, where in the Masoretic version he is not withheld from God. φοβῇ τὸν θεὸν σύ, "you fear God, you," with the pronoun repeated at the end, stands for the Masoretic version's "fearing Elohim are you."

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52

    κριὸς εἷς, "one ram," where the Masoretic version reads "a ram behind" (אַיִל אַחַר): the Greek has the reading אֶחָד, "one," as do the Samaritan Pentateuch and some Hebrew manuscripts. ἐν φυτῷ σαβέκ, "in a plant of sabek," where the Masoretic version reads "in the thicket" (בַּסְּבַךְ): the Greek transliterates the Hebrew noun and takes it as the name of a plant. Swete's εἷς is tagged "one" and marked.

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    Κύριος ἴδεν, "The Lord saw," where the Masoretic version reads "ADONAI will see" (יִרְאֶה), and ἐν τῷ ὄρει Κύριος ὤφθη, "on the mountain the Lord was seen," where it reads "on the mountain of ADONAI he will be seen": the Greek reads both verbs in the past, and makes the Lord the subject of the second, the one seen on the mountain. ἵνα εἴπωσιν σήμερον, "so that they may say today," stands for "as it is said this day."

13. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    λέγων, "saying," ends the verse, where the Masoretic version opens 22:16 with "and said."

14. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 54, 143, 147

    The Greek adds δι’ ἐμέ, "because of me," which the Masoretic version lacks here (its 22:12 reads "from me"), marked as a plus. οὗ εἵνεκεν, "on account of which," is the conjunction "because," a split by construction (147f). Heb 6:13 recalls the oath: "since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself." The Greek has λέγει Κύριος, "says the Lord," where the Masoretic version reads "oracle of ADONAI" (124k).

15. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 53

    Swete prints εἰ μήν, "surely," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ἦ μήν; Heb 6:14 quotes the promise with εἰ μήν, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." τὰς πόλεις τῶν ὑπεναντίων, "the cities of the adversaries," where the Masoretic version reads "the gate of his enemies": the Greek reads the gate as the city it guards. Rebekah's family repeats the blessing over her in the same words (24:60).

16. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 53, 54, 143

    Swete's text has no word for the Masoretic version's "of the land" (הָאָרֶץ), marked as a minus. ἐνευλογηθήσονται, "shall be blessed in," is passive, where the Masoretic version reads "shall bless themselves" (the hithpael, 124l). Peter quotes the promise as "in your seed shall all the families of the land be blessed" (Acts 3:25), and Paul reads "seed" as one, "and to your seed, who is Christos" (Gal 3:16; 3:8). ὑπήκουσας, "you obeyed," stands for the Masoretic version's "you have heard."

17. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 143

    Swete's text has no word for the Masoretic version's "together" (יַחְדָּו), marked as a minus. The Greek has "the Well of the Oath" twice for "Beersheba" (21:14, 31).

18. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 145

    πατέρα Σύρων, "father of the Syrians," where the Masoretic version reads "the father of Aram": the Greek names the people for the land, as "the Assyrians" for Assyria (145f).

19. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 145

    Swete prints Ῥεηρά from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads Ρεημα with the Masoretic version's Reumah (רְאוּמָה): the ρ for μ is a copyist's confusion of one letter, the class 145(f) gives the familiar form (Δάσεμ for Resen, Δασά for Lasha), so "Reumah" is printed, unmarked, with the Greek in the names table. Τάαμ for Gaham (Rahlfs Γααμ) is the same case.