Notes on the text of the book of Genesis : with an appendix online

5. U?1!3"1 zn^ moveable property! LXX, rh. vndpxovTa.

Itl^V "Itr^^ U^DDH. ' The souls which they had gotten in H!
C'D^n is used collectively. The meaning of these words is
not the persons whom they had begotten (Luth.), but the
slaves they had acquired during their sojourn in Harran.
TO occurs again in this sense in 31, i. Deut. 8, 17. 18. tJ^a:
as in iJT'n nitJ'SJ, 36, 6; D1« C'd:, Ez. 27, 13, etc.; cf. a
similar use of "^fvxr], i Mace. 10, 33. Rev. 18, 13. Kb"l and
C'lDl are characteristic of P, ^^l in this sense is also common
in P, so 17, 14. 36, 6. 46, 15. 18, 22. 25, and often. Onq.
renders, HCIB xnpisb Jn^sy^^ fc^fl^DD ^\^\, ^ And also the
souls which they had subjected to the law in Harran^ possibly,
as Tuch suggests, to avoid the suspicion that strangers
accompanied Abram to Canaan.

6. D^U} DIpD. ' To the district of She c hem.' QlpD as in



CHAP. 12, VERS. 5, 6. 137

Ex. 3, 8 ''jyj^n DIpD ^^C. Di., however, renders ^ to the sanc-
tuary {Kiiltstdtte) at Shechem,' comparing 22, 3 f. 28, 11, etc.
Shechem (cf. 33, 18) is the modern Nablous ((jJuli), one of
the best known towns of Mid-Canaan, in the hill country
of Ephraim, situated between Mount Ephraim and Mount
Gerizim. Its Roman name was Flavia Neapolis.

n-^1^ p^^^ IV. 'To the terebinth of Moreh: Del.,
and others, regarding ''JD as a proper name. Di. renders
' The terehinth of the teacher! niD JI^X is probably to be
explained, according to Deut. 11, 30 Tr\'D ^yh^, as a terebinth
grove, where in ancient times the priests who were seers
or prophets had their dwelling, and gave instruction and
information to those who resorted to them. The fact that
Jacob (35, 4) buried the idols and amulets at Shechem, and
that Joshua — after the address to the tribes at Shechem,
previous to his death, wherein the covenant between them
and God was renewed — raised a stone there as a testimony
(Josh. 24, 26), is not without significance, as pointing to the
religious character belonging to the locality. Perhaps, as
Di. suggests, this grove at Shechem is the same as the
terebinth of the Wizards, Judg. 9, 37. On the question
of sacred trees, cf. Rob. Smith, Reli'g. of Semites, p. 185.

^7^5, to which ^p'•^< and y^ belong, was probably 'M^
terebinth,' while P^??, and prob. also n?5? (Josh. 24, 26), was
' the oak.' The terebinth, being less common than the oak,
was more suitable for marking out any spot (Di.). The LXX
translate fo^, and (sometimes) P?^, by bpvs, and the Mas-
soretic pointing varies, e. g. cf. Josh. 19, 33 and Judg. 4. 11.
In Aramaic )'^-/ means a tree in general (cf. bpvs and
tree), and it is possible that h^^ and \hi^ might be used of
other great trees (Ges., 7'h., 51 a). The Targg. of Onq. and



138 GENESIS,



Ps.-Jon. render ])bii by """i.^^P 'plain' which the Vulg. ' con-
vallis illusiris' and A. V. follow (R.V. has ^ oak' marg.
terebinth). From this, perhaps, we may infer that they were
acquainted with the idolatrous sense of p^^ vh

DHN, t^b'i, the verb comes first, and is put in the nearer
gender, the masc, though the subj. psn is fern.; cf. Ewald,
§ 339 c. i; and note on i, 14.

nD-lI^/. HK''' in this connection is characteristic of P, so
ver. 12. 36, 7. 37, I, also Nb'J.

7. 2tr''. Render, 'was dwelling! On the participle used
of past time, see Driver, § 135, i; cf 19, i. 37, 7. 41, 1-3.
42, 23, etc.; and Ges., § 116. 5b; Dav., S., § 100. R. i.
The plural is more usual when the predicate follows a com-
pound subject; cf on 8, 22 and Prov. 27, 9. 2 Sam. 20, 10.
Neh. 6, 12 ; Ewald, § 339 c. 2; Ges., § 146. 2 a; M. R.,
§ 138; Dav., *S'., § 114. The second noun holds a more



CHAP. 13, VERS. 5-10. 143

subordinate position than the first, the waw beinj^ almost
' wilh ' (waw of association), * The Canaanite with the PJ
On nnD, cf. 10, 17.

8. D^^^^ ClL''3t^, in apposition; see Ges., § 131. 2a;
Dav., S., § 29 b, and cf. 21, 20. Num. 32, 14. Deut. 22, 28.
D'•^^< = ' relatives' not to be taken strictly in the sense
^brothers ;^ cf. 14, 16. 29, 12.

9. 'Is not all the la?id before thee? pray separate thyself
froin me, if towards the left, then 1 will go to the right,

and if towards the right, then I will go to the left J The hyp.
sentence is similar in form to li? ns^DIXI Dyn DXI, 2 Sam.
12, 8. The simple waw introducing the apod, is very rare;
cf. Driver, § 136 ^*; Dav., S., § 130. R. 2 ; M. R., § 165.
i'Nrob'n and pDM are ace. of place; cf. on 12, 15; 1?Bn
being understood with each.

]*'72'^rT and {j^XDb'n are denominatives from pD'' and h)X6^
respectively ; on the quad, form of the latter, see Ges., § 56 ;
Stade, § 627. Onq. renders ^^"(^^ by t^^^S^S' 'to the north,'

and PP; by ^'0V\1^ 'to the south: In Arabic 'til, IVconj.,=

O J '

' to go to Syria {'\2S\), and ^i\, IV cow]., =^' to go to Yemen'
(^^^IJl), lit. 'to go to the left and right', respectively; see other
similar instances in Wright, Arab. Gram., i. p. 36.

''bl^^ 'from my presence : 25, 6. Ex. 10, 28.

10. ^rs'^ry ^'2^2 recurs i Kings 7, 46. Cf. in the N. T.
Matt. 3, 5. Luke 3, 3 j? nepixoapoi Tov 'lopbdvov ; more fre-
quently we find merely n^^n, 19, 17. 25. 28. Deut. 34, 3.
2 Sam. 18, 23. The district (prop, circle) of the Jordan is
the land on both sides of the Jordan, from lake Tiberias to
the Dead Sea, called by Josephus t6 fxeya irehiov, Bell, fud.,
iv. 8. 2. Elsewhere in the O.T. it was also called r\1'\'^T\ (at



144 GENESIS,



the present time -£7-G/^^r); cf. Sh., G^.,pp. 47, 482^,505; Bad.,
Pah, p. xlvii. The valley of Siddim, 14, 3, also belonged to
the "13D.

npUJtD = 'ze;^// watered' lit. ^ a well-watered place ;^ it occurs
again Ez. 45, 15 h^'i^ r\X^^):i\ cf. Is. 58, 11 nn pD.

nirr^ ]^D, probably referring to the garden of Eden, 2, 8.
LXX, coy 6 napdbfKTos tov Geou ; Pesh. Jo^^if o^.»?;3 t"*' '

Del.'' and Schumann, however, regard nin^ as used in a
superlative sense, and render, ' as a beautiful garden ; ' cf.
lo, 9 and the note there. This rendering, however, is not
so natural as the other. In Is. 51, 3 we have ni.T p, and in
Ez. 36, 35 py p, used in comparisons.

Q'^'^!^?D Y"^t^3 is added to tone down the previous pj? p,
the comparison with the garden of Eden being a somewhat
too lofty conception.

n!Di^2. 'On the way to' lit. 'as thou comest ;' for the
second pers, sing, used impersonally, cf. Ges., § 144. 3 c;
Dav., S., § 108. R. 3 ; M. R., § 123. 4. The second pers.
thus used occurs chiefly in this phrase; again 10, 19. 30.
The form of the suff. T\y is merely an orthographic variation
for the more usual ^", e.g. 19, 22.

'yV^l. LXX, Zoyopa, also called V%, 14, 2. A small
town, generally regarded as situated on the south-east end of
the Dead Sea. See on 19, 22. Pesh. reads |VV ()ll:iL.:^.2Q.sf
^JsiS), which Ebers, Egypt., p. 272, accepts as the real
reading. With this reading, which however is not necessary,
"lyv n3S*n would refer to nnv?D pX alone, and not to the
whole sentence. Trumbull (quoted by Del.^) supposes that
lyv is a name of the eastern border land of Lower Egypt,
but cf. 10, 19.

12. T'nt^"'1. This verb is a denom. from 7^^? 'a tent' —



CHAP. 13, VER. 12 CHAP. 14, VER. I. 145

^ to iejtt,' i.e. ^ to wa?ider about nomad fashion y hence, perhaps,
the pi. nV3. Render, ' Moved with his tefi/s towards Sodom.'

13. D^h^tSn 'sinners,' i.e. ^hadituat sinners,' different from
CNtpn ^people sin7iing,^ not necessarily as a habit ; cf. Ges., § 84.
17 ; Barth, N.B., p. 49 f., and Ryssel, De Eloh. Pent, sermone,
p. 40.

mn*'7 ^towards,' i.e. ^against Yahiveh' Cf. 20, 6. 39, 9.
Or, 'to Fahweh,' i.e. in his sight, i3=^JDij 7, i. So possibly
the Mass. Text.

14b Cf. 28, 14 .133:1 nJSVI HDIpl 7\'t2\

15. riw^n^^ is impf. Qal of |J!35, with the suffix strengthened
by the so-called J demojistrativum ; see note on 12, i '^^'1^.
Notice the casus pendens, here marked as the ace. by riN,
pNH i?3 ns* ''3 'For all the land . . . I will give it ;' cf. Driver,
§ 197. 6; Dav., 6"., § 106 c; and 21, 13.

16. 75V Di^ "^tr^^, either I. 'so that, if any one could
number ' etc.; cf. 11, 7. 22, 14. 24, 3, so Pesh. yl^?, Driver,
p. 183; Ges., § 166. 2; or II. Tuch, 'quern [pulverem'] si
quis,' "llJ'X referring to ">Dy in the first half of the verse, and
lay being repeated in the second half, where we would rather
expect ^nx. Tuch compares 50, 13 ( = 49, 30), where,
however, HX rather means 'with;' and Ewald, § 331 c. 3,
cites Num. 26, 64. Jer. 31, 31, which are apparently quite
regular. The LXX have simply d dvparai ns, not translating
IK'X. Perhaps, however, it is simplest to regard T^N as in
Deut. 3, 24. I Kings 3, 12. 13, as a link which cannot be
literally translated.

14.

I. '^:i1 ^D"^?2t^ ^ry^2. The four kings' names are all
genitives after the construct state ^)2^2. Hebrew prefers, as
a rule, to repeat the construct state before each genitive;

L



146



cf. Ges., § 128. i; Dav., S., § 28. R. 4; M.R., §75 c; Ryssel,
De Eloh. Pent, sermone, p. 61. The four kings, the subject
to Vtt^y in ver. 2, are not given again, as they can easily be
inferred from ver. i; cf. Ewald, § 303 b. i; 9, 6 D^Vn ''3
nb^y DM^JN 'For in God's image, He {God)' etc., Esth. 2, 21.

The renderings of the LXX, iv rfj ^aaiKela rrj 'Afxapcpak

jSao-iXewy 2€vvadp, and Vulg. ^factum est in illo tempore ut'
are probably merely intended to explain the meaning of
the verse, and do not of necessity presuppose any variant.
Clericus' emendation, inserting D13X before ?D"i?ON, adopted
by Ewald in his Komp, der Gen., p. 221, is not necessary.

The meanings of the names in this verse are obscure.
i'D"lC^{, LXX 'Aftop^aX (assuming it is a corruption out of
••DittN), is identified by Schr. {S.B.A. W., 1887, p. 603), Hal.
(7?. B., X. 254) with the great Babylonian king Hammurabi,
cir. 2100, who reigned about fifty-five years, overcame Elam,
and finally succeeded in uniting the various Babylonian prin-
cipalities into one state, with the capital Babylon. Cf. Di.,
p. 236. 'IViJ^ is perhaps Eri-aku or Riv-aku, 'Servant of
the moon-god' (ahi), vassal king of Larsam, under his father
Kudur-mabug, king of Elam, see further Schr., C. 0. T., ii.
p. 297 f.; Del.^, p. 263; Del., Par., p. 224; cf. Judith i, 6
'Aptojx 6 I3a(n\fvs 'E\vfiai by itself is not found in the O. T. It
probably was near mnc'V, and the two may have been
regarded as one town, or ''p mJlK'y may be taken as
meaning Ashtoreth near Karnaim. The town was probably
so called as being devoted to the worship of Ashtoreth.

Dnn D*''J'Tin n^^l, possibly identical, as Ges. supposed,
with the D^DTDT, Deut. 2,20, the name given by the Ammonites
to the CKDl who formerly dwelt in their land. LXX have
here, 'ddvt] laxvpa ajjLa avrols, reading Dn|l and (?)D''t1^y: so
Pesh. Onq. has ^5J?>^'?J!l, and gives for DHS, t^ritDnn'n ' zvho
were m Hainta {?).' It is quite uncertain where DH was.
Tuch conjectures that Ham was perhaps the old name of
the capital Rabbath Ammon.

C'D^b^n, perhaps ^ the terrible ones! The giant abori-
gines of the land of Moab; cf. Deut. 2, 10. 11, where they
are expressly mentioned as the original inhabitants of Moab.

C'^n'^^p mi!^2 = ' in the plain {of) Kiryathaim' niK^ is
found only once again, in ver. 17, both vowels being
unchangeable ; cf. Driver, § 190. Obs. end ; Lag., B.N., p. 43.
In Num. 32,37. Josh. 13, 19 the town Kiryathaim is mentioned
as belonging to the Reubenites ; in Jer. 48, 23. Ezek. 25, 9 to
the Moabites ; it was situated, according to the Onomas., four
hours south-west of Medeba. The ruins are called at the



present day Kareyat (east of Makaur (Machaerus) and south
of mount 'Attarus). D^n''"ip = ' double town (?).'

6. ''"inn nt^l. The original inhabitants of Edom, Deut.
2, 12. 22; the hill country between the Dead Sea and the
vElanitic gulf.

D"T^n3 'on their motmtain,' for Dlv"?. LXX, iv tuIs
opea-iv; so Sam. reading mna, cstr. pi. On the pointing,
compare on 12, 15 (and add to the instances there, vPif and
w3); """^.in and the other forms of in, which resolve the
doubled letter, and write it instead twice, are found in poetry
and higher prose, as Deut. 8, 9 : other instances of a doubled
letter being written twice, instead of having a dagesh, are