(Anchor Bible) E.A. Speiser - Genesis - Introduction, Translation, and Notes (The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1) - Anchor Bible (1964)
(Anchor Bible) E.A. Speiser - Genesis - Introduction, Translation, and Notes (The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1) - Anchor Bible (1964)
(Anchor Bible) E.A. Speiser - Genesis - Introduction, Translation, and Notes (The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1) - Anchor Bible (1964)
Volume 1
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THE ANCHOR BIBLE
GENESIS
INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION, AND NOTES
BY
E. A. SPEISER
24 26 28 29 27 25 23
PREFACE
E.A.S.
August 25, 1962
CONTENTS
Preface v
Principal Abbreviations xi
Note on Transliteration xm
INTRODUCTION
The Biblical Process xvn
What’s in a Name? xvn
Biblical Criticism xx
The Documentary Sources ofGenesis xxu
(1) P, (2) 1, (5) E. (4) The Residue
The Tradition behind the Documents xxxvn
Genesis of the Biblical Process xlih
I. PRIMEVAL HISTORY
1. Opening Account of Creation (i 1-ii 4a) 3
2. The Story of Eden (ii 4b-24) 14
3. The Fall of Man (ii 25-iii 24) 21
4. Cain and Abel (iv 1-16) 29
5. The Line of Cain (iv 17-26) 34
6. The Patriarchs before the Flood (v 1-32) 39
7. Prelude to Disaster (vi 1—4) 44
8. The Flood (vi 5-viii 22) 47
9. Blessing and Covenant (ix 1-17) 57
10. Noah and His Sons (ix 18-29) 60
11. The Table of Nations (x 1-32) 64
vm CONTENTS
1. Publications
2. Versions
3. Other Abbreviations
Akk. Akkadian.
At. Arabic.
Aram. Aramaic.
Eg. Egyptian.
Gr. Greek.
Heb. Hebrew.
OT. Old Testament.
Sem. Semitic.
Sum. Sumerian.
“T.” Predocumentary traditions,
cons. The unvocalized, consonantal form,
cun. Cuneiform,
hend. Hendiadys.
trad. Tradition (al).
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
What’s in a Name?
Biblical Criticism
have had any connection with the relatively tangible sources be
fore us, and may have been independent from the start.
The Book of Genesis provides clearer examples of each of the
types just mentioned than is the case with any other part of the
Pentateuch.
ment, yet this should suffice to illustrate both the method and the
results. The comments that follow pertain primarily to P , J , and E
to adopt the order in which these sources first turn up in Genesis
The survey will conclude with a few remarks on passages that are
as yet difficult to classify, as well as on the process whereby the
separate strands were combined into the unit that now constitutes
the received Book of Genesis.
U)P
To begin with vocabulary, P employs for the Deity, in addition
to Elohim (Gen i Iff.), the term El Shaddai (cf. xvii 1), which
is usually translated “God Almighty.”'* The sole occurrence of
/ahweh in xvii 1 is apparently a scribal error induced by the
similar opening sentence in xviii 1 (/), which also records a the-
ophany.
The term that is most typical of this source—one might call it
P's signature—is tol'ddt, etymologically “begettings,” and hence also
genealogy, line, family tree (v 1, vi 9, x 1, etc.), and by extension
also story, history; in the latter sense we find this term used in
ii 4, and perhaps also in xxxvii 2. Another telltale expression is
“to be fertile and increase” (e.g., i 22, 28, viii 17, ix 1, 7). For
the homeland of the partriarchs, P uses Paddan-aram (cf. xxv 20,
xxviii 2, 5, 6, 7); / calls the same region Aram-naharaim (xxiv
10) .
For other words and phrases to which P is partial, cf. the long
list given by Dr. (pp. vii-ix). This vocabulary is not limited, of
course, to Genesis, but carries over to other books; it is absent,
however, from the parallel documents. Consistency and cumulative
impact enhance the total effect of this type of evidence.
P's frequent recourse to the term tol'dot (the traditional render
ing generations” is now obsolete in the sense required) is a correct
reflection of the writer’s abiding interest in genealogical detail.
There must be no break in the chain of transmission through which
God’s dispensation has been handed down; hence it is essential to
trace the pertinent line all the way back to Creation. For related
reasons, P is forever concerned with such other statistics as the
total life span of the given individual, the age of a father at the
4 The exact meaning, however, remains uncertain.
INTRODUCTION XXV
birth of his oldest son (e.g., ch. v), the names of other members
of the family, and the like.
P’s constant preoccupation with the purity of the line through
which God’s purpose has been implemented leads at times to moti
vations that are not found in the parallel versions. For instance, ac
cording to / (xxvii 41-45), Rebekah told Jacob to flee to her
relatives in Haran in order to escape the revenge of his brother
Esau. In P, however (xxvii 46-xxviii 7), the motive for Jacob’s
journey to Central Mesopotamia is no more than matrimonial,
the search for an acceptable wife: his mother had become disen
chanted with Esau’s “Hittite” wives, and was determined that her
younger son marry within her own class and clan. More surprising
still, Rebekah’s scheme has the full approval of Isaac, who gives
Jacob his warm blessing, although a few verses earlier—this time,
however, from another source (xxvii 33-37: /)—Isaac was driven
to rage and despair by the discovery of Jacob’s hoax. P is either
unaware of, or unmoved by, the drama and pathos of that en
counter. What matters to him solely is that Jacob’s line be main
tained through a worthy wife.
The horizons of P are thus sharply circumscribed. His world is
not only directed from heaven but heaven-centered. To be sure, it
is natural enough that in the majestic account of Creation man’s
role should be a passive one. Yet elsewhere, too, mortals are con
ceded little if any individuality. For one aberrant moment Abraham
lapses into incredulity when told by God that he is to have a son
by Sarah (xvii 17); but his record of absolute obedience is never
marred again. The eventful history of Joseph’s stay in Egypt is re
duced in this source to an exchange of amenities between Jacob
and Pharaoh (xlvii 7—10) and the symbolic adoption by Jacob
of his grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim (xlviii 3-7). Where his
tory is predetermined in every detail, personalities recede into the
background, while the formal relations between God and society
become the central theme. There are thus ample grounds—theo
logical as well as ritualistic—for ascribing the P document to
priestly inspiration.
The question of P’s date is difficult to solve for several reasons.
Numerous sections, especially in the other books of the Tetrateuch,
have long been relegated by the critics to a relatively late age, after
the Babylonian Exile in many instances. Of late, however, there has
been a growing sentiment—backed by a substantial amount of in-
XXVI INTRODUCTION
(2)J
Aside from the exclusive use of the name Yahweh, there are in
Genesis few words or phrases that immediately betray the hand
of J ; and even such exceptions are all but confined to the Joseph
INTRODUCTION XXVII
story. There we find the name Israel as against Jacob in the other
sources; the geographic term Goshen; and the noun ’amtahat
“bag” for the otherwise familiar $aq “sack.” On further analysis, the
relative scarcity of such shibboleths is not at all surprising. For
J is not given to stereotypes, in vocabulary or in other respects.
What is truly distinctive about this writer is his incisive style, his
economy and boldness of presentation, his insight into human nature,
and the recognition that a higher order and purpose may lie behind
seemingly incomprehensible human events. There is common agree
ment that we have in /—or alternatively, in those portions of
Genesis that critical consensus attributes to J—not only the most
gifted biblical writer, but one of the greatest figures in world litera
ture. If so much in the Book of Genesis remains vivid and mem
orable to this day, the reason is not merely the content of the tales
but, in large measure as well, the matchless way in which J has told
them.
J’s style is clear and direct, but its simplicity is that of consum
mate art. An unobtrusive word or phrase may become the means
for the unfolding of character, a single sentence can evoke a whole
picture. The leading actors on J’s stage are realized in depth. It
is their inner life that invariably attracts the author’s attention; yet
he manages to show it in action, not through description; and the
reader is thus made a participant in the unfolding drama. J’s world,
moreover, in diametric contrast to P’s, is emphatically earth-cen-
tered. And his earth is peopled with actors so natural and candid
that even their relations with Yahweh are reduced to human scale,
so that God himself becomes anthropomorphic.
In the Eden prelude, Adam is portrayed as a lost and confused
child, and is so treated by Yahweh (iii 9). Later, in the more
sophisticated context of the patriarchal age, human problems gain
in complexity. The acute domestic crisis that is brought on by
Sarah’s childlessness (xvi 1-6) leaves Abraham irresolute in the
clash between two headstrong women. Later on (xviii 12), Sarah
is impulsive enough to respond with derision to the promise of a
child in her waning years. Nor does J hesitate to betray his own
feelings concerning Jacob’s behavior toward Isaac and Esau. Every
detail in that intensely stirring account (xxvii 1-40) shows that,
although the outcome favored Jacob, the author’s personal sym
pathies lay with the victims of the ruse.
J’s art rises perhaps to greatest heights in the handling of the
xxvm INTRODUCTION
real climax of the Joseph story (xliv) The author is not concerned
in the main with the poetic justice of Joseph’s triumph over His
brothers, or his magnanimity m forgiving his onetime tormentors. J's
interest reaches much deeper His protagonist himself had been
plagued by gnawing doubts which he could not banish from his
mind: Had his brothers been morally regenerated in the intervening
years? To find the answer, Joseph was forced to resort to an elabo
rate test, using his full brother Benjamin to bait the trap When
Judah offered himself as substitute for the innocent boy, Joseph had
his answer at long last; the brothers had indeed reformed. After the
unbearable suspense of this episode, the actual self-disclosure could
be no more than an anticlimax
In J’s world view, then, man is not a mere marionette, as he is in
P’s scheme of things. Rather, the individual is allowed considerable
freedom of action, and it is this margin of independence that brings
out both his strengths and his weaknesses At the same time, how
ever, no mortal should make the mistake of assuming that he is in
complete control of his destiny. Ultimately, man is but the unwary
and unwitting tool in the hands of the Supreme Power who charts the
course of the universe. On rare occasions, to be sure, an Abraham
may be favored with a fleeting glimpse of the divine purpose. But no
one may grasp the complete design, which remains reasonable and
just no matter who the chosen agent may be at any given point. This
would seem to be the meaning of the unintentional blessing of Jacob
by Isaac (xxvii), or the eerie encounter at Penuel (xxxii 23-33)
There are more things in heaven and on earth, J appears to be imply
ing, than a mortal’s wisdom can encompass, In this regard man
remains irredeemably human.
It goes without saying that a work with such distinctive personal
traits could stem only from an individual author. When it comes,
however, to J’s date, the indications are not nearly so compelling
The prevailing tendency today is to put / in the tenth century B.C., or
about a hundred years earlier than was estimated a few decades ago.
If the current view is right, J may well have been a contemporary of
that other outstanding writer to whom we are indebted for the court
history of David and his immediate successors (especially II Sam
ix-xx). Did the two, then, know each other personally? And if so,
what were the relations between them? It would require a latter-day
J to do justice to a situation of this sort
It may be of interest to note, in passing, how J and P compare
INTRODUCTION XXIX
(3)E
In fonn and subject matter E is closely related to /. Together,
these two sources stand apart from P with its dominant genealogical
content. Hence, / and E are at times difficult, and in some instances
impossible, to distinguish from each other. Closer probing, however,
has by and large yielded ample evidence for isolating the two docu
ments. The major question on which many critics are as yet unde
cided concerns the extent of the interrelationship between J and E.
Did either of these sources actually utilize the other, and if so, which
had that advantage?6 Assuming that E came later—which is the pre
vailing view among the critics—was it E’s purpose from the start
merely to supplement and correct J, or was the former’s work en
tirely independent? It is the view of the present study that the ex
tant material from E represents indeed a separate source. But before
this position can be defended, it will be necessary to summarize the
reasons for assuming the presence of an £ source in the first place.
When the terms Yahweh and Blohim occur in otherwise duplicate
narratives, and the presence of P is ruled out on other grounds,
there is the inherent probability that the passages with Elohim point
to a source that is neither J nor P. In ch. xxviii, for example, two
accounts about Jacob’s first stay at Bethel have been blended into a
single sequence. One of these components used Elohim (vss. 12, 17),
while the other spoke of Yahweh (13, 16). Taken as a unit, the
fused version is repetitious; but separately, each strand represents an
independent tradition. Similarly, in xxx 25-43, where Jacob’s wealth
is attributed to his own shrewdness, the patriarch himself refers to
Yahweh by name (30). In the next account, however, the success of
the scheme is credited to the advice of an angel who conveyed it to
Jacob in a dream; and there, significantly enough, the Deity is called
Elohim (xxxi 9, 11). The same pattern, in which Elohim or an angel
occurs together with dreams, is found in other passages where J must
be ruled out as the author (notably in xx).
In general, E lacks the directness of / where man’s relations with
God are concerned. This is precisely why E is led to interpose angels
or dreams, or both, the Deity being regarded, it would seem, as too
6 Although it is customary to date / about a century earlier than E, the
evidence is so ambiguous that the reverse is by no means ruled out; cf. M.
Noth, Vberlieferungsgeschichte des Pentateuch, 2d ed„ 1948, p. 40, n. 143.
INTRODUCTION XXXI
remote for direct personal intervention. The center of E’s world has
not shifted all the way to heaven, as it has with P; neither is it
earth-bound, on the other hand, as in the case of /.
E has a tendency, furthermore, to justify and explain rather than
let actions speak for themselves. This is true, for example, of the
account about Laban’s flocks, as has just been indicated; and the
same applies to the encounter between Abraham and Abimelech of
Gerar (xx). One thus misses in E the bold touches that make /'s
narratives so vivid and memorable. Yet it would be grossly unjust
to E to dismiss him as a wordy and pedestrian writer. Abraham’s
ordeal with Isaac (xxii), an account in which E certainly had a
prominent hand, is a masterpiece of poignant presentation. Basically,
however, E is interested in events, whereas J is concerned with peo
ple. This alone would be enough to make a great deal of difference.
Yet all such departures from J might conceivably be found in an
annotator, and do not of themselves presuppose the existence of a
separate and independent E source. There are, however, other points
that cannot be explained away in like manner. Among the strongest
of these are two sets of parallel narratives which differ much too
sharply for direct mutual correlation. These examples merit a close
look.
The first illustration is based on three intimately related accounts,
each of which revolves about the wife-sister motif. The pertinent
passages are: (a) xii 10-20; (b) xx 1-18; and (c) xxvi 6-11. The
sociological significance of these narratives is discussed in Section 15;
it does not concern us here. The documentary bearing of the same
cycle is reviewed in Section 25; but since the results are germane to
the present context, they may be restated here in brief.
In each instance, a patriarch on a visit to a foreign land pretends
to his royal host that his wife is only a sister; he feels that his wife’s
beauty might be a danger to the husband but not to a brother. In
case (a) the encounter involves Abraham and Sarah with the ruler
of Egypt; in (b) the same couple confronts Abimelech of Gerar;
and in (c) Abimelech is similarly embarrassed by Isaac and Re-
bekah. In a work by a single author, these three cases taken together
would present serious contradictions: Abraham learned nothing from
his narrow escape in Egypt, and so tried the same ruse in Gerar;
and Abimelech, for his part, was so little sobered by his perilous
experience with the first couple as to fall into the identical trap with
the next pair. What immediately rules out any such construction is
xxxri INTRODUCTION
the fact that Abimelech is depicted as both upright and wise; and
after his first attempt misfired, Abraham would not be likely to
make the same mistake again. No competent writer would be guilty
of such glaring faults in characterization.
But we can dispense with idle conjectures. Incidents (a) and (c)
prove to stem from J, while (b) goes back to E—on independent
grounds in each case. And as soon as the two documents come into
view, the duplications and contradictions vanish. / knew only of
two wife-sister episodes (a and c), one featuring Abraham-Sarah-
Pharaoh-Egypt, and the other Isaac-Rebekah-Abimelech-Gerar.
Each case involves different principals, centers, and generations. In
E, however, these two episodes became telescoped, thus juxtaposing
Abraham and Sarah with Abimelech (b). But while each source re
mains thus self-consistent, two original incidents branched out into
three.
What matters for the moment is whether such a result could have
been obtained if E was merely an annotator of J. Since E’s Abime
lech was neither a fool nor a knave, but a man of whom the author
clearly approves (cf. xx), E could scarcely have depicted the king
as he does had he been familiar with J’s narrative in xxvi. The only
reasonable conclusion, therefore, that one can draw from the joint
evidence of all three narratives is that J and E worked independ
ently. Each was acquainted with the wife-sister motif in patriarchal
times, but the respective details had come down through different
channels and developed some variations in the course of transmis
sion.
Another compelling argument for viewing £ as a separate rather
than supplementary source is provided by the Joseph story. In spite
of its surface unity, this celebrated narrative yields, on closer
scrutiny, two parallel strands which are similar in general outline,
yet markedly different in detail. Since a comprehensive discussion is
included with the running commentary on the pertinent sections, a
schematic recapitulation should suffice at this point.
In the / version, which continues to employ the divine name
Yahweh, Judah persuades his brothers not to kill Joseph but sell him
instead to Ishmaelites, who dispose of him in Egypt to an unnamed
official. Joseph’s new master soon promotes him to the position of
chief retainer. But the lies of the master’s faithless wife land the boy
in jail. Still, Joseph’s fortunes again take a favorable turn. . . .
When the brothers are on their way home from their first mission to
INTRODUCTION XXXIII
After the three major sources of Genesis have thus reclaimed all
the material that could be plausibly assigned to them, there still re
main some sections which have proved elusive for one reason or
another. Two of these (30 and 61) were actually considered by the
older critics as more or less safely identified, but recent students
have shown greater diffidence in the matter. A third passage (Sec.
17), however, has always been viewed as unique and without docu
mentary mates anywhere in the Bible. A brief analysis of these pas
sages will be followed by a few remarks about the work of R—the
redactor or redactors of Genesis.
Section 30: The Machpelah Purchase (xxiii). Certain portions of
this chapter appear to support the older view, which regards the
narrative as part of the P document. It is a fact, moreover, that P
refers to the Machpelah purchase more than once (xxv 9f., xlix
29f., 1 13). Nevertheless, the opposing argument would seem to
carry greater weight. The account is not only narrative in character,
but is marked by a mock solemnity that is totally out of keeping
with the sober manner of P. Besides, the repeated description of
members of the local council as “those who came in at the gate of
his city” (vss. 10, 18) has its idiomatic complement in the phrase
“those who went out by the gate of his city,” which occurs twice in
xxxiv (24), a narrative that stems from /.e What this adds up to is
that P appropriated and introduced the account in question because
legal title to the Machpelah burial ground was considered vital by
that source; but the secular overtones of the story did not suffer
8 On these two idioms, see BASOR 144 (1956), 20 ft.
INTRODUCTION XXXV
matter, it follows that all three must have drawn on the same proto
type. This point has already been made for / and E by several
scholars, notably Martin Noth, who designates the assumed prede
cessor by the symbol G, abstracted from “gemeinsame Grundlage”
(common base) .7 But this symbol and the reasoning behind it run
into a serious methodological objection: the underlying term Grund
lage implies a written source; but any such implication should be
scrupulously avoided, at least for the time being.
It is not improbable, to be sure, that some of the original data
were preserved and transmitted in written form. The very circum
stance, however, that our sources exhibit so many mutual disa
greements should be enough to suggest that the channels through
which much of the material has been handed down were fluid rather
than fixed. And this implies, in turn, a predominantly oral mode of
transmission; a written source would scarcely have given rise to so
large a number of deviations. It should be remembered, moreover,
that / and E were not the only recipients of traditional material. P,
too, was a prominent beneficiary; note, for example, his accounts of
Creation and the Flood. The one thing that can be safely inferred at
this stage is that none of the standard sources of Genesis—and the
same applies also to the rest of the Tetrateuch—improvised its sub
ject matter as it went along. In these circumstances, the logical sym
bol for our hypothetical antecedent would seem to be “T,”8 for Tra
dition, a term that has the added advantage of enjoying international
currency.
As a bridge between the Pentateuchal sources and the past that
these documents record, “T” unblocks the path to further study. The
subject can now be viewed in truer perspective. One can under
stand, for example, why none of the writers who drew on “T” was
free with his subject matter—a point that was by no means self-
evident to the early critics: each author was bound by the data that
had come down to him. It is all the more remarkable, therefore, that
/ and E were able to achieve literary masterpieces despite such
curbs.
What was it, then, that made the received material normative and
impelled gifted writers to hold their imagination in check? The an-
7 Cf. Noth, Uberlieferungsgeschichte . . . . pp. 40 ff
In quotation marks, so as to distinguish this assumed source from extant
documents designated by simple initials.
INTRODUCTION XXXIX
swer is not far to seek. J, and E, and P as well, were writing, each in
his way, not stories, but history. The data were not to be tampered
with because tradition had stamped them as inviolable; and they had
acquired an aura of sanctity because the subject matter was not secu
lar but spiritual history, history a writer might recount, but could not
color to his own liking. The retelling, in short, was the Bible in the
making.
That the unfolding story was selective rather than comprehensive
is attested in the Bible itself; not just in the Pentateuch but also in
other historical books. The writers remind us time and again that
theirs is a special theme. The reader who may be interested in other
aspects is told explicitly where he can find them: in The Book of the
Wars of Yahweh (Num xxi 14); the Chronicle of Solomon (I Kings
xi 41); The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (I Kings xiv 19, xv 31,
xvi 5); or The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (I Kings xiv 29, xv
7, xxii 46). The first of these references is especially instructive, for
it occurs in an archaic passage which antedates the monarchic age,
and hence also any of the standard documentary sources. Its date
falls, accordingly, within the period of “T.” In other words, criteria
for distinguishing between “biblical” and secular themes had already
been evolved by that time.9
At this point it may be advisable to pause and take stock. A selec
tive medium like “T” presupposes the existence of some screening
canon. This is not to be confused, of course, with the final Old Tes
tament canon, which was not brought to a close until the beginning
of the present era. Yet the basic concept and the guiding criteria
would have to be much the same in all such instances. Is it not haz
ardous, then, to assume canonical standards for pre-Davidic times,
solely on the basis of the circumstantial evidence that has been cited
so far? The answer is that the whole story has not yet been told.
More evidence does in fact exist, but it is based on the combined
yield of biblical and extra-biblical sources. The pertinent material
must now be sampled.
Among the various patriarchal themes in Genesis, there are three
in particular that exhibit the same blend of uncommon features:
each theme appears to involve some form of deception; each has
proved to be an obstinate puzzle to countless generations of students,
ancient and modem; and at the same time, each was seemingly just
9 Cf. my paper on “Three Thousand Years of Bible Study,” Centennial
Review (Michigan State University) 4 (1960), 206-22.
XL INTRODUCTION
of his father’s homeland. Tradition took note of the deed, and. even
preserved the exact introductory formula. But the pertinent social
background had become blurred in the meantime; in fact, the prac
tice in question was eventually outlawed altogether (Deut xxi 15
ff.). In the nature of things, another motive was substituted; J did
not find it adequate, as the tenor of his narrative plainly shows. He
could not know that Jacob’s preferment did not have to depend on
falsehoods. Yet the author’s personal feelings on the subject gave
him no leave to alter the received data that tradition had shaped and
sanctioned long before.
(3) Our third and last case in point revolves about Rachel’s sur
reptitious removal of Laban’s house gods (xxxi 19, 30; cf. the fuller
Comment ad loc.). The narrative stems from E, who ordinarily
takes pains to justify the actions of his principal characters. This
time, however, he makes no attempt to account for Rachel’s behav
ior, evidently because he was unable to do so. Innumerable writers
since then have tried to find a solution, without coming close to the
mark. The correct interpretation calls for detailed knowledge of so
cial conditions in the patriarchal age and center. That information,
however, was cut off subsequent to the migration from Mesopotamia;
and it was not restored until archaeology had brought to light the
necessary evidence from the pertinent sources themselves.
According to Human family law—which played a prominent role
in patriarchal society, as we have seen—property passed normally
to male descendants. If a daughter, however, was to share in the
inheritance for one reason or another, it was customary for the
father to hand over his house gods to the woman’s husband, as proof
that the disposition was legitimate, though exceptional. In this case,
Rachel had no illusions about her father’s honesty (see xxxi 15 f.).
By going off with Laban’s images—and thus taking the law, or what
she thought to be the law, into her own hands—she evidently hoped
to make sure that her husband would not be done out of his right
ful dividends from a marriage for which he had labored so long.
Tradition remembered the deed, but not its motivation. And the
writer could neither ignore tradition nor presume to edit its content.
Taken together, these three old and familiar themes acquire new
significance by reason of their special bearing on the subject of
biblical origins. Each is an authentic reflection of the complex social
conditions to which it alludes. Since the biblical writers had no di
rect access to the ultimate sources, they must have obtained this
INTRODUCTION XLm
that juncture that Abraham turned his back on his homeland and
set out for a destination unfamiliar and unsung. What could have
prompted him to make such a move? According to Gen xii 1, it was
a call from the Deity. To be sure, tradition was bound to look
upon the remote past in reverent and idealized retrospect. This is
why Abraham emerges as a simple nomad devoted to pastoral ways,
although a product of the urban society of Mesopotamia. Yet the
same tradition, as we just saw, succeeded in preserving much of the
background detail with remarkable accuracy. Moreover, the fact of
migration from Mesopotamia is borne out by a mass of circumstan
tial evidence too vast to itemize here. Since the setting was not in
vented, and the migration is amply supported, the stated reason for
the journey should not be dismissed offhand. And that reason, re
duced to basic terms, was a spiritual one.
So far, our inquiry into the remoter reaches of biblical history
has not been unduly hazardous. Every so often along the way there
have been markers by which we could check our bearings. The
common subject matter of the / and E narratives pointed to an
underlying predocumentary stage (“T”). The essential trustworthi
ness of “T” was vouched for, in turn, by the evidence of cuneiform
records. Finally, the starting point of the biblical process—that
is, Central Mesopotamia in the age of Hammurabi—was found to
be brightly illuminated by various contemporary sources.
Now, however, we can no longer count on such tangible support.
The task before us is to re-enact in our minds the experience that
impelled Abraham to break with his past and set out on an epic
journey, thereby setting in motion a process that was to be sus
tained throughout the entire course of biblical history. Does such
an assignment hold out much hope of worth-while results? There
is clearly a limit beyond which circumstantial evidence ceases to
afford reasonably safe conduct and lets one proceed only at ever-
increasing risk. That limit has now been reached.
Although there is no proof so far of Abraham’s historicity, many
biblical historians would probably agree that if some such figure
had not been recorded by the ancients, it would have to be con
jectured by the modems. But it is one thing to concede Abraham’s
existence, and quite another thing to attempt to read his mind at
a critical juncture in his life. Nevertheless, the effort is worth mak
ing, for two reasons: first, because a great deal is at stake, namely,
the genesis of the biblical process; and second, because there are
XL VI INTRODUCTION
But there were other Amorite rulers to the west and north of
Babylonia who had not had enough time to become assimilated; yet
most of them became ardent converts to the Babylonian way of life.
The celebrated Shamshi-Adad I, for example, could be described as
Babylon’s cultural missionary to Assyria. And correspondence from
outlying regions, including the district of Har(r)an itself, and even
distant and powerful states like Aleppo, testifies to the eager accept
ance by Amorites of the civilization of Southern Mesopotamia.
Hence it would scarcely be normal for a native of Mesopotamia,
whatever his ethnic origins, to look for greener pastures elsewhere.
Now it is true that Genesis portrays Abraham as a nomad of
simple tastes, for whom the refinements of urban life held little
charm, unlike his nephew Lot (xiii 12). Would not this attitude
be reason enough for pulling up stakes and going off to a land
where kindred Amorites still maintained their ancient mode of
life? Perhaps so, provided that this particular image of Abraham
is in true focus. Actually, however, tradition’s views of the distant
past became at times oversimplified in nostalgic retrospect. A more
realistic picture of the patriarch is reflected in Gen xiv, precisely
because that chapter departs sharply from the traditional mold. In
that account, Abraham—or rather Abram, as he was then called—
appears as a prosperous settler who can mobilize on short notice a
sizable troop from among his own retainers and put an invading
horde to rout. Clearly, therefore, there must have been more to the
patriarch’s migration than a vague impulse to revert to the idyllic
ways of his distant ancestors. Moreover, the whole tenor of the
Abraham story reflects a concern about the future rather than the
past. Mesopotamia, it would seem, was not a suitable base for
planning ahead.
Yet the inferred shortcomings cannot be laid to prevailing social
conditions, as we have seen. The evolving Hebrew society had
enough in common, in this respect, with the historic society of Meso
potamia to presuppose not only generic affiliation but also basic
accord. In both instances we find the same reverence for law imper
sonally conceived, and the identical concept of non-autocratic gov
ernment on earth. Such fundamental agreements would scarcely ar
gue for a rejection of the Mesopotamian social system on the part
of the Hebrew patriarchs. But in the ancient world in general, and
the Near East in particular, the social aspect of a civilization was
intimately related to its religious aspect: the two interlocked. If it
XLvm INTRODUCTION
was not, then, the social climate that drove Abraham from Meso
potamia, could local religion provide a plausible motive?
The answer may not be far to seek. In Mesopotamia, the very
tenets that stimulated the social growth of the country proved to
be a source of weakness in its spiritual progress. The terrestrial
state was non-autocratic because man took his cue from the gods;
and in the celestial state no one god was a law unto himself, not
even the head of the pantheon. All major decisions in heaven re
quired approval by the corporate body of the gods. And since
nothing was valid for all time, the upshot was chronic indecision in
heaven and consequent insecurity on earth. Man’s best hope to get
a favorable nod from the cosmic powers lay, it was felt, in ritualistic
appeasement. And as the ritual machinery grew more and more
cumbersome, the spiritual content receded ever farther, until it all
but disappeared from the official system. When social gain«; could
no longer balance the spiritual deficit, Mesopotamian civilization
as a whole ceased to be self-sustaining
To be sure, the golden age of Hammurabi, with which the early
patriarchal period has to be correlated, was more than a millennium
away from the collapse of Assyria and Babylonia; it would not
appear to be a ripe time for spiritual forebodings. Nevertheless,
there must have been occasional doubts even then about the reli
gious solution which local society had evolved. As a matter of
fact, the earliest known composition on the subject of the Suffering
Just—or the Job theme—dates from Old Babylonian times. Thus
Abraham would not have been alone in his religious questioning.
However, if the biblical testimony is anywhere near the mark, he
was the first to follow up such thoughts with action.
Since the Mesopotamian system was vulnerable chiefly because
of its own type of polytheism, a possible remedy that an inquiring
mind might hit upon would lie in monotheism. But to conceive of
such an ideal initially, without any known precedent in the expe
rience of mankind, called for greater resources than those of logic
alone. It meant a resolute rejection of common and long-cherished
beliefs, a determined challenge to the powers that were believed to
dominate every aspect of nature, and the substitution of a single
supreme being for that hostile coalition. The new belief, in short,
would call for unparalleled inspiration and conviction. Without
that kind of call, Abraham could not have become the father of the
biblical process.
INTRODUCTION XI, IX
The break between Primeval History and the Story of the Patri
archs (Parts I and II in this book) is sharper than is immediately
apparent. On the surface, the end of chapter xi appears to lead up to
the next chapter. Actually, however, the call that set Abraham’s
mission on its course, and with it the biblical process as a whole
(xii Iff.), is received without any prior warning, as was stressed
above. Everything that precedes is a broadly conceived preface, a
prelude to the particular story with which the rest of the Pentateuch
is concerned. The difference is underscored by the scope of the two
subdivisions of Genesis. The patriarchal narratives take up four-
fifths of the entire book, yet they cover only four generations of a
single family. Primeval History, on the other hand, has the whole
world as its stage, and its time span reaches back all the way to
Creation. In other words, Primeval History seeks to give a universal
setting for what is to be the early history of one particular people.
LIV INTRODUCTION
There is, finally, yet another question about Primeval History that
remains to be considered. Why was this sketchy introduction in
cluded altogether? The career of a given nation is not traced back
automatically to Creation, especially when even that nation’s fore
fathers are presented as relative newcomers on the stage of history.
The logical beginning in this instance would seem to be Gen xii, or
perhaps a few verses earlier. And in fact, the E source does not
reach back beyond Abraham, unless one ascribes this late start to
accidents of preservation rather than deliberate design.
The answer to this question may be sought in the fact that neither
J nor P was interested in national history as such. Rather, both were
concerned with the story of a society and, more particularly, a
society as the embodiment of an ideal, that is, a way of life. A
history of that kind transcends national boundaries and may con
ceivably be retraced to the beginnings of the world. Such at least is
the manifest intent of P, whose system is designed to close any
possible genealogical gaps.
Nevertheless, one should not discount another potential reason for
the grand preface. Mesopotamian literature was fond of taking
many of its themes all the way back to Creation, sometimes even in
matters of no great consequence.13 Understandably enough, this
tendency was especially prominent in historical writings. Thus the
standard Sumerian king list starts with the dynasties before the
Flood,14 and proceeds from there to eras with which the compiler
was better acquainted. We know that the same approach was fol
lowed elsewhere in the Near East.15 Moreover, P’s genealogies be
fore the Flood parallel the antediluvian dynasties of the Sumerians
in endowing individuals with enormous life-spans; and the names
of some of the biblical patriarchs before the Flood display Akkadian
formation (see Sec. 6). It would have been no less natural for J,
who frequently incorporated Mesopotamian data in his own con
tribution to Primeval History, to follow time-honored precedent in
prefacing his work with sketches about the early stages of mankind
13 Even a simple incantation against toothache is honored with such a
cosmic introduction; cf. ANET, p. 100.
14 See Thorkild Jacobsen, The Sumerian King List, 1939.
18 There is, for example, an Old Human text about world rulers starting
as a whole. If the Mesopotamian models were not the sole reason for
such an arrangement, they could well have been a contributing fac
tor.
Genesis Exegesis
Over the many centuries that have elapsed since its definitive com
pilation, Genesis has proved to be by far the most popular book of
the Pentateuch, attracting the greatest amount of attention and giving
rise to the largest volume of comment. The variety and universal ap
peal of its contents and the literary quality of its narratives are one
reason for this continuous interest. Another reason, of course, lies in
the manifold challenge that Genesis has always presented to philoso
phers and theologians. As a result, references to Genesis began to
appear in the later books of the Bible itself, only to swell into an
ever-increasing flow of opinions and studies as time went by. The
modern age has provided a new stimulus through the dual medium
of biblical criticism and archaeology. By now the total extent of pub
lications on the subject is probably beyond computation. The
chances are that a latter-day Ecclesiastes would repeat his prede
cessor’s complaint that “of making many books there is no end,” but
would apply this saying exclusively to the extant material on Genesis.
The following is a sample listing of works, both ancient and mod
em, that relate in varying degrees to the interpretation of the Book
of Genesis. In many instances, the given entry is but one of a number
that would have been included if space permitted. The immense peri
odical literature had to be ignored altogether. Nor is this the place to
take up translations as such; that subject will be dealt with in the
next section.
Among the oldest works pertaining to Genesis, or at least in
INTRODUCTION LXI
tions to the Old Testament are those by S. R. Driver, 10th ed., 1900,
R. H. Pfeiffer, 1941, and J. L. McKenzie, 1956. For a special, and
elaborate, application of the documentary method to the first book
of the Pentateuch, cf. O. Eissfeldt, Die Genesis der Genesis, 1958.
The views of Y. Kaufmann, as expressed in his monumental He
brew study on The Religion of Israel, may now be gleaned from
the English abridgment by M. Greenberg, 1960.
Of the many distinguished commentaries on Genesis published
since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, I can only list those
that I had occasion to consult frequently. They include A. Dillmann’s
Die Genesis, 6th ed., 1892, which is notable for its sound philologi
cal approach, H. Gunkel’s Genesis, 1902, marked by the author’s
keen appreciation of literary quality, and S. R. Driver’s (abbr. Dr.)
The Book of Genesis ( 12th ed., 1926, repr. 1954). The abiding popu
larity of this last work is a well-deserved tribute to the author’s rare
combination of learning, lucidity, and plain common sense. But the
book was published originally in 1904, and effective revisions were
interrupted by Driver’s death in 1914. A convenient digest of the
textual apparatus is available in J. Skinner’s treatment of Genesis in
the International Critical Commentary, 1910, 2d ed., 1930. Within
the past decade there have appeared, among others, U. Cassuto’s
From Adam to Noah (Gen i-v) and From Noah to Abraham (Gen
vi-xi), both in Hebrew (1953); R. de Vaux’s La Genèse, as part
of La Sainte Bible (abbr. SB), 1953; and G. von Rad’s (abbr. von
Rad) Das erste Buch Mose, 1952-53; the recently published English
translation of this thoughtful study substitutes the RSV version of the
Hebrew text.
As examples of sectional commentaries on Genesis, I cite in addi
tion to Cassuto’s, above (which was intended to cover the entire
book), only K. Budde’s Biblische Urgeschichte (Gen i-xii 5, 1883)
and W. Zimmerli’s Die Urgeschichte: 1. Mose 1-11 (2d ed., 1957).
J. H. Kroeze’s (Dutch) Genesis Veertien (“Genesis XIV”), 1937,
may serve as an illustration of still more restricted monographic
studies.
When it comes to insight into biblical usage, there is nothing that
can match A. B. Ehrlich’s (abbr. Ehrl.) Randglossen zur hebräischen
Bibel, Vol. I, 1908 (for Genesis, pp. 1-256). The text of the He
brew Bible itself is by no means as firmly established as the com
monly applied term “Masoretic” (traditional) would seem to imply.
The recorded variants, however, are of minor technical significance.
INTRODUCTION LXm
On Translating Genesis
teenth century,18 that is, almost two millenniums after the Book of
Genesis had been compiled. In these circumstances, it is not sur
prising that the now familiar breakdown into chapters and verses
does not always accord with the internal evidence of the content.
In Genesis, the first chapter should have continued through ii 4a,
ending in the middle of what is now marked as a verse; similarly, the
beginning of the Joseph story, which surely ought to have been
signalized by a new chapter, is now found inside xxxvii 2. Inap
propriate verse breaks are naturally more common; note, for ex
ample, i 1-3, vi 1/2, xxiii 5/6, 14/15, 17/18. Sometimes, the wrong
break occurs in the middle of a word, an echo of a distant period
when punctuation was sporadic or non-existent. An example of such
a mishap will be found at the juncture of xlix 20 and 21, where we
now have “heel: From Asher” instead of “their heel: Asher” (the
border letter M, depending on its position, can yield either “from”
or “their”). Fortunately, such misdivided words are rare in the text
of the Old Testament as a whole.
To go back to the recovery and transfer of meaning, the modem
translator of Genesis—and other books of the Old Testament—has
to mediate between two sovereign linguistic entities, each with its
distinctive equipment developed over a long period of time. The
differences are not only chronological but also structural and cul
tural. In transposing an ancient source, the ultimate task is to trans
late not just a text but a civilization. In the present instance, the
respective media are early biblical Hebrew and modem English.
Frequently, it is not a case of a one-to-one correlation; the desired
balance has to be achieved indirectly, whether the point at issue is
one of construction, semantic range, or idiomatic expression. It
should be useful, therefore, to give a few representative illustrations,
as proof that a faithful translation is by no means the same thing as
a literal rendering; similar lists could, of course, be adduced for any
two unrelated languages. Some of the examples cited below have
often been commented on before; others have not received adequate
recognition.
(1) The particle wa. The most common meaning of this ubiquitous
particle is “and.” But wa (usually reduced to wc) may also introduce
a subordinate clause (“while,” xx 1), and then mark the main clause
(xx 2; note also i 3: “God said,” or “then God said”). It can also be
Cf. Pfeiffer, Introduction . . . , pp. 101 ff., 200 f.
INTRODUCTION LXVII
had hard labor. And it came to pass when she was in hard
labor. . . Not only do such renderings ignore the difference in
conjugations but they miss the climax as well; and many commenta
tors homogenize the verbs by repointing the second occurrence so as
to make it agree with the first, thereby compounding the offense.
Another case in point is “you shall excel no more” (xlix 4). This
time nobody could make tie Hiphil causative; but many conscien
tious critics would repoint the alleged misfit to yield “you shall not
survive”!
The other specialized verbal form is outwardly the so-called
Hithpael, except that it is neither passive nor reflexive, as Hithpaels
should be. What we have in such cases is an old Semitic form, which
is durative or iterative in connotation, and has formally coalesced
with the Hithpael. One example of this type is a derivative of the
stem for “to go,” with the meaning of “walk about” (which is a
prolonged or iterative activity): it is used of Enoch (v 22, 24) and
Noah (vi 9), both of whom “walked with God”; cf. also xiii 17. An
other common example is the stem meaning “to mourn,” which is
again something that lasts a long time. In xxiv 21 the same forma
tion is used most appropriately to express “(the man) stood gaping
(at her),” as opposed to a fleeting glance.
(5) Differing modes of definition. Biblical Hebrew and modem
English have similar means of reference, but they do not always
distribute them in the same way. For instance, Hebrew may use the
definite article where English prefers the possessive pronoun: e.g.,
Heb. "the young men”: Eng. “my men” (xiv 24); Heb. “the flock”:
Eng. “my flock” (xxxviii 17); and conversely, Heb. “my covenant
between me and you”: Eng. “the covenant between you and me”
(xvii 7); similarly, Heb. “the men of her place”: Eng. “the men of
that place” (xxxviii 21). Just so, Hebrew will often employ the
personal pronoun, where English requires or prefers the personal
name (e.g., xxix 14), and vice versa.
(6) Replies to questions. Since biblical Hebrew lacks a term for
“yes,” it indicates an affirmative reply by repeating the question
without the interrogative particle. A good example is xxix 6. To
Jacob’s question “Is he well?” the shepherds’ reply is literally “Well”
(note that the text does not say “He is well”); to reflect the mood
of that occasion, we have to say “He is.”
(7) Inversion. Both Hebrew and English employ inversion of the
normal word order as a method of achieving some significant modifi
LXX INTRODUCTION
cation of meaning. But since the results are not parallel, it would not
do merely to transfer the device automatically; neither can the usage
be ignored with impunity. Hence the effect of inversion in Hebrew
must often be reflected in English by some indirect means. For in
stance, xxx 40 is a parade example of separating the sheep from the
goats. The goats have just been dealt with in the preceding verse. Ac
cordingly, the sequel must read, “The ewes, on the other hand,
. . the italicized phrase is not in the text in so many words, but
its semantic equivalent is plainly indicated just the same.
(8) Hendiadys. This is a method whereby two formally co-or
dinate terms—verbs, nouns, or adjectives—joined by “and” express
a single concept in which one of the components defines the other.
The usage was especially common in Greek, hence the term for it
(“one by means of two”). Nor is it entirely a stranger to colloquial,
if not literary, English. The statement “I am good and mad” would
be a solecism on the face of it, since one is not apt to be both kind
and angry at one and the same time; what this phrase means is “I am
very angry.”
The point of this digression is to call attention to the fact that hen
diadys was also well known to biblical Hebrew, far more so than is
generally recognized. Sometimes, the added nuance is a minor one,
so that failure to notice it is not necessarily damaging. In xii 1, for
example, we have “Go forth from your native land,” not “Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred” (KJ); and the favorite
Hebrew expression hesed we’emet is not “mercy and truth” (KJ), or
“steadfast love and faithfulness” (RSV; cf. xxiv 27 and seq.), but
simply “steadfast (’emet) kindness (hesed)”; in these compounds,
or what amounts to compounds, the order of the constituents is im
material.
There are times, however, when failure to heed a hendiadys re
sults in an illogical or distorted rendition. In iii 16, Eve is told
literally, “I will multiply greatly your pain and your conception”
(cf. KJ), with the logical order seemingly reversed. The hendiadys,
however, yields “pangs in childbearing” (cf. RSV). In xlv 6 the
text appears to say, “there will be neither plowing nor harvest,” and
is so invariably rendered. Yet no farmer will abstain from plowing
because there has been a famine; on the contrary, he will try that
much harder. What the hendiadys conveys is “there shall be no yield
from tilling.”
INTRODUCTION LXXI
Many other categories of this kind could be cited. But the fore
going sampling should suffice to warn the reader and vindicate the
translator.
Standard Versions
supplies (in agreement with LXX and other versions) the missing
clause “Let us go outside” in iv 8; in x 4, Sam. reads correctly
Dôdâritm for Rôdârûm; and in xxii 13 it offers “a (literally ‘one’)
ram” for “a ram behind” (reading ’hD for ’HR; the Masoretic text
reflects the same mechanical confusion of D for R as in the previous
example). The over-all crop (of which this is but a sampling) may
not be large; but the value of the Samaritan recension lies not so
much in what it corrects as in what it attests.
Because it bears not only on the text but, more especially, on its
meaning, the first extant translation of Genesis is bound to be of ex
ceptional importance. That pioneering role belongs to the oldest
Greek version, which is known as the Septuagint (LXX) ; the Penta-
teuchal part of it goes back to the third century b.c. The subject as a
whole is much too rich and complex to be compressed into a brief
outline; for a comprehensive treatment, see H. B. Swete’s An Intro
duction to the Old Testament in Greek, 2d ed., 1914. Several aspects
of the LXX, however, deserve to be stressed in the present context
For one thing, the translators were Alexandrian Jews who ap
proached their task with reverence and were intent primarily on
making biblical tradition accessible to a community that was no
longer at home in Hebrew. The principal aim of LXX was thus to
conserve, and not to change or correct; hence the results reflect nei
ther independent scholarship nor extensive editorializing, but tradi
tion transposed into another linguistic medium. For another thing,
however, all disagreements between LXX and the Masoretic text, in
spite of the relative antiquity of the former, are not to be adjudged
automatically in favor of the Greek version. Such departures may be
due to any of a number of factors. For instance, the Samaritan
recension has demonstrated that on various points tradition was as
yet fluid; in some cases, the data behind the Masoretic text have
proved to be superior to those that LXX utilized, while in other
cases the translators were on firmer ground. It is worth noting in this
connection that not only the Samaritan text but also material from
the Dead Sea caves often supports the Septuagint. And for yet an
other thing, many of the existing differences from the received text
are due to inner-Greek processes; the recovery of the original text of
LXX is still far from accomplished. In sum, each given instance must
be judged by itself and on its own merits.
The Septuagint version was to be but one of several early Greek
translations. At least three others appeared within the space of a
INTRODUCTION Lxxm
nal. With a version that possesses the outstanding appeal of the King
James Bible, it is not surprising that many of its users should dismiss
the original as an unwelcome intruder. Substantive departures from
KJ are apt to be resented as so many wanton desecrations. The fact,
say, that “the valley of the shadow of death” is an old distortion of
the actual text is immaterial to those who have come to cherish the
eerie image; and who wants to give up Joseph’s “coat of many
colors,” even though the chromatic effect is illusory? It is almost as
if the Psalmist, or Jacob, should have consulted the translators, in
stead of the other way about. Nevertheless, beyond the interest in
any given Bible translation looms the attraction of the original
source. For it was the source that inspired the hundreds of versions,
ancient and recent, and enabled each of them to shine with re
fracted glory—not just the King James Bible, but also Luther’s older
translation into German (1534), and the many similar achievements
in other European countries. The constant striving for improved
translations is not motivated by mere pedantry; it is stimulated, in
the final analysis, by the hope that each new insight may bring us
that much closer to the secret of the Bible’s universal and enduring
appeal. This alone would be reason enough for the growing number
of revisions and new translations, in various languages, with all the
toll in energy and treasure that such efforts entail.
Recent increase in these activities in English may be judged from
the following partial listing of Old Testament versions. Revisions of
the King James Bible include the English Revised Version (1885),
the American Revised Version (1901), the Holy Scriptures, issued
by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS, 1917), and the Revised
Standard Version (RSV, 1952). Less hampered by ties to the Au
thorized Version of 1611 are James Moffatt’s The Old Testament
(1922); The Old Testament: An American Translation (AT,
1931); and the revised translation by the Jewish Publication Society,
The Torah, 1962. The same should be true of the forthcoming Old
Testament section of the New English Bible. And one should note
the Catholic Confraternity Version.
It is no accident that all but one of these versions fall within the
present century, and that several are either the product of the past
decade or are still in preparation. The stepped-up pace of transla
tional effort is but an index of the swelling flow of discovery. Desire
to keep up with changing English usage has been a relatively minor
factor. It is not the language of this or that version of the Bible
LXXVI INTRODUCTION
that has needed revising, but the underlying image of the biblical
age, as reflected in the text, the grammar, the lexicon, and—above
all—in the enormous volume of new material on the ancient Near
East as a whole.
The translation which is offered in the present work was handi
capped by fewer obstacles than “standard” versions normally face.
Concentration on a single book of the Bible automatically limits the
range of problems. An individual can venture solutions from which
a collective body might be expected to shrink. And the addition of
extensive notes and comments affords ample opportunity to justify
a seemingly far-fetched rendition.
But no biblical version nowadays can be anything else than stuff
for transforming. All that a modem translator can hope for is to have
progressed here and there beyond his innumerable predecessors,
each of whom has had some share in the search. As long as a single
pertinent tablet or ostracon remains underground, or has gone un
heeded, there can be no definitive translation of a book of the
Bible.
I. PRIMEVAL HISTORY
1. OPENING ACCOUNT OF CREATION
(i 1-ii 4a: P)
the water above it.6 8 God called the expanse Sky. Thus evening
came, and morning—second day.
9 God said, “Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into a
single area, that the dry land may be visible.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry land Earth, and he called the gathered
waters Seas. God was pleased with what he saw, 1 and he said,
“Let the earth burst forth with growth: plants that bear seed,
and0 every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its
seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth produced growth: var
ious kinds of seed-bearing plants, and trees of every kind bearing
fruit with seed in it. And God was pleased with what he saw.
13 Thus evening came, and morning—third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky, to
distinguish between day and night; let them mark the fixed
So LXX; transposed in MT to the end of vs. 7.
6Heb. “expanse” (twice).
«So several manuscripts and most ancient versions; omitted in MT.
4 GENESIS
times, the days and the years, 15 and serve as lights in the ex
panse of the sky to shine upon the earth. And it was so. 16 God
made the great lights, the greater one to dominate the day and
the lesser one to dominate the night—and the stars. 17 God set
them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18 to
dominate the day and the night, and to distinguish between
light and darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw.
19 Thus evening came, and morning—fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living crea
tures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the
sky.” dAnd it was so.d 21 God created the great sea monsters, every
kind of crawling creature with which the waters teem, and all
kinds of winged birds. And God was pleased with what he saw.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase; fill the
waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on earth.” 23 Thus
evening came, and morning—fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth bring forth various kinds of living
likeness; let him subject the fish of the sea and the birds of the
sky, the cattle and all the wild [animals]/ and all the creatures
that creep on earth.”
27And God Created man in his image;
In the divine image created he him,
Male and female created he them.
28 God blessed them, saying to them, “Be fertile and increase,
fill the earth and subdue it; subject the fishes of the sea, the
birds of the sky, and all the living things that move on earth.”
29 God further said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on
earth and every tree in which is the seed-bearing fruit of the tree;
<*-<* Restored from LXX.
• See Note.
t See Note.
i 1-ii 4a 5
30 And to all the animals on land, all the birds of the sky, and
all the living creatures that crawl on earth [I give] all the green
plants as their food.” And it was so. 31 God looked at everything
that he had made and found it very pleasing. Thus evening
came, and morning—sixth day.
II 1 Now the heaven and the earth were completed, and all
their company. 2 On the seventh" day God brought to a close
the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh
day from all the work that he had undertaken. 3 God blessed the
seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he ceased from all the
Work which he had undertaken.
4 Such is the story of heaven and earth as they were created.
Notes
first day. In Semitic (notably in Akkadian, cf. Gilg., Tablet XI, lines
215 ff.) the normal ordinal series is “one, second, third,” etc., not "first,
second, third,” etc.; cf. also ii 11.
6. expanse. Traditionally “firmament,” one of the Bible’s indirect con
tributions to Western lexicons. It goes back to the Vulg. firmamentum
“something made solid,” which is based in turn on the LXX rendering of
Heb. räqla‘ “beaten out, stamped” (as of metal), suggesting a thin sheet
stretched out to form the vault of the sky (cf. Dr.).
And it was so. This clause is correctly reproduced here by LXX but
misplaced in Heb. at the end of vs. 7. The present account employs it
normally after each of God’s statements; cf. vss. 9, 11, 15, 24, 30, and
textual note
9. area. Literally “place,” Heb. cons, mqwm, for which LXX reads
mqwh “gathering,” the same as in vs. 10, perhaps rightly (cf. D. N.
Freedman, Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 64 [1953],
190 f.).
14. let them mark the fixed times. Heb. literally “let them be for signs
and for seasons (and for days and for years),” which has been
reproduced mechanically in most translations (most recently RSV). Some
of the modems (e.g., von Rad, SB), realizing that signs do not belong in
this list, take the first connective particle as explicative: they shall serve
as signs, that is, for seasons, and days, and years; but the sun and the
moon cannot be said to determine the seasons proper; moreover, the
order would then be unbalanced (one would expect: days, seasons,
years). The problem solves itself once we take the first pair as a
hendiadys (cf. vs. 2): they shall serve a sign for the fixed time
periods, or in other words, they shall mark the fixed times, that is, the
days and the years. The use of the particle (Heb. we/ü) in each of
these functions (hendiadys, explicative, connective) is amply attested
elsewhere.
15. lights. Heb. me’öröt, differentiated from me’öröt in vs. 14, literally
“sources of light, luminaries.”
20. The creation of the fifth day was deemed to comprise creatures
(Heb. nepes) that might appear in swarms (Seres) in the water, on the
ground, or in the air. But their ultimate breeding place was traced to the
waters, since land creatures come under the sixth day. The process is
described indirectly: let the waters teem with . . . (stem Srs, with cognate
accusative).
21. The same Heb. stem (rms) is used for “crawl” (as in this
instance) and “creep” (as in 24 fT.). The underlying sense, however
(which is shared by the Akk. cognate namäiu), is “to have locomotion”;
cf. vs. 28, vii 21, ix 2. And just as Heb. remei is contrasted here with
i 1 — ii 4a 7
larger animals in 24 S., so, too, in Gilg. (Tablet I, column ii, lines
40 ff.) the small creatures of the steppe (Akk. namassu) are juxtaposed
to the larger beasts,
24. Heb. behema “cattle” covers here the domestic animals in general,
or animals due to be domesticated.
26. For the singulars “my image, my likeness” Heb. employs here
plural possessives, which most translations reproduce. Yet no other
divine being has been mentioned; and the very next verse uses the singular
throughout; cf. also ii 7. The point at issue, therefore, is one of grammar
alone, without a direct bearing on the meaning. It so happens that the
common Heb. term for “God,” namely, Elohim (’eldhlm) is plural in
form and is so construed at times (e.g., xx 13, xxxv 7, etc.). Here God
refers to himself, which may account for the more formal construction
in the plural.
wild [animals], Reading [/iy/] h'rf as in vs. 25.
28. move. Same Heb. verb as for “creep”; see Note on vs. 21.
30. [/ give]. In Heb. the predicate may carry over from 29; but the
translation has to repeat it for clarity.
Comment
Notes
ii 4b. At the time when. Literally “on the day when”; Heb. beyom, cog
nate with Akk. enuma, the opening word of the Babylonian Genesis
(Enuma elis).
God Yahweh. Although this combination is the rule in ii 4b—iii 24, it
is found only once in the rest of the Pentateuch (Exod ix 30). Critical
opinion inclines to the assumption that the original version used
"Yahweh” throughout, in conformance with J’s normal practice, the
other component being added later under the influence of the opening
account (by P). One cannot, however, discount the possibility that these
16 GENESIS
19. a living creature. In this position this phrase does violence to Heb.
syntax, it could well be a later gloss.
20. proved to be. Traditionally “was found to be.” In this construction,
however, the Heb. stem ms" usually means “to suffice, reach, be
adequate” (Ehrl.), as is true also of its cognates in Akkadian and
ArsmsiCi
21. at that spot. Heb. literally “underneath it,” or "instead of it,” with
the idiomatic sense of “then and there.”
22. to the man. In Heb. the defined form hd’adam is “man,” the
undefined 'adam, “Adam,” since a personal name cannot take the definite
article. With prepositions like le- “to,” the article is elided and only the
vowel marks the difference between “to Adam” (le’adam) and to the
man” (la’adam), so that the consonantal text is bound to be ambiguous
(I’dm in either case). Since the form without preposition appears invari
ably as hd’adam in ii-iii (the undefined form occurs first in iv 25), and
is not mentioned until the naming of Adam v 2, the vocalized “to Adam
(also vs. 20, iii 17) is an anachronism. In iii, LXX favors “Adam” even
in the presence of the consonantal article.
23. The assonance of Heb. ti and ’issd has no etymological basis. It is
another instance of symbolic play on words, except that the phonetic sim
ilarity this time is closer than usual. By an interesting coincidence, Eng.
“woman” (derived from “wife of man”) would offer a better linguistic
foil than the Heb. noun.
Comment
The brief Eden interlude (ii 4b—iii 24) has been the subject of an
enormous literature so far, with no end in sight. One study alone
takes up over 600 pages (cf. the comment by J. L. McKenzie, “The
Literary Characteristics of Genesis 2—3,” Theological Studies 15
[1954], 541-72). Here there is room for only a few paragraphs.
The account before us deals with the origin of life on earth, as
contrasted with the preceding statement about the origin of the uni
verse as a whole. The contrast is immediately apparent from the re
spective initial sentences. The first account starts out with the crea
tion of “heaven and earth” (i 1). The present narrative begins with
the making of “earth and heaven” (ii 4b). The difference is by no
means accidental. In the other instance the center of the stage was
heaven, and man was but an item in a cosmic sequence of majestic
acts. Here the earth is paramount and man the center of interest;
indeed, an earthy and vividly personal approach is one of the out
ii 4b-24 19
standing characteristics of the whole account. This far-reaching di
vergence in basic philosophy would alone be sufficient to warn the
reader that two separate sources appear to be involved, one heaven-
centered and the other earth-centered. The dichotomy is further
supported by differences in phraseology (e.g., “create” : “make”)
and in references to the Deity (“God” : “God Yahweh”); and the
contrast is sustained in further pertinent passages. In short, there
are ample grounds for recognizing the hand of P in the preceding
statement, as against that of / in the present narrative.
Yet despite the difference in approach, emphasis, and hence also
in authorship, the fact remains that the subject matter is ultimately
the same in both versions. We have seen that the P version, for its
part, derived much of its detail from Mesopotamian traditions about
the begmmngs of the world. The account by / points in the same
direction, as is immediately apparent from the following compari
son of opening lines:
“At the time when God Yahweh made earth and heaven—”
(ii 4b)
“When God set about to create heaven and earth—” (i 1)
“When on high heaven had not been named,
Firm ground below had not been called by name—” (ANET,
pp. 61 f., I, lines If.).
In each case the temporal clause leads up to a parenthetic descrip
tion, and is then resumed with the proper sequel. Thus, however much
J , P , and their Mesopotamian sources may differ ultimately from one
another, they are also tied to common traditions.
That / incorporated Mesopotamian data in his treatment of the
origin of man—most of which, incidentally, are missing in P—is
shown by much more compelling evidence than the mere agreement
of initial clauses. To begin with, the narrative before us features
two telltale loanwords. One is the word for “flow” (vs. 6), Akk.
edd, from Sum. a.di.a (see Note ad loc.). The other is the geo
graphical term “Eden” (cf. Note on vs. 8), Akk. edinu, Sum. eden,
which is especially significant in that this word is rare in Akk. but
exceedingly common in Sum., thus certifying the ultimate source as
very ancient indeed. The traditions involved must go back, there
fore, to the oldest cultural stratum of Mesopotamia.
Next comes the evidence from the location of Eden which is fur
nished by the notices about the rivers of that region. Recent data on
the subject demonstrate that the physical background of the tale
20 GENESIS
II 25 The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet
they felt no shame.
El 1 Now the serpent was the sliest of all the wild creatures
that God Yahweh had made. Said he to the woman, “Even
though God told you not to eat of any tree in the garden . . . ”
2 The woman interrupted the serpent, “But we may eat of the
trees in the garden! 3 It is only about the fruit of the tree in the
middle of the garden that God did say, ‘Do not eat of it or so
much as touch it, lest you die!’” 4But the serpent said to the
woman, “You are not going to die. 5 No, God well knows that
the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will
be the same as God in telling good from bad.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and
a delight to the eye, and that the tree was attractive as a means
to wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some to
her husband and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened
and they discovered that they were naked; so they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 They heard the sound of God Yahweh as he was walking in
the garden at the breezy time of day; and the man and his wife
hid from God Yahweh among the trees of the garden.
9 God Yahweh called to the man and said to him, “Where
till the soil from which he was taken. 24 Having expelled the
man, he stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and
the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
b Heb. hawwd.
°Heb. hay.
Notes
Heb. is often intransitive (ee JCS 6 [1952], 81 If.); cf. vi 19 f., xxxv 17,
xlix 4.
8. walking. A good example of the special durative conjugation in
Heb.; cf. vs. 24, v 22, 24, and see JAOS 75 (1955), 117 ff.
at the breezy time of day. The Heb. preposition Ze- may be used of tune
(cf. viii 11), but not temperature; hence the memorable “in the cool of
the day” lacks linguistic support. The time involved is toward sundown,
when fresh breezes bring welcome relief from the heat.
9. Where are you? The question is obviously rhetorical.
11. then. Suggested by the inversion in Heb. for added emphasis.
13. How could you . . . ? Cf. xii 18.
14. Banned. The Heb. stem ’rr is regularly translated as “to curse,” but
this sense is seldom appropriate on closer examination. With the preposi
tion mi(n), here and in vs. 17, such a meaning is altogether out of place:
“cursed from the ground” (ibid.) only serves to misdirect, and “cursed
above all cattle and all the beasts of the field” (present instance) would
imply that the animal world shared the serpent’s guilt. The basic meaning
of ’rr is “to restrain (by magic), bind (by a spell)”; see JAOS 80 (1960),
198ff. With mi(n) the sense is “to hold off, ban” (by similar means). In
vs. 17 the required nuance is “condemned.”
15. offspring. Heb. literally “seed,” used normally in the collective
sense of progeny. The passage does not justify eschatological connota
tions. As Dr. put it, “We must not read into the words more than they
contain.”
16. pangs in childbearing. A parade example of hendiadys in Heb. (cf.
i 2 and see above, p. lxx) . The literal rendering would read “your pangs
and your childbearing,” but the idiomatic significance is “your pangs that
result from your pregnancy.”
17. man. Cf. Note on ii 20.
Condemned. See above, vs. 14.
on your account. LXX translates “as you till it,” reflecting b bDk,
whereas Heb. reads R/D; the two letters are easily confused.
19. earn your bread. Literally “eat your bread”; but the effort de
scribed is in the producing of grain to be eaten (Ehrl.), not in the
eating of it.
22. Now that. Heb. hen . . . we‘atta introduce the protasis and the
apodosis, so that the two clauses cannot be interpreted as independent.
one of us. A reference to the heavenly company which remains ob
scure.
24. cherubim. Cf. Akk. karibu and kuribu which designate figures of
minor interceding deities (cf. S. Langdon, Epic of Creation, 1923, p. 190,
n. 3).
fiery revolving sword. Although the description pertains to an act of
ii 25-iii 24 25
Yahweh, the detail appears to be derived from Mesopotamian traditions.
Most of the gods of that land had distinctive weapons of their own,
such as the dagger of Ashur or the toothed sword of Shamash. Another
illustration may be found in the concluding lines of Enuma eliS I
(ANET, pp. 63, 160 f.); there the rebel gods are said “to make the
fire subside” and “to humble the Power-Weapon.” The fire would
seem to characterize the weapon, a metaphorical description apparently
of the bolt-like or glinting blade. The magic weapon was all that stood
between the insurgent gods and their goal.—The Heb. for “revolving”
(or “constandy turning”) is another instance of the special durative
conjugation; cf. Note on vs. 8.
Comment
Now that the stage has been set, the author can hit his full stride.
There is action here and suspense, psychological insight and subtle
irony, light and shadow—all achieved in two dozen verses. The
characterization is swift and sure, and all the more effective for its
indirectness.
Everything is transposed into human terms. The serpent is en
dowed with man’s faculties, and even God is pictured in subjective
and anthropomorphic fashion. When Adam has been caught in his
transparent attempt at evasion, Yahweh speaks to him as a father
would to his child: “Where are you?” In this context, it is the same
thing as, “And what have you been up to just now?” This simple
phrase—a single word in the original—does the work of volumes.
For what / has thus evoked is the childhood of mankind itself.
Yet the purpose of the author is much more than just to tell a
story. / built his work around a central theme, which is the record
of a great spiritual experience of a whole nation. But a nation is
made up of individuals, who in turn have their ancestors all the
way back in time. When such a composite experience is superbly
retraced and recorded, the result is also great literature.
Behind the present episode lay many traditions which provided
the author with his raw material. In the end product, however, the
component parts have been blended beyond much hope of success
ful recovery. Speculation on the subject has been going on for thou
sands of years and takes up many tomes. The following comment
will confine itself to one or two of the more prominent details.
26 GENESIS
Tablet XI, lines 197 f.). In the end, Gilgamesh is favored with a
concession: he is permitted to take back with him a magic plant
which offers the sop of rejuvenation (Tablet XI, line 282), if not
the boon of immortality. But he is soon to be robbed of it—bv a
serpent. 3
IV irThe man had experience of his wife Eve, and she con
ceived and bore Cain, as she said, “I have added“ a life6 with the
help of Yahweh.” 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became
a keeper of flocks, and Cain became a tiller of the soil. 3 In the
course of time, Cain brought an offering to Yahweh of fruit of
the soil. 4 For his part, Abel brought the finest of the firstlings of
his flock. Yahweh showed regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but
for Cain and his offering he showed no regard. Cain resented
this greatly and his countenance fell. 6 Yahweh said to Cain,
“Why are you resentful, and why has your countenance fallen?
7 Surely, if you act right, it should mean exaltation. But if you
do not, sin is the demon at the door, whose urge is toward you;
yet you can be his master.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, [“Let us go outside.”].® And
when they were outside, Cain set upon his brother Abel and
killed him. 9 Then Yahweh asked Cain, “Where is your brother
Abel?” He replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 And he said, “What have you done! Listen! Your brother’s
blood cries out to me from the soil. 11 Hence you are banned
from the soil which forced open its mouth to take your broth
er’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the soil, it shall not
again give up its strength to you. A restless wanderer shall you
be on earth!”
13 Cain replied to Yahweh, “My punishment is too much to
bear. 14 Now that you have banished me this day from the soil,
°Heb. qariifi, literally “I acquired,” in assonance with “Cain.’*
b Literally “man, individual.”
and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wan
derer on earth, anyone might kill me on sight!” 15 “if so<*;” Yah-
weh said to him, “whoever kills Cain shall suffer vengeance
sevenfold.” And Yahweh put a mark on Cain, lest anyone
should kill him on sight.
is Thereupon Cain left Yahweh’s presence and settled in the
land of Nod, east of Eden.
d See Comment.
Notes
Comment
There has never been any doubt as to the exact meaning of the
idiom. Its semantic basis, moreover, is independently attested by the
analogous use of the Akk. verb lamadum “to learn, experience” (e.g.,
Code of Hammurabi rev., column ix, lines 69, 75; column x, line 6),
which is identical with Heb. Imd. It was indicated earlier that Heb.
yd' itself has a broader range than our verb “to know” and shares
with Imd the connotation “to experience” (see Comment on iii 5).
The slavish English reproduction falls thus short of the Hebrew as
well. And unlike so many other English terms that are rooted in
biblical usage, this one has never become self-sufficient; for when
used in the sense here required, “to know” is still felt to be in need
of such props as “carnally, in the biblical sense,” or the like.
The problem, then, is strictly translational and peculiar by and
large to English. German can get by with its erkannte, and French
with connut; but our “knew” corresponds to wusste or savait, which
would be unthinkable in the present instance. The difficulty is ag
gravated by the need for suitable equivalents for other related Heb.
expressions (see vi 4, xix 31, 32). Accordingly, we are restricted to
the concepts of experience and intimacy, depending on the particular
context; “had experience of” is right semantically, if not stylistically.
A problem of much greater complexity is posed by vs. 7, where
the reading and meaning of the original remain very much in doubt.
The oldest versions are no less perplexed than the most recent in
terpreters. The consonantal text had come down apparently in rea
sonably good shape, since LXX, for one, differs from MT only in
regard to a single letter: INth instead of IPth; but the Greek reflects
wide differences in word division and vocalization. There, the
troubling clauses read, “Is it not true that, when you sacrifice cor
rectly but dissect incorrectly, you are a sinner? Subside then.” The
standard Aram, translation of Onkelos (TO) presupposes the re
ceived Masoretic text, but furnishes a paraphrase rather than a
translation and is guilty of some violence to the grammar
In these circumstances, the best procedure is to adhere consist
ently to the received text before any departures are attempted
Surprisingly enough, this has not been the standard traditional prac
tice. The two adjacent words ht’t rbs (unvocalized) have generally
been taken to mean “sin couches,” although the first (vocalized as
hatta’t) is feminine and calls for a corresponding predicate
(robeset); assumed dittography ( h f ’ t [t]rbs) will not solve the dif
ficulty, since in that case the two possessive suffixes in the sequel
iv 1-16 33
Notes
Comment
The so-called Song of the Sword” (23 f.) stands out from the rest
in form as well as content. It is generally viewed as the cry of a
vengeful tribesman who has triumphed over his enemy. In any case,
the poem evidently owes its inclusion in the present context to the
mention of Cain in the last couplet. If the song is tribal in origin, its
ultimate source has to be sought outside historic Mesopotamia pos
sibly even to the south of Palestine, where Kenite clans are known
to have been at home. It should be added, however, that the available
evidence is far from conclusive.
An acute problem is posed, lastly, by the laconic notice at the end
of the chapter. The clause reads, “It was then that the name Yahweh
began to be invoked”; not “the name of Yahweh,” since the em
phasis is precisely on the personal name and not on its eventual
substitute “the Lord.” But this statement is directly at variance with
Exod lii 14 (E) and vi 3 (P), which indicate that the name Yahweh
had not come into use until the time of Moses. Yet 3 employs this
very name throughout Genesis; and the present passage ascribes the
usage to very ancient practice.
To be sure, some critics would attribute vss. 25-26 to P, in view
of the fact that vs. 25 speaks of “Adam” (instead of “the man”),
as is Ps custom (see v Iff.), aside from mentioning Elohim; cf.
Noth, Vberlieferungsgeschichte . . . , p. 12, n. 26. In that case,
however, the divergence from Exod vi 3 would be that much more
perplexing. (There is, of course, nothing new in J’s use of Elohim;
cf. ix 26 f.) Everywhere else, each documentary source is consistent
on this point; it is only their joint testimony that gives rise to difficul
ties.
A plausible solution may be in sight, nevertheless. Even though
J traced back the name Yahweh to the dim past, while E and P
attributed the usage to Moses, both views may be justified depend
ing on the point of vantage. The worship of Yahweh was in all likeli
hood confined at first to a small body of searchers under the aegis of
the patriarchs; it was this movement that found a worthy recorder in
J. When Moses set out to fashion a nation out of an amorphous
conglomerate of sundry ethnic and tribal elements, he had to con
centrate on three major features of nationhood: a territorial base, a
body of laws, and a distinctive religion. The last was normative in
more ways than one; it was necessarily the faith of the same fore
fathers who had already tied it to the Promised Land, with Yahweh
as its fountainhead. To that extent, therefore, Yahweh revealed him
38 GENESIS
[Enoch lived]“ 300 years and begot sons and daughters. 23 All
the days of Enoch came to 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with
God, then was no more, because God took him.
25 Methuselah was 187 years old when he begot Lamech.
2® After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and
begot sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah came to
969 years; then he died.
28 Lamech was 182 years old when he begot a son. /29 He
named him Noah, which is to say, “This one will bring us relief*
from our work and the toil of our hands, out of the very soil
which Yahweh had placed under a ban.”/ 30 After the birth
of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and begot sons and daugh
ters. 31 All the days of Lamech came to 777 years; then he died.
32 Noah was 500 years old when he begot Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
°So with LXX and some manuscripts; see Comment.
6 In assonance with “Noah.”
Notes
Comment
Notes
Comment
beast, the creeping things, and the birds of the sky; for I am
sorry that I made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with Yahweh.
/9 This is the line of Noah.—Noah was a righteous man; he
was without blame in that age; Noah walked with God.—
10 Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth was corrupt in the view of God, and it was full
of lawlessness. 12 And God saw how corrupt the earth was, for
all flesh had corrupted their ways on earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to
all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them.
So I am about to destroy both them and the earth 14 Make
yourself an ark of gopher wood; make it an ark with compart
ments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you
shall build it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred
cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make
a sky light for the ark, terminating it within a cubit of the top.
Put the entrance in the side of the ark, which is to be made
with lower, second, and third decks.
17 For my part, I am about to bring on the Flood—waters
upon the earth—to eliminate everywhere all flesh in which there
is the breath of life: everything on earth shall perish. 18 But with
you I will establish my covenant, and you shall enter the ark—
you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 And of all
48 GENESIS
else that is alive, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the
ark to stay alive with you; they must be male and female. 20 Of
the birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind of creep
ing thing—two of each shall come inside to you to stay alive.
21 For your part, provide yourself with all the food that is to be
eaten, and store it away to serve as provisions for you and for
them.”
22 This Noah did. Just as God commanded him, so he did./
VII 1 Then Yahweh said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and
all your household, for you alone have I found to be truly right
eous in this age. 2 Of every clean animal take seven pairs, a male
and its mate; and of the animals that are unclean, one pair, a
male and its mate; 3 but seven pairs again of the birds of the sky,
male and female, to preserve issue throughout the earth. 4 For in
seven days’ time I will cause it to rain upon the earth for forty
days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the surface of the
earth all existence that I created.”
5 Noah did just as Yahweh commanded him. /6 Noah was in
his six hundredth year when the Flood came—waters upon the
earth./
7 Then Noah, together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’
wives, went inside the ark because of the waters of the Flood.
8 Of the clean animals and the animals that are unclean, the
birds of the sky and everything that creeps on earth, 9 [two of
each]“, male and female, came inside the ark to Noah, as God
had commanded Noah. 10 As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the Flood were upon the earth.
/11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second
month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day—
All the fountains of the great deep burst forth
And the sluices in the sky broke open./
I2 Heavy rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
/13 On the aforesaid day, Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons had en
tered the ark—14 they as well as every kind of beast, every kind
0 Evidently a gloss, see Note.
vi 5—viii 22 49
of cattle, every kind of creature that creeps on earth, and every
kind of bird, every*’ winged thing. 15 They came inside the ark to
Noah, two each of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
16 Those that entered comprised male and female of all flesh, as
tenth month, on the first day of the month, the peaks of the
mountains became visible./
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch of the ark
that he had made, 7 and released a raven; it went back and forth
waiting for the water to dry off from the earth. 8 Then he sent
out a dove, to see if the waters had dwindled from the ground.
6 LXX, and others, read “and every winged bird.”
e See Note.
50 GENESIS
9 But the dove could not find a place for its foot to rest on, and
returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth;
so putting out his hand, he picked it up, and drew it inside the
ark toward him. 10 He waited another seven days and again
released the dove from the ark. 11 The dove returned to him to
ward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked olive leaf!
Noah knew then that the waters had dwindled from the ground.
12 He waited yet another seven days and released the dove; it did
together with your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives.
17 Bring out with you every living being that is with you—all
wives. 19 And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird
—everything that stirs on earth—left the ark, group by group./
20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh and, choosing from
every clean animal and every clean bird, offered burnt offerings
on the altar. 21 As Yahweh smelled the soothing odor, he said to
himself, “Never again will I doom the world because of man,
since the devisings of man’s heart are evil from the start;
neither will I ever again strike down every living being, as
I have done.
22 So long as the earth endures,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
■•LXX supplies the required text, cf. vii 11.
vi 5-viii 22 51
Notes
vessel of some 43,000 tons; cf. A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old
Testament Parallels, 1946, p. 236. . n
16. terminating. For similar technical use of the verb, see Deut xxvi 12.
The specific detail remains obscure.
17. everywhere. Literally “under the sky.”
18. covenant. A solemn agreement between two parties providing sanc
tions in the event of non-compliance. , ,
19. all else that is alive. The definite article m Heb. (here in hahay)
often contrasts the defined thing with the preceding; cf. xiv 16.
two of each. This number is invariable with P. J specifies seven pairs of
aU »nimak that are ritually clean (cf. vii 2) and one pair of those that
” alive. Also in vs. 20; not “maintain life.” This is another instance
of the intransitive Hiphil (cf. iii 6); the causative sense is generally ex
pressed by the Piel (cf. vii 3); cf. p. lxvui.
21. food that is to be eaten. Necessarily, not “food that is eaten, edi
ble,” since the inedible kind would not be called food. The Heb. form is
capable of either nuance; cf. Lev xi 34. _
vii 1. / found to be truly righteous. On the force of Heb. hpne cf.
Note on vi 11. , . ___ „
2-3. Were the aquatic creatures left out because they were immu e
from the Flood? , . _
6. in his six hundredth year. Cf. vs. 11, from the same hand (P). The
Heb. construction with ben- “son of,” i.e., “participant in, can be either
cardinal or ordinal. .___
9 [two of each]. If this statement came from J, it would be at variance
with J’s figures elsewhere in this account; the words are attributed, there
fore to a later redactor who sought to bring the passage into harmony
with P. The same would apply to the use of Elohim m this verse rather
than Yahweh; but the latter reading is given by Sam., Syr., and Vulg.
vi 5-viii 22 53
(manuscripts). Some of the critics regard all of vss. 8-9 as a later addi
tion.
12. Heavy rain. Heb. geiem, unlike mdfdr, signifies abnormal rainfall;
cf. also viii 2. The period of forty days is a feature of J.
16. comprised. Literally “came as.” The final clause is from / (note
“Yahweh”); these words may have stood originally after vs. 10.
17. forty days. LXX adds “and forty nights”; the whole phrase,how
ever, was probably carried over from vs. 12.
18. swelled. Literally “grew mighty/mightier”; a slightly different
nuance (“the crest reaching”) is found in vs. 20.
21. that had stirred. Here the Heb. verb refers to all life in general, and
not merely reptiles; see Note on i 28, and cf. viii 17.
'22. the faintest breath of life. Literally “the breath of thespirit of
life.”
23. was blotted out. The traditional vocalization takes the verb as ac
tive. Taken literally, “he blotted out” would leave the pronoun without
antecedent. The passive form, however, would be made up of exactly the
same consonants (wymh). Moreover, Hebrew often employs actives in an
impersonal sense (cf. ix 6). Either way, therefore, the translation here
given may be safely adopted.
viii 1. subside. The pertinent Heb. verb is isolated in this account and
rare elsewhere.
4. the Ararat range. The terminology (“mountains of Ararat”) alludes
clearly to range as opposed to a particular peak. For the significance of
this location see the Comment on Sec. 6.
6. forty days. In the original narrative by J this was the full length
of the Flood; cf. vii 4. In the present sequence, however, the text ap
pears to refer to an interval following the specific date just given in
vs. 5 (P).
9. its foot. Literally “flat part, sole of its foot.”
13. The Heb. stem for “to be dry” (hrb) denotes “to be or to become
free of moisture”; complete dryness is signified by ybS (14).
17. on it. MT repeats “on the earth.”
19. LXX has here the preferable reading: “All the beasts, all the cattle,
all the birds, and all the creeping things on earth” (cf. vii 21).
21. doom. Heb. uses the Piel form of the stem qll, which denotes not
so much “to curse” as “to belittle, slight, mistreat,” and the like.
from the start. Literally “from his (i.e., man’s) childhood/youth.”
This is ambiguous because we are not told whether what is involved is
the early age of mankind as a whole, or that of each individual. In xlvi
34 the same term is applied by Jacob’s sons both to themselves and to
their ancestors, which can best be reflected in English by “from the
beginning.” The same kind of neutral phraseology commends itself in
this instance.
54 GENESIS
Comment
Epic . . . , pp. 224—89. But the actual ties are more complex than is
generally assumed.
The primeval Flood is echoed in a variety of cuneiform sources;
cf. S. N. Kramer, From the Tablets of Sumer, 1956, pp. 176 ff.
The most extensive prototype, and the best known by far, is found
in Tablet XI of the Gilgamesh Epic. It is with this celebrated narra
tive that the biblical account has most in common.
In both instances there is a Flood hero who has been singled out
for deliverance from the impending universal catastrophe. Each is
told to construct an ark according to detailed specifications. There
follow related descriptions of the elemental cataclysm, the annihila
tion of all life outside the ark, and the eventual grounding of the
strange vessel on top of a tall mountain. Both Noah and Utnapishtim,
his Babylonian counterpart, release a series of birds at appropriate
intervals to test the subsidence of the waters; each account mentions
a dove and a raven. Lastly, when dry land has reappeared in the
now desolate world, each principal gives expression to his boundless
relief through a sacrifice of humble thanksgiving
So much correspondence in over-all content is inescapable proof
of basic interrelationship. There are, however, also significant dif
ferences in detail. The biblical Flood, as was noted earlier (see
Comment on Sec. 7) is given strong moral motivation, whereas the
cuneiform version—at least the one that is incorporated in the
Gilgamesh Epic—fails to suggest a plausible cause; one might as
cribe the awesome interlude to mere whims of heaven. There are,
furthermore, dissimilarities with respect to the occupants of the two
arks (the Mesopotamian personnel includes “all the craftsmen”) and
the order of the test flights (raven-swallow-dove in Gilg.). Above
all, there is the immediately apparent difference in names: Noah as
against Utnapishtim; the mountains of Ararat as opposed to Mount
Nisir. It is thus clear that Hebrew tradition must have received its
material from some intermediate, and evidently northwesterly,
source, and that it proceeded to adjust the data to its own needs
and concepts.
The ultimate inspiration for the Mesopotamian cycle of Flood
narratives can only be a matter of guesswork at this time. Perhaps
the best chance of a likely solution lies in the recent disclosures con
cerning the geological background of Lower Mesopotamia (cf. J. M.
Lees and N. L. Falcon, “The Geological History of the Mesopota
mian Plains,” Geographical Journal 118 [1952], 24-39). It now ap
56 GENESIS
pears that not very long ago, as geological ages are reckoned, waters
from the Persian Gulf submerged a large coastland area, owing prob
ably to a sudden rise in the sea level. If that rise was precipitated
by extraordinary undersea eruptions, the same phenomenon could
also have brought on extremely heavy rains, the whole leaving an
indelible impression on the survivors. All this, however, must remain
in the realm of speculation.
9. BLESSING AND COVENANT
(ix 1-17: P)
IX i God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be
fertile and increase and fill the earth. 2 Dread fear of you shall
possess all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the sky—
everything with which the ground is astir—and all the fishes of
the sea: they are placed in your hand. 3 Every creature that is
alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did with
the grasses of the field. 4 Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it
shall you not eat. 5 So, too, will I require an accounting for
your own lifeblood: I will ask it of every beast; and of man in
regard to his fellow man will I ask an accounting for human
life.
6 He who sheds the blood of man,
By man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God
Was man created.
7 Be fertile, then, and increase,
12 “And this,” God said, “is the sign of the covenant that I in
stitute between me, and you and every living being along with
you, for all ages to come: 13 I have placed my bow in the clouds,
and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and the
earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow ap
pears in the clouds,15 I will recall the covenant which is in force
between me, and you and all living beings comprising all flesh,
so that waters shall not again become a Flood to destroy all
flesh. 16 As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and
remember the eternal covenant between me1 and every living
being, comprising all flesh that is on earth. 17 That,” God told
Noah, “shall be the sign of the covenant which I have es
tablished between me and all flesh that is on earth.”
So LXX; MT has “God.”
Notes
ix 1. The statement begins with one of P's favorite phrases; cf. i 28.
2. Dread fear. Literally “the fear and the dread,” another example of
hendiadys.
is astir. The verbs rmS (cf. i 21) is used here in its broader sense of “to
move, have motion.” In the next verse, the corresponding noun remek is
employed for animal life in general, as a new source of food for man who
will now be carnivorous. The Akk. cognate stem namaSu shares the same
range of meaning.
4. flesh. P's term for “mortals.”
with its lifeblood. Literally “whose blood is in the/its being.”
5. in regard to his fellow man. Literally “from the hand of man his
brother,” i.e., one another. Significantly, the principle that animals are
held accountable for homicide is found also in the Covenant Code, Exod
xxi 28.
7. Abound. The normal sense of Heb. Srs is “to swarm, teem with.”
subdue. Heb. repeats “increase” from the first half of the verse.
9. covenant. On the institution in general see G. E. Mendenhall, BA 17
(1954), 50-76; for the Heb. term see Note on xv 18.
10. The absence of the concluding phrase in LXX may imply a mar
ginal gloss in MT. Yet such a recapitulation is entirely in order and
should not be automatically ruled out.
11. maintain. Heb. uses here the same stem as in vss. 9 and 17, where
the translation employs “to establish.” The original carries both
ix 1-17 59
meanings; the translation, however, has to distinguish between the
initial act and the subsequent renewals.
15. the covenant which is in force. Literally “my covenant which
is.”
comprising. Literally “in,” i.e., entering into the totality of mortal life
on earth.
Comment
DC 18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem,
Ham, and Japheth—Ham being the father of Canaan. 19 These
three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole world
branched out.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.
21He drank of the wine, became drunk, and lay uncovered in
side the tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father
naked,® and he told it to his brothers outside. 23 Then Shem
and Japheth took a cloth, held it against both their backs and,
walking backward, covered their father’s nakedness; their faces
were turned the other way, so that they did not see their father
naked.
24 When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his
youngest son had done, 25 he said,
“A curse on Canaanl
The lowest of slaves
Shall he be to his brothers.”
26He went on,
“Blessed be Yahweh,
The God of Shem.
Let Canaan be slave to the others.
27 May God make room6 for Japheth,
That he dwell among the tents of Shem.
And let Canaan be their slave.”
/28 Noah lived 350 years after the Flood. 29 All the days of
Noah came to 950 years; then he died./
° LXX adds “he came out.”
6 Heb. yapt, a play on the name Yepet “Japheth.”
i x 18-29 61
Notes
ix 18. Ham being the father of Canaan. The apparent purpose of this
remark is to relate Ham to the subsequent curse against Canaan.
20. was the first to plant a vineyard. If MT intended to say “Noah
was the first man of the soil” (as it is generally taken to mean), we
should expect hehel lihydt, exactly as in x 8. Moreover, Cain had been
introduced as the first farmer (iv 2). Thus both text and context require
the translation here offered, which is entirely consistent with Heb. idio
matic usage. The present notice harks back to v 29, with its reference
to the fruits of the soil.
22. saw his father naked. Literally “saw his father’s nakedness.” The
specific reference is to the pudenda; see the various injunctions in Lev
xviii 6ff. The term itself relates to exposure (cf. xlii 9, 12) and does not
necessarily imply sexual offenses; cf. ii 25 and Exod xx 26.
25. The lowest of slaves. Literally “slave of slaves,” one of the Heb.
ways to express the superlative. The phrase points evidently to the
inferior social and political status of Canaanites. Was this an accom
plished fact at the time of composition, or is the allusion no more than
a wishful projection into the future, as the context would seem to
suggest?
26. One expects this blessing to be aimed at Shem rather than
Yahweh; hence various changes m the pointing have been proposed.
Nevertheless, the ancient versions support the received text, which does
not lack champions among modem critics (cf. von Rad, p. 114),
28-29. This postscript from the hand of P supplements the list in ch.
v, if it does not indeed belong there directly after v 32
Comment
century B.C., when the Israelites were struggling against the en
trenched Canaanites at the same time that the recently arrived
Philistines were trying to consolidate their hold on the coastal strip.
By the end of the eleventh century, the Canaanites were no longer
a major political factor in Palestine, and the advantageous coalition
of Philistines and Israelites gave way to bitter conflict between the
two successors. If these deductions are correct (cf. also A. Van
Seims, OTS 12 [1958], 187), we would have here a criterion for
dating the verses with reasonable accuracy. By the same token,
however, the Japhethites of the present account would differ con
siderably from their namesakes in the Table of Nations (x 2-5: P).
For by then, the Philistines too had ceased to be a politically signifi
cant group; and they had been settled long enough to be classed
with the Hamites (x 14).
11. THE TABLES OF NATIONS
(x 1-32: /?/, J)
sons were bom to Eber: the name of the first was Peleg, because
it was at that time that the world was dispersed6; his brother’s
name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazar-
maveth, Jerah, 27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael,
Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jabab; all these were descendants
of Joktan. 30 Their settlements extended from Meshah all the
way to Sephar, the hill country to the east. /31 These are the
descendants of Shem, according to their clans, tongues, and
lands, by their nations.
32 Such are the groupings of Noah’s descendants, according to
their origins, by their lands. And from these branched out other
nations of the world after the Flood./
«See Note.
Notes
groups that were settled at the time in Anatolia, the Aegean region, and
beyond. The principal criterion was geographic. But it so happened that
most of the groups involved were of Indo-European stock, so that the list
becomes ethnogeographic and ethnolinguistic in effect, as is actually in
dicated in vs. 5.
Gomer. See also Ezek xxxviii 6. These are the Gimirray of the As
syrians, the Cimmerians of classical sources, a name still in use ap
parently for the Welsh (Cymry).
Magog. This is the land of Gog (Ezek xxxviii 2), who has been com
pared with Gyges of Lydia, the ruler whose reign coincided with the pe
riod of Assyrian campaigns against the Cimmerians.
Tubal, Meshech. Both are familiar from Ezekiel (xxvii 13, xxxii 26,
xxxviii 2, xxxix 1) and were located in eastern Anatolia.
Tiras. Probably to be compared with Eg. Tur(u)sha and Gr. Tyrsenoi,
perhaps the Aegean counterpart of the Etruscans.
3. Ashkenaz. Also Jer li 27. The name is evidently connected with
cun. Ashguza “Scythians.”
Togarmah. Cl. Ezek xxvii 14, xxxviii 6; cun. Tegarama, near Car-
chemish (see A. Goetze, Kizzuwatna, 1940, pp. 19 f.).
4. Elishah. Corresponds to cun. Alashiya “Cyprus.”
Rodanim. Inhabitants of the island of Rhodes. The miswritten “Do-
danim” of MT (see textual note °) is readily explained by the graphic
similarity of “D” and “R” in the “square” Heb. script.
Of the two remaining names in this verse,
Kittim is the Kition of the Greeks, which is modem Lamaka, in
Cyprus. In that case,
Tarshish, might be sought, analogously, on the island of Rhodes, or
perhaps in western Anatolia. Yet the usual practice is to adduce Gr.
Tartessos, in Spain (for other occurrences see Ezek xxvii 12; Isa lxvi
19; Ps lxxii 10; Jon i 3); cf. W. F. Albright, BASOR 83 (1941), 21 f.,
for a namesake in Sardinia. The biblical name may well refer to more
than one place.
5. maritime nations. Literally “the isles (or ‘coastlands’) of the nations.”
6. Cush. This geographic term is used in the Bible for two widely sepa
rated lands whose names happen to be similar by coincidence: (1)
Ethiopia, as here. (2) Cossaea, the country of the Kassites, as in vs. 8,
below, and ii 13; see Comment on Sec. 2). The present combination of
Ethiopia, Egypt (Mizraim), and
Put, which is either Punt, or Libya (JNES 2 [1943], 309), corresponds
thus to ethnolinguistic facts.
Canaan. In a strictly linguistic sense, the term designates a people
who spoke a language that was closely related to Heb., or some specifi
cally the Phoenicians. And indeed, vs. 15 (/) lists Sidon as the first-born
x 1-32 67
centers that are here listed. The debt of Assyria to Sumer is, of course, an
established cultural fact.
Rehoboth-ir. In all likelihood, this is not a city name but a phrase
which describes Nineveh as a city of broad streets; the Gilgamesh Epic
speaks analogously, and repeatedly, of Vruk-rebitu “Uruk of the spacious
markets,” the Akk. epithet being actually a cognate of Heb. r*hdb (singu
lar). The prepositional we’et could just as readily express “namely” as a
serial accusative.
12. Resen. No such place of suitable prominence has as yet been
identified in that particular region. This entry, too, may have served origi
nally as a parenthetic description rather than an additional place name.
Some impressive engineering or military construction, perhaps some kind
of water works (*reS eni, which would become resen in Heb.) might
have inspired such a comment. The next-named place actually lay at the
confluence of the Tigris and the Upper Zab.
Calah. There is no question about the importance or impressive appear
ance of this place, Akk. Kalfru. The city was built, interestingly enough
(cf. Comment), by Shalmaneser I, father of Tukulti-Ninurta I. It was a
major center in the days of Tiglath-pileser I (at the end of the twelfth
century), and Ashumasirpal II (884—859 B.C.) made it the capital of As
syria. Its palaces and temples have yielded enormous treasure to several
generations of excavators. It is suggestive, moreover, in the present con
text that the modem name of the site is Nimrud.
the latter being the main city. When this was committed to writing (by
J. hence not later than the tenth century), Calah certainly outranked
Nineveh in political importance. The final clause, therefore, should apply
to Calah, as the word order of MT demands, and not to Nineveh, as is
commonly assumed.
13-14. All the names in these two verses have the plural form in Am,
thereby emphasizing the ethnic character of the entries.
13. the Ludim. Although mentioned elsewhere (Isa lxvi 19; Jer xlvi 9;
Ezek xxvii 10, xxx 5), they are yet to be identified. Described sometimes
as mercenaries, the Ludim could have been recruited from distant parts;
cf. “Lud” in vs. 22. Similar uncertainty characterizes some of the other
listings in this portion of the Table.
14. the Pathrusim. Based on Eg. “the people of the south land,” i.e.,
Upper Egypt; see Isa xi 11; Jer xliv 1, 15; Ezek xxix 14, xxx 14.
the Caphtorim. Since Caphtor, evidently “Crete,” is recorded as the
home or staging center of the Philistines (Deut ii 23; Amos ix 7; Jer xlvii
4), the clause “from whom the Philistines issued/descended” cannot be
applied to the preceding Casluhim, as the word order of MT indicates,
and should be transposed to the end of the verse.
x 1-32 69
the Philistines. If origin had been the criterion (see above), this
people should have been listed among the “maritime nations” descended
from Japheth (vs. 5). But that part of the record stems from P, whereas
the present notice derives from J. Since the historic Philistines were
settled along the coastal approaches to Egypt, the classification here
given is evidently geographic. It is worthy of special mention that the
Philistines are never mentioned with the stereotyped groups of pre-
Israelite nations (e.g., xv 19 f.). This reflects sound chronology inasmuch
as the Philistine invasion occurred in the twelfth century, by which time
the Israelites had already been settled in the land.
15. Heth. The indicated family relationship between “Hittites” and
Phoenicians (Sidon) would be cause for surprise only if the Table
of Nations, or its J section in any case, set out to offer ethnolinguistic
data. What the present passage is saying depends, of course, on the
meaning of the term Heth: does this name describe the pre-Indo-
European Hattians, the “Hittites” of ca. 1450-1200 B.C., or the Hur-
rians? In favor of the last-named connection is the fact that by the
middle of the second millennium the population of Syria and north-
central Palestine was largely a mixture of Semitic and Human elements.
The present notice might well reflect just such a condition. It may be
noted in passing that LXX and MT between them confuse Hurrians,
Hittites, and Hivites more than once. Cf. also Ezekiel’s reference to
Jerusalem, “Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite”
(Ezek xvi 3); see further the Comment on xxiii.
16-18. These verses can be distinguished at a glance from the rest
of the Table inasmuch as all the names which they list are formal
ethnica (with the adjectival suffix -i). On this and other counts the pas
sage is considered to be a later addition, perhaps by Jl(edactor). Some
of the names remain obscure and are passed over without comment.
16. the Jebusites. The ruling Human element in Jerusalem during the
Amama age (ca. 1400 B.C.).
the Amorites. Cun. Amurri2, a West Semitic group related to, but not
identical with, the Canaanites. In the Bible, these two designations vary
considerably depending on the documentary source.
17. the Hivites. See above, under Heth.
18. the Arvadites. So named after a town built on an island off the
northern coast of Phoenicia; it is familiar also from Assyrian historical
records.
19. all the way. Literally “as you come,” in an impersonal sense.
21-31. The line of Shem, as recorded by both J and P. P continues
his list in xi 18-27.
21. the children of Eber. They are singled out for special attention
70 GENESIS
Comment
whom P does not even mention. The Philistines, in turn, are rela
tives of the Egyptians (13—14), according to J; in P, however, Egypt
is grouped with Canaan (6) under Ham, and hence is kept apart
from Japheth.
The omission of Peleg’s descendants from the Table may appear
surprising at first glance, inasmuch as Peleg was the direct ancestor
not only of the Israelites, but also of the Ammonites, Moabites, and
Edomites. Verse 25 (/), where this elder son of Eber is cited, breaks
off abruptly, and what follows is a detailed list of the descendants
of Joktan, who was Peleg’s younger brother. In all likelihood, how
ever, the / document had originally dealt with Peleg at greater
length, but the details were later left out in favor of P’s parallel
genealogy in xi 18-27. Another noteworthy omission is that of the
Babylonians. The chances are that such an entry was once included
under the Mesopotamian Cush (8ff.), the eponym of the Kassites
who were long-time masters of Babylonia. If this is true, the verses
in question would have to be dated not later (in terms of source
material) than the end of the Kassite period (end of twelfth cen
tury). For a fuller discussion of these and related problems cf. the
writer’s study on “Ethnic Divisions of Man” in The Interpreter’s Dic
tionary of the Bible, III, 1962.
On the subject of Nimrod (8—12), I had occasion to write more
fully in a paper entitled “In Search of Nimrod,” Eretz-Israel V
(Mazar Volume, 1958), 32*-36*. Various details have already been
taken up in the Notes ad loc. Here it will suffice to comment only
on the historical model behind the legend. For all his prodigious
deeds, Nimrod is depicted in our passage as a recognizably mortal
ruler. Hence various attempts to trace the name back to the Mesopo
tamian god Ninurta must be ruled out. The appended detail, more
over, is obviously authentic. The mention of such celebrated southern
capitals as Babylon, Uruk, and Accad, in the land of Shinar (Sumer
and Babylonia), and of such northern capitals as Calah and
Nineveh, in the land of Ashur, is clear proof of a sound historical
background. The biblical Nimrod is said to have combined effective
authority over both Babylonia and Assyria. The first Mesopotamian
ruler to do so on a solid basis was Tukulti-Ninurta I (thirteenth
century B.C.); he was certainly the first Assyrian conqueror of
Babylonia. Aside from his conquests, this king was celebrated also
for his building activities, and an epic extolling his exploits is one
of the literary legacies of Assyria.
x 1-32 73
Compound Akk. names were often reduced in speech to one of
their components. Indeed, classical sources appear to commemorate
Tukulti-Ninurta I under the legendary figure of Ninus. Post-biblical
sources for their part independendy link Nimrod with Ninus, and
the same identification is quoted in the name of the late Babylonian
historian Berossus. The chain of evidence would thus seem to be
complete.
12. THE TOWER OF BABEL
(xi 1-9: J)
XI i The whole world had the same language and the same
words. 2 As men migrated from the east, they came upon a valley
in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one an
other, “Come, let us mold bricks and burn them hard.” Brick
served them for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said,
“Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top
in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be
scattered all over the world.”
5 Yahweh came down to look at the city and the tower that
the earthlings had built. 6 And Yahweh said, “If this is how
they have started to act, while they are one people with a single
language for all, then nothing that they may presume to do
will be out of their reach. 7 Let me, then, go down and con
found their speech there, so that they shall not understand one
another’s talk.” 8 Yahweh dispersed them from there over the
whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why
it was named Babel, since Yahweh confounded0 the speech
of the whole world, as heb dispersed them from there over the
whole world.
o Heb. balal “mixed, confused,” a wordplay on Babel “Babylon.”
6 Heb. Yahweh.
Notes
Comment
Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and begot sons and daughters.
26 And when Terah reached the age of 70, he had begotten
Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the line of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and
Haran. And Haran begot Lot.
/28 Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terah, in his
native land, in Ur° of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took
wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and that of Nahor’s
°LXX “the land.”
78 GENESIS
Notes
xi 10. According to x 22, Arpachshad was the third of Shem’s five sons.
His own branch is now singled out as the line to which Abraham
belonged.
12-17. The corresponding notices from J are found in x 24-25.
20. Serug. For the pertinent Mesopotamian city and district of Sarug-
(in the region of Harran) cf. Dr., p. 139.
22. Nahor. For the city of Nahur in the Mari documents, see ARM
XV, p. 130.
26. Cf. v 32. [The two sentences are identical in structure, listing the
patriarch and the age at which he had three sons, who are named, i.e.,
Noah at 500 and his three sons; Terah at 70 and his three sons. NF]
28. in the lifetime of. Literally “upon the face/in the presence of,” cf.
also Num iii 4.
Ur of the Chaldeans. The rendering “land” (for “Ur”) in LXX sug
gests Heb. ’rs instead of ' ( w ) r . But this variant could have been
influenced by the mention of “land” in the phrase immediately preceding.
As the present passage indicates, the place name is given by J, as well as
P (31), so that the problem involved antedates LXX by many centuries.
29. Nahor marries the daughter of his deceased brother Haran.
Juridically, cases of this kind involve adoption (here of an orphaned
niece) followed by marriage. The pertinent document in Nuzi would be
called tuppi mdrtuti u kallatuti “document of daughter- and daughter-in-
law-ship,” since the husband was also the adoptive father and thereby
father-in-law. Interestingly enough, nothing is said here about the parent
age of Sarah; cf. the discussion of the wife-sister problem in Secs. 15 and
25. These laconic notices by J presuppose a very ancient tradition pre
cisely because they seem to be pointless in the present context. To be
sure, it has been argued that the background of Nahor’s wife was
significant on account of Nahor’s son Lot. But what reason could there
xi 10-32 79
be for the inclusion of Iscah, other than the fact that such a tradition
had been handed down to J, who had no choice but to record it?
31. Lot son of Haran. This is not an appositional construction in
Heb. (Lot, the son of Haran) but a serial name (Lot-ien-Haran, Lot-
son-of-Haran, or Lot “Haranson.” Similarly, Milcah-ta/-Haran (30),
and so passim.
they all l e f t . MT literally “and they left with them,” which is obviously
in error; either “he brought them out” (with Sam., LXX, Old Latin,
Vulg.), or “he went with them” (with Syr.) which is idiomatically the
same as “he took them.” All these readings are merely a matter of
vocalization, the original consonantal text (which did not express the
final -ii) remaining unaffected.
Haran. Name of an old and prominent city in Central Mesopotamia,
situated on the left bank of the Balikh, a tributary of the Euphrates;
cun. ffarranu(m), with double -rr- which is still reflected in LXX. The
Heb. form Ifaran, follows the rules of Hebrew phonology. The tradi
tional transliteration of the place name is not to be confused with the
personal name Haran, Heb. Haran (where the initial consonant is a
different phoneme).
32. The Sam. version gives Terah a total of only 145 years (cf. Acts
vii 4). On this reckoning, the year of Terah’s death would be the same
as that of Abraham’s departure from Haran (cf. Gen xii 4).
Comment
«Literally “place.”
86 GENESIS
Notes
xii 1. from your native land. Literally “from your land and your
birthplace,” a clear case of hendiadys (cf. i 2).
2. nation. The term is significantly goy, not 'am “people.” For the
important distinction between the two, see JBL 79 (1960), 157 ff. Unlike
‘am, gdy requires a territorial base, since the concept is a political one
(cf. Comment on Sec. 11); note also xvii 20, xviii 18, xxi 13, 18,
xlvi 3; Exod xxxii 10; Num xiv 12; Deut xxvi 5.
that it may be. MT is pointed to yield “and you shall be,” and the
ancient versions concur. Nevertheless, the second person is syntactically
unacceptable; it would have to read *wthayita (Ehrl.). The consonantal
text remains the same either way.
3. shall bless themselves. The Heb. form is often translated “shall be
blessed,” inasmuch as it is Niphal, which is generally, though not always,
passive. There are, however, parallel passages with the Hithpael (see xxii
18, xxvi 4), a form that can be reflexive or reciprocal, but not passive.
What the clause means, therefore, is that the nations of the world will
point to Abraham as their ideal, either in blessing themselves (Dr.),
or one another (Ehrl.). The passive, on the other hand, would imply
that the privileges to be enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants shall
be extended to other nations. The distinction may be slight on the sur
face, yet it is of great consequence theologically. Nor may one disre
gard the evidence from linguistic usage.
communities. Heb. miSpaha is generally translated as “family.” Its
basic meaning, however, is demonstrably “category, class, subdivision.”
The accent here is on political communities; “families” would be ex
pressed by 'amme-; cf. xxviii 3.
4b-5. A brief insert that is typical of P in emphasis and phraseology.
6. the site at Shechem. Not the city as such but a venerated spot
within it or nearby, which owed its local prominence to a certain tree
(see below). The ancient city by that name, modern Tell Balatah, gave
way to Flavia Neapolis, modern Nablus.
terebinth. LXX, followed by various later translators, renders “oak,”
here and elsewhere; but the best technical evidence favors "terebinth”;
see Encyclopaedia Biblica (Heb.) I, 294 f. It is worth noting that TO
renders “plain,” evidently to avoid the pagan implications of a sacred
tree.
87
xii 1-9
Moreh. Tradition regards this as a personal name. The original mean
ing, however, was probably “guiding, oracular ; LXX renders lofty ,
similarly Vulg. Note the pertinent “Soothsayers’ terebinth m Judg ix 3 .
The Canaanites were then in the land. Iliis brief sentence played a
large part in the early history of biblical criticism. The famous medieval
Jewish commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra states guardedly that this state
ment could not have been written by Moses, since it implies that the
situation had changed in the meantime; it can hardly mean that the
Canaanites were already in the land at that time (cf. his comment on
Deut i 5). Ibn Ezra concludes by remarking, “there is a my®te^' «ere,
but the wise had best keep silent.” See I. Husik, JAOS 55 ( ),
Comment
follow. Nor were later generations in doubt on this point. The cause
is summed up succinctly in Josh xxiv 2: “They had served other
gods.”
Abraham’s journey to the Promised Land was thus no routine
expedition of several hundred miles. Instead, it was the start of an
epic voyage in search of spiritual truths, a quest that was to consti
tute the central theme of all biblical history. The all-important com
mencement is recorded by /, who introduces it fittingly with the im
perative “Go forth.” A brief insert by P (4b-5) shows that this
source, too, was aware of the epochal bearing of the event, but could
add nothing of moment to J’s account
15. ABRAHAM AND SARAH IN EGYPT
(xii 10-20: /)
Notes
xii 10. went down. Heb. regularly describes travel from Palestine to
Egypt as “going down,” and the reverse trip as “going up,” because of the
respective elevations of the two countries.
Egypt. With the mention of this land so soon after its parting glance at
Mesopotamia, the very first chapter on patriarchal history has something
to say about the two great centers that were always to loom large in bibli
cal thought.
to sojourn. Heb. giir describes residence that is limited in duration,
privileges, or both; cf. xix 9.
11. / know. MT (consonants) yd'ty, normally first person perfect. It is
worth noting, however, that Sam. has ’ty for the customary ’t “thou
(feminine)” at the end of the verse. It is thus possible that the verb
before us was similarly written as an archaic second person with final
-y, as is actually the case in Judg v 7. If so, the sense would be “you
are well aware that you are beautiful,” which would suit the context
admirably.
beautiful. Here “comely of appearance,” as compared with the simple
adjective in vs. 14. The companion phrase is “comely of figure,” e.g., xxix
17. Apocryphal literature had much to say about Sarah’s exceptional
beauty; cf. especially Gen. Apocr., column xx.
12. let. . . live. Piel, or factitive, form in Heb. The Hiphil of this verb
is often intransitive, cf. vi 19 f. “to stay alive.”
15. courtiers. Not necessarily “princes,” as Heb. Sar(im) is usually
translated, but dignitaries, high officers of the crown.
household. Heb. bayit, normally “house,” but often also home, palace,
family, and the like.
16. it went very well. Here Heb. employs the intransitive Hiphil (cf.
Note on vs. 12) with emphatic connotation; in vs. 13 the verb appears in
its simple stem.
The list of Abraham’s acquisitions appears to have been subjected to
some reshuffling in the course of transmission, as is indicated by the sepa
ration of he-asses and she-asses. The mention of camels, moreover, al
though by no means isolated in the patriarchal narratives (see xxiv 10),
is chronologically suspect, since camels did not become an economic fac
tor until the end of the second millennium. The author may thus be guilty
of an anachronism. Alternatively, the camel may have come into limited
use at an earlier time (as did also the horse), but required centuries be
fore it ceased to be a luxury.
xii 10-20 91
17. extraordinary. Literally “great”; but when the adjective describes
unusual phenomena, it has the sense of “strange, wondrous, awesome.”
18. Heb. mah-zot is not “what is this?” but merely the interrogative
indefinite reinforced by a determinative pronoun emphatically applied.
For the unaugmented form with the same verb see iv 10.
20. It is characteristic of this author that he does not indulge in
justification or face-saving; contrast xx 11 if. (£). Abraham does not
open his mouth in self-defense. For all that J knew, Abraham had no
defense. His silence is a most effective dramatic touch, given the facts
that the author had. That he did not have all the facts is another matter
altogether; see Comment.
Comment
ally lost their original meaning. Tradition retained the details but
their import Small wonder that they came to be reinterpreted in t
light of local circumstances and practices.
In Human society the bonds of marriage were strongest and mo
solemn when the wife had simultaneously the juridical status of a
s*ster, regardless of actual blood ties. This is why a man would
sometimes many a girl and adopt her at the same time as his sister
in two separate steps recorded in independent legal documents. Vi
lations of such sistership arrangements were punished more sever
than breaches of marriage contracts. The practice was apparently
reflection of the underlying fratriardhal system, and it gave the ad
tive brother greater authority than was granted the husband. By t
same token, the adopted sister enjoyed correspondingly greater pr
tection and higher social status. Indeed, the wife-sister relationship
is attested primarily among the upper strata of Human society. It
goes without saying that a blood brother had automatically the sam
kind of authority over his sister when the father died; cf. xriv 55 If
And when a brother, whether natural or adoptive, gave his sister i
marriage, the law regarded the woman as a wife-sister in such case
as well.
It is worth stressing that these particular wife-sister customs wer
peculiar to the Humans—and hence also to groups that took over
Human practices. There is not a trace of such usage among the
Akkadians, and it was expressly stigmatized by the Hittites, who
otherwise had so much culturally in common with the Humans. Th
institution of the levirate affords no parallel whatsoever, since it is
solely concerned with maintaining the line of a deceased brother.
Nor can that institution be compared with the brother-sister mar
riages of the ruling houses of Egypt, and later those of Persia and
certain Hellenistic states, for the Human practice extended also to
women who were sisters by law but not by blood.
To return to our three narratives, the wife-sister theme is con
fined here to two successive generations, those of Abraham and
Isaac. In the case of Abraham, we find a few laconic notices about
his family in xi 27-30. His brother Nahor married Milcali, who was
the daughter of a younger brother named Haran. Under the law of
such Human centers as $arran and Nafcur, a marriage of this type
would carry with it the wife-sister provisions. We have fewer de
tails in regard to Sarah, except that xx 12 (E) describes her in
directly as the daughter of Terah, but not by Abraham’s own moth
xii 10-20
This alone would make Sarah eligible for “sistership” status under
the law of the land from which Abraham had set out on his journey
to Canaan, with all the attendant safeguards and privileges which
that law afforded.
In Isaac’s case, the situation is appreciably clearer. Not only was
Rebekah a native of Hurrian-dominated Har(r)an, but she was ac
tually given as wife to Isaac, through an intermediary, by her
brother Laban. As a matter of fact, the details as recorded in xxiv
53-61 are remarkably like a transcript of a Human “sistership” doc
ument (see Comment ad loc.). There are thus sufficient grounds
for placing the two marriages, those of Abraham and Sarah and of
Isaac and Rebekah, in the wife-sister category.
The problem of the biblical accounts under discussion narrows
down, therefore, to the question of how this material was under
stood by the narrators. Tradition had apparently set much store by
these incidents, but the key to them had been lost somewhere in
the intervening distances of time and space. In such circumstances,
an interpretation was bound to be improvised, one that would be
in keeping with more familiar conditions and with common human
inclinations. It is not surprising, therefore, that the indicated re
course to half-truth, if not outright deception, was just so much
anachronism.
We have, of course, no way of telling what really happened on
those visits to Egypt and Gerar, assuming that they did take place.
A plausible guess, however, may not be amiss. Both Abraham and
Isaac were married to women who enjoyed a privileged status by
the standards of their own society. It was the kind of distinction that
may well have been worthy of emphasis in the presence of their
royal hosts, since it enhanced the credentials of the visitors. Status
has always played a role in international relations, as far back as
available records can take us. But popular lore has seldom been in
ternationally oriented.
Lastly, why was tradition so interested in the matter, enough so
to dwell on it repeatedly? We know now that the wife-sister posi
tion was a mark of cherished social standing. This kind of back
ground would be an implicit guarantee of the purity of the wife’s
descendants. The ultimate purpose of biblical genealogies was to es
tablish the superior strain of the line through which the biblical
way of life was transmitted from generation to generation. In other
words, the integrity of the mission was to be safeguarded in trans
94 GENESIS
about you and from where you are look to the north and south,
to the east and west; 15 for all the land that you can see I give
to you and to your offspring forever. 161 will make your offspring
like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust
of the earth, then your offspring too might be counted. 17 Up,
walk in the land, through its length and breadth, for I give it to
you.”
18 Abram then moved his tent and proceeded to settle near
the terebinths’* of Mamre, which are at Hebron. There he
built an altar to Yahweh.
0 Singular in LXX and Syr.; so too in xiv 13, xviii 1.
Notes
Comment
The best of the biblical narrators, whether they deal with the pre
history of a people or the history of a state, have the knack of depict
ing broad events in terms of their impact on the leading actors. / is
an unsurpassed master of this art, and the present episode is a case
in point.
The slow process of striking root in the Promised Land had begun
The recent immigrants from Mesopotamia have prospered greatly,
thanks to their expanding pastoral economy. Their very success,
however, entails problems and dangers. There are frictions within th
group, which must be resolved before the dominant Canaanite popu
lation is aroused to action.
So much for the background, with its social and political features.
In addition, the reader is being prepared for the presence in Trans
jordan of two close relatives of Israel, viz., the Moabites and the
Ammonites, both of whom will be traced back to Lot in due time.
Nor is the ultimate spiritual objective ignored; for the view from
Bethel takes in much of the land in which the future of Israel is
destined to unfold.
98 GENESIS
But history, as our author views it, is expressed in the last analysis
through individuals; hence it is essentially personal history—vivid,
concrete, and direct. In the present instance attention centers on the
relations between Abraham and Lot. Having been orphaned early in
his life (xi 28), Lot was brought up at first by his grandfather Terah
(xi 31). The task was then taken over by Abraham (xii 5), who
went on to treat his nephew with unfailing solicitude and tenderness.
Now the two must part, since each requires a large grazing and wa
tering radius for his flocks and herds. Although the choice of terri
tory rests with the older man, Abraham generously cedes this right to
his ward. Nor does Lot fail to take advantage of this unforeseen op
portunity. He picks the greener and richer portion. How was he to
know what fate lay in store for Sodom and Gomorrah, or how glori
ous was to be the future of the rugged hill country to the west? The
narrative ends thus on a note of gentle irony, the ever-present irony
of history.
17. INVASION FROM THE EAST. ABRAHAM AND
MELCHIZEDEK
(xiv 1-24: X)
“See Note.
6 Literally “Salt Sea.”
°So most versions; MT “their.”
<* Literally “They.”
1UU GENESIS § 17
Gomorrah and all their food, and departed, 12 talcing with them
Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, together with his possessions;
he had been living in Sodom.
13 A fugitive brought the news to Abram the Hebrew, who
sons, and you may keep the property.” 22 But Abram replied to
the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to Yahweh, God Most High/
Creator of Heaven and earth, 23 that not so much as a thread or
a sandal strap would I take of anything that belongs to you, lest
you say, I made Abram rich.’ 24 Nothing for me, save what my
men used up; but as for the men who joined me—Aner, Eshkol,
and Mamre—let them take their share.”
« MT “he.”
^ See Note on Yahweh re V flywn.
xiv 1-24 101
Notes
4. Here and in the next verse Chedorlaomer emerges as the head of the
foreign coalition; note especially vs. 17.
5. The Gen. Apocr. (column xxi, line 28) puts the starting point of
the invasion somewhere on the Euphrates.
the Rephaim. A prehistoric race of giant stature. It is worth noting that
elsewhere (see especially xv 20; Deut ii 11, iii 11) this element is
identified as pre-Israelite, which accords well with the indicated early date
of the present account.
the Zuzim. Evidently the same as the Zamzummim of Deut ii 20 f., the
name of a giant pre-Ammonite people. The Gen. Apocr. (column xxi,
line 29) actually speaks of “the Zamzummim of Ammon” in the present
context.
the Emim. Giant forerunners of the Moabites according to Deut ii 10 f.
6. the Horites. In the OT, the name of two unrelated elements: (1) the
non-Semitic Hurrians (LXX in xxxiv 2; Josh ix 7); and the Semitic pred
ecessors of Seir/Edom (xxxvi 20, Deut ii 12, 22, and present passage);
cf. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, sub voce.
El-paran. The first element in this place name is not to be confused
with the divine appellative El; the cons, text is ’yl, a variant form of the
Heb. word for “terebinth,” and was so translated by LXX.
7. swung back. Literally “returned.” Assyrian rulers often use the
phrase “on my return” to introduce additional victories.
En-mishpat. Literally “Spring of Decision,” another name for Kadesh,
equated with modem ‘Ayn Qadeis, some fifty miles south of Beer-sheba.
The invaders appear to have made a wide turn to the right before starting
on their way home.
territory. Normally, “field, open country.”
the Amalekites. Traditional enemies of Israel; cf. Exod xvii 8-16;
I Sam xv, xxx.
the Amorites. See x 16.
Hazazon-tamar. Equated in II Chron xx 2 with En-gedi, on the west
shore of the Dead Sea.
10. flung themselves. Literally “fell”; but the Heb. stem (npl) often
carries a reflexive connotation, notably in the phrase “to fall on one’s
neck” (xxxiii 4, xlv 14, xlvi 29), which describes a voluntary act; see also
xvii 3.
11. The bracketed words do not imply an omission in MT. They are
required in English for clarity, whereas Heb. is more liberal with its
pronominal references.
13. the Hebrew. LXX translates this occurrence alone as “the one from
across,” in what is apparently an attempt to give an etymological render
ing based on the Heb. verb ‘br “to pass, cross”; elsewhere, the gentilic
xiv 1-24 103
“Hebrew” is regularly employed. The special bearing of this one passage
is thus clearly recognized by the Greek translation.
The question of possible connection between Heb. 'ibri “Hebrew” and
cun. ffab/piru and its cognates or counterparts has been fully discussed
in two recent monographs, one by Bottéro, éd., Le problème des ÿlabiru,
and the other by Greenberg, The ffab/piru. The evidence remains ambig
uous; and within the Bible itself, the matter is complicated by the legal
phrase “Hebrew slave” (Exod xxi 2; cf. Deut xv 12). At any rate, the
present instance accords more closely than any other with cun. data on
the Western JJabiru; note especially the date formula in Alalakh Tablets
58 (eighteenth/seventeenth centuries), 28 ff., which mentions a treaty
with JJabiru warriors; and the Statue of Idrimi (fifteenth century
Alalakh), line 27, which tells how the royal fugitive found asylum among
yabiru warriors.
Of more immediate significance, however, is the fact that the designa
tion “Hebrew” is not applied elsewhere in the Bible to Israelites, except
by outsiders (e.g., xxxix 14), or for self-identification to foreigners (xl
15; Jon i 9). Hence the fac that the author himself refers here to
Abraham as a Hebrew is strong presumptive evidence that the document
did not originate with Israelites. This deduction receives independent sup
port from various other details in the chapter before us, and it opens up
in turn unexpected vistas which bear on the historicity of Abraham; see
Comment.
camping. The Heb. stem Skn is applied primarily to dwelling in tents,
cf. xvi 12; hence the derived noun miskàn “tabernacle.”
kinsman. Literally “brother.” But the same term is used in the next
verse with Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew. There is no way to deter
mine Mamre’s exact relationship to the other two men.
A ner. Cons. Heb. ‘nr; Gen. Apocr. gives ‘mm, which recalls Sam.’s
‘nrm.
confederates. Heb. “members of/in a covenant.” Since a covenant in
volved obligations under solemn oath (cf. the analogous Akk. bel adë u
mâmït “participant in a compact under solemn oath” and note Heb. ’Slot
habb'rït “curses/sanctions of the covenant,” Deut xxix 20), “confeder
ates” comes closer to the required meaning than “allies.”
14. he called up. Heb. gives the cons, wyrq, pointed to yield literally
emptied but the pertinent form is used elsewhere of drawing or
unsheathing a sword, which is not the same as mobilizing warriors. LXX
has “mustered,” not necessarily because it read wypqd, but more likely
because it so interpreted the traditional text. Sam. offers wydq, which
could be a case of the frequent confusion of the letters R and D, though
Sam. employes a different script. There is, however, another possibility,
though admittedly a remote one. If Sam.’s reading is correct, it could be
104 GENESIS
Comment
Genesis xiv stands alone among all the accounts in the Penta
teuch, if not indeed in the Bible as a whole. The setting is inter
national, the approach impersonal, and the narration notable for its
unusual style and vocabulary. There is still much about this chapter
that is open to wide differences of opinion. On one point, however,
the critics are virtually unanimous: the familiar touches of the es
tablished sources of Genesis are absent in this instance. For all these
reasons the chapter has to be ascribed to an isolated source, here
marked X.
Since Genesis xiv constitutes an intrusive section within the patri
archal framework, and since it contains, moreover, an assortment of
extraneous data, the chapter has long enjoyed more than its pro
portionate share of scholarly attention. A comprehensive treatment
106 GENESIS
and Goiim has more than one fact in its favor. But if Goiim reflects
Akk. Umman-, the Heb. name is actually a translation, which in
turn has a bearing on the possible source of Gen xiv.
There are other plausible indications of Akkadian influence. The
first sentence is syntactically hopeless without the aid of a cognate
Akk. conjunction (see Note on vs. 1). Other such possibilities have
been noted in vss. 7, 14, and 23. None of these would carry enough
persuasion by itself; but taken together, they cannot be dismissed
offhand. There are also additional details which point independently
to extraneous influences. The narrative is unique in its international
orientation. Abraham is glimpsed incidentally, through the eyes of
outsiders, and he is depicted as a resolute and powerful chieftain
rather than as an unworldly patriarch. What is more, he is identified
as “Abram the Hebrew,” which an Israelite source would not do in
such circumstances (see Note on 13). All of this adds up to an
impressive cumulative argument in favor of a foreign source for this
chapter, from which the present narrative was either excerpted or
adapted. A good analogue would be the so-called Spartoli Tablets in
Akkadian, which have been often adduced in this connection, nota
bly by Albright. Equally pertinent is the cun. cycle of historical
legends about Naram-Sin, famous ruler of the Dynasty of Akkad.
These compositions were popular in such distant lands as Anatolia,
no less than in Mesopotamia proper. They tell, moreover, of rival
coalitions of various rulers (just as the present narrative does), with
good historical support; cf. H. G. Guterbock, ZA 42 (1934), 78 ff.,
and my comments in JAOS 72 (1952), 97 ff.
All this imposes one conclusion above all others which can be
of outstanding importance for the study of biblical origins. If Abra
ham was cited in a historical or quasi-historical narrative that was
written not by Israelites but by outsiders, it necessarily follows that
Abraham was not a nebulous literary figure but a real person who
was attested in contemporary sources. Short of a non-Israelite text
mentioning an Abram son of Terah, or an Isaac son of Abram, this
is as close as we can as yet come to a direct epigraphic witness of
the patriarch.
The geographic detail that marks the route of the invaders, and
the casual listing of the Cities of the Plain, lend further support to
the essential credibility of the narrative. Who the foreign invaders
were remains uncertain. It is highly improbable, however, that they
were major political figures. The mere fact that Abraham could rout
XIV 1-24 109
them with no more than 318 warriors at his disposal (the force is
just small enough to be realistic) would seem to suggest that the
outlanders were foreign adventurers bent on controlling the copper
mines south of the Dead Sea (cf. Wright, Biblical Archaeology,
pp. 50 f.). The most likely date for such an expedition would be
approximately the eighteenth century B.C.
Finally, the notice about Melchizedek merits a measure of confi
dence in its own right. He invokes an authentic Canaanite deity
(see Note) as a good Canaanite priest would be expected to do.
Abraham, on the other hand, refers to Yahweh, using the Canaanite
name or names in suitable apposition, which is no less appropriate
in his particular case. That later religious Hebrew literature should
have identified El-Elyon with Yahweh, quite probably on the basis
of this passage, is readily understandable. But this appears to be the
only late reflex of Gen xiv. The narrative itself has all the ingredi
ents of historicity.
18. PROMISE AND COVENANT
(xv 1-21: J, /E?/)
Notes
Comment
Notes
(par. 146). Sarah is thus invoking her legal rights, and she holds her hus
band responsible (literally “it is against you”) for the offense.
I myself put my maid in your lap. This is not just a fanciful expression,
but recognized legal phraseology. For the identical usage, cf. the old
Sum.-Akk. dictionary of legal expressions known as ana ittisu (B. Lands-
berger, MSL I, 1937): “he placed his daughter in [the other’s] lap,”
Tablet 3, column iv, line 34.
6. abused her. Literally, applied force to her, treated her with violence.
7. Yahweh’s angel. The Heb. noun meant originally “messenger,” ex
actly as its Gr. equivalent ’angelos. In association with a divine term, the
noun refers to a manifestation of the Deity, but not necessarily a separate
being. In the present chapter, for instance, the angel is later identified
with Yahweh himself (vs. 13). For one reason or another, an angel is in
terposed, in human form as a rule, to avoid direct contact between
Yahweh and mortals. The concept was obviously familiar to J (cf. xix
13); the corresponding manifestation in E is “angel of God” (cf. xxi 17,
xxxi 11). The use of the term to describe a distinct class of supernatural
beings is of later date.
Shur. A locality near the Egyptian border; cf. xx 1, xxv 18.
12. a wild colt of a man. The qualifying Heb. noun pere’ could stand ei
ther for wild ass or wild horse; cf. also Job xi 12 and, in variant form,
Gen xlix 22. The phrase recalls Akk. lullu-awelu, approximately “savage
of a man,” which the Akkadians used to describe both Enkidu and the
first primitive man created by the gods.
in the face of. One of the idiomatic uses of Heb. ‘al pene (literally
“upon/against the face of”) is “to the face” (cf. Job i 11, vi 28, xxi 31),
and more particularly “in defiance/disregard of,” as proved by Deut
xxi 16: “he shall not be able to give the birthright to the (younger) son
of the loved wife, in disregard of (‘al perie) the (older) son of the
unloved wife.” For the present occurrence, cf. the parallel reference to
Ishmaelites in xxv 18: “they shall make raids against ('al perie) all their
kinsmen”; what is thus described is a typically Bedouin mode of life
which the preceding clauses sum up so vividly. Such customary trans
lations as “in the presence of,” or “to the east of” ignore both idiom
and context.
13. El-ro'i. MT is pointed defectively (’El-r°'i), perhaps on purpose,
to leave the reader a choice between this, i.e., “God of seeing,” one
whom it is permitted to see, and the ro’i of the last clause, “one who
sees me.” The explanatory gloss that follows is hopeless as it now
stands. Its original form, however, can be inferred from the next verse
which starts out with “That is why,” On the use of ki in this verse cf’
iv 25.
14. Beer-lahai-ro’i. The meaning is relatively clear, and it may thus
xvi 1-16 119
furnish the key to the interpretation of the enigmatic last clause of 13,
which reads unvocalized hgm him r’yty ’hry r'y. As J. Wellhausen realized
nearly a century ago, some part of this sequence should anticipate the
Living One,” Heb. cons. Ihy, in the commemorative name of the well.
The only suitable spot for it is the received ’hry, which Wellhausen
emended accordingly to w’hy “yet I lived.” The logical next step was to
change the unmanageable him “here” to 'Ihm “God,” and to assume
that the concluding r’y was copied from the place name after w’hy had
been corrupted to ’hry. The gloss would thus have read originally hgm
’Ihm r’yty w’hy “Did I really see God, yet remained alive?” an excellent
paraphrase of the name of a well that could be translated to mean “Well
of the living sight.” At all events, the disfigurement of the text is old
enough to be witnessed in LXX. It is not surprising in aetiological
explanations of very ancient names. The well itself is independently
attested in xxiv 62.
15-16. These concluding verses bear the unmistakable stamp of P.
Vital statistics are always important to that source; cf. v, xi 10-26.
Comment
ant and intelligible. All three principals in the case have some
things in their favor and other things against them. Sarah is thus not
altogether out of order when she bitterly complains to Abraham that
her rights have not been honored (5). Beyond all the legal niceties,
however, are the tangled emotions of the characters in the drama:
Sarah, frustrated and enraged; Hagar, spirited but tactless; and
Abraham, who must know that, whatever his personal sentiments,
he may not dissuade Sarah from following the letter of the law.
For the legal background in the case, we were limited until re
cently to the provisions of par. 146 of the Code of Hammurabi,
which are pertinent only in part: A priestess of the naditum rank,
who was free to marry but not to bear children, gives her husband
a slave girl in order to provide him with a son. If the concubine
then tries to arrogate to herself a position of equality with her mis
tress, the wife shall demote her to her former status of slave; but
she may not sell her to others.
This law is applicable to the case before us in that (a) the child
less wife must herself provide a concubine; (b) the successful sub
stitute must not forget her place. But these provisions are restricted
to ceftain priestesses for whom motherhood was ruled out. No
such limitations applied to Sarah. Her case, however, is covered in
full by the family law of another society; one document in particular
combines all the requisite details save only for the inescapable dif
ference in names. It is a text from Nuzi, which was published in
HSS V (1929) as No. 67, and which I presented in transliteration
and translation in AASOR 10 (1930), 31ff. Because this text is
of outstanding significance for our present purposes, and because its
original treatment needs to be brought up to date, it will not be
amiss to take up the relevant portions afresh, but necessarily in all
brevity.
The document as a whole records the adoption of a certain Shen-
nima and his concurrent marriage to Gilimninu. It is the marriage
alone that we are concerned with here. These are the stated pro
visions (lines 17ff.): “If Gilimninu bears children, Shennima shall
not take another wife. But if Gilimninu fails to bear children, Gilim
ninu shall get for Shennima a woman from the Lullu country (i.e.,
a slave girl) as concubine. In that case, Gilimninu herself shall have
authority over the offspring (u serri Gilimninu-ma uwar).” In
other words, in this socially prominent lay family, the husband may
not many again if his wife has children. But if the union proves to
be childless, the wife is required to provide a concubine, but would
then have all the legal rights to the offspring. This must be the exact
bearing of the term ’ibbane (“I shall reproduce/be built up”) in vs.
2 above. The other provisions of the Nuzi case are likewise paral
leled in our narrative: Sarah is childless, and it is she herself who has
pressed a concubine on Abraham (vs. 5). What Sarah did, then, was
not so much in obedience to an impulse as in conformance with the
family law of the Hurrians, a society whose customs the patriarchs
knew intimately and followed often.
The extra-biblical material gives new meaning also to the next
phase in the story as described in vs. 6. Although Abraham told
Sarah to do to Hagar as she pleased, Sarah stops short of expelling
her slave. Hammurabi Law 146 would forbid it in these circum
stances, and Deut xxi 14 also imposes certain restraints upon the
owner. But there is nothing in either source (the meaning of the key
verb in Deut is “to pledge for debts,” not “to treat brutally”) to dis
courage intolerable abuse, which eventually drove Hagar to flight.
But our author must not dwell too long on personalities. Presently
he shifts to a different plane and larger issues. It is time to account
for the place of the Ishmaelites in the scheme of things, the role of
the Bedouin who are always in evidence on the border between the
desert and the sown, a group as defiant and uncontrollable as the
young woman from whom the narrative derives them. / handles both
episodes, with all their wealth of facts and overtones, in a bare dozen
verses.
20. COVENANT AND CIRCUMCISION
(xvii 1-27: P)
Notes
xvii 1. Yahweh. Since the rest of the chapter has Elohim consistently,
this single exception appears to be a slip under the influence of the pre
ceding narrative. For an analogous carry-over in an introductory verse,
cf. xxi 1.
El Shaddai. According to the present author, this was the only divine
appellation known to the patriarchs prior to the time of Moses (Exod vi
3); see Comment on iv 26. The traditional translation of Shaddai as “Al
mighty” goes back to an early rabbinic etymology (“Self-sufficient”).
Modem scholarship leans toward Albright’s derivation from Akk. sadu
“mountain” employed as a divine epithet (JBL 54 [1935], 180ff.). But
the comparison runs into phonologic difficulties (the same stem has an in
itial f in Heb.); and in AJckadian itself, the epithet was but one of hun
dreds like it. Thus a satisfactory explanation of this term (significantly
enough, Exod vi 3, does not call it a name) is yet to be proposed, just as
is that of Yahweh.
Follow my ways. In the light of vi 11 and x 9, lepanay has here a
concessive connotation: conduct yourself in a way I approve: see espe
cially vs. 18.
2. I will grant a covenant. The verb in Heb. is literally “give, set.” A
lasting covenant must be established or concluded before it can be main
tained. An initial step was recorded in xv 18, but by a different source
(/). This is the first such reference to Abraham in P (on the covenant
with Noah, cf. ix 9 ff.); for the follow-up P uses here heqim “to main
tain” (7,21).
3. threw himself. Cf. Note on xiv 10.
4. host. Or “multitude,” Heb. hamon (construct state), the initial h
explicating symbolically the added -ha- in "Abraham" (5).
5. Abraham. Linguistically, the medial -ha- is a secondary extension in
a manner common in Aramaic. The underlying form Abram and its
doublet Abiram are best explained as “the (not ‘my’) father is exalted”;
the supposed Akk. cognate Abam-rama is not to be adduced, since it is
unrelated and means “love the father.”
For the premise that a change in name signifies a change in status, see
Comment.
7. your offspring to follow. Literally “your seed after you”; a favorite
phrase in P.
ages. Trad, “generations,” cf. vi 9 and Note; the possessive pronoun in
Hebrew has here, as elsewhere, the force of our definite article.
xvii 1-27 125
pact. Same Heb. noun as “covenant”; but some such variation is
desirable in English.
8. in which you are now sojourning. Heb. “of your sojoumings,”
where the plural stands for a collective abstract. On the meaning of the
stem gur, see xii 10, xix 9.
12. houseborn slaves. Cf. xiv 14.
13. shall... be marked. Literally “shall be.”
15. Sarah. Linguistically, Sara embodies the common feminine ending
(Sem. *-at). whereas Saray preserves an old and specialized feminine
form.
16. whom I will bless also. So with LXX, Syr., Vulg., reading the
pronominal suffix as masculine and applying it to Isaac. The last
clause, however, need not be shifted, with the same ancient versions,
from Sarah to Isaac. This would involve not merely a repointing but an
emended cons, text (whyh for whyth); moreover, the passage is con
cerned with Sarah, whereas her son is as yet incidental. Indeed, if it
were not for redundancy in the Heb. verse as it stands (the repetition
of “I will bless her”), no reference to the blessing of Isaac would have
been suspected at this point. There is also the inherent possibility that
the second instance is to be construed as part of a subordinate clause:
“And when I have blessed her, she shall give rise to nations.’
17. he smiled. Heb. way-yishaq anticipates, of course, the personal
name Isaac (Yifhaq). P does this here, J offers a variant explanation in
xviii 12, and £ still another in xxi 6. Each allusion operates with the
verb shq, which covers a wide range of meanings, including to play, be
amused,” and notably also “to rejoice over, smile on (a newborn child).
A Hurro-Hittite tale describes the father (Appu) as placing his new
born son on his knees and rejoicing over him (ZA 49 [1956], 220, line 5).
Such acts were often the basis for naming the child accordingly. The
shortened form Isaac (with the subject left out) undoubtedly reflects
some such symbolic gesture: (X) rejoiced over, smiled on (the child).
To judge from the three separate explanations in our documentary
sources, this last application was no longer familiar at the time of the
writing, even as far back as the time of J. Tradition was thus reduced to
speculations based on the later connotations of the verb. The meaning
chosen varied with the source and the context. In the earthy treatment
by J, an incredulous Sarah could well be shown as laughing bitterly to
herself (xviii 12). But the concept of Abraham in a derisive attitude
toward God would be decidedly out of keeping with P’s character. The
above translation, therefore, should come close to the spirit of the
received text, though not the original use of the pertinent verb.
18. thrive. Literally “live,” with the force of "stay well, prosper.”
if you so will it. Cf. “follow my ways,” vs. 1, Note.
126 GENESIS
20. chieftains. Literally “elevated (in the assembly),” cf. Num i 16; see
the full discussion in CBQ 25 (1963), 111-17.
22. was gone from. Literally “rose from upon,” with a suggestion of
suddenness, which “departed” would not convey.
Comment
- c-°Cf. Note.
xviii 1-15 129
enjoyment—and my husband so old!” 13 Yahweh said to Abra
ham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I really give birth,
old as I am?’ *4 ls anything too much for Yahweh? I will be
back with you when life is due, and Sarah shall have had a son!”
15 Sarah dissembled, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.
Notes
xviii 1. as the day was growing hot. With this short comment (only two
words in Hebrew) the author evokes a complete picture. The old patri
arch is resting in front of his tent on a typically hot day, when the land
scape turns hazy and one’s vision is blurred.
2. he rushed. No exertion, even in behalf of total strangers, is too much
were hospitality is concerned.
3. Cons. Heb. ’dny can represent ’addm “my lord” (singular), ’addnay
“my lords” (ordinary plural), or ’adonay, the special form with long third
vowel, which is reserved for the Deity, i.e., “my/the Lord,” the pointing
that is applied to YHWH in the received text. The versions support tradi
tional Hebrew. Nevertheless, at this stage Abraham is as yet unaware of
the true identity of his visitors, so that he would not address any of them
as God; and he cannot mean all three, because the rest of the verse con
tains three unambiguous singulars. What the text indicates, therefore, is
that Abraham has turned to one of the strangers whom he somehow rec
ognized as the leader. In vss. 4—5 he includes the other two as a matter of
courtesy. His spontaneous hospitality to seemingly ordinary human beings
is thus all the more impressive. Later on, in vss. 27, 32-33, the divine ap
pellation is in order, because by then it is clear that Abraham’s guests are
out of the ordinary. The present pointing was probably influenced by the
explicit mention of Yahweh in vs. 1. But this is the author’s aside to the
reader who is thus prepared at the outset for the surprise that is in store
for Abraham.
if I may beg of you this favor. See Note on vi 8.
4. a little water. Like the “morsel of bread” in the next verse, an at
tempt by the host to minimize his own efforts.
5. before you go on. Literally “(and) you shall continue later”; the ini
tial we- is missing in MT but supplied by some manuscripts and reflected
in the versions.
now that. Heb. ki 'al ken, for which see Ehrl.
6-8. The actual performance is in sharp contrast with the deprecating
references in 4-5.
130 GENESIS
Comment
XVIII 16 The men set out from there and faced toward
Sodom, Abraham walking with them to see them off. 17 And
Yahweh reflected, “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am
about to do, 18 now that Abraham is due to become a great and
populous nation, and all the nations of the world are to bless
themselves through him? 19 For I have singled him out in order
that he may instruct his sons and his future family to keep the
way of Yahweh by doing what is just and right, so that Yahweh
may achieve for Abraham the promises he made about him.”
20 Then Yahweh said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is
so great, and their sin so very grave, 2 1 that I must go down and
see whether their actions are at all like the“ outcry that has
reached me, l,or not. Then I will know.”1’
22 The men left from there for Sodom, 'but Yahweh paused
in front of Abraham.® 23 Abraham came forward and said, “Will
you stamp out the innocent along with the guilty? 24 Suppose
there are in the city fifty who are innocent; would you still level
the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocents
inside it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the
innocent perish with the guilty, so that innocent and guilty
fare alike. Far be it from you! Shall he who is Judge of all the
world not act with justice?” 26 Yahweh replied, “If I find in the
city of Sodom fifty who are innocent, I will spare the whole
place on their account.” 27 Abraham spoke up again, “Here I
am presuming to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and
- 0 MT “her.”
- &-D For an alternative word division see Note below,
o-“ See Note.
xviii 16-33 133
ashes: 28 What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Would
you destroy the whole city because of those five?” “I will not
destroy it,” he replied, “if I find there forty-five.” 29 But he
persisted, and said, “What if only forty are found there?” He
answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.” 30 Said he,
“Let not the Lord be impatient if I go on: What if only thirty
are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find there
but thirty.” 31 But he persisted, “Again I presume to address the
Lord: What if there are only twenty?” “I will not cause de
struction,” came the reply, “for the sake of the twenty.” 32 Still
he went on, “Please, let not the Lord be angry if I speak this
last time: What if there are no more than ten?” He answered,
“I will not bring destruction, for the sake of those ten.”
33 As soon as Yahweh finished speaking with Abraham, he
Notes
xviii 16. faced toward. Literally “looked down upon the face of.”
After “Sodom” LXX adds “and Gomorrah.” But in this narrative,
Sodom is used for the whole area, except in vs. 20.
17. reflected. Literally “said.” The verb ’mr, however, covers a wide
range of meaning. The translation (cf. “persisted, replied,” and the
like in subsequent passages) has to be guided by the context.
18. populous. Heb. ‘dsum stresses numbers rather than strength.
For the last clause, cf. xii 3, Note.
19. I have singled him out. Another aspect of the flexible stem yd‘;
cf. Comment on iv 1. Here the stress is on “to acknowledge.” The
verse as a whole gives an excellent summary of the way of life (“way of
Yahweh”) that is expected of Abraham and his descendants.
future family. Literally “his house after him”; cf. P’s “your seed after
you,” xvii 7 and passim.
20. outrage. The noun ze'aqa is subtly distinguished from its doublet
se'aqa (21), which is construed objectively to yield “the outcry against
one.”
21. / must go down and see. For the phrase cf. xi 5.
at all. Heb. it aid. The same form occurs also in the sense of “destruc
tion” (e.g., Jer iv 27, v 10), which TO applies here as well, perhaps
134 GENESIS
rightly. Some modems would emend cons, klh to klm “all of them”: “are
all of them guilty?”
like the outcry. The Heb. noun (cf. Note on 20) is vocalized to read
“her outcry” (the feminine possessive pronoun -tah, with the -h
sounded). But the pronoun has no antecedent. The same final letters
could stand for an archaic feminine suffix without possessive. LXX and
TO read the last letter as -m and render “their outcry,” i.e., the indict
ment against them.
or not. Then I will know. Alternatively, “And if not, I will find out.”
For a similar use of the verb, cf. Exod ii 25.
22. the men. This time, the two companions of Yahweh.
left from there. Literally “turned . . . and went.” In this combination,
the first verb describes not so much a turn as a specific direction.
Yahweh paused in front of Abraham. So the original text. But the pas
sage is listed among the rare instances of Masoretic interference known as
Tiqqurie soprim "scribal corrections,” whereby the text was changed to
“Abraham paused before Yahweh,” for deferential reasons. The change is
already witnessed in LXX.
23-32. In this dialogue several of the recurrent phrases have been
varied in translation on stylistic grounds.
24. innocent. . . guilty. Not “righteous . . . wicked”; for the legal em
phasis, cf. Exod xxii 8.
25. Judge . . . act with justice. Heb. uses the form sopet and the
derived noun mil pat. The basic sense of the stem Spf is “to exercise au
thority” in various matters, hence “govern, decide,” and the like; and
the noun signifies norm, standard, manner. The legal connotations are at
best incidental. The title Sopef, as used in the Book of “Judges,” has
nothing to do with the judiciary. In the highly significant Foundation
Inscription of Yahdun-lim of Mari (slightly earlier than Hammurabi)
the cognate term iapitum is distinct from dayanum “judge” (Syria, 1955,
p. 4, lines 4, 9). In the present instance, however, “Judge” and “justice”
can be employed in a non-technical sense; cf. also xix 9.
27. 1 presume. Also in 31. The basic sense of Heb. is “to undertake”
(Deut i 5), hence also to venture, presume.
the Lord. Here, and in vss. 32-33, cons, 'dny refers to Yahweh, al
though Abraham knows by now who his visitors are. The author remains
consistent throughout this narrative. When he speaks for himself, he
refers to God as Yahweh; but when Abraham is the speaker, the appella
tion is “the Lord.”
33. home. Literally “his place,” that is Mamre, cf. vs. 1.
xviii 16-33 135
Comment
and all, they struck with blinding light, so that they were unable
to reach the entrance.
xix 1-29 137
12Then the men asked Lot, “Who else belongs to you here?
Sons daughters, anybody you have in the city—get them out
,0
of the place! 13 For we are about to destroy this place; the out
cry to Yahweh against those in it has been such that he has
sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-
in-law, who had married his daughters, and urged them, “Up,
leave this place, for Yahweh is about to destroy the city.” But
his sons-in-law looked at him as if he were joking.
15 As dawn broke, the angels urged Lot on, saying, “Hurry,
remove your wife and the two daughters who are here, or you
shall be swept away in the punishment of the city. 16 Still he
hesitated. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife
and his two daughters—Yahweh being merciful to him—and led
them to safety outside the city. 17 When they had brought them
outside, he was told, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you
or stop anywhere in the Plain. Flee to the hills, or you will be
swept away.” 18 But Lot replied,6 “Oh no, my lord!® 19 If you
would but indulge your servant, having shown so much kindness
in what you did for me by saving my life—I cannot flee to the
hills, or disaster will overtake me and I shall die. 20This town
ahead is near enough to escape to, and it is scarcely anything!
Let me flee there—it is a mere nothing—that my life may be
saved.” 21 He answered, “I will bear with you in this matter
also, by not overthrowing the town you speak of. 22 Hurry, flee
there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” This is how
the town came to be called Zoar.4
23 The sun rose upon the earth just as Lot entered Zoar.
24 Then Yahweh rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah
Notes
xix 1. The two angels. This identification is meant for the reader, who
knows that Yahweh stayed behind with Abraham (xviii 22) in order to
tell him of the melancholy mission. The author was equally direct in in
troducing the other visit (xviii 1). But Lot must discover the truth for
himself, as Abraham did earlier. It is only in the light of the sanwerim
(11), that the “men” (5, 8, 10) are revealed as angels (15). By thus
viewing the action through the eyes of the actors, the spectator also is
caught up in the unfolding drama, in spite of his advance knowledge.
in the evening. The southern tip of the Dead Sea is approximately forty
miles from Hebron. The angels left after their sumptuous meal, hence in
late afternoon at the earliest. Normal traveling time for that distance
would be about two days.
in the gate. The focal point of all communal activities in an urban
center like Sodom.
with his face to the ground. This is how courtiers and clients address
their superiors in the Amama Letters. In the corresponding case of
Abraham (xviii 2), the term for “face” (’appayim) is significantly miss
ing.
2. house. In contrast to Abraham’s tent; cf. xviii 1, 6, 9, 10.
early. The Heb. verbal form hiSkim is used adverbially when coordi
nated with another verb, as it is here. In conjunction with babboqer (27),
it is not of itself “to rise early in the morning,” since a second verb is im
plied there; cf. xx 8, xxi 14, etc. Moreover, as an adverbial complement,
hiskim signifies not only “early,” but also “persistently, diligently,” or the
like (e.g., Jer vii 13, 25, xxv 3, 4; Zeph iii 7, etc.). The independent finite
usage is rare; cf. 27, where the sense is “he proceeded promptly” (with
the preposition ’el “to”).
No. The reply is abrupt. The angels’ grim errand leaves no room for
the usual amenities.
xix 1-29 139
3. urged. Heb. psr describes various types of pressure; in vs. 9 the
verb is rendered “pressed hard.” For our “urged . . . on” in vs. 15, Heb.
uses a different stem.
they turned toward his place. Literally “they turned aside to him,”
with the nuance of “chez lui”; cf. “turn aside” in vs. 2.
repast. Heb. mitte, also “feast, banquet” (cf. xxi 8); but here the
reception is far from elaborate.
flat cakes. Heb. mascot “unleavened bread.” The description is meant
to contrast with the semolina biscuits of xviii 6; hurriedly baked flat
flaps of bread are the daily fare of the region. “Unleavened” now
tends to emphasize ritual rather than expediency.
4. to the last man. Heb. miqqa$e “(even) from the fringe(s),” i.e.,
everybody.
closed in on. Literally “placed themselves around.” The Heb. Niphal
used with the preposition ‘al “upon, against” can describe hostile moves;
cf. “to gather, combine against” (verb qhl), Exod xxxii 1; Num xvi 3,
xvii 7, xx 2, and “to bear down on” (verb kbd)\ Exod xiv 4; Lev x 3
(not “to be glorified”); see Ehrl., Vol. I, p. 316.
5. get familiar with. The same circumlocution for sexual relations as
in iv 1, but used under different circumstances.
6. met them outside at the entrance. Literally “went out to them to
the entrance.” The entrance is the doorway, which in well-appointed
houses was protected by solid and costly doors; cf. 9.
7. be wicked. The Hiphil form without object is generally intransitive;
cf. Note on iii 6, vi 19; see also vs. 9.
8. consorted with. Same Heb. idiom as in vs. 5.
9. on sufferance. Heb. lagur “to sojourn,” cf. Note on xii 10. The
sojourner lacked the privileges and protection enjoyed by citizens.
act the master. Heb. stem Ipt; see xviii 25, Note.
the person of Lot. Literally “the man Lot.” The same idiom is used
also in the sense of “X as a person, individual,” e.g., Num xii 3.
11. one and all. Literally “whether little or big”; cf. “young and old,”
vs. 4.
blinding light. Heb. sanwefim is a loanword based on Akk. funwurum,
an adjectival form with superlative or “elative” force; “having extraor
dinary brightness” (cf. my discussion in JCS 6 [1952], 81 ff., esp. p. 89,
n. 52). For ordinary blindness Heb. employs native terms (stem Vr),
cf. Lev xxii 22; Deut xxviii 28; Zech xii 4. But these would not be
suitable in the present instance, since what is involved is not the
common affliction, not just “total blindness,” as the word before us is
generally rendered, but a sudden stroke. And that is just what the term
suggests: a blinding flash emanating from angels—who thereby abandon
their human disguise—which would induce immediate, if temporary,
140 GENESIS
loss of sight, much like desert or snow blindness; the same is true of
II Kings vi 18, the only other passage where this noun is used (Elisha
and the Aramaeans). Thus the very word evokes a numinous image. It
is a matter of magic as opposed to myopia.
they were unable. Heb. wyl’w, which is not “they wearied themselves.”
In Exod vii 18 the Niphal form describes a condition of helplessness, as
is proved by the parallel “they could not” later on (vs. 24). In all
probability, the present occurrence should also be pointed as Niphal:
*wayyilla’u.
12. the men. Sam. reads “the angels,” which is now appropriate; Heb.
does the same in vs. 15.
Before “Sons, daughters . . .” the text has “son-in-law,” which is
immediately suspect: the singular is inconsistent with what follows
(LXX has plural), the pronominal suffix is lacking (restored in Syr.,
TJ), and above all, a son-in-law would not be mentioned before direct
descendants. The word in question is obviously intrusive, evidently from
vs. 14.
13. the outcry . . . against those in it. MT literally “the outcry against
them,” the pronoun referring not to “the place,” which is the actual ante
cedent, but—by extension—to the inhabitants; for the noun, cf. xviii 20.
The original is self-explanatory, but in translation a concession has to be
made to clarity.
14. who had married. Heb. employs the agent form “takers of,” which
could refer to the past (as interpreted by LXX), or (with Vulg.) the fu
ture, i.e., those who were due to marry the two girls. The ambiguity
would disappear if we knew the technical meaning of hannimsa’dt in the
next verse: literally “within reach, present, at hand,” which could mean
either pledged but still at home, or unattached altogether. The traditional
translation that has here been followed presupposes that two older daugh
ters had to be left behind with their husbands, who had every legal right,
however, to oppose their departure. But the alternative interpretation is
by no means improbable.
15. in the punishment. Or “because of the iniquity”; on Heb. 'awon see
iv 13.
16. he hesitated. The text has a pause sign after the verb. Lot is thus
pictured as hesitant to abandon his possessions.
led them to safety. Literally “brought them out and deposited them”
(hendiadys).
17. Flee. The Heb. stem (n)mlf is used five times in this short passage
(17-22), evidently because of its assonance with the name Lot (Iwf).
he was told. Literally “he (the speaker) said”; cf. xviii 10, as con
trasted with the preceding verse. The subject in such situations is often
xix 1-29 141
left ambiguous in Heb. The same is true of vs. 21, below, but there Lot
had already addressed one of the two angels; see below.
18. But Lot replied. The text reads “said to them,” which cannot be
right, since immediately afterward Lot is addressing himself to a single
companion. The error is probably traceable to the ambiguous 'dny, which
must have been read as plural; cf. Note on xviii 3. The context, however,
favors ,<ldom.
19. If you would but indulge your servant. Another nuance of the flexi
ble “to find favor in the eyes of. . .”; see vi 8, Note.
20. town. Heb. 'ir ranges all the way from “city” to “depository”
(cf. I Kings ix 19). The present occurrence describes a small settlement.
ahead. Literally “that, yonder.”
to escape to. For once Heb. departs from nml( and substitutes lanus.
scarcely anything ... a mere nothing. Heb. mis’ar (both times), a
skillful wordplay on the place name Zoar (s‘r). Aetiological explanations
were always popular, but seldom as plausible as this one is, at least on the
surface.
24. sulphurous fire. While sentiment favors the traditional “brimstone
and fire,” the context points plainly to hendiadys.
25. The repeated use of the verb “to overthrow” may well hark back to
an earthquake; cf. Dr. On the problem of location see Wright (Biblical
Archaeology, p. 50), who assumes, with Albright, that the destroyed
cities were buried beneath the shallow waters of the southern tip of the
Dead Sea. This view has been questioned by E. G. Kraeling, Bible Atlas,
1956, p. 71; see also J. P. Harland, BA 5 (1942), 41 ff.
26. glanced back. MT has “(Lot’s wife,) behind him, looked.” The
verb itself does not indicate direction. Unless, therefore, something like
“(who followed) behind him” is intended, the pronominal suffix was orig
inally feminine; cf. also vs. 17. The present translation leaves the matter
open.
27. hurried back. Not “rose early (in the morning),” which cannot be
construed with "to the place,” in any case; some such verb as “and
went/hastened” is implied, cf. Note on vs. 2.
28. smoke . . . fumes. Heb. does not employ here its regular term for
smoke, but uses instead, both times, a noun cognate with the term for
“incense.” The emphasis is thus on dense vapors, such as might be caused
by the firing of lime or the burning of fat or incense.
142 GENESIS
Comment
XIX 30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters, and
settled in the hill country; he was afraid to stay in Zoar. And he
lived with his two daughters in a cave. 31 The older one said to
the younger, “Our father is growing old, and there is not a man
on earth to unite with us as was the custom throughout the
world. 32 Come, let us ply our father with wine, then lie with
him, in order that we may preserve life through our father.”
33 That night, after they had plied their father with wine, the
older one went in and lay with her father; he was not conscious
of her lying down or her getting up. 34 Next morning the older
said to the younger, “Look, last night it was I who lay with
father. Tonight let us again ply him with wine, and you go in
and lie with him, so that we may preserve life through our
father.” 35 So after they had plied their father with wine that
night also, the younger went in and lay with him; nor was he
conscious of her lying down or her getting up.
36 Thus both Lot’s daughters came to be with child by their
Notes
Comment
Notes
xx 1. (journeyed) on. The text has “from there,” which in the present
context could only refer to Lot’s cave. In the original context of E,
the nearest antecedent would be xv 5, assuming that nothing from that
source is missing at this juncture. The translation seeks to reflect some of
the Heb. without making it meaningless.
While he was sojourning. The received verse division causes trouble,
at least on the surface. It suggests that to be settled between Kadesh and
Shur was the same thing as sojourning in Gerar. By taking lc as a
temporal protasis to vs. 2, we obtain a statement that is immediately
clear: in the Negeb, Abraham ranged with his herds from Kadesh to
Shur; in the course of that stay, he paid a visit to Gerar. This natural
interpretation has the added advantage of automatically clearing up a
geographic problem, since Gerar (near Gaza) does not fit readily “be
tween Kadesh and Shur.”
3. a dream. In E, the normal means of communication between God
and man; cf. vs. 6 and xxxi 10.
xx 1-18 149
one night. Definite article in Heb. with the force of our “a certain
. . cf. xix 30, Note.
You are due to die. In the original, the periphrastic construction with
hinneka.
4. one. The text for the interrogative clause gives the consonants
hgwy gm fdyq thrg. Here (h)gwy presents an old crux, as old as the
ancient versions, which attest the reading but cannot solve it. The noun
stands for “nation” (cf. xii 2, Note) as a collective, political, and
territorial concept. No such meaning can be forced into the present
context; and “people” is ruled out by the fact that even for a group of
individuals the required Heb. term would be ‘am, which is sharply
demarcated from goy (cf. JBL 79 [1960], 157ff.). The respective
usages are established by some 2350 occurrences in the OT. Not one
of them favors “person” or “persons” for goy; the connotation “other-
national, gentile” is post-biblical and predicated on the fact that Israel
was no longer a nation.
The combined evidence thus points overwhelmingly to an old textual
corruption. The original must have read either hgm, which came to be
expanded to hgyhgm through dittography (the -w-, as vowel letter, would
not be used in very old texts), or h. .gm, wherein the lacuna was first
taken up by some reinforcing particle, but later displaced by dittography.
The first of these alternatives seems preferable and is reflected in the
translation; for an analogous case of haplography involving goy, see xxi
13.
5. The fact is. Translating the rhetorical halo’ “is it not?”
6. in good faith. Literally “in the integrity of my heart.”
7. one who speaks up. Heb. nabV, normally “prophet,” in the sense
of one who speaks (stem nb') on behalf of another, specifically God;
note especially Deut xviii 18; but the nabV can also represent, be spokes
man for, a mortal, cf. Exod vii 1. Here the allusion is apparently to the
latter function.
9. For the first clause, cf. xii 18.
fail. The primary meaning of hf is “to be deficient,” hence ultimately,
but in a restricted sense, “to sin.”
unforgivable. Literally “not to be done,” cf. xxxiv 7.
10. What. . . was your purpose. Literally “What ... did you (fore)-
see?”
11. fear of God. In general, respect for moral and social obligations.
my father’s daughter though not my mother’s. It is noteworthy that
a Hittite treaty which concerns itself with a similar case of wife-sister,
uses virtually the same terminology (uterine sister : sister “germane”; cf.
P. Koschaker, ZA 41 [1933], 10ff.). According to xi 29 (/), Abraham’s
brother Nahor married his niece, whom he had evidently adopted. The
150 GENESIS
Comment
to him./'
6 And Sarah said,
Hagar from heaven, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for
God has heard the cry of the boy "in his present plight'.
18 Come, pick up the boy and comfort him; for I will make of
him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she be
held a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water,
and let the boy drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert
Notes
xxi 1. The second half of the verse duplicates the first. It appears to
stem from P, with a secondary change of Elohim to Yahweh, induced
by the preceding clause. It did not, however, seem practical to reflect
such a possibility in the translation.
now. Some such nuance is demanded by the inverted syntax of Heb.
took note. The primary sense of the common and richly shaded stem
pqd; trad, “visited” is suitable at best in punitive contexts alone.
2b. Elohim is the normal designation of the Deity not only in E (vss.
6ff.) but also in P (along with El Shaddai).
xxi 1-21 155
5. 100 years old. Cf. Comment on xvii.
6. laughter . . . rejoice. A double allusion by E to the name Isaac;
see Note on xvii 17. The derisive “laugh at” is ruled out by the tenor of
vs. 7; note also the unique construction of the verb fhq with ti.
7. said. The stem mil is limited in the OT to poetry.
8. was weaned. To this day, weaning may take place in the Near
East as late as at three years or more; it is often followed by a celebra
tion.
9. was playing. Piel form of the verb $hq, in further wordplay on
the name Isaac. Traditional “mocking” would require the preposition b-
to designate the object. To judge, however, from some of the ancient
versions, the original text appears to have included “with her son Isaac,”
which is lacking in MT, perhaps through haplography. According to
xvi 16 combined with vs. 5 above (both from P, however), Ishmael
would now be at least fifteen years old. But his “playing” with Isaac
need mean no more than that the older boy was trying to amuse his
little brother. There is nothing in the text to suggest that he was abusing
him, a motive deduced by many troubled readers in their effort to
account for Sarah’s anger.
12. your line shall be continued. Literally “your seed shall be called,
identified”: the important branch of your family will descend through
Isaac rather than Ishmael; for an analogous employment of “seed,” cf.
xvii 12.
14. on her back. Heb. literally “on her shoulder,” but the term covers
also the upper part of the back in general. The middle of the sentence
is now distorted. The translation of LXX and Syr., “and he placed the
child on her shoulder,” would yield an acceptable word order for Heb.,
yet would not automatically guarantee its authenticity. The real prob
lem is Ishmael’s age at the time. If the boy was about fifteen years
old (see above, Note on 9), his mother would not have carried him on
her back. Obviously, the present narrative depicts Ishmael as younger
(cf. 15ff.), but still old enough to play the big brother to a weaned
Isaac (8f.). The various emendations that have been proposed merely
substitute one set of problems for another. An acceptable solution
has yet to be discovered.
15. left. Not necessarily “cast away”; cf. Ehrl.
16. bowshot. Heb. mthwy is quite probably dual, so that “two bow
shots” may be a better translation.
she broke into sobs. LXX, followed by most moderns, substitutes the
masculine pronoun, thus making Ishmael the subject, evidently because
of vs. 17. There, however, the noun “sound, voice” is not expressly con
nected with weeping; moreover, the text employs the unambiguous
feminine prefix twice, the Heb. idiom in this instance being made up of
156 GENESIS
two verbs (“she lifted up her voice and she wept”), which would mean a
double emendation. As for the idiom itself, the tendency to interpret it
in the sense of “she wept aloud" is not in accord with good Heb. usage.
Elsewhere, the verb ni’ is used with bodily organs (eyes, passim; feet,
xxix 1; hands, Hab iii 10) not with the sense of “to lift,” to signify
degree or volume, but with the shading of “to pick up,” to focus attention
on the activity involved (cf. Ehrl. at xiii 10); Hagar’s weeping was
audible but not necessarily loud; the above translation reflects, further
more, the “ingressive” force of the phrase; cf. xxix 1.
17. heard. Another explanation of the name Ishmael; cf. xvi 11.
in his present plight. Literally “where he is”; but the phrase would
hardly be much to the point as a topographical reference (Ehrl.), for
it is not a question of where the boy is but how he is.
18. and comfort him. Literally “make your hand firm upon him,”
which is idiomatic for lending support and encouragement; the traditional
“seize him by his hand,” or the like, would require “get hold of his
hand” in Heb., for which cf. xix 16 (three times).
20. a skilled bowman. Heb. robe qassat, a combination of two agent
nouns, hence a bowman (qassat) who does something, not a person
who uses the bow. Moreover, no such meaning as “to shoot” can be
established for the first element, which might be connected at best with
Heb. for “great,” or Aram, for “youth,” not without some difficulties
in either case. The general type of compound, however, recalls in its
construction “a wild colt of a man” (xvi 12), or Akk. “hunter-man,”
which is familiar from the Gilgamesh Epic. The present translation is
conjectural.
21. got a wife for him. In ancient Near Eastern society the father
had to obtain a wife for his son and assume the costs involved; here it
is Hagar who has to take over the responsibility.
Comment
Except for the first five verses, the narrative is the work of E. The
proof goes deeper than the external evidence from the consistent
use of Elohim (6, 12, 17, 19, 20). The present account duplicates
ch. xvi. More significant, however, is the fact that the reason for
Hagar’s departure is not at all the same as in the earlier story by /,
nor does the personality of Hagar as here depicted bear any re
semblance to that of her namesake in the other story. So complete
a dichotomy would be inconceivable in the work of the same author,
or in a fixed written tradition.
xxi 1-21 157
0LXX, Old Latin add “and Ahuzzath his councilor”; cf. xxvi 26 (/).
6Literally “Well of Seven,” or “Well of the Oath.”
«Sam., LXX, Syr., Vulg.; MT omits.
xxi 22-34 159
Notes
xxi 22. Phicol. See also vs. 32. The same military man is mentioned in
xxvi 26 (/), together with an adviser whom two ancient versions (LXX
and Old Latin) cite in this context as well.
23. here. The site of future Beer-sheba, in assonance with h-Sb'-h
“swear.”
kith and kin. To reflect the alliteration in the Heb. pair riini : nekdi,
both nouns referring to progeny.
you are residing. Stem g-r in Heb. probably a deliberate reference to in
ferior political status as an argument for the desired treaty; cf. xix 9. In
vs. 34 the same argument would not apply any longer. But that passage is
not believed to be original with E; see below.
27. pact. Same Heb. noun as is used for “covenant,” cf. xv 9, Note;
the latter translation, however, may best be reserved for treaties in which
God is one of the parties.
28, 29. apart. Literally “by themselves,” a pointed allusion to the spe
cial purpose which the seven ewe-lambs are to serve.
30. It is this. Heb. ki is used here to introduce a gloss; cf. Note on
iv 25.
32, 34. Philistine country. An anachronism, cf. Comment on ix 27
(/); this is one of the reasons why these verses are usually attributed to J,
or to a .R(edactor) familiar with J.
33. the Eternal God. Heb. ’el ‘Siam, for which cf. Pope, El in the
Ugaritic Texts, pp. 14 f. This need not, however, refer to the local deity
of Beer-sheba, but may be a logical epithet of a deity called upon to sup
port a formal treaty that is expected to be valid for all time.
Comment
Except for vs. 33, and possibly also 32 and 34, the narrative stems
from E, hence the use of Elohim in 22f. The subject matter is the
aetiology of the important desert center of Beer-sheba, or rather two
distinct aetiologies based on common uses of the element -Seba'. The
first part of the compound means “well”; but the second part could
be either “seven” or “oath.” Hence an original and entirely appro
priate “Well of Seven,” i.e., Seven-Wells, lent itself to elaboration as
“Well of the Oath,” which popular etymology would be loath to ig
nore. As a matter of fact, all three connotations—well, seven, and
160 GENESIS
it on Isaac his son; the firestone and the cleaver he carried in his
own hand. And the two walked off together. 7 Isaac broke the si
lence and said to his father Abraham, “Father!” “Yes, my son,”
he answered. “There is the firestone,” he said, “and the wood,
but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham
replied, “God will see to the sheep for his burnt offering, my
son.” And the two of them walked on together.
9 They came to the place that God had spoken of to him.
Abraham built an altar there. He laid out the wood. He tied up
his son Isaac. He laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
10 He put out his hand and picked up the cleaver to slay his son.
11 But an angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven, “Abra-
Notes
xxii 1. God put Abraham to the test. Heb. is inverted for emphasis, and
the effect is heightened by the definite article with Elohim. The idea is
thus conveyed that this was no ordinary procedure, but that God had a
particularly important objective in mind. But the precise shading is
difficult to determine. It might be that God chose to do so, or that it was
an exceptional test
Ready. Literally “here I am,” a courteous response to a call, which
should not be stereotyped in translation. Here the effect is that of our
“Sir?” or “At your service, at once,” much the same as the actual
“Ready” of Arabic; cf. especially xxvii 1. In vs. 7 we obviously need
something like “Yes?” (cf. also xxvii 18). In vs. 11, on the other hand,
“Here I am” is not out of place.
xxii 1-19 163
2. beloved. Heb. uses a term that is not the regular adjective for “one,”
but a noun meaning “the unique one, one and only.” Isaac, of course,
was not an only son (xxi 11). The correct rendering is already found in
LXX, and the meaning is reinforced in Heb. by the phrase that immedi
ately follows.
land of Moriah. LXX gives “lofty,” the same translation as for Moreh
in xii 6; Syr. “of the Amorites”; other versions operate with mr’h “sight,
vision”; elsewhere only in II Chron iii 1, referring to Temple Hill, cf. vs.
14 below.
3. started out for. Literally “rose and went to”; when so construed with
another verb, Heb. presents a hendiadys in which q-m indicates the start
or speed of action; cf. xxxi 21.
4. sighted. Literally “lifted up his eyes and saw”; for this function of
the verb ns’, cf. Note on xxi 16.
5. worship. Literally “bow low.”
6. firestone. Heb. “fire,” but the flame would scarcely have been kept
going throughout the long journey. What is evidently meant here is
equipment for producing fire, other than the wood itself, which is sepa
rately specified: Akk. uses analogously (aban) isdti “fire (stone).”
cleaver. The pertinent Heb. noun (see also Judg xix 29 and Prov xxx
14) is used expressly for butcher knives.
together. Same Heb. term as in vs. 8, with singular possessive suffix in
adverbial use. Here the point is that Abraham and Isaac left the servants
behind; there the picture is that of two persons walking together in op
pressive silence.
7. broke the silence and said. Literally “said . . . and said.”
8. will see to. Literally “will see for himself,” in anticipation of the
place name Yahweh-yireh “Yahweh will see,” vs. 14.
my son. Also in vs. 7, both times as a mark of great tenderness.
9—10. For the somnambulistic effect of these successive steps described
in staccato sentences, see the sensitive comment by von Rad.
12. how dedicated you are to God. Literally “that you fear God, that
you are a God-fearing man.” But the manifest stress is not so much on
fear, or even awe, as on absolute dedication.
13. his eye fell upon a ram. Text literally “he saw, and behold, a ram
after,” which is syntactically no better in Heb. than in word-for-word
translation; nor would the ungrammatical “behind him/after” suit the
context. Not only the ancient versions but many Heb. manuscripts read
'hd for ’hr (for the common misreading of Heb. letters R/D, cf. x 4),
which makes immediate sense.
14. This parenthetical notice embodies two separate allusions. One,
Yahweh yir’e, points back to Elohim yir’e in vs. 8; the other is con
nected with Temple Hill in Jerusalem. As now vocalized, the verb in the
164 GENESIS
Comment
Notes
Notes
xxiii 1. The span. Literally “years,” for which cf. xlvii 28; omitted in
MT at this point, but included in the phrase “the years of Sarah’s life” at
the end of the verse. The latter clause is missing in LXX and Vulg.; it
was evidently dislocated in the received text from the beginning of the
verse.
2. Kiriath-arba. Literally “City of Four” (“the four” in xxxv 27;
Neh xi 25), remembered as the older name for Hebron (cf. Josh xiv
15; Judg i 10, and Comment on vs. 19, below). Some passages (Josh
xv 13, xxi 11) take the second element as a personal name, i.e., Arba,
father of the giants. Not improbably, “four” was merely a popular
adaptation of another name, perhaps non-Semitic, which is exactly
what happened with the celebrated Mesopotamian city of Arbilum
(older Urbilum), incorrectly etymologized as “four gods.” In other
words, the possibility of non-Semitic origin of the name cannot be dis
counted, and this could have some connection with the tradition about
the “children of Heth.”
mourn . . . bewail. A reference to formal rites, which has no bearing,
one way or another, on the survivor’s personal feelings; just so, a Nuzi
adoption document (JEN, No. 59, lines 19-23) provides that “when A
dies, B shall weep for him and bury him.”
3. children of Heth. The Heb. compound has been reproduced literally
170 GENESIS
Comment
‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ I drank, and she wa
tered the camels also. 47 I inquired of her, ‘Whose daughter are
you?’ She answered, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor,
whom Milcah bore to him.’ I then put the ring on her nose and
the bands on her arms. 48 And I bowed in homage to Yahweh,
and praised Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had
led me by the direct path to obtain the daughter of my master’s
kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you mean to treat my
master with true loyalty, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may
‘proceed this way or that.”*
50 Laban 'and Bethuel' spoke up in reply, “This matter stems
the ground before Yahweh. 53 Then the servant brought out ob
jects of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and presented
them to Rebekah; and he gave presents to her brother and her
mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and
drank, and they passed the night.
As soon as they were up next morning, he said, “Give me
leave to return to my master.” 55 Her brother and her mother
answered, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you
may leave.” 56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now
that Yahweh has lent success to my errand. Give me leave to re
turn to my master.” 57 They replied, “Let us call the girl and ask
her own mind.” 58 So they called Rebekah and said to her,
“Will you go with this man?” She replied, “I will.” 59 So they
said good-by to their sister Rebekah and her nurse, along with
Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah
and said to her,
*-« Literally “turn right or left.”
1-1 Probably intrusive.
178 GENESIS
and she became his wife. And in his love for her, Isaac found
solace after the death of his mother.
s See xxiii 7, Note.
h See Note.
1MT obscure.
^ Text adds “his mother Sarah”; see Note.
Notes
17. sip. A different stem from “to drink,” and “to water” which
are regularly used elsewhere in this narrative; the variation is highly
effective.
18. sir. Same term as “my lord” in xviii (cf. Note on vs. 3); the
present context calls for something not quite so formal.
19. let him drink his fill. Literally “finished letting him drink”; cf.
also xix 32, Note.
21. For the initial phrase (“stood gaping”) Heb. uses a special stem
which describes something continuous or repeated (hence “all the
while”); see v 22, Note.
not daring to speak. In Heb., the participle of the verbal form mean
ing “to be stark still” (see JCS 6 [1952], 81 ff.). This can be construed
with the preceding (stood gazing in silence), as is generally done. Yet
the syntax of Heb. points to what follows, and this is also favored by
the context: he waited with bated breath.
made his errand successful. Literally “caused his way/mission to
prosper." See also vss. 40, 42, 56.
22. After “took out a gold (nose-) ring,” MT must have had originally
“and put it on her nose,” the same verb also governing the sequel,
literally “the two bands on her hands/arms.” The additional clause
is found in Sam., and MT gives it in the parallel passage, vs. 47; here
it must have dropped out accidentally.
25. in our house. Literally “with us.”
27. steadfast kindness. In this frequently used hendiadys, the first
noun, hesed (cf. vs. 12), stands for “kindness, grace, loyalty,” and the
other noun Cemet) is “firmness, permanence, truth.” The combined
phrase describes thus true or steadfast kindness, grace, loyalty. The
traditional “steadfast grace and truth” would thus be redundant as a
translation of the Heb. aside from ignoring the idiomatic construction.
Yahweh has led me straight. Literally “As for me, Yahweh has led
me on the road (to)”; cf. the parallel “by the direct path” (i.e., “firm,
true”; see preceding Note) in vs. 48.
brother. The text is vocalized as plural, against the singular in most
of the versions. In the parallel passage, vs. 48, Heb. gives the singular,
“my master’s kinsman” in that instance being Bethuel, that is “a close
kin,” rather than brother in the literal sense. Here, however, the text
speaks of the “house,” that is, the family (see “home,” vs. 7), which
might apply to Nahor. In any case, the pointing of the MT is erroneous,
and probably intended to make sure that Laban would not be mistaken
for Abraham’s brother.
28. the news. Literally “all such things.”
in her mother’s house. This phrase can only mean that Bethuel was
no longer alive; hence the immediate reference to Rebekah’s brother
xxiv 1-67 181
(29), whose authority in such circumstances would be an overriding
factor in any Hurrian or Humanized society; note the order “her
brother and her mother” in 53, 55, and even “Laban and Bethuel” in
50, where the second personal name is certainly intrusive for that very
reason.
29. Many modems would move the second part of the verse to vs. 30,
after “the man.” But the transposition is not supported by the versions
and is by no means self-evident from the context, once it is realized that
all of vs. 30 is the author’s own aside about Laban’s character.
32. So the mart went inside. Vulg. construes Heb. wyb’ as a causative
(which requires no more than changing the final vowel); this would
make Laban the subject (“he brought the man inside”) throughout the
verse. The received text, however, is preferable, with the remaining verbs
construed impersonally, as is often the case in Heb. when the verb is used
without an explicit subject. Note that at the beginning of vs. 33, while the
Kethib has an active form of the verb, the Qere reads the passive.
33. they told him. Impersonal, or “[Laban] told him.”
34-38. Here the servant restates everything that has happened, re
peating much of the preceding narrative, often word for word. Such “epic
particularity” is a common practice in ancient literary compositions. It is
found, for instance, in Enuma-eliS, in successive descriptions of Tiamat’s
conduct; and it is used similarly in the Gilgamesh Epic, at various stages
of the hero’s journey to Utnapishtim. Our author, however, employs the
device constructively, by introducing a few minor changes which add,
nevertheless, very notably to the characterization and general content.
Thus in vs. 41, the servant speaks of Abraham’s ban or curse, whereas
Abraham himself referred only to an oath (8). Similarly, when the
speaker addresses Rebekah’s family, he alludes to Rebekah as 'alma
“young woman” (43); but in his own mind he used the less distinctive
term na‘ara “girl” (14). Nor does the servant mention Abraham’s cate
gorical injunction not to take Isaac to Mesopotamia under any circum
stances (8), since that would not have been a tactful thing to tell his
hosts.
37. put me under oath. Not “made me swear,” for the words that fol
low relate to Abraham and not his servant.
49. true loyalty. The same Heb. phrase was rendered as “steadfast
kindness” in vs. 27; here, however, it is applied to men and not Yahweh.
that / may proceed this way or that. Heb. “to turn to the right or the
left” is obviously an idiom for “to know where one stands.”
50. and Bethuel. As was pointed out in the Note on vs. 28, this cannot
be original. The consonants wbtw’l could represent an earlier bn btw’l
“son of Bethuel,” less probably wbytw “and his family.” Better still,
we may have here a marginal gloss on the part of some ancient
182 GENESIS
scribe who did not realize that the father had no place in this narrative.
53. presents. Although the same term is used elsewhere (Ezra i 6;
II Chron xxi 3, xxxii 23) for “valuable gifts,” it should have here the
technical sense of mohar “bride price.”
55 ten days or so. Literally “days or ten.” If correctly transmitted,
this is the kind of idiom that makes no sense whatever when it is
slavishly reproduced. For the number, see Note on vs. 10.
57. her own mind. Literally “her mouth,” i.e., let us ask her in
person.
58. I will. Literally “I will go.” On the form of reply in Heb., cf.
xvifi 15, Note.
62. the vicinity of. MT cons, mb’, for which Sam. and LXX read
bmdbr, as though Isaac had come “into the desert” of Beer-lahai-roi.
In this context (b’ mb’ b’r), the middle word is most likely a dittographic
corruption for original mb’r (Isaac had arrived from B.). But any such
assumption is just as conjectural as the above translation.
63. walking. For the obscure Iswh of MT see Comment.
67. into his tent. MT gives literally “into the tent, his mother Sarah,”
which is grammatically unmanageable. The words “his mother Sarah”
probably stood originally at the end of the verse and were moved up
from there through an old scribal error.
after the death of his mother. Heb. literally “after his mother,” with
the preposition employed in this technical sense in complete agreement
with Akk. arki, which is both “after,” and “after the death of.”
Comment
age, old and full0 of years, he was gathered to his kin. 9 His sons
Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the
field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, which faces on Mamre,
10 the field which Abraham had bought from the children of
Heth. There Abraham was buried along with his wife Sarah.
11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac./ Isaac set
0 See Comment.
b LXX adds “and Teiman.”
°Text “full” alone; “(of) days” in manuscripts, Sam., LXX, Syr.
‘‘Text doubtful.
xxv 1-18 187
and Kedmah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are
their names by their dwelling places and encampments: twelve
chieftains of as many tribal groups. 17 And this was the span of
Ishmael’s life: 137 years. When he had breathed his last and
died, he was gathered to his kin./ 18 They ranged from Havilah-
by-Shur, which is close to Egypt, all the way to Asshur; and each
made forays against his various kinsmen.
Notes
13. the names of each. Literally “the names ... by their names.”
Nebaioth. Cf. xxviii 9, xxxvi 3; Isa lx 7; not to be confused with the
Nabataeans, see Montgomery, op. cit., pp. 31, 54.
Kedar. Often mentioned in later times as a prominent tribe; cf. Isa xxi
16 f., xlii 11; Jer ii 10, xlix 28; Ps cxx 5.
14. Dumah. Connected with the oasis Dumat al-Ghandal in the Syrian
desert.
15. Teman. Cf. the celebrated oasis of Teima in northwest Arabia. The
name is found in an inscription of Tiglath-pileser III, in association with
cun. equivalents of Sheba, Ephah, Adbeel, and possibly also Massa and
M/Bedan; see Montgomery, op. cit., pp. 58 f. Nabonidus, the last native
king (555-39 B.C.) of Babylonia, used Teima as his residence for a num
ber of years.
Jetur. The same as the later Ituraeans (Dr.).
16. chieftains. Cf. xvii 20 and xxiii 6.
18. Havilah-by-Shur. Since the name Havilah was shared by several lo
calities (cf. ii 11), further identification was necessary at times to avoid
confusion.
Asshur. Hardly “Assyria”; perhaps connected with the tribal name
Asshurim in vs. 3.
each made forays against his various kinsmen. This clause has to be in
terpreted in conjunction with the virtually identical passage in xvi 12:
And in the face of all his kinsmen he shall camp.” Here the sentence
starts with “They ranged/camped,” the same verb as in xvi 12, but this
time in the plural, referring to various Bedouin tribes; in the clause before
us the verb in npl, in the singular, evidently distributive, hence the ren
dering “each.” The primary meaning of the stem is “to fall”; but, all
other things being equal, "camp” (dweU in tents) and “fall” cannot be
very far apart in their present applications. The clue has to be sought in
the recurrent preposition 'al p?rie, in its adversative sense of “in disregard,
to the detriment of ; cf. Note on xvi 12. For the technical sense of npl,
cf. also Judg vii 12, where the verb is used absolutely, just as here, in the
sense of “to be deployed, arrayed,” and applied—significantly enough—to
Midianites and Amalekites.
Comment
she was barren. Yahweh responded to his plea, and his wife
Rebekah conceived. 22 But the children clashed inside her so
much that she exclaimed, “If this is how it is to be, why do I go
on living?” Finally,0 she inquired of Yahweh. 23 And Yahweh
answered her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples at odds while still in your bosom.
But one people shall surpass the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When it was time for her to be delivered, there were
twins in her womb! 23The first one emerged reddish,6 like a
hairy0 mantle all over; so they named him Esau.4 26 Next came
out his brother, his hand holding on to Esau’s heel"; so they
named him Jacob. /Isaac was 60 years old when they were
born./
27 As the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man
of the outdoors; whereas Jacob was a retiring man who kept
“Literally “she went (and).”
6 Heb. 'admdnj, play on “Edom.”
0 Heb. if'Sr, play on "Seir,” synonym of Edom.
d Eponym of Edom; cf. Note.
•Heb. ‘qb, play on y-'qb “Jacob.”
194 GENESIS
Notes
xxv 21. she was barren. This condition persisted, according to P, for
twenty years, cf. vss. 20 and 26.
responded to his plea. Niphal of the form for “pleaded,” above;
for a parallel development, cf. Akk. salu “to ask,” reciprocal stem “to
respond.”
22. The exact meaning of Rebekah’s exclamation is difficult to ascer
tain. Most moderns translate “why do I live?” following Syr., and more
particularly with an eye on xxvii 46. But the two passages are by no
means analogous; a closer parallel is found in vs. 32, below “what
good is . . . !” Rebekah proceeds to consult Yahweh through an oracle
(Heb. drs), which shows that, though desperate, she was not as yet
resigned to her fate.
23. peoples. Heb. le’dm, a poetic synonym for “nation,” used here
in preference to ‘am, which is not only “people” but more specifically
“kin,” and would hence be redundant if applied to twins.
at odds while still in your bosom. More specifically, who have been
drawing apart ever since (min) they were implanted in your womb.
the older shall serve the younger. The normal sense of Heb rab is
“numerous, plentiful,” rather than “great”; actually, the two adjectives
are etymologically distinct. In the latter connotation, rab is a cognate
of Akk. rabu. And it is worthy of special notice that the present pair
rab : sa'Tr has its exact counterpart, both in etymology and usage, in
the Akk. pair rabu : $e\}ru, which has a precise function in family law.
xxv 19-34 195
The m&ru rabu “elder son” was entitled to an inheritance share which
was double that of the maru $e(fru. However—and this is particularly
true of Hurrian law, and hence a likely source of patriarchal customs—
the maru rabu could be designated as such by the testator contrary to
the actual order of birth. In the present instance, we have not only an
echo of Akk. linguistic usage but also a significant survival of Mesopota
mian legal practice, one which Israel had to outlaw later on; cf. Deut
xxi 16. The tradition behind this narrative, as well as behind ch. xxvii,
employs thus an authentic and ancient motif in focusing on the joint
prehistory of Israel and Edom.
25. they named him Esau. This is an indirect word play. To make
the aetiology explicit, the text should have said “they named him Seir,”
since only this synonym for Edom, and not the eponym Esau, is at all
evoked by Se'ar “hair.” The more familiar Esau may have been sub
stituted mechanically; or else, the author left it to the reader to com
plete the identification.
26. Jacob. See Comment.
27. The description of the two boys is clearly antithetical. The last
parts of the comparison are self-evident: Esau is a man of the outdoors
(field, steppe), whereas Jacob prefers the quieter life indoors (literally
in the “tents,” the plural being used in the abstract; “in the house” would
be too urban for the purpose); note the semantically identical Akk.
phrase asibuti/u kultari “dwellers in tents,” which in Assyrian king lists
(JNES 13 [1954], 210 f., lines 8f.) summarizes the background of the
first seventeen rulers; it was no longer primitive, like Enkidu’s (see Com
ment), yet not urban, but pastoral-rural. The first parts of the com
parison, however, are less transparent. Esau is given to hunting (literally
“experienced in, privy to,” cf. Isa liii 3 “familiar with illness”), as
opposed to Jacob who is (11) tdm, something like “of simple tastes,
quiet, retiring.” The over-all contrast, then, is between the aggressive
hunter and the reflective semi-nomad.
28. for he had a taste for game. The exact force of the phrase is not
entirely clear; cf. perhaps Job xx 12.
30. Esau is depicted as an uncouth glutton; he speaks of “swallowing,
gulping down,” instead of eating, or the like.
31. first. Heb. kayyom “as of now,” also in vs. 33; see Ehrl.
give me ... in exchange. Traditionally “sell me” does not bring out
the fact that the birthright was to be bartered (the basic meaning of
Hebrew) for food; in vs. 33, however, “sold” may be retained.
34. The second half of the verse presents a staccato succession of
five verbal forms, which is evidently calculated to point up Esau’s lack
of manners and judgment. But this is merely literary license. In xxxiii
1-17 we get an altogether different picture of Jacob’s older brother.
196 GENESIS
Comment
The section starts out with a brief notice by P. The initial phrase,
traditional “these are the generations of Isaac,” leads one to expect
a genealogical list, but none is forthcoming. The only birth recorded
is that of Isaac himself, so that tol'dot, if applied here in its usual
technical sense, should actually have referred to Abraham as beget
ter, and not to Isaac. Something is obviously out of line here. The
term may have been used this time in its broader sense of “story”
(cf. ii 4a, from the same source), which the above translation has
adopted for the sake of expediency. Or the passage may have been
construed originally much like vi 9-10, i.e., with heading, paren
thetic clause (19—20), and some such notice as [Isaac begot Esau
and Jacob]; but the latter lost out to the narrative by / (21 ff.) in
the final compilation. One could go on with other conjectures; a con
vincing conclusion has yet to be found.
The rest of the section is manifestly from J (see 21, 23). The
author was limited to some extent by the various aetiologies which
had to be worked into the account. Three of these involve Esau:
“hair” as a roundabout reference to Seir (25); its “reddish” color as
an allusion to Edom (25); and the “red stuff” in the bowl as an
other such allusion (30); the fourth pertains to Jacob, and features
‘qb “heel” as symbolic of y-'qb (26), for which see below. Yet /
is still able to depict Esau as a sort of Enkidu figure: the child
emerges “like a hairy mantle all over,” which is almost the same
as “shaggy with hair was his whole body,” applied to Enkidu in
Gilg., Tablet I, column ii, line 36 (where the phrase su’ur sarta is
cognate with Heb. Se dr); and Esau, like Enkidu, is a man of the
open spaces. The rest of the narrative sustains the image of un
couthness, which is heightened by the drumbeat effect of five suc
cessive verbal forms in vs. 34.
In seeking to assess the meaning of this section, we should bear
in mind the following points: (1) Business transactions in the Near
East, while always subject to strict legal norms, have also been
looked upon to some extent as a game, one in which the contest
ants match wits with one another (xxiii). Popular lore takes de
light in such gamesmanship,” much as official law stresses the ethi
cal and moral side in such dealings (cf. for example, Exod xxii
xxv 19-34
20 ff.). Abstract judgments could thus be easily misapplied. (2) Tra
dition, which guided the writers, was influenced in turn by ae-
tiological uses of words and sounds; in this instance, the name Jacob
had a ready surface explanation. (3) As was true, however, in so
many other cases, the popular explanation is not necessarily, or even
usually, the correct one. The original meaning of the name Jacob,
shortened from Y‘qb-’l “may God protect,” or the like, was forgotten
once the pertinent verb had gone out of general use; all that
remained was its apparent connection with “heel,” which symbolists
could not be expected to leave alone. (4) Above all, the main motif
with which tradition had to deal in the case of Isaac’s sons was the
transfer of birthright from the older to the younger. That this was
more than casual word play is evident from the very different and
obviously serious background of the narrative in xxvn. Yet the social
setting of that transfer was no longer self-evident at the time of the
writing, which permitted popular etymology to impose its own inter
pretation. For a discussion of the underlying social factor, which is
the heart of the matter, see Comment on Sec. 35 (ch. xxvii).
34. VARIOUS NOTICES ABOUT ISAAC
(xxvi 1-33: J; 34-35: / P / )
Egypt; stay in the land that I will point out to you. 3 You shall
sojourn in that land, but I will be with you and bless you; for I
will give all these lands to you and to your offspring, in
fulfillment of the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.
4 And I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in
the sky, and give all these lands to your offspring, so that all the
nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring—
5 all because Abraham heeded my call and kept my mandate:
his people, saying, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife
shall be put to death!”
12 Isaac sowed in that region, and reaped a hundredfold“ the
same year, for Yahweh had blessed him. 13 The man grew richer
all the time, until he was very wealthy. 14 He acquired flocks and
herds, and a large retinue; and the Philistines were envious of
him. 15 So the Philistines stopped up all the wells that his fa
ther’s servants had dug—back in the days of his father Abraham
—and filled them up with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “You must go away from us,
for you have become too big for us by far.” l? So Isaac departed
from there and encamped in the wadi6 of Gerar, where he
remained. 18 Isaac next reopened the wells which “had been dug
in the days ofc his father Abraham, but were later stopped up by
the Philistines after Abraham’s death; and he gave them the
same names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s
servants, digging in the wadi, found there a well with spring
water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar contended with the herdsmen
of Isaac, saying, “This water is ours!” So they named that well
Esek/ because they had bickered with him. 21 Then they dug
another well, and there was contention over that one also; so he
called it Sitnah.® 22 Moving on from there, he dug still another
well; and there was no contention over it. So he called it
Rehoboth, which is to say, “This time Yahweh 'has granted us
room' to increase in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba. 24 The same night
Yahweh appeared to him, and said,
“I am the God of your father Abraham.
Fear not for I am with you.
I will bless you and increase your offspring,
For my servant Abraham’s sake.”
0 See Note.
b Not “valley,”
see Note.
0-0 Versions differ, see Note.
d Literally “challenge,” an allusion to “contended.”
e “Opposition.”
1-1 Heb. hi-rtfib, play on “Rehcboth.”
200 GENESIS
Notes
xxvi 1. the previous famine. Cf. xii 10 (J); no such notive is given in
E’s account in xx.
Abimelech. Here identified explicitly as the Philistine ruler of Gerar.
Anachronistic use of the term Philistines appears to be peculiar to J, cf.
xxi 32, 34, perhaps because that ethnic group loomed large at the time of
the writing; the parallel account of E speaks only of Gerar, but says noth
ing about Philistines (xx 2). If it were not for the fact that in both pas
xx vi 1-35 201
sages Abimelech is accompanied by a military aide who bears the unusual
name of Phicol (vs. 26, below, xxi 22, 32), it would be easy enough to
assume two distinct local kings with the routine Semitic name of
Abimelech. As it is, only one generation can be involved, contemporary
with Isaac’s, as recorded by J; the other listing reflects not a separate gen
eration but a different source, see Comment on xx.
2. stay. Heb. stem Skn, which in J carries the idiomatic nuance of “to
camp,” cf. xvi 12.
3. You shall sojourn. Since Gerar has its own ruler, Isaac can only have
the status of sojourner; cf. xx 1; accordingly, 2b and 3a are not redun
dant, but in perfectly logical sequence.
5. mandate. Something to be scrupulously observed; the three nouns
that follow spell out the contents.
6. Note that the third narrative to deal with the wife-sister theme starts
here and not with vs. 7, as often cited, owing to the misleading verse divi
sion in xx 1-2.
7. thinking. Heb. pen “lest,” followed by direct address, as in vs. 9.
8. fondling. Heb. cons, mshq immediately after the name yshq, perhaps
an intentional wordplay; for the meaning cf. xxxix 14, 17.
10. one of the men. Literally “one of the people,” the noun ‘am
describing a combination of individuals; cf. JBL 79 (1960), 157 ff.
might have lain. Heb. approximately “a little more/longer and he
would have lain.”
12. a hundredfold. Heb. “100 s'rym (approximately proportions)”;
some versions, including LXX, read S'rym “of barley” (same cons.), but
traditional text is preferable. The verb for “reaped” is literally “reached,
achieved.”
14. He acquired flocks and herds. Literally “he came to have posses
sions of flocks and cattle.”
retinue. Abstract formation in Heb., from ‘bd “to serve, work”; possi
bly to be interpreted more generally as “equipment.”
17. wadi. Heb. nhl, either “brook” or its dry bed, here obviously the
latter, see vs. 19.
18. reopened. Literally “returned and dug.” The latter verb, Heb. hpr
describes digging that has been carried to a successful conclusion (also
15, 19, 21, 22, 32). As against this, krh (25) designates primarily exca
vation still in progress or unutilized; see especially Ps vii 16 (where the
two verbs are juxtaposed), and also Exod xxi 33; Jer xviii 20, 22.
in the days of. Heb. bymy, for which Sam., LXX, Vulg. read 'bdy “the
servants of,” as in vs. 15, where bymy follows; the accompanying verb
need not in this case be construed impersonally. Text probably had origi
202 GENESIS
nally the same sequence as in 15, but one of the nouns dropped out acci
dentally.
25. started digging. See Note on 18. The success of the attempt is not
reported until 32.
26. councilor. An extension of the noun rea‘ “friend, companion,”
which has a similar technical connotation in II Sam xv 37, xvi 16, and es
pecially I Kings iv 5. Analogously, Akk. mudu “familiar, expert” be
comes a councilor of the crown in the court of Ugarit; cf. JAOS 75
(1955), 163. The parallel account in xxi 22 does not mention this official
in the MT version, but he is included in LXX and Old Latin.
28. a sworn treaty. Heb. ’aid “adjuration, curse” (cf. xxiv 41), but also,
by extension, a treaty with sanctions, note especially Deut xxix 20.
between our two sides. Heb. benot-, not the preposition “between” but
a secondary noun “between two parties,” or the like; cf. xlii 23.
29. Yahweh’s blessing upon you! Not an invocation but a form of wel
come (Ehrl.) which cancels the expulsion decree of vs. 16. With the
treaty concluded, Isaac is assured of a friendly reception throughout
Abimelech’s territory.
31. bade them good-by. Literally “blessed,” but often used in greeting
or parting, since pertinent formulas would normally include an appeal for
the good will of the deity; cf. xlvii 7, 10.
33. Shibah. The cons, text of MT can yield: (a) Sib'a “seven” (tradi
tional); (b) Sib'd “satedness, plenty” (Syr., Vulg., Aquila, Symmachus);
(c) imbu'd “oath” (cf. LXX). Of these choices, (a) does not fit
the context at all, since nothing has been said here about the number
seven; (b) has a possible indirect connection, inasmuch as the discovery
of a new well has a bearing on future crops; the most pertinent of the ex
tant interpretations, however, is (c), since the narrative features a politi
cal treaty solemnized by an oath (vss. 28, 31). The pointing of MT was
influenced obviously by direct association with the name Beer-sheba, as
recalled from the other narrative. The facts before us, however, favor the
third interpretation, especially since the parallel account in xxi 27 ff. also
lists the oath as one of the reasons for the name of the city.
34—35. This excerpt from P has no connection with the preceding epi
sodes. As now placed, it may be viewed as a later and separate motivation
(disappointment with Esau’s Canaanite wives) for the narrative in xxvii.
One of the two gentilics in vs. 34 is almost certainly an error for “Hivite”
or “Horite”; cf. textual note h.
xxvi 1-35 203
Comment
XXVII 1 When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had faded
away, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!” “At
once,” he answered. 2 And he said, “As you see, I am so old
that “there is no telling® when I may die. 3 So take your gear—
your quiver and bow—and go out to the country to hunt some
venison for me. 4 Then prepare it as a festive dish, the way I
like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my very
own blessing before I die.”
5 Rebekah had been listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau.
So when Esau had gone off to the country to hunt venison for
his father,6 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob: “I just overheard
your father speaking with your brother Esau, thus, 7 ‘Bring me
venison and prepare it for me as a festive dish that I may eat it
and bless you with Yahweh’s approval before I die.’ 8 Now, my
son, listen carefully to my instructions. 9 Go to the flock and
fetch me from there two choice kids. I will prepare them as a
festive dish for your father, the way he likes. 10 Then take it to
your father to eat that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 “But my brother Esau,” Jacob said to his mother, “is a
hairy man, and I am smooth-skinned! 12 Suppose my father
feels me? He will think me frivolous, and I shall bring on myself
a curse instead of a blessing.” 13 His mother replied to him, “Let
any curse against you, my son, be my concern! Just do as I say.
Go and fetch them.”
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother;
and his mother prepared the festive dish, the way his father
a~a Literally “I do not know the day of my death”; cf. Note.
6 Heb. “to bring”; see Note.
206 GENESIS
liked. 15 Rebekah then got the best clothes of her older son Esau
which she had in the house, and put them on her youngest son
Jacob;16 and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands
and the hairless parts of his neck. 17 She then handed to her son
Jacob the festive dish and the bread that she had prepared.
18 He went to his father and said, “Father!” “Yes?” he an
swered, “Which one of my sons are you?” 19 Jacob said to his
father, “I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Pray sit
up and eat of my venison, that you may give me your very own
blessing.” 20 Isaac asked his son, “How is it that you succeeded
so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because Yahweh your God
made things go well for me.” 21 But Isaac said to Jacob, “Come
closer, that I may leam by feeling you whether you really are my
son Esau or not. 22 Jacob moved up to his father Isaac, who felt
him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are
the hands of Esau.” 23 He had not identified him, because his
hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau. Still, as he was
about to bless him, 24 he asked again, “You are my son Esau?”
“Of course,” he replied. 2* So he said, “Serve it to me, and let
me eat of my son’s venison, that I may give you my very own
blessing.” He served it to him, and he ate; then he brought him
wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come
closer my son, and kiss me.” 27 As he went up and kissed him,
[Isaac] sniffed the smell of his clothes. TTien, at last, he
blessed him, saying,
“Ah, my son’s smell
Is like the smell of a field0
Which Yahweh has blessed.
28 May God give you
d Literally “rise.”
« “Be at my heel,” play on Jacob.
/ Heb. cons, hkrty : brkty.
o So LXX; MT omits.
h See Note.
208 GENESIS
Notes
xxvii 1. his eyesight had faded away. Literally “his eyes were too dim
to see (with).”
At once. Literally “Here I am,” which must be varied in translation
according to the context; cf. “Yes?” in vs. 18, and see xxii 1, Note.
2. The literal “I know not the day of my death,” would be meaning
less, since nobody could be said to know that; cf. JBL 74 (1955), 252.
3. country. Literally “field,” the outdoors; see xxv 27.
4. festive dish. The traditional tasty, savory dish is a slavish rendering
of Heb. All dishes were presumably meant to be tasty. Moreover, the
plural ending of the Heb. noun suggests something more or less abstract,
not unlike our “delicacy.” The qualifying phrase means either “the way
I like (it)” or “the kind I like.”
that I may give you my very own blessing. Literally “that my being
may bless you”; but this is not “that I may bless you myself.” That the
added term carries some technical nuance is suggested by the fact that
it is used no less than four times in this narrative; cf. 19, 25, 31. But
what that connotation may be is difficult to decide. Conceivably, how
xxvii 1-45 209
here to express courtesy rather than urgency; cf. the parallel “pray sit up”
in vs. 19.
33. I finished eating it. MT w'kl mkl, literally “I ate of everything,”
perhaps a scribal slip for the infinitive absolute w’kl ’kl, for which cf. xxxi
15. The above translation can do justice to either reading.
he must remain blessed. A blessing given in such circumstances cannot
be revoked; cf. vs. 7.
36. In addition to the play y'qb : wy'qbny, the verse also juxtaposes
most skillfully the pair bkrty “my birthright” and brkty “my blessing.”
38. [Isaac said nothing]. This clause is missing in MT but given in
LXX; note Lev x 3, where a similar crisis is at issue. Although LXX is
not supported in this instance by other versions, it is improbable that this
highly effective remark was made up by the translators. It is brief enough
to have been skipped accidentally by a scribe.
39. far from. Heb. employs here the preposition mi(n), the same as in
the corresponding portion of vs. 28, in a partitive sense, which is but an
other nuance of the common “from, away from.” To treat both passages
on a par, implying that Esau too was promised agricultural wealth, would
undermine the whole tenor of the context. But to understand the particle
as “without . . . ,” with many older translators and most modems, is not
sanctioned by established Heb. usage. To be sure, the style remains awk
ward, quite aside from the preposition. Yet some such meaning as the
one here reflected is clearly indicated: Edom is doomed to privations, yet
his day will come.
40. as you grow restive. Cf. Jer ii 31; Ps lv 3. But the ancient versions
differ widely in their understanding of the verb, which need mean no
more than that the precise force would no longer be determined. The
other occurrences are similarly inconclusive. An old textual error is by no
means improbable.
42. is hoping for redress. Literally “is consoling himself (with the
thought of).” On the basis of Isa i 24, Heb. mtnhm could be a variant for
mtnqm “is seeking vengeance,” without the outright emendation that
many have proposed. But the present text yields excellent sense as it is.
44. a while. Literally “some days/years.”
45. bereft of both of you. Killing Jacob would expose Esau to the death
penalty, through blood vengeance or otherwise.
Comment
Notes
xxvii 45. This is a direct sequel to xxvi 34-35. For the last clause cf.
xxv 22.
xxviii 1. greeted him. Heb. berek, though normally “to bless,” is also
used for greeting and parting; cf. Note on xxvi 31. In this instance, no
blessing is recorded until vs. 3. The intervening passage deals, instead,
with strictly mundane matters. It is not improbable that P had a particu
lar purpose in mind in employing the stem brk repeatedly in this context
(cf. 4, 6—bis), namely, to emphasize that Isaac had nothing but the
friendliest feelings toward Jacob; see especially xlvii 7, 10.
3. El Shaddai. See xvii 1.
tribes. Heb. ‘ammim, often “peoples,” but also “kinsfolk,” cf. xxv 8.
The present terminology is not political (which would require goy), the
promised increase alluding not to peoples but people.
4. the blessing of Abraham. Cf. xii 7.
9. Nebaioth. Ishmael’s first-born; cf. xxv 13.
Comment
Notes
xxviii 11. a certain place. The attribute is implicit in the definite arti
cle of Heb. The noun, Heb. maqdm, has several connotations, including
“spot” (here in vs. 11) and “(religious) site” (invss. 16, 19).
stopped . . . for the night. Not “spent the night,” since his sleep was to
be interrupted. The imperfect of Heb. often has an inchoative connota
tion.
12. a stairway. The traditional “ladder” is such an old favorite that it is
a pity to have to dislodge it. Yet it goes without saying that a picture of
angels going up and down in a steady stream is hard to reconcile with an
ordinary ladder. Etymologically, the term (stem sll “to heap up, raise”)
suggests a ramp or a solid stairway. And archaeologically, the Mesopo
tamian ziggurats were equipped with flights of stairs leading up to the
summit; a good illustration is the excavated ziggurat of Ur (Third Dy
nasty). Only such stairway can account for Jacob’s later description of it
as a “gateway to heaven” (17).
set. Literally “was stationed, planted.”
13. standing beside him. This is the established meaning of the Heb.
phrase, cf. xviii 2. The preposition, literally “upon,” is a matter of idio
matic usage (cf. especially xxix 2), and should not be strained unduly.
I Yahweh am the God. . . . Not “I am Yahweh, the God. . . .” The
description applies not to the name but to the deeds; cf. especially the in
troduction to the Decalogue, Exod xx 2, Deut v 6.
17. Shaken. Literally “terrified.”
this . . . that. Heb. uses the same demonstrative pronoun both times,
but the repetition makes it distributive.
20. bread . . . clothing. These two items were regularly issued to
slaves, servants, and seasonal workers, and are often listed together in
business documents. The sense here is equivalent to “just enough to
subsist on.”
21b. A manifest insert from J. E’s version read “If . . . house-—(22)
[then] this stone. . .
xxviii 10-22 219
Comment
XXIX 1 Jacob resumed his journey and made his way to the
land of the Easterners. 2 There before his eyes was a well out in
the open, and three droves of sheep huddled beside it, for the
droves were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth
of that well was large: 3 only when all the shepherds0 had as
sembled there together, could they roll the stone from the
mouth of the well and water the flocks; then they would put
back the stone over the mouth of the well.
4 Jacob said to them, “My friends, where are you from?”
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he
rushed out to greet him; he embraced him, and kissed him, and
took him to his house. The other than recounted to Laban ev
erything that had happened; 14 and Laban said to him, “You are
truly my cflesh and blood.”0
°~c Literally “bone and flesh.”
Notes
xxix 1. resumed his journey. See Note on xxi 16, and cf. vs. 11. In all
such instances, the verb ns’, literally “to lift,” is only used to emphasize
the particular activity.
the Easterners. See xxv 6, and cf. Judg vi 3, 33; Isa xi 14; Jer xlix 28,
etc.
2. beside it. Clearly not “upon it”; cf. xxviii 13.
was large. The construction is predicative, not attributive (“a large
stone”).
3. shepherds. This is the reading of Sam. and some MSS of LXX; in vs.
8, the same reading is given by LXX A and B, as well as Sam. MT
“droves” (cons, 'drym for r'ym) may have been influenced by the preced
ing verse. The change supplies the necessary subject both here and in vs.
8; and it also furnishes an antecedent for the third masculine plural pro
nouns in vss. 4-8 to “they” at the beginning of vs. 8, which MT lacks.
5. We do. Since biblical Heb. lacks a word for “yes,” it can only ex
press affirmation by restating the question in positive terms: Do you
know?—We know; Is he well? (vs. 6)—Well. Cf. xviii 15, Note.
7. Why don’t you. Heb. uses imperatives, but these should not be
construed as commands. Once again, it is a question of Heb. idiom,
evidently the vernacular in the present context.
Comment
XXIX 14b After Jacob“ had stayed with him a month’s time,
1 Laban said to him, “Just because you are my kinsman, should
5
Notes
xxix 17. tender. Not necessarily “weak,” for the basic sense of Heb. rak
is “dainty, delicate”; cf. xxxiii 13. The traditional translation has been
influenced by the popular etymology of the name Leah as “weak.” What
the narrative appears to be saying is that Leah had lovely eyes, but
Rachel was an outstanding beauty.
19. Remain with me. The prepositional phrase ‘immadi stresses “under
my authority,” for which cf. vs. 27, below; cf. also Note on xxiii 4.
21. unite with. For the Heb. idiom cf. Note on vi 4. In vss. 23 and 30,
the imperfect has been translated “cohabited.”
23. Starting with the wedding festivities and until the marriage was
consummated, the bride is assumed to have been veiled; cf. xxiv 65.
24. See Comment; also vs. 29.
27. Wait until the bridal week . . . is over. The verb means literally
“fulfill” (imperative); cf. next verse. The bridal week is expressly defined
as “seven days of festivities”; cf. Judg xiv 12.
28. Jacob agreed. Cf. xlii 20; hardly “he did so,” because what is ex
pected in this context is some form of direct reply rather than long-term
compliance alone. Cf. Akk. anna/anna kina, with nadanu, sakdnu, apalu
“to give an affirmative response” (ki/enu is, of course, a cognate of Heb.
ken “thus, right”).
Comment
Whe n
i Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he un-
re' ^ k° remained barren 32 Leah con
mved and bore a son, whom she named Reuben; for she de-
c ared, It means Yahweh has seen my distress ’ and skn ‘M
my husband will love me.’ ”» 33 She conceived w
»n declaring, -,t means,
tae™ 3?A1?‘T ab°” Hence she na^ ht
oimeon Again she conceived and bore a son, declaring “Now
•
^is35H°"“ rC
u , aecJanng- ^is time let me
stopped bearing.’ “ 7 named him 'udah' ^e"she
she named him Zebulun. /21 Lastly, she bore a daughter, and
named her Dinah.
22 God remembered Rachel: God heeded her and unclosed
her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son, declaring, God has
removedr my disgrace./ 24 She named him Joseph, meaning,
“May Yahweh add' another son for mel”
r Heb. 'Ssap, in assonance with Yosfp “Joseph.”
* Heb. yostp.
Notes
Comment
The section lists the births and names of eleven of Jacob’s sons.
The notice about the birth of the one daughter, Dinah, is given at
the end, and it is the only instance in which no explanation is
linked with the name; the notation may thus be a later gloss On
the whole, the naming of a child was never a casual matter; cf
M. Noth, Die israelitischen Personennamen, 1929, and J. J Stamm,
232 GENESIS
Notes
xxx 25. Give me leave to go. A self-evident nuance of the Piel stem;
the identical idiom is used in Arabic.
my own homeland Literally “mv place and my land”; for an analogous
hendiadys cf. xii 1.
26. and my children. In the case of slaves, children remained the
property of the master; cf. Exod xxi 4 ff.; the same was true of the off
spring (serru) of slaves according to cun, and specifically Nuzian,
law, which is particularly relevant in this context. The status of Jacob
and his household was, of course, not of the same order, at least tech
236 GENESIS
nically. Yet the narrative would seem to intimate that Jacob’s treatment
at the hands of Laban was not much better than that of slaves; cf. xxxi
43.
27. / have learned through divination. The same Heb. verb is found
also in xliv 5, 15. In a Mesopotamian context, such as the present, the
term refers undoubtedly to inquiries by means of omens; cf. Ezek xxi 26.
Yahweh. Many versions read Elohim, see textual note a; that variant
may well be the superior reading, since the more general term for the
deity is expected from Laban, in contrast to Jacob’s mode of reference
(vs. 30).
30. for my actions. Heb. leragli, literally “according to my foot,
step,” in the sense of either “in my wake, train,” as here assumed, or
perhaps “since I have set foot here”; cf. also xxxiii 14.
It is high time that. Literally “Now, when will I. . . ?”
31. again. Literally “I will come back and.”
32. This verse and the next abound in problems of text and interpreta
tion, partly no doubt because of the idiomatic language and the special
ized character of the context, which made transmission that much more
difficult.
Go. So Vulg. MT has “I will go,” but this cannot be co-ordinated
grammatically with a following imperative haser “remove”; and a
gerund would require wehaser. Logically, too, MT is suspect, since Laban
would scarcely agree to let Jacob make the division; what is more, vs
35 says explicitly that Laban did the removing.
animal. Heb. ie, which is not only “sheep” but also “goat”; cf. Exod
xii 5; Deut xiv 4.
At this point, the Heb. text reads redundantly “speckled and spotted,
and every sheep,” evidently added through conflation with the following
verse; LXX omits.
dark-colored. Heb. hum, a different term from the common Heb.
adjective for “black.” Sheep were normally white, while goats were
dark-brown or black all over; cf. “fully dark-colored,” vss. 35, 40.
33. when you check these wages. Evidently a technical use of the
phrase bd’ 'al literally “to come over/upon.” Uncertainty about the in
terpretation has led to different readings of the pronominal prefix:
alongside the second person in the Heb. text, we find the first person in
TP, and the third person in Sam. (“when [it] comes to my wages”).
The above translation has the advantage of dispensing with an emendation
and, what is more, it provides a logical premise for what follows.
your own view of my honesty. Literally “my honesty” (sidqati), con
strued with “before you” (lepaneka), that is, as you yourself judge it.
let .. . be used as an argument against me. Literally “let it testify
against me.” For this force of the preposition bi with the verb in
xxx 25-43 237
question, see especially Num xxxv 30; II Sam i 16 (and I Sam xii 3);
“for me” would probably have been ti. The concluding clause (it got
there by theft”) clearly presupposes adverse testimony.
in my possession. Heb. 'itti, at the end of the verse.
35. every one with white on it. Heb. laban in this phrase isprobably an
incidental wordplay on the name Laban.
36. At the end of this verse Sam. inserts the text of xxxi 11-13, per
haps in an endeavor to bring the two narratives into harmony. The three
days’ distance applies only to this particular juncture in the narrative. The
events described in the rest of the account required more than one sea
son; cf. Note on 43.
37. shoots. Literally “rods,” cf. next verse; but the descriptive “fresh”
(Heb. lah) shows that the noun was also used of branches before they
were made into rods.
39. goats. Here Heb. $d’n, normally “flock.” But just as the singular Se
(cf. Note on 32) is either “sheep” or “goat,” so may its collective coun
terpart so’n stand not only for sheep and goats, but also sheep or goats.
(Similarly, bdqar may be collective for “cattle,” or discrete for “oxen”
alone; see Num vii 6 as contrasted with vii 3.) The present context shows
conclusively that only goats are involved, since the same markings are re
stricted to goats according to 32, 35. In Heb. the necessary identification
is conveyed automatically, as is true also of our “animals” (cf. 40, 41) in
given contexts. A translation, however, needs to be more specific at times.
The above interpretation, for which cf. R. P. de Vaux in SB, note,
removes an old crux; see the Comment below.
40. The ewes, on the other hand. This nuance is assured by the promi
nent inversion in Heb. These animals are thus sharply contrasted with the
“flock,” i.e., goats of the preceding verse.
41. when. For this sense of Heb. kol (=every time that) followed by
an infinitive, cf. Ehrl.
sturdier. TO, Symmachus, and Vulg. offer “early-bearing/bom,” and
similarly “late” for “feebler.” The end result is the same, since the
stronger ewes are known to lamb in winter, and the weaker ones in spring
(Dr.). But the alternative rendering is a paraphrase, nonetheless; Heb. ‘fp
“to be faint” is well attested, and qSr in this particular sense corresponds
to Akk. gaSrum “sturdy, robust,” an adjective applied to animals, among
others.
43. This progress was obviously a matter of years, not just days; cf.
xxxi 41, at least according to one of the sources.
238 GENESIS
Comment
where his flock was, 5 and he said to them, “I have noticed that
your father’s manner toward me is not the same as in the past;
but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I
have put all my effort into serving your father. 7 Yet your
father has cheated me, and has changed my wages time and
again. But God would not allow him to do me harm. 8 If he
should state, ‘Speckled animals shall be your wages,’ then the
whole flock would drop speckled ones; and if he should an
nounce, ‘Streaked animals shall be your wages,’ then the whole
flock would drop streaked ones. 9 Thus had God reclaimed your
father’s livestock and given it to me.
1° “Once, at the mating time of the flocks, I suddenly saw in
a dream that the he-goats in the flock, as they mated, were
streaked, speckled, and mottled. 11 And in the dream an angel
of God called to me, ‘Jacobi’ ‘At once!’ I answered. 12 He said,
‘Note well that all the he-goats in the flock, as they mate, are
streaked, speckled, and mottled—for I too have noted all the
“Documentary distribution unclear at times; see Comment and Notes.
6LXX; Heb. “he.”
xxxi 1-54 241
things that Laban has been doing to you, 13 I the God 'who ap
peared to youc in Bethel, where you anointed a stele and made a
vow to me. Up, then, leave this land and return to the land of
your birth.’ ”
14 Rachel and Leah answered him, saying, “Have we still an
shall not live! In the presence of all this company, if you dis
cover here anything that belongs to you, take it!” Jacob, of
course, did not know that Rachel had appropriated them.
33 Laban went through Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the
tents of the two maidservants, but did not find them. He came
out of Leah’s tent and went into the tent of Rachel. 34 Mean
while, Rachel had taken the idols, put them inside a camel cush
ion, and sat on top of them. When Laban had combed through
the rest of the tent, to no avail, 35 Rachel” said to her father,
“Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for
a woman’s period is upon me.” And so, though he searched, he
did not find the idols.
36 Aroused now, Jacob took up his grievance with Laban. He
spoke up to Laban, and said, “What is my crime, what is my
guilt, that you should have hounded me? 37 Although you have
rummaged through all my things, have you found a single object
from your household? If so, produce it, before your companions
and mine, that they may decide between us two.
38 “In the twenty years that I was under you, your ewes and
your she-goats never miscarried, nor did I ever feast on rams
from your flock. 39 I never brought to you the prey of beasts: I
myself made good the loss; you exacted it from me, whether
snatched by day or snatched by night. 40 Often, scorching heat
ravaged me by day and frost at night; and sleep drifted from my
eyes. 41 Of the twenty years that I spent in your household, I
slaved fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for
your flock, since you changed my wages time and again. 42 If my
« MT “she.”
xxxi 1-54 243
ancestral God, the God of Abraham and the Awesome One of
Isaac, had not been on my side, you would have sent me away
empty-handed. But God saw my plight and my labors, and he
gave judgment last night.”
43 “The daughters are mine,” Laban replied to Jacob, “and
the children are mine; so too is the flock. Everything you see be
longs to me. Yet what can I do now about these my daughters,
or about the children they have borne? 44 So come, let us con
clude a pact, you and I, that there' may be a witness between
you and me.” 45 Jacob then took a stone and set it up as a stele.
46 Jacob said to his companions, “Gather stones.” They got
stones and made a mound, and they broke bread there over the
mound. 47 Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha/ but Jacob called it
Galeed.'* 48 Said Laban, “This mound shall be witness, as of this
day, between you and me.” That is why it was named Galeed—
49 also Mizpah, for he said, “May Yahweh keep watch4 between
you and me when we are out of sight of each other: 5° if you ill-
treat my daughters, or take other wives besides my daughters—
though no one else be about, know that God will be witness be
tween you and me.”
51 And Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this mound, and here the
stele which I have erected between you and me: 52 this mound
shall be witness, and this stele shall be witness, that I am not to
cross to you past this mound, and that you are not to cross to
me past this mound, or this stele, with hostile intent. 53 May the
God of Abraham and the god of Nahor (their respective ances
tral deities )J maintain order between us.” And Jacob took the
oath by the Awesome One of Isaac his father.
54 Jacob offered a sacrifice on the Height, and invited his com
panions to partake of the meal. After the meal, they passed the
night on the Height.
f See Note.
0 Aramaic for “mound of testimony.”
* “Mound of witness.”
4 MT cons, y f p , in assonance with m f p h “Mizpah.”
Notes
xxxi 1. Laban’s sons. The relationship need not be taken literally. In vs.
28, e.g., the same Heb. term stands for “grandchildren.” Here it could
refer to any prospective heirs, such as adopted sons, or the like. At any
rate, nothing was said about any sons of Laban in ch. xxix, where such a
reference would surely have been in order; and vs. 23, below, speaks only
of “brothers," i.e., kinsmen, but no sons.
Verse 1 connects directly with the preceding chapter, and is followed
by vs. 3, the whole stemming from Ts account: note “Yahweh” in vs. 3.
2. In this verse, it is Laban’s altered attitude toward Jacob that is cited
as the reason for Jacob’s flight, thus reflecting a variant tradition (E).
as ... in the past. Literally “as yesterday, day before yesterday”; same
phrase in 5.
4. E’s account is resumed and continues in the main through 44; note
the use of Elohim for the Deity in 7, 9, 11, 16, 24, 29.
7. time and again. Literally “ten times,” also in vs. 41; cf. especially
Num. xiv 22, and see Note on xxiv 10.
9. reclaimed. Cf. 16 (the approximate sense is that of “salvaged”).
10. / suddenly saw in a dream. Literally “I lifted up my eyes and saw,
and there (‘behold’) in a dream. . . The dream is in £ the usual me
dium of communication between God and man. In the parallel account
by J (xxx 32), no such suggestion from above is either mentioned or im
plied.
the he-goats in the flock, as they mated. Literally “the he-goats that
mounted on the flock”; similarly in 12.
12. Note well. Heb. “Lift up your eyes and see.”
13. / the God. For the appositional construction, cf. xxviii 13: see ibid.
for the theophany, vs. 18 for the anointing of the stele, and vss. 20-22
for the vow.
The Heb. text is obviously defective, not because “God Bethel” would
be an improbable title (for one just like it, cf. Ilu-Bayti-ili, in an Assyro-
Tyrian treaty, AFO 9 [1933/34], 109, line 6), but because the phrase is
syntactically untenable; the missing words, which automatically right the
syntax, are supplied by two of the ancient versions.
14-16. On this passage, see M. Burrows, ‘The Complaint of Laban’s
Daughters,” JAOS 57 (1937), 259-76.
14. an heir’s portion. Literally “portion and inheritance” (hendiadys).
15. outsiders. Literally “foreign women.” The Nuzi texts furnish new
evidence on the favored status of native women compared with that
xxxi 1-54 245
of outsiders; see ZA 41 (1933), 16. Under certain conditions, moreover,
transfer of property to such “foreign women” is expressly forbidden.
used up. Literally “eaten up” (infinitive absolute). The terminology
(“sell” in marriage, “eat” the monies received) is again in complete
harmony with cun. technical usage. The point in this instance, as
elucidated by tablets from Human centers, is that part of the bride
payment was normally reserved for the woman as her inalienable
dowry. Rachel and Leah accuse their father of violating the family laws
of their country. Significantly enough, the pertinent records antedate
Moses by centuries.
17. Thereupon. Literally “he rose (and),” another instance of the
auxiliary use of wyqm; cf. xxii 7, Note. In vs. 21 the same term is
translated “soon.”
18b. A transparent insert from P.
19. The initial clause is circumstantial, as shown by both the tense
and the inverted construction; cf. i 2.
appropriated. Also vs. 32. Heb. stem gnb, which usually means “to
steal.” But it also has other shadings in idiomatic usage. Thus the very
next clause employs the same verb, no doubt deliberately and with
telling effect, in the phrase “lulling the mind,” i.e., stealing the heart;
the phrase is repeated in 26; in 27, with Laban speaking, the verb is
used by itself in the sense of “to dupe.” Finally, in vs. 29, the passive
participle occurs (twice) to designate animals snatched by wild beasts.
The range of gnb is thus much broader, in Heb. in general, and in the
present narrative in particular, than our “to steal” would indicate.
A reasonably precise translation is especially important in this instance.
The issue is bound up with the purpose of Rachel’s act. If it was
inspired by no more than a whim, or resentment, or greed, then Rachel
stole the images. But if she meant thereby to undo what she regarded
as a wrong (cf. Comment), and thus took the law, as she saw it, into
her own hands, the translation “stole” would be not only inadequate
but misleading. On the other hand, when Laban refers to the same
act further down (vs. 30), he clearly meant “steal.”
household images. Heb. Prapim. They were figurines, sometimes at
least in human shape (I Sam xix 13, 16), which were in popular use
for purposes of divination (Ezek xxi 26; Zech x 2; cf. also Judg xvii 5,
xviii 14 ff.; Hos iii 4). The etymology is obscure, but derivation from
(cons.) rph “to be limp” is not improbable; hence perhaps “inert things,
idols.” The usage in the present narrative suggests a pejorative connota
tion; for when the author speaks for himself, he refers to these objects as
terapim (also vss. 34 f.); Laban, on the other hand, calls them “gods”
(vs. 30; when Jacob does the same in vs. 32, he is only quoting Laban).
20. the Aramaean. The term is troublesome for chronological reasons.
246 GENESIS
know that God (will be witness between you and me),” that is, the same
clause as 50b. Two such passages in the original, only a few lines apart,
could readily lead to the loss of one of them in the course of repeated
copying (so-called homoioteleuton). The translation given above is
neutral.
46 ff. Here we get two versions of the mutual friendship and non-
aggression pact between Jacob and Laban, one from / (46-50), and the
other from E (51-54). In all likelihood, the mound of stones ( g a l )
served as the symbol of the treaty in /s version, and the stele or stone
slab (masseba) in E’s. In course of time, however, a certain amount of
cross-harmonization took place. Thus gl'd (Galeed, Gilead), which is
appropriate only to fs gal, was joined by msph (Mizpah), evidently a
symbolic echo of E’s msbh; and conversely, vss. 51 ff. were eventually
filled out with balancing references to the mound from the earlier
source.
50. The stipulation against taking other wives is basic to many
cuneiform marriage documents.
53. The phrase enclosed between parentheses is immediately betrayed
as redactional by its use of the third person (“their”), as opposed to the
direct address in the preceding verses. Apparently, a marginal notation
in an early copy sought to explain how the god of Nahor had come into
the picture. But such marginal comments have found their way more
than once into the body of the text with the passage of time.
Comment
This narrative has long been celebrated in its own right. In the
light of recent discoveries, moreover, it has become a key witness
on the subject of patriarchal traditions in general. But before we
consider the extra-biblical connections, the traditional data need to
be surveyed in brief.
The documentary distribution appears to be clear-cut at first
glance. The hand of J is manifest in vss. 1 and 3, and then toward
the end, in 46-50. Verse 18 contains a typical summation of P. The
rest of this long chapter would thus seem to belong to E, and the
assumption has strong evidence in its favor, both external and in
ternal. Nevertheless, sporadic echoes of J would seem to be present
here and there, notably in 38-40. As was the case with ch. xxii,
where one source appears to have colored another, we may have
here instance where the hand is mainly E’s, yet the voice is some
times /’s. At any rate, the problem is too complex to be discussed
here in detail. It did not seem advisable, however, to mark the doc
xxxi 1-54 249
umentary boimdaries in the translation, except for the transparent
intrusion by P; the salient points have been touched upon instead in
the Notes.
The subject matter of the narrative subdivides into two parts.
The first, and much the longer of the two, tells of Jacob’s increasing
difficulties with Laban, the Sight and pursuit, and the dramatic en
counter in Gilead. The other portion takes up the treaty between
Jacob and Laban (46-54).
That the account of the flight is essentially the work of E is
immediately apparent from the frequent mention of Elohim and the
repeated stress on dreams (10f., 24). Even more significant, how
ever, is the internal evidence of the contents, as compared with the
pertinent passages from the hand of /. According to J, Jacob’s
flight was precipitated by agitation on the part of Laban’s pros
pective heirs (vs. 1). On the other hand, E ascribes Jacob’s abrupt
departure to Laban’s menacing moods (vs. 2). We have, more
over, conflicting explanations of Jacob’s prosperity itself: J de
scribes it as the result of Jacob’s own ingenious countermoves to
Laban’s schemes (xxx 27-42), whereas in E (xxxi 10ff.) the ini
tiative is God’s.
The two sources differ likewise in their interpretation of the
treaty between Jacob and Laban. To J, the ostensible, if not the
actual reason for the pact is Laban’s new-found solicitude for his
daughters’ future (50). In E’s formulation, the object is a mutual
non-aggression pact (52), that is, a strictly political agreement. The
outward symbols of the treaty are no less distinct. J’s version
features a mound of stones, or cairn (Heb. gal), as a permanent
witness Ced), the two terms together supplying an explanation for
the regional name Gilead. For his part, E concentrates on a stele or
pillar (Heb. masseba). Interestingly enough, the text also alludes to
the respective deities of the contractual parties (53), in apparent
compliance with treaty practices throughout the ancient Near East;
nor does E omit to record the meal that was an important concluding
feature of treaty ceremonies (vs. 54; cf. xxvi 30). Both reports,
incidentally, have the authentic ring of legal and political documents;
they thus appear to hark back to an actual agreement between
early Israelite and Amorite/Aramaean elements; cf. the date formula
in Alalakh Tablets 58 (Old Babylonian period).
There is, however, one particular feature in this chapter which is
exclusive with E. It concerns the household images which Rachel
250 GENESIS
removed from her father’s house without his knowledge. The author
handles the entire episode with outstanding skill. When he speaks of
the figurines on his own (19, 34 f.), he uses the secular, and some
times irreverent, term frapim (perhaps “inert things,” cf. Note
on vs. 19); but Laban refers to them as “my gods” (’Hohay,
vs. 30). The search is suspensefully depicted, as Laban combs
through one tent after another until he gets to the tent of Rachel,
where they have been hidden. Rachel’s pretense of female incapaci
tation is a literary gem in itself. The crowning touch of drama and
irony is Jacob’s total unawareness of the truth—the grim danger
implicit in his innocent assurance that the guilty party would be
put to death.
But the basic significance of the incident now transcends all such
considerations of human interest or literary presentation. It derives
from underlying social practices as they bear on the nature of the pa
triarchal narratives in general. According to the Nuzi documents,
which have been found to reflect time and again the social customs
of Haran (see Comments on Secs. 15, 25, 35, and the Note on xxv
23), possession of the house gods could signify legal title to a given
estate, particularly in cases out of the ordinary, involving daughters,
sons-in-law, or adopted sons (see Anne E. Draffkom, Ilani/Elohim,
JBL 76 [1957], 219ff.).
This peculiar practice of Rachel’s homeland supplies at last the
motive, sought so long but in vain, for her seemingly incom
prehensible conduct. Rachel was in a position to know, or at least to
suspect, that in conformance with local law her husband was entitled
to a specified share in Laban’s estate. But she also had ample reason
to doubt that her father would voluntarily transfer the images as for
mal proof of property release; the ultimate status of Laban’s daugh
ters and their maidservants could well have been involved as well. In
other words, tradition remembered Rachel as a resolute woman who
did not shrink from taking the law—or what she believed to be the
law—into her own hands.
The above technical detail would help to explain why Laban was
more concerned about the disappearance of the images than about
anything else (vs. 30). For under Human law, Jacob’s status in
Laban’s household would normally be tantamount to self-enslave
ment. That position, however, would be altered if Jacob was rec
ognized as an adopted son who married the master’s daughter.
Possession of the house gods might well have made the difference.
xxxi 1-54 251
Laban knew that he did not have them, but chose to act £ts though
he did, at least to save face. Thus his seeming magnanimity in the
end (43 f.) would no longer be out of character. He keeps up the
pretense that he is the legal owner of everything in Jacob’s posses
sion; yet he must have been aware that, with the images gone, he
could not press such a claim in a court of law.
Was the author conscious of all these complex and to him alien
details? Such intimate knowledge on his part is scarcely to be ex
pected in the circumstances, after a lapse of centuries and under
totally different conditions. In view of E’s known tendency to pre
sent his heroes in the best possible light (cf. Comment on Sec. 25),
his present failure to tone down Rachel’s apparent misconduct can
only mean that he had no basis for doing so. To put it differently,
E did not invent this story any more than J made up the wife-sister
motif (Sec. 15), since so much intricate background detail could not
be improvised and still prove to be authentic by coincidence.
Yet this material must have reached the writer (independently of
J, it should be stressed!) after a long period of transmission, long
enough for the meaning behind the incident to have been completely
lost. On both these counts, the ultimate tradition points back to
mid-second millennium Har(r)an or earlier, the period to which
the story itself is dated. One such example by itself may not be de
pendable. But when it is joined by others like it, the cumulative
evidence becomes increasingly impressive.
43. ENCOUNTERS
(xxxii 1-3: E; 4-33: /J/)
his hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as
they wrestled. 27 Then he said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
Jacob® replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
28 Said the other, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.”
dLiterally “me.”
«Heb. “he.”
254 GENESIS
Israel, for you have striven' with beings divine* and human, and
have prevailed.” 30 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your
name.” He replied, “You must not ask my name.” With that,
he bade him good-by there and then.
31 Jacob named the site Peniel,* meaning, “I have seen God
face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” 32 The sun rose
upon him just as he passed Penuel,4 limping on his hip.
33 That is why to this day the children of Israel do not eat the
sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob’s hip
socket was stricken at the sciatic muscle./'
f Heb. Santa, linked with first part of “Isra-el.”
»Heb. 'eldhim, for second part of “Isra-el.
* Taken as “The face (pny) of EL”
4 Older form of the place name.
Notes
The verse count follows the Hebrew text. In many English translations,
ch. xxxii begins with the present vs. 2.
xxxii 1. good-by. Literally “and he blessed them”; cf. xxvi 31, and
vs. 30, below.
2. encountered him. Heb. pg‘ construed with be- conveys the idea of
physical contact. On this basis, the present incident has an inner con
nection with the encounter at Peniel, vss. 23 ff.
3. Mahanaim. The name is formally a dual of the noun for “camp”;
cf. the “two camps” of vss. 8, 11.
5. The correct syntax of this verse, as against the traditional accents,
was recognized by Ehrl., although he was not aware of the conclusive
outside evidence. A man who is about to pray to God for help against
his brother is not likely to speak of him privately as “my lord”; this
address is part of the message to be delivered. Aji exact parallel is pro
vided by the routine epistolary formula of Akk.: ana N beliya qibima
umma N waradkama “To my lord X say, Thus (speaks) your servant Y.”
6. The size of the possessions is subtly left undefined through the use
of singular nouns with the force of collectives.
in the hope of gaining your favor. Another nuance of the idiomatic
phrase “to find favor in one’s eyes.”
8. the camels. This entry, which is lacking in LXX, is syntactically
suspect in that it lacks the prepositional ’et. No camels are mentioned
in vs. 6, but they are included in the list of presents (vs. 16).
xxxii 1-33 255
9. he reasoned. Literally “said (to himself)”; also in vs. 21.
10. I will be good to you. That is, “make it advantageous for you”; cf.
Num x 32.
11. all the kindness . . . steadfastly. An extension of the principle of
hendiadys.
12. strike us down. The pronoun in Heb. is in the singular, “me” refer
ring to the master and all that is his.
14. present. Heb. minha, perhaps in intentional assonance with Maha-
naim; also vss. 19, 21, 22 (“gifts”).
21 f. Note the five occurrences of the stem pny, each with a different
connotation, yet all leading up to Peniel in vs. 31.
21. propitiate. Literally “screen the face.”
forgive. Literally “lift the face”; cf. xl 13.
26 f. The question about Jacob’s name is rhetorical. The object is to
contrast the old name with the new and thereby mark the change in
Jacob’s status.
Israel. The name is best explained etymologically as “May El perse
vere” (Dr.). But both Jacob and Israel are treated here symbolically, to
indicate the transformation of a man once devious (Jacob) into a forth
right and resolute fighter.
29. beings divine. Not specifically “God”; note the allusion to the pres
ent incident in Hos xii 5.
30. he bade him good-by. Cf. Note on vs. 1; no blessing can be in
volved at this point, since that was already represented in the change of
the name.
31. Peniel. The spelling in this instance points back to the multiple ae
tiology, vss. 21 f. Elsewhere Penuel (as in 32). For this locality in Trans
jordan, cf. Judg viii 8 f.; I Kings xii 25.
Comment
In this section, an incident with overtones that are all too mundane
(4-22) has been fitted between two frightening spiritual experiences.
To be sure, the authorship is not uniform. The Mahanaim episode
(1-3) is manifestly from E (note the occurrence of Elohim in vs.
2), whereas the rest of the chapter bears the stamp of J (cf. vs. 10).
Nevertheless, Mahanaim would seem to have an inner relationship
with Penuel (32), aside from an external connection with the “twin
camps” of vs. 8. In all likelihood, therefore, the subject matter of the
entire section was familiar to both sources.
In fact, the chapter as a whole is given over to encounters of
256 GENESIS
Notes
Comment
brothers Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons, took each his
sword, advanced against the city unopposed, and massacred all
the males. 26 They also put to the sword Hamor and his son
Shechem, removed Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left.
/-/ Literally “all who go out at the gate of his city”; see Note.
o Initial u- omitted in MT through haplography, but attested in Sam., LXX, Syr.
264 GENESIS
27 When" the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, they
plundered the city in reprisal for the sister Dinah’s defilement.
28 They seized their flocks and herds and asses, everything that
was inside the city and outside, 29 and all their possessions; they
took all their children and their wives as captives, and plundered
everything that was in the homes.
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble
upon me by making me obnoxious to the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. With our ranks so mea
ger, if they unite against me and attack me, I shall be wiped out
with all my people.” 31 But they retorted, “And should our sister
have been treated like a whore?”
Notes
involved in this particular deed, having been responsible for the massacre
in the first place, so that they could not be among the brothers who
“came upon” the corpses by accident.
in reprisal for. Literally “because of’; cf. vs. 13.
29. Cf. Num xxxi 9.
30. You have brought trouble. The basic meaning of the stem is to
muddy waters, hence to upset, and the like.
with all my people. The Heb. noun is literally “house,” i.e., bet in the
sense of bet ’ab “clan.”
Comment
The narrative is unusual on more counts than one. For one thing,
it is the only account to concern itself with Jacob’s daughter Dinah,
who is otherwise relegated to two statistical entries (xxx 21, xlvi
15). For another, Jacob himself has a minor part, while the spotlight
rests throughout on the next generation. For still another, there is a
pronounced chronological gap between this section and the one be
fore. There, Jacob’s children were still of tender age (xxxiii 14);
here, they have attained adulthood.
Most important of all, the history of Jacob has hitherto been in the
main a story of individuals. This time, to be sure, personalities are
still very much in the forefront of the stage; but their experiences
serve to recapitulate an all but lost page dealing with remote ethnic
interrelations. The account, in other words, presents personalized
history, that is, history novelistically interpreted. And since we have
so little independent evidence about the early settlement of Israelites
in Canaan, the slender thread that we find here assumes that much
more importance. By the same token, extra caution is needed to pro
tect the sparse data from undue abuse.
With such a stratified context before us, it is no wonder that
the documentary analysis of the chapter has run into its share of
snags. All critics are agreed that the core stems from J; many of
them, however, have been bothered by various intrusions, obvious
or imaginary, but have not been able to decide whether they are to
be attributed to P, E, or to both. If P has received the majority
vote, it is due largely to certain unmistakable connections between
this chapter and ch. xxiii, notably the idiomatic reference to the
“city gate” (vs. 24, bis, xxiii 10, 18). But the last-named chapter
xxxiv 1-31 267
Notes
xxxv 2. alien gods. That is, images which some of Jacob’s people were
bound to have brought along from Har(r)an; for the usage, cf. xxxi 19 in
the light of xxxi 30.
the others. Implied through juxtaposition; cf. xxxiv 27, Note.
put on fresh garments Literally “change your garments,” for the forth
coming occasion.
4. the terebinth near Shechem. See Note on xii 6.
5. a terror from God. On the numinous use of Elohim cf. i 2, xxx 8.
settlements. Heb. 'ir designates settlements of various sizes.
6. This verse may well be from P.
7. On El-bethel, cf. Note on xxxi 13 (especially for the cun. refer
ence).
God. According to xxxi 13, it was God who appeared to Jacob at
Bethel; but xxviii 12 speaks of “angels of God.” The present occurrence
is construed with the verb in the plural, and should perhaps be rendered
“divine beings.”
8. Rebekah’s nurse. Cf. xxiv 59, where no name, however, is given; this
laconic notice may have been displaced (Dr.).
9. again. There has been so far no mention of an actual theophany
xxxv 1-15 271
since Jacob’s departure from Paddan-aram. The writer (P) may have had
in mind the first visit to Bethel; or else, the adverb is intended as a gen
eral (and later) reference to the account given above.
10. For another version of the change of names (in a different source),
see xxxii 28 f.
13. The second part of the verse is duplicated exactly in vs. 14, where
the preposition b - (in/at) is in order, whereas here it is out of place;
evidently, a dittographic error in the present instance.
14—15. Cf. xxviii 18-19. Between the two passages, all three sources, J,
E, and P, are on record on this particular subject—with inevitable
conflation and duplication.
Comment
Bethel marks two significant stages in Jacob’s life: one on his flight
from Esau (Sec. 37), and the other on his return trip home, many
years later. Each received attention from more than one source. The
first episode was duly noted by E as well as J . The present account is
likewise composite. The main contribution comes from E (1-8); / is
probably to be credited with vs. 14. But we now have also an unmis
takable addition from P (vss. 9-13, and apparently 15), one of the
few passages from this source to be woven into the Jacob story.
With three documents thus converging on the same site, a site that
was the scene of two episodes, a certain amount of duplication and
confusion is to be expected. In the previous narrative, it was J who
recorded the aetiology of the name Bethel (xxviii 19), while E had
Jacob set up a commemorative stele (xxviii 18). This time the nam
ing is recorded by P, who also notes the change of Jacob into Israel;
the latter event was traced back by / to Jacob’s nocturnal contest at
Penuel (xxxii 28 f.). Thus the one thing on which all three sources
are in accord is the spiritual significance of the site in patriarchal
times.
47. BRIEF NOTICES ABOUT JACOB’S FAMILY
(xxxv 16-20: E; 21-22a: ///; 22b-29: \P\)
XXXV !6Then they set out from Bethel; but when they were
still some distance away from Ephrath, Rachel was in child
birth; she had hard labor. I7 When her labor was at its hardest,
her midwife said to her, “Have no anxiety, for you have another
boy.” 18 With her last gasp—for she was dying—she named him
Ben-oni“; his father, however, called him Benjamin.1’ 19 Thus
Rachel died; she was buried on the road to Ephrath—now
Bethlehem. 20 On her grave Jacob set up a monument, the same
monument that is at Rachel’s grave to this day.
/21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond Mig-
dal-eder. 22 While Israel was encamped in that region, Reuben
went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine; and Israel
found out./
|The sons of Jacob were now twelve. 23 The sons of Leah:
Jacob’s first-born Reuben; and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,
and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel’s maid Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. 26 And
the sons of Leah’s maid Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These are the
sons of Jacob who were born to him in0 Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac at Mamre, in Kiriath-
arba—now Hebron—where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
28 Isaac’s age came to 180 years. 29 Then he breathed his last and
died, old and in the fullness of years; and he was gathered to his
kin. He was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob. |
“Understood as “son of misfortune,” or “son of my vigor,”
6 Understood as “son of the right”; see Comment.
«See Note.
xxxv 16-29 273
Notes
xxxv 16. They were still some distance away from Ephrath. Literally
“there was still a stretch of land to go to Ephrath.”
was in childbirth. Not “gave birth” because she was still in labor.
The same inchoative aspect of the verb is found also in the next verse,
“she was dying,” not “she died.”
17. When her labor was at its hardest. A parade example of the
“elative” use of the Hiphil, for which see JCS 6 (1952), 81 ff., and cf.
for other intransitive uses iii 6. Note the contrast between “she had
hard labor” (Piel) and “her labor was at its hardest” (Hiphil). Failure
to observe this idiomatic distinction has led to redundant translations
and misjudgment of the text.
22. was encamped. For this connotation of the stem fkn cf. xvi 12.
This usage is characteristic of J.
26. in Paddan-aram. If the preposition was not loosely used,this
statement would imply that Benjamin too wasborn in Mesopotamia.
Very likely, we have here a difference in traditions. The preceding
notice about the birth of Benjamin in Canaan stems from E, whereas
the present summary is from P.
29. Cf. the similar notice (also by P) in xxv 8 (death of Abraham).
Comment
Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the clans of Reuel in the land
of Edom; they are descended from Esau’s wife Basemath.
18 Descendants of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: the clans of
Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the clans of Esau’s wife
Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.
19 These are the sons of Esau—that is, Edom—with their
clans.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite/ occupants of the
and Cheran. 27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and
Akan. 28 And these are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 These are the Horite clans: the clans Lotan, Shobal, Zib-
eon, Anah, 30Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the clans
of the Horites, clan by clan, in the land of Seir.
31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom be
fore any king reigned over the Israelites. 32 Bela son of Beor be
came king of Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, he was succeeded as king by Jobab son of
Notes
giants”; Ar. "the mules.” There is no warrant for the traditional “hot
springs.” The simplest solution is to assume (with Syr.) a mechanical
transposition of an original hmym. The discovery of water in the desert
would be sufficient cause for astonishment.
26. Dishon. MT mispoints to “Dishan.” But the descendants of the
latter are listed in 28; cf. also 30. I Chron i 41, in a passage which
reproduces the list, spells out Dishon; see also LXX, Sam. (manuscripts).
32. Bela. Heb. cons, bl' calls to mind Balaam (cons, bl'm), likewise
son of Beor, Num xxii 5; but the similarity appears to be coincidental.
37. Rehoboth-on-the-River. “The River,” used absolutely, is normally
the Euphrates. But an Edomite king of Mesopotamian origin cannot
be posited without other evidence. A local river could conceivably
have figured in such a place name, to distinguish it from other names
with the same popular connotation; cf. x 11, and for a well by the
same name, see xxvi 22.
39. Hadad. MT “Hadar” is an obvious slip (see textual note*), in
volving the frequent interchange of written D/R; cf. x 4- D/Rodanim.
Mehetabel. An Aramaic formation.
40. each with its subdivisions and localities. Traditional “according to
their families, after their places.”
xxxvii 2a. For the significance of this clause, see the discussion in
the Comment.
Comment
mourned his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters tried
to console him, but he refused to be consoled, saying, “No, I
will go down to Sheol in mourning!” Thus did his father lament
him.
36 The Midianites, meanwhile, sold Joseph* in Egypt to Pot-
iphar, a courtier of Pharaoh, his chief steward.^/
*MT “him.”
Notes
xxxvii 2b. He was assisting. For this sense of Heb. na'ar “attendant,” or
the like, cf. Exod xxxiii 11.
bad reports. For the same phrase, cf. Num xiv 37.
3. Israel. As applied to Jacob (but not in the phrase “children of Is
rael”), an invariable indication of J’s authorship; cf. xxxv 21, and Com
ment ad loc.; see also vs. 13.
and he made. Note the circumstantial aspect in Heb. (signified by the
use of the perfect).
an ornamented tunic. The traditional “coat of many colors,” and the
variant “coat with sleeves” are sheer guesses from the context; nor is
there anything remarkable about either colors or sleeves. The phrase,
Heb. kHonet passim, occurs aside from this section (also vss. 23, 32)
only in II Sam xiii 18 f., where it describes a garment worn by daugh
290 GENESIS
which was probably as far removed from its original connotation as,
say, “Lord Chamberlain.” For a possible Eg. prototype, cf. Vergote,
pp. 31 ff. The tide, Heb. Sar hattabbBhim, should not be confused with
the analogous rab hatfabbahim (II Kings xxv 8ff.; Jer xxxix 9ff., etc.),
approximately “captain of the guard,” but reflecting a non-Egyptian
office.
Comment
and he married her and cohabited with her. 3 She conceived and
bore a son, “who was named® Er. 4 She conceived again and bore
a son, whom she named Onan. 5 Then she bore still another
son, whom she named Shelah; they were* at Chezib when she
bore him.
6 Judah got a wife for his first-born Er, and her name was
w she took off her widow’s garb, wrapped a veil about her to
disguise herself, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which
is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that, although Shelah was
grown up, she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When
Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot, since she had covered her
face. 16 So he turned aside to her by the roadside, and said, “See
now, let me lie with you”—not realizing that she was his daugh
ter-in-law. She answered, “What will you pay me for lying with
me?” 17 He replied, “I will send you a kid from my flock.” But
she answered, “You will have to leave a pledge until such time
as you send it.” i8 He asked, “What pledge shall I leave you?”
She answered, “Your seal-and-cord, and the staff you carry.” So
he gave them to her, and lay with her, and she conceived by
him. 1» She left soon, took off her veil, and resumed her widow’s
garb.
20 Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite to redeem
the pledge from the woman, but he could not find her. 21 He
inquired of the men of that place, “Where is the votary, the one
by the Enaim road?” They answered, “There has never been
here a votary!” 22 So he went back to Judah and said to him, “I
couldn’t find her. What is more, the townspeople told me,
‘There has never been here a votary.’ 23 And Judah replied, “Let
her keep the things, or we shall become a laughingstock. I did
my part in sending her the kid, but you never found her.”
24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-
in-law has played the harlot; moreover, she is with child from
harlotry.” “Bring her out,” Judah shouted, “and she shall be
burned!” 25 As they were taking her out, she sent word to her
father-in-law, “It is by the man to whom these things belong
that I am with child. Please verify,” she said, “to whom these
things belong—the seal-and-cord and the staff!” 26 Judah rec
ognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inas
much as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Nor was he
intimate with her again.
27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in
her womb! 28 While she was being delivered, one put out his
hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on his hand, to
xxxviii 1-30 297
signify: this one came out first 29 But just then he drew back
his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, "What a
breach* you have opened for yourself I” So he was named Perez.
30 Then his brother came out, with the crimson thread on his
hand. So they named him Zerah/
*Heb. peref.
/Perhaps “brightness,” alluding to the crimson band.
Notes
xxxviii 1. At about that time. Literally “at that time,” which in this
context would amount to “at the precise time that Joseph was being
sold to Potiphar.” But the Heb. phrase is formulaic and just as general
as the corresponding Akk. ina umiSu “on his/that day, then.”
parted from. Heb. “went down from,” namely, from the hill country.
put in with. Literally “turned aside next to.”
2. met. Literally “saw.”
3. who was named. The corresponding Heb. has masculine singular,
which is often used impersonally (as in 29 f.). But Sam., TJ, and
some Heb. manuscripts have the feminine, the same as Heb. in vss. 4
and 5, no doubt correctly. The translation is neutral.
5. Chezib. Probably the same as Achzib, Josh xv 44; Mic i 14.
7. displeased. Literally “was bad in the sight of.” The nature of the
offense is not specified here, unlike vs. 10.
8. widow. Heb. uses “wife,” namely, “your (dead) brother’s,” but
such ambiguity is less acceptable in translation; in vss. 14, 19 Heb.
employs the abstract noun “widowhood,” in speaking of a widow’s garb.
fulfilling the duty of a brother-in-law. Heb. literally “levirate her.”
The institution of levirate, whereby a man married his brother’s child
less widow in order to provide continuity for the line of the deceased,
is an alternative to adoption; cf. JBL 79 (1960), 161 f. The require
ment was later relaxed, cf. Deut xxv 5 ff.
line. Literally “seed”; the same noun, Heb. zera‘, is used in the next
verse both in its literal sense and in the secondary sense of “offspring-”
11. Stay. The cons, text Sby can be vocalized to yield either “return”
(cf. Lev xxii 13) or with tradition, “stay, dwell”; but no repointing
appears necessary in this instance.
12. A long time afterward. Literally “days/years multiplied, and.”
When the period of sorrow was over. Literally “when he had been
consoled,” when the time for mourning and condolence was past.
298 GENESIS
for the shearing. The Heb. noun is vocalized as “shearers”; but cf.
the infinitive in vs. 13. If the text is retained, the translation should
read “to (supervise his) shearers,” or the like; the original may have
used an abstract plural.
14. to disguise. Literally “she covered up”; cf. vs. 15.
the entrance to Enaim. TO, Syr., and Vulg. understand this as the road
juncture of/for Enaim. The place is probably the same as Enam in Josh
xv 34 (in the Shephelah).
16. The circumlocution for sexual intercourse which Heb. employs
here (literally “to go in to”; see Note on vi 4) was chosen no doubt
as a matter of tact. The phrase has been shaded in the translation of
the various passages, depending on the context.
17. from my flock. The definite article of Heb. often has the force
of the personal pronoun in English, and vice versa; see vs. 21.
pledge. Heb. 'erabdn. A loanword from Akkadian, which is also found
in Greek.
18. seal-and-cord. The two nouns of Heb. must represent a hendiadys,
something like “the seal on the cord” (cf. also the plural form of the
second noun in vs. 25, approximately “cording”), for the following
reasons. The items named by Tamar were not chosen for their intrinsic
value but for purposes of personal identification, as is made clear by
vs. 25; when produced in due time, they must allow of no doubt as to
their owner. The cylinder seal was such an object above all else; it
served as the religious and legal surrogate for the person who wore
it, and its impression on a document signalized the wearer’s readiness to
accept all consequences in the event of non-compliance, through sym
pathetic magic among other things (like sticking pins in a doll). The
possessor of such a seal was thereby marked as a responsible person;
and, as Herodotus reminds us, no Babylonian of any standing would
ever be seen without one. The use of the cylinder seal spread from
Mesopotamia throughout the Near East, and even to Crete; and many
specimens have turned up in Palestine. While the stamp seal fulfilled
a similar function, its use was limited in time and space; moreover, the
term for the latter would be fabba'at (xli 42), not hdtam as here. Now
all cylinder seals were perforated vertically for suspension, so that the
seal and the cord or chain on which it was worn became a unit. A
cord by itself would be a worthless thing, and meaningless in the present
context. Incidentally, the inclusion of the cord is further proof that
no signet ring was involved.
the staff. Necessarily, another distinctive means of identification. Cunei
form records of the Old Babylonian period often mention the bukanum,
an object which looked liked a pestle and which changed hands to
symbolize the conclusion of certain types of transaction. Whether Judah’s
xxxviii 1-30 299
staff was comparable cannot be determined. In any case, Tamar knew
exactly what she was doing in telling Judah what she wanted from
him as a pledge.
19. soon. Literally “she arose,” as an auxiliary verb; cf. xxxi 21.
21. that place. Literally “her place”; cf. vs. 17.
votary. Ancient Near Eastern society, notably in Mesopotamia, rec
ognized various classes of temple women other than priestesses, who
were employed for services connected with the cult We know now
that they had to be virgins in order to qualify (HSS XIV [1950], No. 106,
line 31); any subsequent promiscuity was ritually conditioned. One of these
classes was the qadiitu, a cognate of Heb. qedes3 (vs. 21). There is no
indication that they were socially ostracized, although their status was
inferior to that of married women. It is obvious that the q’deSS was
not the same as the zdna (vss. 15, 24; cf. xxxiv 31).
25. As they were taking her out. Passive in Heb.
28. a crimson thread. Literally “some crimson” (indefinite).
29 f. For the clans of Perez and Zerah, cf. I Chron ii. The aetiologies
are, as usual, symbolic retrojections in which the correct etymology is
immaterial.
Comment
and none of the house servants were there inside, 12 she caught
hold of him by his coat and said, “Sleep with mel” He got away
and escaped outside, leaving his coat in her hand. 13 When she
saw that he had left his coat in her hand as he fled outside,
14 she called out to her house servants and said to them, “Look,
fled outside.”
19 When his master heard the story that his wife told him,
namely, “Thus and so did your slave do to me,” he was enraged.
20 So Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the jail
Notes
xxxix 1. The words between dashes are a redactorial gloss carried over
from xxxvii 36 (£), the last previous verse in the Joseph narrative.
Throughout the rest of the chapter, Joseph’s master is never referred to
by name, but only as “the Egyptian” or “the master.”
2. he did very well. Literally “he was a man who succeeded.” The
Hiphil stem hslh is used in this narrative both as intransitive and as tran
sitive (cf. vss. 3, 23).
was assigned to .. . his household. Literally “he was in the house,” as
opposed to having to toil in the fields.
xxxix 1-23 303
4. he took a fancy to Joseph. Another variation on the theme of “to
find favor in one’s eyes.”
made him his personal attendant. Literally “he ministered to him” (in
transitive) ; the transitive rendering is required in English for clarity.
6. except the food that he ate. Possibly an allusion to Egyptian dietary
taboos (von Rad); cf. xliii 32.
handsome of figure and features. Same phrase as in xxix 17, but
differently translated there because it was used of a woman.
7. fixed her eye on. Literally “raised her eyes at/to.” The identical
idiom is used in Akkadian to describe Ishtar's designs on Gilgamesh
(Giig., Tablet VI, line 6). Yet a literal rendering would be misleading
since the Heb. phrase can also denote trustfulness (Ezek xxxiii 25) or
prayerful appeal (Ps cxxiii If.).
9. God. Not Yahweh this time, because Joseph is speaking to an Egyp
tian.
10. cajoled. Literally “spoke to.”
The last clause is not give in one MS of LXX, and may well be a late
gloss.
14. He had to bring us a Hebrew fellow. The nuance “he had to” is
dictated by the sarcastic purpose of the exclamation. Instead of ’is “man,
fellow,” it is preferable to read ’iSi “my husband” (same cons.), because
the sequel (vs. 17) speaks of a “Hebrew slave,” which is far more suita
ble (Ehrl.). In that case, the translation would read “My husband had to
import a Hebrew [slave] ... I”
The term “Hebrew” (see Note on xiv 13) is applied to Israelites when
they speak of themselves to outsiders, or when outsiders refer to them; cf.
vs. 17, xl 15, xli 12, xliii 32. It was clearly the more general and wide
spread designation.
to make love. For this nuance, cf. xxvi 8 (also J, but with a different
preposition); the possible alternative “to toy with us” is not favored by
the context.
to us. That is, Egyptians, who looked down on foreigners such as He
brews.
15. screaming for help. Literally “that I raised my voice and called”;
also vs. 18.
20. jail. Heb. bet hassohar; cf. Vergote, pp. 25 ff.
304 GENESIS
Comment
After they had been in custody for some time, 5 both the
Cup-bearer and the Baker of the king of Egypt, who were
confined in that jail, had dreams the same night, each dream
having its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them in the
morning, he noticed that they were dejected. 7 So he inquired of
Pharaoh’s courtiers, who were with him in custody in his
master’s house, “Why are you so downcast today?” 8 They an
swered him, “We had dreams, and there is nobody to interpret
them.” Joseph said to them, “Surely, interpretations come from
God. Tell me about them.”
9 Then the chief cup-bearer told his dream to Joseph. “In my
dream,” he said to Joseph, “there was a vine in front of me,
10 and on that vine were three branches. It had barely budded,
when out came its blossoms, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes, pressed
the cup to Pharaoh as was your former practice when you were
his Cup-bearer. 14 So if you still remember that I was here with
you, when all is well with you again, please do me the kindness
to mention me to Pharaoh and try to free me from this place.
15 For I was in fact kidnaped from the land of the Hebrews; nor
Notes
Comment
points back to E’s statement about the Midianites who made off
with Joseph and sold him to Potiphar (xxxvii 28a, 36). J, it will be
recalled, had no record of any such thing; in his version, Joseph was
sold by his brothers to itinerant Ishmaelites. Incidentally, the perti
nent Heb. verb gnb is elsewhere used by £ in a number of shadings
and with telling effect (see Note on xxxi 19).
Since chs. xxxix and xl thus had different authors, it is not
surprising that their accounts of Joseph as prisoner are at variance.
J’s version had the Hebrew youth advance to the position of un
official head of the jail (xxxix 22 f.). On the other hand, when we
rejoin Joseph with E as our guide, he is a hapless stranger who
was “kidnaped from the land of the Hebrews” and is now a servant
of Egyptian prisoners. In other words, the present chapter is the
direct sequel to xxxvii 36, and shows no awareness of /’s account
in xxxix.
The central theme at this juncture is Joseph’s way with dreams.
As a gifted interpreter, he has the knack, shared by many oracular
mediums, of couching his pronouncements in evocative terms. The
key phrase this time is ntf r’s, literally “to lift the head.” It has sev
eral widely deviating connotations, and Joseph—or E—plays on
these with great skill. One of the meanings is to lift up the head of
one who is depressed, mentally or socially, hence “to comfort, par
don”; this nuance is pressed into service in vs. 13. Another sense
is grimly literal, namely, “to lift off the head, behead,” and this is
used in vs. 19. Still another idiomatic usage is “to poll, take the
census of, give minute attention to,” and the like, exactly as with
the corresponding Akk. rSsam nc&dm (BASOR 149 [1958], 17ff.);
cf. Num i ff., where the repeated use of this idiom has supplied the
very name of the Book of Numbers. Joseph takes full advantage of
this aspect in vs. 20.
The author succeeds thus in making a single phrase symbolize
an entire episode: Pharaoh will review the cases of his two dis
graced appointees, pardon the Cup-bearer, but behead the Baker.
Any one of these distinctive uses might apply to Joseph himself. But
the writer is not ready as yet to tip his hand. Good storyteller that
he is, E knows how to maintain suspense. Restored to grace, the
cup-bearer promptly forgets the slave for whom he was to inter
cede with Pharaoh.
53. WHAT DREAMS DID FOR JOSEPH
(xli 1-57: E,a except 46a: /P/)
up out of the Nile and stood on the bank of the Nile beside the
others. 4 And the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome
sturdy cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5 He went back to sleep and dreamed a second time: Seven
ears of grain, solid and healthy, grew on a single stalk. 6 But
close behind them sprouted seven other ears, thin and scorched
by the east wind. 7 And the seven thin ears swallowed up the
seven solid and full ears. Then Pharaoh woke up: it had been
a dream!
8 Next morning, his spirit agitated, he sent for all the magi
cians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh recounted his
dreams to them, but none could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cup-bearer addressed Pharaoh; “I must make
ears are seven years; it is the same dream. 27 The seven lean and
ugly cows that followed are seven years also, as are the seven
empty ears scorched by the east wind; they are seven years of
famine. 28 It is just as I have told Pharaoh: God has revealed
to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Immediately ahead lie
seven years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt 30 But
these will be followed by seven years of famine, when all the
abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. As the land
is ravaged by famine, 31 no trace will be left in it of the abun
dance because of the famine thereafter, for it will be most severe.
32 And as for Pharaoh having had the same dream twice, it
means that the matter has been reaffirmed by God, and that
God will soon bring it about.
xli 1-57 311
“Let Pharaoh, therefore, seek out a man of discernment
33
Notes
xli !• the Nile. For the underlying Eg. term see T. O. Lambdin, JAOS
73 (1953), 151.
2. sturdy. Literally “healthy, robust of flesh.”
3. the others. Heb. “the cows," i.e., the other cows by juxtaposition.
5. healthy. Literally “good(ly)
8. magicians. See Vergote, pp. 80-94; cf. Exod vii 11, 22.
9. remissness. Heb. literally “omissions, ‘sins,’ failings,” the plural being
used in an abstract sense.
10. Once. Implicit in the word order and tense of Heb.
15. dreams. This time, singular with collective sense; cf. vs. 8 where the
singular noun is construed with plural pronoun. In each instance (also vs.
25) more than one dream is manifestly involved.
27. empty. Heb. reqot, cons, rqwt; but Sam., LXX, TO, Syr. show
“thin” (cons, dqwt), which involves the frequent graphic confusion of
R/D. MT may have been influenced by raqqdt “lean” in first clause
(same cons.). At all events, the sense remains the same.
31.no trace will be left. Literally “will not be known.”
34. The overseers are regarded by some critics as contrary to the
proposal of a single manager in vs. 33; hence they assign 34a to 1 (cf.
Noth, Vberlieferungsgeschichte . . . , p. 31). Yet the task clearly in
volved a large staff, so that all that the clause implies is that Joseph
could pick his own assistants. Had J recorded the episode, or had his
account been available to R, more of it would surely have come through
than the few phrases and lines which are alleged to disrupt the flow
of E’s narrative.
to organize. Traditional “to take a fifth part of” (the land) or al
ternatively “to divide (the land) into five parts.” But a denominative
based on “five” is by no means the only possible solution of Heb.
w'himmeS; and xlvii 24 is not strictly parallel. The very next verse
calls for state control over the whole crop. There is, however, a verbal
stem hmS, the passive participle of which means “armed, equipped”
in Josh i 14, iv 12; Judg vii 11; cf. also Exod xiii 18; and Arabic
employs the identical cognate (Ehrl.). Accordingly, the present oc
currence may be safely translated “to organize, regiment,” or the like,
in complete agreement with attested usage and etymology, not to men
tion the text
40. shall submit to. Heb. cons, ysq, as now pointed (yissaq, preceded
by al pika), can only mean “shall kiss you on the mouth.” By re
pointing the verb to yasoq (with Ehrl.), we obtain the sense here
314 GENESIS
indicated. For the same sense with 'al pi, cf. especially Num xxvii 21.
If, on the other hand, the meaning of the verb should be something
like “be managed,” there might be a connection with the noun meseq
in xv 2.
42. signet ring. Cf. JAOS 73 (1953), 151 and Vergote, pp. 116 ff.;
this is not to be confused with the cylinder seal, for which a different
noun is employed in xxxviii 18 (see Note ad loc.).
gold chain. On the royal chain in Egypt see Vergote, pp. 116ff.
43. his second-in-command. For this sense cf. II Chron xxviii 7; not
“the second best” (chariot). The Heb. term, like its Akk. analogue
terdennu (cf. tartan, Isa xx 1), is used both as a title and an adjective.
Here, however, the title is plainly indicated, for the reference is spe
cifically to the Vizier, who was also the Royal Seal-bearer (42).
Abrek. For a probable Egyptian etymology, see JAOS 73 (1953),
146; contrast, however, Vergote, pp. 135 ff. The alleged “kneel down!”
of Heb. origin is morphologically untenable and contrary to the Egyptian
background of the episode.
45. Zaphenath-paneah. For the underlying Eg. form and meaning,
cf. BASOR 140 (1955), 31 and Vergote, pp. 141 ff.
Asenath. Eg. “belonging to (the goddess) Neith”; see Vergote, pp.
148 ff.
Poti-phera. Eg. “he whom Re gave”; cf. Vergote, pp. 146ff.; a fuller
form of the same name as Potiphar (xxxvii 36), but referring to a
different person. The name is of a type common to many languages and
applicable to many individuals.
On. Cf. vs. 50 and xlvi 20; also Ezek xxx 17. Gr. Heliopolis, seven
miles northeast of modem Cairo.
became known in. Heb. literally “rose over”; in this construction,
the verb is attested in the sense of “to spread, become familiar” in
Esther i 17, and perhaps Ps lxxxi 6. Accordingly, this clause is not
a duplicate of 43c, and need not therefore indicate a different source.
46. The first part of the verse is an unmistakable insert from P.
According to that source, therefore, Joseph’s servitude lasted thirteen
years (cf. xxxvii 2).
48. of the seven years. Sam. and LXX add “of plenty,” which MT
gives in vs. 53; the omission was caused by haplography (“seven” and
“plenty” share the same letters).
51 f. The aetiological explanations of the names are, as usual, in
dependent of correct etymology.
51. meaning. Both in vss. 51 and 52 Heb. ki takes the place of
“saying”; this is clear proof, if such proof were needed, that the particle
is not to be confused with the conjunction ki “that,” in which case
the direct address would be stylistically awkward; cf. iv 25, Note.
xli 1-57 315
entirely. The repeated kol in vs. 51 is not “all” but comparable to
our colloquial “all about”; note the use of the term with “parental
home.”
56. all the stores. Heb. literally “all that was in them” is unmanage
able as it stands. Sam. reads an added br (“everything in which there
was grain”; similarly LXX), and these conss. could have been lost
through haplography, in view of the form wyibr which follows. It is
virtually certain that the same two conss. dropped out after wysbr. The
restored passage (with additions given in square brackets) would thus
read; ‘t kl ’Sr bhm [br] wysbr [br]. The translation here offered presup
poses some such text, since a slavish rendering would have been
meaningless, and a neutral translation misleading.
rationed. The Heb. stem Sbr (noun and verb) is used in the Joseph
story specifically of countermeasures against hunger (note especially
xlii 19). It is not to be confused, therefore, with “grain” (br), “bread”
(Ihm), or “food” (’kl), but should be interpreted (with Ehrl.) as
referring to “(emergency) supplies” and the sale or purchase of such;
apparently based on the common verb Sbr “to break (the fast).”
Comment
no wrong to the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now comes the
accounting for his blood.” 23 They did not know, of course, that
Joseph understood, since there was an interpreter between them
and him. 24 He turned away from them to cry. When he was
able to speak to them again, he picked out Simeon from among
them and had him bound before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph
gave orders to fill their containers with grain, replace each one’s
money in his sack, and give them provisions for their journey;
and it was so done for them. 26Then they loaded their asses
with their rations and departed.
/27 As one of them was opening his bag4 at the night en-
<*See Note.
320 GENESIS
campment to give his ass some fodder, he saw that his money
was there at the mouth of his bag. 28 “Someone has returned my
money,” he called out to his brothers, “it is here in my bag!”
Their hearts sank. They asked one another anxiously, “What is
this that God has done to us?”/
29 When they got back to their father Jacob in the land of
Canaan, they told him about all their adventures, saying,
30 “The man who is lord of the country spoke to us sternly and
charged us with spying on the land. 31 We said to him, ‘We are
forthright; we have never spiedl 32 There were twelve of us
brothers, sons of the same father; but one is gone, and the
youngest is just now with our father in the land of Canaan.’
33 But the man who is lord of the country replied to us, ‘This is
how I shall know that you are forthright: Leave one of your
brothers with me while the rest of you go home with something4
for your starving households. 34 "When you come back to me
with your youngest brother, and I know that you are forthright,
and not spies, I will restore your brother to you, and you shall be
free to go about in the land.’ ”
35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each one’s sack
was his money bag! On seeing their money bags, they and their
father were dismayed. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “I am
the one you would leave bereft! Joseph is gone, and Simeon is
gone, and now you would take away Benjamin! This always hap
pens to me!" 37 But Reuben told his father, “You may kill my
own two sons if I fail to bring him back to you! Leave him in
my care, and I will get him back to you.” 38 But he answered,
“My son shall not go down with you, for his own brother is dead
and he alone is left. If he should meet with disaster on the trip
you take, you will send my white head down to Sheol in grief.”
xlii 1-38 321
Notes
xlii 3. procure. Here the verb Sbr is combined with the noun bar
“grain,” yielding approximately “get us an emergency supply of grain”;
also vs. 5, etc.
4. it was only Benjamin. Some such emphasis is indicated by the in
version in Heb.
full-brother. This nuance is self-evident from the specific construction
with Joseph.
he feared that. Literally “he said: ‘lest. . this is one of the methods
that Heb. uses to express indirect discourse.
disaster. Comparison with Exod xxi 22 f. makes it clear that Heb. ’ason
is not just the traditional “harm” but a fatal misadventure; also vs. 38,
below, and xliv 29.
5. sons of Israel. Whereas Joseph’s father is called Israel by J, but
Jacob by E (cf. xxxv 21), the same does not apply to the possessive com
pound “sons of Israel,” as is definitely shown by xlvi 5 (“Jacob : sons of
Israel”). Because of its prevailing ethnic connotation, the phrase “chil
dren of Israel’’ would occur automatically to any writer. The use of this
compound as a documentary criterion is therefore fallacious.
•were among the others who came. Lit. “came . . . among the comers.”
7. kept his identity from them. Literally “made himself a stranger to
them.”
spoke to them sternly. Literally “spoke harsh things to them”; cf. the
Akk. idiom dannatim (which is likewise a feminine plural) iakanum
(same sense), which is common in the Mari texts.
8. Not necessarily, or even plausibly, a duplicate of 7a, and hence
not to be credited mechanically to another source (J). This is the
author’s comment to explain Joseph’s treatment of his brothers: Joseph
was still very much aware of the past. Accordingly, this is a sub
ordinate clause.
9. to look at the land in its nakedness. Heb. ‘erwd is not “nudity” (cf. ii
25) but “nakedness,” in the sense of something that is unseemly (Deut
xxiii 15), and improper to look at or expose (cf. ix 22 f.; Lev xviii 6ff.);
here metaphorically, things that are meant to be hidden from potential
enemies.
10. truly. Or "on the contrary,” Heb. wa- in the sense of Ar. fa-.
11. sons of the same man. A family unit as opposed to a recon
naissance task force.
forthright. Heb. ken, cf. Akk. kenu “right, legitimate”; here men who
322 GENESIS
are what they appear to be, aboveboard, not undercover agents, in con
trast with “spies.”
12. Yes. See xviii 15, Note.
15. by Pharaoh. Literally “life of Pharaoh,” with “life” having the tech
nical sense of “oath,” precisely as Akk. nelum. In the translation, “I
swear” is based on Heb. ’im as used in oaths; in vs. 16, on the other
hand, “by Pharoah” is a circumstantial expression.
20. They agreed. That is, “they made (the) Yes (sign),” cf. xxix 28;
not “they did so” for no deed follows. Contrast vs. 25, where the same
words are used with “to them” in a more general sense.
22. Reuben. Joseph’s advocate throughout the E version; cf. vs. 37, and
also xxxvii 22. In J, the same part is taken by Judah, cf. xxxvii 26, xliii 3,
xliv 18.
the accounting for his blood. Cf. ix 6. In E’s version the brothers did
not know what the Midianites had done (see xxxvii 29). For all they
knew, Joseph was dead and they were responsible for his blood.
23. of course. Emphatic in Heb., cf. xxi 32.
between them and him. Heb. benotam (not beriehem); cf. Note on
xxvi 28.
24. When he was able to speak to them again. Literally “he returned
to them and spoke to them.” Some manuscripts of LXX omit the
second half of the clause, probably because no speech is indicated. But
with the first verb used adverbially, as it often is in hendiadys con
structions, the whole has the force of “when he was able to face them
again.”
Simeon. Next in seniority to Reuben, who was spared because Joseph
remembered him as his protector.
27 f. For this excerpt from /, cf. Comment.
27. one of them. The first one who happened to do so. We know from
xliii 21 that the others followed suit.
his bag. MT has “his sack”; but LXX gives here the same term that is
used to translate ’amtahat “bag” at the end of this verse and in xliii 12,
18, 21 ff. The text apparently carried over the other term from vs. 25.
28. God. Heb. Elohim is not a stranger to / in the general sense of
“Fate, Heaven, Providence”; cf. for example, xxvii 28. In this non-specific
usage the term is not of itself a dependable documentary criterion. There
is no call as yet for such an exclamation in E, where the discovery of
the money does not take place until the brothers are back home.
33. something. MT appears to say “take home the starvation of your
households,” unless one ascribes to the noun the added meaning of rem
edy against starvation. In all likelihood, however, the phrase read origi
nally “take home [rations for] . . . ,” etc., just as in vs. 19; the supple
mented text is found in LXX, TO, Syr.
xlii 1-38 323
34. you shall be free to go about. Cf. the discussion on xxxiv 10
(Note).
36. make desolate. Literally “bereave.”
This always happens to me. Literally “all these things are against
„me.
_ »»
37. Reuben. See above on vs. 22.
38. you will send my white head down to Sheol in grief. Trad, “you
will bring down my gray hairs” etc. Actually, however, the Heb. noun
in question is an abstract, either “grayness,” or “whiteness,” which
applies, of course, to hair. But in very advanced age the hair is white
rather than gray, and in an instance such as this it is not only the
disembodied hair but the whole person that is involved; moreover,
“white head” is a familiar figure of speech in English. For the converse
image “happy old age,” cf. xxv 8.
The verse as a whole is often attributed to J as the beginning of the
long account that follows. The reason is Jacob’s failure to say anything
about the detention of Simeon, a detail of which J is apparently not
aware (xliii 14, 23b are taken as cross references to J). Nevertheless,
the present verse is concerned solely with Benjamin as Rachel’s only
surviving son, so that a reference to Simeon would not be expected at
this point. Moreover, the next verse (xliii 1) is the logical starting point
of a separate section, which cannot be said of the verse before us.
Comment
Dothan. The man who must approve their request for food rations
is the Vizier of Egypt, to whom Pharaoh has ceded virtually un
limited powers. As for Joseph, the intervening years have left no
outward sign of his origin. He is thoroughly Egyptian in rank, name
(xli 45), and speech; he communicates with the petitioners through
an interpreter (vs. 23). But there are no corresponding barriers to
Joseph’s recognition of his brothers. Joseph’s private knowledge
leaves him with mixed emotions, whereas his brothers go on un
suspecting, until events finally force to the surface their ever-present
but hitherto unarticulated sense of guilt. All this is handled by the
author with great subtlety and insight. The immediate personal
drama overshadows, but is never allowed to drive out, the under
lying moral issue.
The intimate structural connection between the present episode
and Joseph’s whole Egyptian career to date automatically presup
poses a corresponding unity of authorship. It is natural, therefore,
that all the incidental evidence should point once again to E. In
deed, the whole is so closely knit that any discordant note, any
intrusive passage, is bound to stand out prominently. Such is the
case with vss. 27-28. In that passage, the discovery of the money
that Joseph caused to be replaced in his brothers’ bags is made at a
lodging place on their way home to Canaan (cf. also xliii 21). But
a few verses farther down, in what is clearly an integral part of the
present narrative, we find that the same disturbing discovery takes
place while the brothers are unpacking upon their return home (vs.
35). Nor was there any need in the first place to open the bags on
the way in order to feed the animals, since provisions for the
purpose had been separately supplied (vs. 25). The brief conflicting
statement is thus clearly marked as an excerpt from I, whose
parallel account is given in xliii 1 ff. Significantly enough, the in
trusive fragment uses ’amtahat “bag” (as opposed to E’s faq), the
same term that J employs thirteen times in his own version.
On the other hand, there is no such manifold evidence to back
up the claim of some critics that several other passages should be
similarly ascribed to /, or at least denied to E; for details, cf. the
Notes on vss. 5, 8, 28c, and 38. It will be found that in each
instance the point at issue can be logically accounted for and in
dependently confirmed.
55. SECOND TRIP TO EGYPT
(xliii 1-34: /“)
amount of money, for you must return the sum that was put
back in the mouths of your bags; it may have been an oversight.
13 Take your brother, too, and be off; go back to the man.
ing for his brother, and wanted to cry. He went into a room and
wept there. 31 Then he washed his face, reappeared and—now in
control of himself again—gave the order, “Serve the meal!”
32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the
Notes
Comment
o Literally “in the ears/hearing of,” cf. xxiii 10, 13, 16.
xliv 1-34 333
wife bore me two sons. 28 One, however, disappeared, and I had
to conclude that he must have been tom by beasts; nor have I
seen him again to this day. 29 If now you take from me this one,
too, and he meets with disaster, you will send my white head
down to Sheol in grief.’
30 “If I appear before your servant my father, and the boy—
whose very life is so bound up with his—is not with us, 31 when
he sees that the boy is missing, he will die; and your servants will
thus send the white head of your servant, our father, down to
Sheol in grief. 32 Besides, this servant got the boy from my fa
ther under the following pledge: ‘If I do not restore him to you,
I shall stand condemned before my father forever.’ 33 Therefore,
may your servant remain here as your slave instead of the boy,
and let the boy go with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to
my father if the boy is not with me? Let me not be witness to
the ill fate that would overtake my father!”
Notes
xliv 1. and put each man’s money in the mouth of his bag. This clause,
and the phrase “with the money for his rations” in vs. 2, must both be
out of place in view of vs. 12 where nothing is said about any money
being replaced and the goblet alone is the object of the search. The insert
appears to have been influenced by xlii 27 f., which in turn represents an
excerpt from J’s account of the brothers’ first journey.
2. See the previous Note concerning the intrusive phrase.
4. LXX adds a direct question concerning the theft of the silver goblet,
but the addition is not necessarily original. The text as it stands is effec
tive by indirection: the steward pretends that the brothers know what he
is talking about.
5. Divination by means of liquids is well attested, especially in Mesopo
tamia; cf. J. Hunger, Becherwahrsagung bei den Babyloniern, 1903 (see
also Vergote, pp. 172ff.). Oil or water was poured into a bowl or cup,
and omens were then based on the appearance of the liquids inside the
container; hence the importance of the receptacle was likely to exceed
its intrinsic value.
uses in divination. Or “consults the omens”; also vs. 15, and cf. Num
xxiv 1.
9. the rest of us. Heb. uses the pronoun alone, but the added nuance is
apparent through juxtaposition; analogously in vss. 10, 16.
334 GENESIS
10. On the syntax and meaning of this verse, cf. Ehrl The steward con
cedes that the suggested punishment would fit the crime, but pretends to
be magnanimous: only the actual culprit is to be arrested, and his punish
ment shall be slavery, not death.
13. The brothers are too stunned to speak; but their actions are enough
to show their abject resignation.
16. God. The choice of Elohim may have been for the Egyptian’s
benefit. But J is also known to use this appellation m the more general
sense of "Heaven, Fate,” or the like, e.g., xxvii 28; see xlii 28; the present
translation does not, of course, preclude a broader meaning Though in
nocent of the present charge, the brothers are now being punished for a
past crime which cannot be covered up indefinitely. It would be Judah’s
way of saying that justice has finally caught up with them.
19. My lord asked your servants. It is worth stressing that in E's ac
count the brothers volunteer this information; see xlii 13.
27. that wife. Literally “my wife,” either in the sense of “my
chosen/favorite wife,” or “that particular wife”; cf. “that mother” vs. 20.
28. disappeared. Literally “is gone from me.”
I had to conclude. Heb. “I said,” followed by direct statement.
29. white head. See Note on xlii 38.
Comment
your son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come to
me without delay. 10 You will live in the region of Goshen,
where you will be near me—you and your children and grand
children, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
° See Comment.
xlv 1-28 337
11 There I will provide for you—for there are still five years of
famine ahead—so that you and your family and all that is yours
may suffer no want.’ 12 Surely, you can see for yourselves, and
my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it is I who am
speaking to you. 13 Tell my father everything about my high sta
tion in Egypt and what you have seen here; but hurry and bring
Father down here.”
14 With that, he flung himself on the neck of his brother Ben
jamin and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 Then he
kissed all his brothers, crying upon them; only then were his
brothers able to talk to him.
16 The news reached Pharaoh’s palace, “Joseph’s brothers
have come.” Pharaoh and his courtiers were pleased. 17 And
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is what you
shall do: Load up your beasts and go to the land of Canaan
"/ithout delay. 18 Take your father and your households, and
come back here. I will assign to you the best territory in Egypt,
where you will live off the fat of the land. 19 You 6are further
requested (to say),6 ‘Do the following: Take from the land of
Egypt wagons for your children and your wives, and to transport
your father, and come back. 20 And never mind your belongings,
since the best in all the land of Egypt is to be yours.”
21 The sons of Israel did accordingly. Joseph gave them
wagons, as Pharaoh had ordered, and he supplied them with
provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them, moreover, he
gave fresh clothes; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred
pieces of silver and several® changes of clothing. 23 And to his fa
ther he sent the following: ten asses loaded with Egypt’s finest
products, and ten she-asses loaded with grain, bread, and suste
nance for his father on his journey. 24 And as he sent his
brothers off on their way, he told them, “Don’t be fretful on the
way.”
25 They left Egypt and made their way to their father Jacob
in the land of Canaan. 26 When they told him, “Joseph is still
alive, and it is he who is ruler over the whole land of Egypt,” his
So MT, but see Note.
« See xliii 34.
338 GENESIS
heart went numb, for he could not believe them. 27 But when
they repeated to him all that Joseph had told them, and when
he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent for his transport, the
spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 “Enough,” said Israel,
“my son Joseph is still alivel I must go and see him before I
die.”
Notes
xlv 2. his sobs were so loud that. Literally “he gave/put his voice/
sound in weeping.”
3. Is Father still in good health. Literally “is my father still alive?” Cf.
xliii 27. (/). If the present passage goes back to E, no actual redundancy
is involved. But even if J was the author, the question may have been
asked for reassurance: tell me the truth, is he really all right? As for the
noun, Heb. actually says “my father,” whenever Joseph refers to Jacob;
but the noun without possessive pronoun would be unidiomatic. This
time, at any rate, the pronoun may be advantageously left out in transla
tion.
5. God. Here, and in vss. 8, 9, Elohim has distinctly the more general
sense of “Heaven, Providence,” so that the term cannot be an automatic
indicator of E’s authorship; cf. xliv 16.
6. there shall be no yield from tilling. Nowhere is the special force of
hendiadys—the use of two co-ordinated terms to express a single
modified concept—better demonstrated than in the instance before us.
The literal and traditional “there shall be neither plowing nor harvest”
is out of the question. No farmer could be expected to stop tilling the
soil because somebody had predicted five more years of famine, least
of all in Egypt, where good crops depend on irrigation and not on rain
fall. Quite the contrary, after two years of famine, the farmers would
work that much harder instead of remaining idle. As a hendiadys, how
ever, the phrase “tilling-and-reaping” describes cultivation which leads
to harvesting, as opposed to whatever the earth might produce without
man’s efforts. This self-evident interpretation is independently sup
ported by the syntax of Heb. The alleged “neither . . . nor” would call
in the original for repetition of the negative particle ’en (Ehrl.). Note
that when the same two nouns are separately employed, the pertinent
particle is repeated: “both at plowing time and at harvest time” (Exod
xxxiv 21).
7. extraordinary. Heb. gddol “great” with reference to something su
pernatural.
xlv 1-28 339
8. father to Pharaoh. This phrase is applied to Viziers as far back as
the third millennium.
9. The message from Joseph to his father is couched m epistolary style
with the standard introductory formula; cf. xxxii 5. For letters reflect
only the spoken word, which is why they begin with the imperative
“speak,” a term that is all the more appropriate in an oral message. The
invitation to Jacob is sent in Joseph’s own name, as opposed to Pharaoh’s
invitation in vss. 16-20. Yet, according to xlvi 31 ff. Jacob’s arrival comes
as news to Pharaoh. The inconsistency disappears once the present pas
sage is assigned to J (on the independent evidence of sale into slavery,
vss. 4f.), and the other to E.
10. the region of Goshen. Identified with the Wadi Tumilat, the eastern
part of the Nile Delta. Since this is a part of Egypt, the traditional “land
of Goshen” is misleading.
12. The original says “your eyes and Benjamin’s see that it is my mouth
which is speaking to you,” to underscore the directness of the evidence.
14. flung himself. Literally “fell”; for this idiom see xiv 10, Note. If
“neck” sounds somewhat strange in this context, it is mainly because the
respective Heb. noun (and its Sem. analogues) designates not only neck
but also the shoulder blades (note the plural, or rather dual, construct
and possessive in this verse).
17. go . . . without delay. Literally “go . . . arrive,” lose no time in
getting there.
19. You are further requested (to say). Literally “you have been com
manded,” followed by the content of the command. In all probability,
however, the present cons, text swyth represents an original yw ’tm, or the
like, that is “instruct them,” cf. LXX, Vulg.
20. never mind. Literally “let not your eye grudge”; cf. Deut vii 16, xiii
9, xix 13, etc.
24. The Heb. stem rgz may describe excitement, anger, impatience, and
the like. The proposed translation seeks to leave the choice open. Very
likely, the general sense is, “let there be no recriminations.”
25. Jacob. In the Joseph story, a direct sign of E’s authorship; also
vs. 27.
28. Israel. See Comment below.
Comment
After the strain and tension of the last episode, the present
narrative is bound to appear as an anticlimax. Joseph’s brothers
had passed the critical test, which was all the more revealing since
they did not know that they were being tested. Joseph’s disclosure
340 GENESIS
of his real identity brings relief at long last to himself, his brothers,
and—a fact that should not be overlooked—the reader as well.
Indeed, so welcome is this happy ending that one is not likely to
realize right away that the account is no longer of a piece, but
a blend of more than one source.
This is the point in the story at which the often separate paths of
/ and E must draw together. Both sources had to highlight Joseph’s
self-revelation and the receipt of the good news by Jacob. Such
episodes could not be lifted bodily from the two parallel accounts
and then arranged consecutively, as was done with the others
(xxxix-xliv), without irreparable damage to the story as a whole.
Hence the present chapter is no less composite and fused than was
the start of the story in ch. xxxvii; but this time the component
parts are much more difficult to separate and identify.
The beginning of the section is the obvious sequel to Judah’s
moving recapitulation immediately before it; therefore / must still
be the author. Thereafter, however, the reflective reader runs into
trouble. Do vss. 3 and 4 indicate that Joseph revealed himself to
his brothers twice? If so, does such duplication betray the presence
of E, alongside J? The critics who subscribe to the latter assumption
find a measure of support in the use of the term Elohim in vss.
5, 7, 8, and 9. Yet the solution is not that simple. While E does
not speak of Yahweh in Genesis, so that the use of this personal
name becomes a direct witness of J, the converse does not apply;
/ employs the term Elohim on various occasions as a general term
of reference to a superior power, and the present passage is
especially well suited to just this kind of usage. To be conclusive,
the external criterion of terms for the Deity should be corroborated
by the internal evidence of the given context.
Now on such internal grounds, there can be no doubt that vss.
4 and 5a go back to J; for both say that Joseph was sold into
slavery by his brothers, yet that detail was unknown to E, the Mid-
iarutes having picked up the boy without his brothers’ knowledge.
The passage, moreover, which consists of vss. 9-13, must also stem
from /. In it Joseph invites his father in his own name to come
to Egypt; this accords well with xlvi 31 ff. (/), where the news of
Jacob’s arrival comes as a surprise to Pharaoh. Yet, significantly
enough, this message too cites Elohim in vs. 9. Thus far, therefore,
there is no sure sign of E’s contributions to the narrative; the re
xlv 1-28 341
peated statement “I am Joseph” is entirely natural in the given cir
cumstances.
For cogent proof of E’s participation we have to wait until vss.
16-20. There a separate invitation to Jacob is issued by Pharaoh
himself; since he is unaware of this step in the episode in xlvi 31 ff.,
which is traceable to J, the author in the present instance must be E.
Farther down, the name Jacob occurs twice (25, 27), and that is an
independent witness of E. The last sentence, however, substitutes Is
rael (28), which points in turn to / (cf. xxxv 21 f., Comment on
Sec. 47, and Note on xlii 5). There is thus at least a fair presump
tion that vss. 16-27 are to be attributed to E, and the rest to J; but
since"we cannot put it more definitely, it has seemed best to omit the
usual source markers in the translation.
Because of the involved nature of the composition, which may
have caused omissions from the originally separate and independent
documents, a few loose ends remain that can no longer be tied to
gether. As J tells the story, it was Judah’s forthright confession that
finally made Joseph reveal himself to his brothers. But no such mo
tive is explicit in the extant material from E. Furthermore, it goes
without saying that when the brothers brought the startling news to
their father, they could not but make a clean breast of their previous
crime and lies. This detail is passed over in silence, very likely by
design rather than through accidental loss in the text. Good writers
are not given to spelling things out; the reader, too, has his part to
play. In this case, the joy of recovering a son who had long been
given up for dead, coupled with the fact that the brothers’ schemes
had not only been frustrated but turned to good purpose, may have
been reason enough for Jacob to forgive and forget. Such at least is
the inference that the narrative would seem to favor.
58. JACOB’S MIGRATION TO EGYPT
(xlvi 1-34: J, /E/, |P|)‘
XLVI 1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and arrived in
Beer-sheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father
Isaac.
/2 God spoke to Israel in a vision by night, and called, “Jacobi
Jacob!” “At once,” he answered. 3 He said, “I am El, the God of
your father. Be not afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make
you there into a great nation. 4 I will go down with you to
Egypt, and I myself will bring you back; and Joseph’s hand shall
close your eyes.”
5 So Jacob left Beer-sheba, and the sons of Israel put their fa
ther Jacob, and their little ones and their wives, aboard the
wagons that Pharaoh had sent to transport him./ |6 They took
their livestock and the possessions that they had acquired in the
land of Canaan, and arrived in Egypt—Jacob and all his
offspring. 7 He brought with him his sons and grandsons, his
daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.
8 These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descend
ants, who migrated to Egypt.6
Jacob’s first-born Reuben; 9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch,” Pallu,
Hezron, and Carmi. 1°Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad,
Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul4 son of a Canaanite woman. 11 Levi’s
sons: Gcrshon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan,
Shelah, Perez, and Zerah—but Er and Onan had died in the
land of Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
0 For details, see Comment and Notes.
6For parallels and variants, cf. Num xxvi and I Chron ii 1 ff.
0Same as Enoch.
<* Same as Saul.
xlvi 1-34 343
13Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub,® and Shimron. 14Zeb-
ulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the sons
that Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, aside from his daugh
ter Dinah. Persons in all, male and female—33.
16Gad’s sons: Ziphion/ Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi,
and Areli. 17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah,
with Serah their sister; and Beriah’s sons: Heber and Malchiel.
18 These were the descendants of Zilpah, whom Laban had
given to his daughter Leah, that she bore to Jacob—16 persons.
19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 Joseph became the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,
to Joseph, “Now I can die, having seen 'in person1 that you are
still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s house
hold, “I will go and inform Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My
brothers and my father’s household, who were formerly in the
land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds,
having long been keepers of livestock; and they have brought
with them their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ 33 So
when Pharaoh summons you and asks about your occupation,
34 you shall answer, ‘Your servants have been keepers of live
stock from the beginning* down to the present—we and our fa
thers too’—in order that you may stay in the region of Goshen.
For every shepherd is abhorrent to Egyptians.”
Literally “face to face.”
m Literally “from our youth.”
Notes
I
346 GENESIS
Comment
over; for it was the priests’ allotment from Pharaoh, and they
lived off the allotment that Pharaoh had made them, which is
why their land was not sold.
23 Joseph told the people, “Now that I have acquired you and
your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you to sow the land.
24 But when the harvest is in, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh,
Notes
xlvii 2. He had picked. Literally “he took from the edge/fringe” (Heb.
miqse) in a context made emphatic through inversion. This strongly sug
gests something like “he took the outstanding ones” (cf. Ehrl.); Joseph
evidently selected those brothers who were most likely to make a good
impression. On “several” for “five,” cf. Note on xliii 34.
3. the same as our fathers were. Literally “both we and our fathers,”
which is standard Heb. but unacceptable in translation since only one an
cestor was still alive.
4. to seek sojourn. That is, permission for temporary residence; not “to
sojourn” without modification, since the necessary permission should not
be taken for granted.
in this country. Literally “in the land.” Heb. 'eres appears in this
narrative in three related connotations: (1) “country” as a political
entity; (2) “land” in general (cf. vs. 1); and (3) “region,” as with
Goshen (passim) or Rameses (11), which are merely districts within a
country.
5f. The translation follows LXX both in the order of clauses and in
supplying a sentence which is now missing in MT. The fact that LXX is
self-explanatory indicates that the disturbance in MT is relatively late.
The authenticity of the Greek version should be clear from the context;
note especially the logical transition from 4b (Please, may we stay in
Goshen) to 6b (Yes, they may stay in Goshen). Above all, the sentence
xlvii 1-26 351
which LXX supplies will readily account for the difficulties in the re
ceived text: the added part ends with “Pharaoh turned (spoke) to Joseph,
saying,” the identical clause that both MT and LXX read in 5a. Such
endings (a feature known as homoioteleuton) often cause copyists to
confuse the first occurrence with the second, and hence skip the inter
vening part; for a parade example, cf. I Sam xiv 41, where LXX comes
again to the rescue in a context of unusual importance. The upshot in the
present instance has been the loss of a sentence and the consequent dislo
cation of 5b-6a.
6a. at.your disposal. Literally “(open) to/before you”; cf. vs. 18.
7. paid respects. Cf. vs. 10.
8. How many are the years you have lived. The natural translation
would be simply “how old are you?” But the question has to contain “the
years,” since the answer goes on from this very word.
9. The years I have been granted. The literal “the years of my sojoum-
ings” would be misleading. Jacob cannot be alluding to his ancestors’ ac
tual wanderings, inasmuch as Abraham’s total time outside Mesopotamia
was exactly 100 years, whereas the present verse goes on to say that
Jacob cannot match his forefathers in this respect; this point gains in
significance when P is found to be the author of all the relevant passages.
The alternative, therefore, is to interpret the noun megurJm in some other
sense. But “pilgrimage,” which has often been proposed, is unsatisfactory;
such an allusion to wandering through life has rightly been suspect as un
duly sophisticated. But the attested range of the stem g-r includes “to live
on sufferance” (see especially xix 9), and this suits the present context
admirably: any time that man is allowed to stay on earth is but borrowed
time.
10. took his leave. For Heb. berek in the sense of either “to greet on
arrival” (vs. 7) or “to bid farewell,” cf. Note on xxviii 1.
11. region of Rameses. Used as a synonym for Goshen (which is J’s
term). It is, however, an anachronism, since the royal name became pop
ular only under the Nineteenth Dynasty (not before the end of the thir
teenth century).
2. down to the youngest. Literally “according to the little ones,” which
is obscure; perhaps, including the least significant members of the house
hold, or the like; cf. vs. 24.
13. in any country. Literally “on all the earth,” but hardly “in all the
land (of Egypt).”
16. / will make distribution. Literally “I will give/sell,” without direct
object.
17. he saw them through. Literally “he guided them.”
The question may be raised at this point why it was necessary for the
Egyptians to exchange their livestock for bread when it would have been
352 GENESIS
Comment
son Joseph and said to him, “If you really wish to please me,
put your hand under my thigh as a pledge of your steadfast loy
alty to me: do not let me be buried in Egypt! 30 When I lie
down with my fathers, have me moved from Egypt and bury me
in their burial place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.”
31 “Swear it to me,” he demanded; and he swore to him. Then
boys,
That in them be recalled my name, and the names of Abra
ham and Isaac, my fathers,
And that they may become teeming multitudes upon the
earth!”
0 Literally “shall be called by the names of.”
*-<*Heb. “I” in emphatic construction..
•~® Reading with Sam. and LXX. MT omits.
/Heb. “he.”
»Heb. “his.”
* So with LXX; MT “Joseph” (cons, ’t-ywsp for ’wtm).
356 GENESIS
17 When Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on
Ephraim’s head, he deemed it wrong; so he grasped his father’s
hand in order to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.
is Said Joseph to his father, “Not so, Father, for the other one is
the first-born; lay your right hand on his head!” But his father
resisted, saying, “I know it, my son, I know. That one too shall
become a tribe, and he too shall be great. But his younger
brother shall surpass him, and his offspring shall suffice for na
tions.” 20 And he blessed them then/ on that day, saying,
“Through you1 shall Israel bless itself/ thus:
May God cause you to be like Ephraim and Manasseh,”
putting Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
2i Thereupon Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but
God will be with you and restore you to the land of your fathers.
22 As for me, I give you,* as the one above your brothers,
Notes
xlvii 29. If you really wish to please me. Literally “Please, if I have
found favor in your eyes”; yet another variation on a versatile idiom.
put your hand under my thigh. For the same phrase, followed by an
oath, cf. xxiv 2 (/).
as a pledge of your steadfast loyalty. Here the substance of the oath is
expressed indirectly, literally “that you will act toward me with steadfast
loyalty,” followed by the heart of the matter (burial in Canaan). On the
hendiadys describing “steadfast loyalty /kindness,” see xxiv 27.
31. Joseph’s promise (30) was not enough. Israel demanded an explicit
oath.
Israel bowed at the head of the bed. So MT; but the text has given
trouble to interpreters all the way back to LXX. The difficulty appears
to be due to the verb; the literal “prostrated himself, bowed low” is hard
to visualize in the circumstances, hence LXX read the pertinent conss.
xlvii 27-xlviii 22 357
mth as matfe “staff,” and not mitta “bed,” an interpretation which is
echoed in Heb xi 21. But the picture of Jacob leaning here on his staff
is equally implausible. The trouble derives in all probability from taking
the Heb. stem too literally. The term “to bow low” need not signify here
anything more than a gesture of mute appreciation on the part of a
bedridden man on the point of death. The bow or nod would come
naturally from the head of the bed.
xlviii 1-2. The passage would be abrupt and redundant if the author
were still J. But the transition to “Jacob” suggests immediately that we
have here a duplicate account by E, who had similar material before
him (note “bed” in vs. 2). The ultimate joining of the two statements
left its mark in the use of “Israel" and “Jacob” in the same verse.
4. and raise you into an assembly of tribes. For virtually the same
statement, cf. xxviii 3 (also from P).
5b. In consequence of their adoption by Jacob, Joseph’s two sons
acquire the status of Jacob’s sons, on a par with that of Reuben and
Simeon (Jacob’s oldest).
6. Concurrently, Joseph’s younger sons will move up, in terms of
inheritance, to the senior spots left vacant by their older brothers; see
above, textual note °.
7. to my sorrow. For this “adversative” sense of Heb. ‘alay, cf xxxiii
13.
8ff. Direct sequel to vs. 2 (£); but the combination of Elohim and
the repeated Israel indicates that this passage now represents a fusion of
both narrative sources.
10. had faded. Literally “had grown heavy”; for the use of the same
stem (kbd) with one of the other parts of the face (=mouth), cf. Exod
iv 10 (impaired speech).
11. / never expected. Heb. pll has the basic sense of “to estimate”;
cf. p'tilim, which in Exod xxi 23 means “assessment” (by the husband
of the age of the embryo), and in Deut xxxii 31 “(even in) the esti
mation (of our enemies).”
12. The act of placing a child on the father’s knees signifies acceptance
of the child as legitimate; the same act also serves to formalize adoption.
14. crossing his hands. The verbal form appears to denote “plaiting,”
if the generally cited Ar. cognate is pertinent. In any case, the context
speaks for itself.
15. he blessed them. Heb. “he blessed Joseph” is obviously in disorder.
Either the ywsp of the text is a mechanical slip for ’wtm “them” (with
LXX), or the word “sons of’ dropped out in Heb.
in whose ways walked. Cf. xvii 1.
19 .a tribe. Clearly not “a people” in this instance; see Note on xxviii
3.
358 GENESIS
Comment
not be misdirected. But Jacob crosses his hands, thus reversing the
order of seniority, as though guided by an inner light. Thus the
story anticipates history: Manasseh, originally the more prominent
of the two tribes in question (cf. the order in Num xxvi 28, 34—35),
was eventually outstripped by Ephraim, the ultimate leader of the
Israelite group. For the enigmatic last verse, see the Note ad loc.
61. THE TESTAMENT OF JACOB
(xlix 1-27: X)
XLEX 1 Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather round that
I may tell you what is in store for you in days to come:
2 Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
Listen to Israel your father.
3You Reuben, my first-bom,
My strength and first fruit of my vigor,
Exceeding in rank and exceeding in honor!
4 Unruly like water, you shall excel no more;
Notes
(vs. 17). Lastly, in the present passage, the next new term features ani
mals once again, as we shall presently see, in apposition to prt. On this
combined evidence, the phrase bn prt, in which ben designates a mem
ber of the given class, cannot but point to the animal world. Nor is the
etymological basis far to seek; it is provided by the established term
pere' “wild ass, equid,” which is found in the poetical books and has
already been met with in xvi 12; our prt (whatever the correct vocaliza
tion) would thus be the feminine form of pr’. The following phrase,
then, depicts the same animal by a spring—recalling a common theme
in Tablet I of the Gilgamesh Epic—and not a fruit tree, which would
have to be transformed into a vine according to the prevailing interpreta
tion.
wild asses. MT cons, bnwt s‘dh, whose first element, literally “daugh
ters,” is forced to serve as “shoots, branches,” and the accompanying
verbal stem is made to mean “to climb, run over.” Yet Arabic diction
aries carry the term banat sa'dat (the exact phonologic counterpart of
the Heb. phrase before us) with the undisputed meaning of “wild
ass(es),” as noted by Ehrl. The complete correspondence with our
Heb. term cannot possibly be ascribed to mere coincidence. On this
basis, Ehrl. viewed the preceding prt as a corruption of the common
Heb. noun para “cow.” There is no reason, however, to change species
in the middle of a metaphor. Wild asses are logical literary companions
of wild colts (of ass, horse, or onager); and the otherwise troublesome
$'dh turns out to be an integral component of the term.
hillside. Heb. sur is a poetic term for “wall, terrace,” cf. II Sam xxii
30; Ps xviii 30. The picture, then, is that of spirited young animals
poised on some nearby elevation.
23. in their hostility. This represents the last of the three Heb. verbs
in this clause; literally “and they opposed him.”
and attacked him. MT cons, wrbw, which is generally derived from a
questionable stem rbb “to shoot.” Sam. and LXX read wyrbhw (from
rib) “and they contended with him,” which the translation above re
flects.
24. Here begins a long sentence which carries through 26a. In this
regard, the present passage is paralleled by the pronouncement about
Joseph in the Song of Moses, Deut xxxiii 13-16a. Both sayings, more
over, end with the identical distich (26b : 16b). The parallels are very
helpful, precisely because they diverge in certain details.
Yet each one’s bow stayed rigid. Traditional “But his bow abode in
strength.” The principal question is whose bow was involved. Heb. has
the pronoun suffix “his,” which is why tradition has made Joseph the
subject. But we have just learned that the shooting came from the
opposition; and singular forms can often be used collectively or dis
xlix 1-27 369
tributively. LXX, moreover, read wtsbr (for Heb. wtib) “it was broken,”
thus assigning the weapon to the hostile archers (and following up with
“their bows”). The second Heb. word (b’ytn) normally describes some
thing permanent. But if the text is right, and the bows belong to the
enemy, the emphasis in this instance has to be on “rigid, inflexible.” (For
an illuminating parallel of a bow that failed, cf. the Akkadian myth of
“Zu,” ANET, p. 515, lines 16 ff.; and the military inventories from Nuzi
often list bows that lost their resilience.)
their arms were unsteady. The pronominal suffix is again singular
in Heb., and is to be interpreted the same way as with the bow. The
predicate (Heb. wypzw) has an Ar. cognate (/zz) meaning “to tremble,
shake.”
By dint of. Literally “by the hands of’; the favorable result of the
contest is traced to the intervention of Joseph’s protector, the Champion
(literally the “mighty one”) of Jacob.
In the translation, “by dint of” carries over to the next phrase. MT
gives msm, vocalized missam “from there,” which is neither a co
ordinate of mlde “by the hands of” nor appropriate to the context. TO,
however, reads missem, “by the name,” which can be a divine epithet
(“Name,” cf. SB), or can have the force of “because” (cf. Aram.
missum, Akk. assum).
Rock. Literally “stone”; if correctly transmitted, the epithet is an
unusual one; cf. M. Dahood, Biblica 40 (1959), 1002 ff.
25. who grants you his blessings. The corresponding Heb. form
governs the detailed list of blessings as given in 25b-26a.
26a. MT reads “the blessings of your father have been mightier than
the blessings of my progenitors, unto the desire of theeverlasting hills.”
This reading is hopeless on more counts than one: (1) the poetic meter
is suddenly abandoned; (2) the prosaic content is even more disturbing;
(3) emphasis shifts abruptly from boons to beneficiaries; (4) the term
for “progenitors” (literally “conceivers”) is without parallel in biblical
Heb., the only form otherwise known being in the feminine singular
(Hos ii 7; Song of Sol iii 4), and having the natural sense of “mother”;
(5) the attested term for “parents” is ’abdt; (6) the connection with the
next clause is disrupted; (7) above all, the parallel text in Deut xxxiii
15 gives hrry qdm “the ancient hills,” which is paralleled in turn by
hrry ‘d (same meaning) Hab iii 6, the obvious prototype of the present
h(w)ry 'd. The only difference is the graphically slight change of r/w
(in the “square” script); but the misreading was sufficient to throw the
rest of the verse completely out of balance.
It remains only to restore the beginning of the verse (26). With the
“parents” (hwry) of the second hemistich gone in favor of “hills,” the
370 GENESIS
text’s “your father” is now all the more out of place. The received cons,
text is as follows:
brkt ’abyk gbrw 7—for which read (with SB)
brkt 'abyb wgb'l
“blessings of grain-stalk and blossom.” The whole sequence becomes at
once natural and cohesive—and an analogue to Deut xxxiii 13 ff. There
can be little doubt that this, or something very close to it, was the original
wording of the passage.
one set apart from. In Heb., the same term that is used to designate the
“nazirite,” one who is distinguished from his fellows and consecrated to a
specific task.
27. on the prowl. Literally “who tears (the prey)
prey. Heb. ‘ad, a rare noun, the meaning of which is not definitely es
tablished; another possibility is “foe.”
Comment
his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his
kin.
Notes
xlix 28. This verse could be placed just as readily at the end of the pre
ceding section. The first half is a colophon, to go with the superscription
in vs. 1, and it may be due to the compiler of the poem. The rest of the
verse, at any rate, appears to stem from P, who is dearly the author of
vss. 29-33.
about them. So rather than “to them,” since the various sayings were
primarily about the respective tribes, a term that is used here explicitly.
as he bade them farewell. For this connotation of brk see especially
xlvii 10, and cf. Note on xxvi 31; accordingly, the corresponding noun is
here “a parting message” rather than “blessing.”
29. my kin. Heb. 'am in the singular stands for “people, tribe,” but in
the plural the sense is normally that of “kin.” In this verse, the term is
pointed as singular, but in vs. 33 as plural, although the phrase is the
same in both instances. It follows that either the form has been
mispointed or the singular could also have the sense of “kin.”
1 1. flung himself upon. Cf. xiv 10. Verses 1-11, 14 stem from /.
3. forty days. According to Diodorus Siculus I 91, the embalming proc
376 GENESIS
ess lasted more than thirty days, while Herodotus speaks of as many as
seventy (Dr.); Diodorus also states (I 72) that the Egyptians mourned
their kings seventy-two days. Cf. also Vergote, pp. 197 ff.
4. that wailing period. Literally “his days of wailing.”
5. put me under oath. Not “made me swear,” for what follows is not
the wording of the oath taken by Joseph but the content of the promise
that Jacob exacted from his son. The Heb. stem in question can carry ei
ther of these meanings.
I made ready. For the pertinent verb, see Note on xxvi 18.
7. senior members . . . dignitaries. Heb. “elders” in both instances.
9. train. Literally “camp”; cf. xxxiii 8.
10. Goren-ha-Atad. A place name based evidently on some locally
prominent threshing center. The customary translation “threshing floor of
Atad” is not a suitable topographic designation. Analogously, Akk.
magrattu (from *ma-gran-tu), perhaps a cognate of Heb. goren, denotes
in the Nuzi texts both private and communal threshing areas.
seven-day. The normal wailing period among the Hebrews; cf. I Sam
xxxi 13.
11. the place was named. Literally “its name was called,” the pro
nominal suffix (feminine) presupposing “the city’s.”
Abel-mizraim. This aetiology rests on the popular equation of "ebel
“mourning” with ’abel, probably “watercourse, conduit”; cf. BASOR 89
(1943), 15, n. 44.
15-26. This account comes from E.
16. they sent Joseph a message. Literally “they ordered for Joseph,” ap
parently elliptical for “they ordered someone to inform Joseph”; but LXX
reads “they drew near to Joseph,” suggesting an error in MT in antici
pation of the same verb (“left instructions”) in 16b.
17. at this word from them. Literally “as they spoke to him”; the
brothers, however, have not as yet appeared in person.
19. How could I act for God. Same phrase as in xxx 2 (also E).
20. you meant . . . God meant. Cf. the proverbial “man proposes,
God disposes.”
21. speaking to them with affection. For the same Heb. idiom cf.
xxxiv 3.
22. 110 years. The Egyptians viewed this span as the ideal lifetime for
a man; cf. Vergote, pp. 200 f.
23. on Joseph’s knees. That is, in time for Joseph to accept them for
mally into his family; cf. xxx 3.
25. put. . . under oath. Cf. vs 5.
the sons of Israel. As previously noted (xxxvii 3), this phrase is not
exclusive with J.
xlix 28-1 26 377
Comment
The Book of Genesis carries its account down to the end of the
story of the patriarchs. This major milestone is now before us, and
all three of our principal sources are on hand to witness it. As was
to be expected, however, each author writes finis in his own charac
teristic fashion. Yet, while the differences of J, E, and P from one
another are thus plainly in evidence, the three concluding passages
have this feature in common: the stay in Egypt is but a passing
phase, a sojourn; the focal point continues to be the Promised
Land. Hence the physical remains of the main characters in the
cast must not be left in alien soil; they are to be taken back to
Canaan.
The verse that now constitutes xlix 28 is at once a colophon to
the preceding section, the Testament of Jacob, and a transition to
the epilogue of the book as a whole. It is probable that this verse
has been pieced together from two different sources; in any event,
vs. 28b comes from P, as do also 29-33 and 1 12-13. P foreshadows
the eventual shift back to Canaan no less than J or E. But P’s
main concern remains formal and impersonal. Abraham’s purchase
of the cave of Machpelah (xxiii) gave Abraham a legally valid
foothold in that land. And so it is there that Abraham’s grandson
must be buried, in conformance with patriarchal precedent.
J (vss. 1-11, 14) also ends the story of the forefathers with the
death and interment of Jacob—who is again referred to as Israel
(vs. 2). But it is the personal aspect of the story that this source
emphasizes, here as elsewhere. Joseph is deeply moved by his fa
ther’s death. Israel is embalmed, in accordance with the practices
of the host country. The period of mourning that follows corre
sponds in round figures to the seventy-two days that were reserved
for the pharaohs themselves (von Rad). Pharaoh is then petitioned
to let Joseph accompany the funeral party to Canaan. The request
is made through intermediaries, perhaps because of local taboos cal
culated to shield the Egyptian god-king from direct contact with
persons who had been exposed to a corpse. After another period of
solemn commemoration prior to the burial, Joseph and his people
return to Egypt. This detail serves as a reminder that, although
Jacob is gone, the Egyptian phase has barely begun for his descend
378 GENESIS
ants. But in the background there is always the main course of his
tory, with all its twists and turns—and with occasional glimpses of
an ultimate purpose.
E (vss. 15-26), for his part, brings his story down to the death of
Joseph. Even in this brief passage, the author manages to assert
himself again as a moralist. Joseph’s brothers have never been able
to rid themselves of the sense of guilt incurred when Joseph was
still a boy. Now that the moderating influence of their father has
been removed, the specter of reprisals comes up to plague them
afresh. They fling themselves at Joseph’s feet, as if to validate the
dream recorded in xxxvii 7. In the end, Joseph succeeds in allaying
their fears. It may be noted in passing that the problem of the broth
ers’ guilt was no longer an issue with /. For him the matter had
been resolved a long time ago, when his brothers met their severest
test (xliv), which established them as morally regenerated.
Joseph’s thoughts, too, turn in his dying moments to the Promised
Land, as did Jacob’s. Those at his bedside swear to see to it that
his remains shall be removed to Canaan; and it is actually recorded
that this promise was carried out in due time (Exod xiii 19). For the
time being, however, the Sojourn is still unaccomplished, and it is to
be followed by the extreme crisis of the Oppression. Significantly
enough, the last Hebrew word in the book reads “in Egypt.”
The interval between the death of Joseph and the emergence of
Moses represents a dark age in two ways: (1) the Israelites in
Egypt fell upon evil days; and (2) the available record is limited to
a few meager references at the beginning of the Book of Exodus.
Nevertheless, circumstantial evidence indicates that the quest which
began with the patriarchs was never completely abandoned. It re
quired, however, the challenge of the Oppression and the inspired
leadership of Moses to reactivate that drive and give it new impetus
and direction. The Genesis phase had served its purpose. In time,
biblical history will enter upon its next stage, the Hebrew term for
which (stem ys’) denotes not only physical departure but also spir
itual liberation. It is in this dual sense that “Exodus” has to be
evaluated.
KEY TO THE TEXT