Genesis 3

Notes

1. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 94, 138

   Swete's 3:1 opens with the verse the Masoretic version numbers 2:25 (the verse map). γυμνός, "naked," is one Greek word where the Masoretic version reads "nude" here (עָרוֹם) and "naked" at 3:7, 10–11 (עֵירֹם). The serpent of the next clause is φρόνιμος, a word with no sound in common with γυμνός, so the Hebrew pun of "nude" and "shrewd" (94) has no Greek counterpart and nothing of it is printed.

2. Decision↩ Back to the text

   Expected: "more subtil than any beast of the field" (KJV) / "more subtle than any other wild creature" (RSV)

   Rulings 2, 57

   φρόνιμος is the sense of one who thinks ahead (φρήν, φρονέω): the "prudent man" who built his house on the rock (Matt 7:24), the five "prudent" virgins (Matt 25:2). It is a word of praise, not of guile, and Jesus takes it from this verse: "be prudent as the serpents" (Matt 10:16). The Greek superlative, "most prudent of all the beasts," renders the Masoretic version's comparative, "more shrewd than every living thing of the field"; the beasts are "on the land," where the Masoretic version reads "of the field."

3. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 53, 54, 137, 143

   Swete prints ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου, "from every wood" (vol. 1, leaf 35), so that the woman answers in the serpent's own words (3:1). In Alexandrinus παντός is written over an erasure by a later hand (Swete's apparatus: παντος sup ras Aᵃ); D and E read καρποῦ, "fruit," agreeing with the Masoretic version, which reads "From the fruit of the tree of the garden we may eat," and with 3:3. The text is printed as Swete has it (137).

4. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 9, 38, 52

   θεοί is plural, "gods," and is printed lowercase, since the Greek speaks of gods other than the one God (the standing note on θεός). The Masoretic version reads "like elohim," which can be read either way (38); the Greek decides for the plural. ᾔδει is a past tense, "God knew," where the Masoretic version reads "Elohim knows."

5. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 54, 141, 143

   ἀρεστὸν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἰδεῖν, "pleasing to the eyes to see": the infinitive has no word in the Masoretic version, which reads "a craving to the eyes," and the alignment does not set it, so it is marked here (54, 141). The Greek also lacks the Masoretic version's "it" and the second "the tree" (‸), and reads the clause in the present, "lovely it is to consider."

6. Reading↩ Back to the text

   τὸ δειλινόν, "the afternoon," the late part of the day (δείλη), where the Masoretic version reads "at the wind of the day": the Greek names the hour where the Hebrew names the breeze.

7. Reading↩ Back to the text

   εἰ μή, "unless": the Greek turns God's second question into the answer to the first, "Who announced to you that you are naked, unless … from it you have eaten?" The Masoretic version reads two questions: "Who told you that you are naked? From the tree that I commanded you so as not to eat from it—have you eaten?" τούτου μόνου, "this alone," is a plus here and at 3:17.

8. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 54, 141, 143

   ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει σου καὶ τῇ κοιλίᾳ, "on your breast and belly," where the Masoretic version reads "on your belly" (גָּחוֹן): "breast and" has no Hebrew word, and the alignment does not set it, so it is marked as a plus (54, 141). The serpent eats "land" (γῆ), where the Masoretic version reads "dust" (עָפָר); so also at 3:19.

9. Reading↩ Back to the text

   Rulings 8, 46

   αὐτός, "he," is masculine, though the noun it follows, σπέρμα "seed," is neuter; the pronoun that would agree is αὐτό, "it." The object of the next clause, αὐτοῦ "his heel," is masculine too. The Greek breaks the agreement to point at a person, one son of the woman. The Masoretic version also reads "he" (הוּא, agreeing with the masculine זֶרַע), so the English of the two versions is the same; the difference is in the Greek grammar, which English cannot show. Christian readers built on it: Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.23.7; 5.21.1) reads the seed of the woman as Christ, who "watches" the serpent's head, and the verse came to be called the first gospel, the protevangelium. The Vulgate reads ipsa conteret caput tuum, "she shall crush your head," which carried a Marian reading in the Latin West. Jewish interpretation read the seed as the woman's children and set the healing of the heel "in the days of King Messiah" (Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on this verse). The pronoun is printed as the Greek has it (8), and no side of the debate is taken.

10. Decision↩ Back to the text

    Expected: "it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (KJV) / "he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (RSV)

    Rulings 2, 57

    τηρέω, home gloss "keep," is here to keep an eye on, to watch for, as a guard watches a prisoner (Matt 27:36, "they kept watch over him there") and as an enemy lies in wait. "He shall keep your head" would read as protecting it, a false sense (guide §9), so "keep watch for" is printed, the home gloss inside it. Both clauses take the same verb, as the Hebrew repeats שׁוּף, which the Masoretic version reads "bruise." Irenaeus quotes the Greek reading (Against Heresies 5.21.1, ipse tuum observabit caput, "he shall watch your head").

11. Reading↩ Back to the text

    ἀποστροφή, "turning," is a turning back or a turning toward: the Greek reads a word of return where the Masoretic version reads "your longing" (תְּשׁוּקָה). The same Greek line has στεναγμός, "groaning," where the Masoretic version reads "your pregnancy," and τέκνα, "children," where it reads "sons." The "turning" returns at 4:7, toward Cain.

12. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 141, 143

    Swete's text reads ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες, "from it you have eaten," repeating the close of 3:11, where Rahlfs' text lacks the verb. The Masoretic version reads "that I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it,'" with no second "eat," so the verb is a plus of Swete's text and is marked (54, 141). The Greek lacks "saying" (‸) and adds "this alone," as at 3:11.

13. Reading↩ Back to the text

    ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις σου, "in your works," where the Masoretic version reads "for your sake" (בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ): the Greek reads the same letters as a form of עבד, "work, serve," so the land is cursed in the labor of 2:5, 15 and 3:23. The "pain" of the Masoretic version is plural in the Greek, "griefs," here and at 3:16.

14. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52

    Ζωή, "Life": the Greek translates the name, which the verse explains by "mother of all the living," where the Masoretic version reads the name, "Eve" (חַוָּה, which it explains by חַי "living"). From 4:1 the Greek writes the name itself, Εὕα, "Eve." The Greek lacks the Masoretic version's "was" (‸) and reads "the woman," where the Masoretic version reads "his woman."

15. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 53, 54, 137, 143

    The alignment marks the divine name as lacking here, but Swete's text, from Alexandrinus, prints Κύριος ὁ θεός, so nothing is lacking and no ‸ is set. The mark belongs to a Greek text that reads ὁ θεός alone, as Rahlfs' text does. The Masoretic version reads "ADONAI Elohim."

16. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Rulings 18, 52

    τῆς τρυφῆς, "of delight": the Greek translates the name Eden (עֵדֶן; the plural עֲדָנִים is "delights," 2 Sam 1:24) where the Masoretic version reads "the garden of Eden." At 2:8, 10 and 4:16 the Greek writes the name, Ἔδεμ. The paradise "of delight" returns in Joel 2:3 and Ezek 28:13 (Greek).

17. Reading↩ Back to the text

    Ruling 54

    The Greek settles Adam "over against the paradise of delight" and stations the cherubim to guard its way, so that the human lives in sight of the place he has lost: καὶ κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν … καὶ ἔταξεν. The Masoretic version reads "and he made tent on the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim," one verb whose object is the cherubim. "Him" and "and stationed" are the Greek's pluses, set as seeded.