Genesis 23

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 54, 91

   ἔτη ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι ἑπτά, "years a hundred twenty seven," the number in one run without the Masoretic version's "a hundred year and twenty year and seven years" (91: the Greek's order and its conjunctions, here none). The Greek has no words for the Masoretic version's closing "the years of the life of Sarah," marked as a minus.

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52, 54

   ἐν πόλει Ἀρβόκ, "in the city of Arba," where the Masoretic version reads "in Kiriath-arba" (קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע, "city of Arba," Josh 14:15): the Greek translates the first half of the name and spells the second Ἀρβόκ. It adds "which is in the hollow" (κοίλωμα, a valley), marked as a plus. κόψασθαι, "to beat the breast," the gesture of mourning (Luke 8:52; 23:27), stands for the Masoretic version's "to lament," and πενθῆσαι, "to mourn" (Matt 5:4), for "to weep for her."

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 143

   Swete repeats Ἀβραάμ, "Abraham," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version have none ("and spoke"); it is marked as a plus. The Greek has εἶπεν, "said," for "spoke," and ἀπὸ τοῦ νεκροῦ αὐτοῦ, "from his dead," for "from upon the face of his dead."

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 143

   Swete prints ἐκεῖ, "there," from Alexandrinus, and has no words for the Masoretic version's "from before my face" (מִלְּפָנָי), which 23:8 keeps; "there" is marked as a plus and the lack as a minus. The Greek adds οὖν, "therefore," marked as a plus. παρεπίδημος, "transient," one staying a while among strangers, stands for the Masoretic version's "resident" (תּוֹשָׁב): the pair "sojourners and transients" is Peter's name for the church (1 Pet 2:11; 1:1), and Heb 11:13 says of Abraham and his house that they "confessed that they were strangers and transients on the land." κτῆσις, "acquisition," stands for the Masoretic version's "tenure" (אֲחֻזָּה).

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54, 143

   The Greek opens with Μή, "No," marked as a plus: it answers Abraham's request with a refusal of payment, where the Masoretic version reads "saying to him" at the end of 23:5 (לֵאמֹר לוֹ) and opens 23:6 with "Hear us"; the Greek's "No" stands where לוֹ, "to him," could be read לֹא, "no." It has βασιλεὺς παρὰ θεοῦ, "a king from God," where the Masoretic version reads "a chieftain of elohim," and ἐν ἡμῖν, "among us," for "in our middle." It adds γάρ, "for," and ἐκεῖ, "there," marked as pluses. κύριε, Abraham's title from the sons of Heth, is printed "lord," as human address.

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   Εἰ ἔχετε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν, "If you have it in your soul," where the Masoretic version reads "If there is with your soul," and λαλήσατε περὶ ἐμοῦ Ἐφρών, "speak about me to Ephron," where it reads "encounter Ephron for me." The Greek names Abraham, where the Masoretic version reads "he," marked as a plus.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52, 53

   τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ διπλοῦν, "the double cave," where the Masoretic version reads "the cave of the Machpelah": the Greek translates the name, hearing in מַכְפֵּלָה the root כָּפַל, "double," and prints it as the cave's description here and at 23:17, 19. It has ἐν μερίδι τοῦ ἀγροῦ, "in a portion of his field," where the Masoretic version reads "at the edge of his field," and ἀργυρίου τοῦ ἀξίου, "for silver that is worthy," where it reads "for full silver." Swete prints δότε, "give" (plural), from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads δότω, "let him give," with the Masoretic version: in Swete Abraham asks the sons of Heth themselves to give him the cave.

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54

   ἀκουόντων τῶν υἱῶν Χέτ, "while the sons of Heth were hearing," where the Masoretic version reads "in the ears of the sons of Heth," and "those going in into the city" for "those who came in at the gate of his city," marked as a minus where "the gate of" lacks. The Greek adds εἶπεν, "said," marked as a plus, before the participle "saying."

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 54

   Παρ’ ἐμοὶ γενοῦ, "Come to be beside me," take my side, where the Masoretic version reads "No, my lord": in the Greek Ephron's courtesy opens with an invitation, not a refusal. The Greek gives the field and the cave in one clause ("I give to you"), where the Masoretic version says "I give" over each, marked as a minus, and has ἐναντίον τῶν πολιτῶν μου, "before my citizens," where it reads "to the eyes of the sons of my people." δέδωκα, "I have given," is perfect, the gift done as it is spoken. The alignment also records one Greek word for this verse that Swete's text does not place; Swete has no further word here, and nothing more is marked.

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 143

    Swete prints ἐναντίον παντός, "before all," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version have none; "all" is marked as a plus. Swete's θάψον, "bury," is a command to Ephron, where Rahlfs reads θάψω, "let me bury," with the Masoretic version. Ἐπειδὴ πρὸς ἐμοῦ εἶ, "Inasmuch as you are on my side," stands for the Masoretic version's "Only, if you—if only you would…!" The Greek has no word for "saying" before the speech, nor for "I give" before "the silver of the field," marked as minuses.

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 143

    Ephron's answer opens with Οὐχί, "No," marked as a plus, and has ἀκήκοα γάρ, "for I have heard," where the Masoretic version reads "hear me." Swete's text has no word for the Masoretic version's "land" (אֶרֶץ) before "four hundred," marked as a minus. τί ἂν εἴη τοῦτο; "what would this be?" is the optative of polite understatement, where the Masoretic version reads "what is it?" The δίδραχμον, "didrachm," the two-drachma coin of the temple tax (Matt 17:24), stands for the Masoretic version's "shekel," as at 20:16; Swete spells it here δίδραγμον.

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    ἀπεκατέστησεν, "restored," paid over in full, where the Masoretic version reads "weighed": the Greek counts the silver as rendered to Ephron, not weighed out. ἀργυρίου δοκίμου ἐνπόροις, "of silver approved for merchants," assayed silver that traders accept, where the Masoretic version reads "passing over to the merchant."

13. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52, 54

    In the Greek the field "stood" (ἔστη), where the Masoretic version reads "there rose" (124d), and the field is "in the double cave" (ἐν τῷ διπλῷ σπηλαίῳ), where the Masoretic version reads "which is in the Machpelah," the name of the place. Where the Masoretic version's clauses are verbless ("which is"), the Greek has ἦν, "was," twice. τὸ σπήλαιον ὃ ἦν αὐτῷ, "the cave which was his," a dative of possession as at 23:9, stands for the Masoretic version's "the cave which is in it" (also 23:20). ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτοῦ κύκλῳ, "in its borders round about," stands for "in all its border around"; "all" lacks, marked as a minus.

14. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    ἐκυρώθη, "there was ratified," the sale confirmed as legally valid (Gal 3:15, "a ratified covenant"), where the Masoretic version reads "there rose." τάφος, "grave," and μνημεῖον, "tomb" (23:6, 9), both stand for the Masoretic version's one word "grave" (קֶבֶר).