Genesis 25

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 53, 145

   The Greek spells the sons of Keturah, of Jokshan and of Dedan, and the sons of Ishmael (25:13–15), in its own forms, and Swete prints the forms of Alexandrinus where Rahlfs spells several otherwise (Ζεβράν for Zimran, Μαδαίμ for Medan, Σαβάν for Sheba, Γεφάρ for Ephah, Χοδδάν for Hadad, Εὑειλάτ for Havilah, Σουήλ for Shur). Each is a spelling of the same name, by transliteration or a copyist's confusion, and keeps its familiar English form unmarked (145f); the Greek stands in the names table.

2. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 54

   The Greek adds Tema (Θαιμάν, the form it gives Ishmael's son Tema at 25:15) to the sons of Jokshan, and Reuel and Adbeel (Ῥαγουήλ, the Greek's Reuel at 36:4 and Exod 2:18; Ναβδεήλ, its Adbeel at 25:13) to the sons of Dedan, marked as pluses. The Masoretic version's "the sons of Dedan were" is kept; the Greek has ἐγένοντο, "came to be."

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 53, 145

   Swete prints Θεργαμά, where Rahlfs reads differently and the Masoretic version has "Eldaah" (אֶלְדָּעָה). The Greek form is not a spelling of the Hebrew name but another name, close to Θοργαμά, the Greek's Togarmah (10:3); it prints as it sounds, "Thergama" (145f). Ἀβιρά for Abida (δ read as ρ) and Γεφάρ for Ephah (Γ for ע, as in Γάζα, Γόμορρα) are spellings of the same names and keep their familiar forms.

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 20, 148

   ἔτι of time, with a state that goes on, is "still" (148f), "while he was still living" (Luke 24:41; Rom 5:6, 8); "further" stays for an added act (2:9, 19). The Masoretic version has the same word, עוֹד.

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 52, 53, 54

   πλήρης ἡμερῶν, "full of days," where the Masoretic version has "sated" alone (שָׂבֵעַ) and no word for "days," marked as a plus; the Masoretic version itself has the full phrase "sated of days" at Isaac's death (35:29), and the Samaritan Pentateuch has it here. The Greek has "his people," singular, for "his peoples," and keeps the verb of 25:1: Abraham "added" a woman, and at his death he "was added" (προσετέθη) to his people. Swete prints the present participle ἐκλείπων, "failing," where Rahlfs reads differently; ἐκλείπω, "fail," stands for the Masoretic version's "expired" (גָּוַע), here and at 25:17.

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 143

   Swete prints οἱ δύο υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, "his two sons," where Rahlfs reads differently and the Masoretic version has "his sons"; "two" is marked as a plus. The Greek has τοῦ Σάαρ, "the one of Zohar," with the article alone, where the Masoretic version reads "son of Zohar": the Greek has no word for "son," marked as a minus (as at 24:24). "The double cave" is the Greek's translation of the name Machpelah, as at 23:9, 17, 19.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 52

   τὸ φρέαρ τῆς ὁράσεως, "the well of the sight," where the Masoretic version keeps the name Beer-lahai-roi: the Greek translates the well's name, as at 24:62 (16:14 names it otherwise). The Greek has "after Abraham died" (μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν, an infinitive, as the Hebrew has one), and no "and" before "God blessed"; it has θεός where the Masoretic version also reads "Elohim."

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 18, 148

   Θαιμάν prints by its referent (148g): "Tema," Ishmael's son (תֵּימָא), here and in the plus at 25:3; the Greek gives the same form to Teman of Edom (36:11), where it prints "Teman."

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Ruling 52

   πρὸς τὸ γένος αὐτοῦ, "to his kind," where at Abraham's death the Greek has "to his people" (λαός, 25:8); the Masoretic version reads "to his peoples" both times. γένος is the word of "after kind" (1:11–25).

10. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52, 145

    The Greek has κατῴκησεν, "he dwelt," singular, twice: where the Masoretic version reads "they tented," and again at the end, where it reads "he fell" (נָפַל), so that the verse closes as the oracle of 16:12 closed, "on the face of all his brothers he shall dwell." ἕως ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Ἀσσυρίους, "until one comes toward the Assyrians," names the people where the Masoretic version names the land, "as you come toward Assyria" (2:14; 145f). Σουήλ is Swete's spelling of Shur.

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 145

    τοῦ Σύρου, "the Syrian," twice, where the Masoretic version reads "the Aramean," as the Greek names Aram's people "Syrians" at 22:21; and ἐκ τῆς Μεσοποταμίας, "from Mesopotamia," where it reads "from Paddan-aram," the Greek's name for the land "between the rivers" (24:10). Both are different names, printed as they sound and marked (145f). The Greek gives Isaac's age as ἐτῶν τεσσεράκοντα, "of forty years," without the Masoretic version's "a son of," as at 21:5.

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 9, 52, 63

    The Greek has two verbs where the Masoretic version repeats one: ἐδεῖτο, "begged," for "entreated," and ἐπήκουσεν, "listened to," for "let himself be entreated" (both עָתַר). ἐπακούω is the verb by which the Greek gave Ishmael his name at 16:11, "for the Lord has listened to your humiliation." The one who listens is ὁ θεός, "God," where the Masoretic version reads ADONAI. ἔλαβεν ἐν γαστρί, "took in the womb" (Luke 1:31 has the compound, συλλαμβάνω), is the Greek idiom for "conceived"; "a child" is supplied by the English, as in γαστήρ's standing note.

13. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 52

    ἐσκίρτων, "were leaping," where the Masoretic version reads "crushed one another" (וַיִּתְרֹצְצוּ). The verb is the one Luke uses of John in Elizabeth's womb, "the babe leaped in her womb" (Luke 1:41, 44, ἐσκίρτησεν). The Greek has τὰ παιδία, "the little children," for "the sons," and has no word for the Masoretic version's "inward part" beyond ἐν αὐτῇ, "in her." Rebekah's broken question in the Masoretic version ("If thus, why this—I?") is whole in the Greek: "If thus it is about to come to be to me, why is this to me?"

14. Decision↩ Back to the text

    Expected: "the elder shall serve the younger" (KJV, RSV; Rom 9:12 KJV)

    Rulings 2, 4, 46, 81

    ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι is "the greater shall be slave to the lesser": μείζων is the comparative of μέγας "great" and ἐλάσσων of "small" (1:16 "the lesser light-giver"; John 2:10), and the Greek compares size, not birth order, as the Masoretic version's רַב "vast" against צָעִיר "younger" does in part. Paul quotes these words exactly, of Rebekah's twins, to argue that election stands "not from works but from the one who calls" (Rom 9:10–12); the English tradition's "elder… younger" comes from reading the oracle through the birth that follows. δουλεύω is "be slave to" (77), so the oracle's verb is the slave's. The oracle is lined as the Masoretic version lines it (81b, 126h), and the Greek adds εἰσιν, "are," in the first line. ὑπερέξει, "shall surpass," is the verb of Phil 4:7, "the peace of God which surpasses all understanding," for the Masoretic version's "shall be stouter."

15. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52

    The Greek has ὁ υἱὸς ὁ πρωτότοκος, "the firstborn son," where the Masoretic version reads "the first," and so names what Esau will sell (τὰ πρωτοτόκια, 25:31–34). ὅλος ὡσεὶ δορὰ δασύς, "the whole of him as it were a hairy pelt": δορά is a flayed skin, where the Masoretic version reads "a mantle of hair," and δασύς, "hairy," returns when Jacob fears his smooth skin (27:11, 23). The Greek has ἐπωνόμασεν, "he named," singular, where the Masoretic version reads "they called." The Hebrew's play between עֵשָׂו and שֵׂעָר "hair" (and Seir) is not in the Greek.

16. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 20, 53, 148

    Swete prints ἐγέννησεν, where Rahlfs reads differently, and adds Ῥεβέκκα, "Rebekah," as its subject, marked as a plus. γεννάω with a woman as its subject is "bear" (148f; Luke 1:13, 57; John 16:21). The Masoretic version reads "at bearing them," an infinitive with no named subject; the Greek has ὅτε, "when," with a finite verb.

17. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 2, 11, 52

    ἄπλαστος, "artless," where the Masoretic version reads "whole" (תָּם, 126b): not shaped or fashioned, so plain, without guile. The word is of the root of πλάσσω, "shape," the verb by which God shaped the human (2:7), and denies it: Jacob is a man not made up. The KJV's "a plain man" follows the Hebrew; the RSV's "a quiet man" guesses. The irony of the next chapters (27:35 "your brother came with guile") stands in the Greek as in the Hebrew. ἄνθρωπος is "man" in both clauses, since Rebekah stands in the next verse (11). The Greek has οἰκῶν οἰκίαν, "dwelling in a house," where the Masoretic version reads "dwelling in tents," and κυνηγεῖν, "how to chase," a verb, the hunter's chase with hounds (κύων "dog"), where it reads "game"; ἄγροικος, "rustic," is a single word for "a man of field," as at 16:12.

18. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 52

    ἡ θήρα αὐτοῦ βρῶσις αὐτῷ, "his game was eating for him": the game is Esau's, where the Masoretic version reads "game was in his mouth," Isaac's mouth. βρῶσις is "eating" (1:29–30). The Greek has δέ, "but," setting Rebekah against Isaac.

19. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52, 54

    Γεῦσόν με, "Give me a taste," the active of the verb of tasting (γεύομαι, "taste," Heb 2:9), where the Masoretic version reads "Cram me" (הַלְעִיטֵנִי); the Greek has no word for "please," marked as a minus. Where the Masoretic version doubles "the red, this red," the Greek reads "this red stew," and the name follows in the passive, "his name was called Edom." The Greek keeps the colour, πυρρός, "red," as it made Esau πυρράκης, "ruddy" (25:25), but Ἐδώμ is a bare name in Greek, and the play of אֱדוֹם on אָדֹם "red" is left to the reader who knows it.

20. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 20, 148

    ἀποδίδωμι, "give back," is "sell" in the middle voice (148f): Jacob's ἀπόδου and the narrator's ἀπέδοτο (25:33), as Acts 5:8; 7:9 ("they sold Joseph"); Heb 12:16. The Masoretic version has מָכַר "sell."

21. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 4, 148

    τὰ πρωτοτόκια, "the birthright" (148d), a neuter plural, the rights of the πρωτότοκος, the "firstborn" Esau is called at 25:25, as the Masoretic version's בְּכֹרָה is of the root of בְּכוֹר "firstborn." Heb 12:16 takes up the Greek: Esau, "who for one eating (βρώσεως, as 25:28) sold (ἀπέδετο) his own birthright." ἐφαύλισεν, "belittled," is to treat as φαῦλος, cheap or worthless (John 3:20; 5:29), where the Masoretic version reads "despised."