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

TO'D is in apposition to n?Op, defining it more closely,
' meal, fine flour! Three seahs of meal made an ephah,
something over an English bushel. The large quantity was
probably intended as a mark of distinction ; cf. 43, 34.
I Sam. 9, 22 f.

ni^X^ :i without dagesh; cf B. and D., Gen., p. 77.
The cakes were small round cakes, baked in the hot ashes,
so called from their round form. Greek eyKpvcplai, which
word the LXX use here.



The statement in Ges. 1. c. that n-^ is accented, is incorrect.



CHAP. l8, VERS. 6-14. 179

9. V/N, the points above the word probably indicate
a various reading 17; cf. on 16, 5.

10. rr^n r\V'2 = ' next springy explained, ver. 14, by
lyiroi' ; in 2 Kings 4, 16. 17 we have the fuller phrase "lyiD^
iTn nyD ntn. LXX have Kara t6v Kaiphv TovTov (from ver. 14)
fls wpas, i. e. ' about this time next year! The phrase literally
translated = ' ^/;(?w/ the time {when it is) reviving' i.e. ' ivhen
this time lives again;' cf. Ges. in Th., p. 470; and Gram.,
§ 118. 6 b. n^n does not qualify ny, which has the article,
but is predicate; cf. Ex. 9, 18 ">n9 '^J^? 'about the time when
it is to-morrow! The full expression would be "^nro nj?n ni^ns,
and n^n nvn ni^^^. in 17, 21 we have the time stated more
clearly, ninxn TWI nTH ly^i? ; cf. I Sam. i, 20 D"'DM ni2")pni5.

I'^in^^ t^in"^ . ' // {the door) being behind him {the speatier) ; '
so the Massoretic text. The LXX, ovaa oTviaO^v avrov, took
Nin here as ^in, cf. on 2, 12, and referred it to Sarah.

11. Q^^^2 W^^'2 = ' wett on in days! So 24, i; Josh. 13,
I, etc.; cf. npo^elSijKOTCs (V Tois r^jx^pais in Luke I, 7*

^in, as ver. 11 is a circumstantial sentence, explanatory
of what takes place in ver. 12, pin must be translated ^ there
had ceased!

12. 'And Sarah laughed within herself, say i fig, After
I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, 7ny lord being old?'
LXX, eyekacrev Se 2dppa ev eavrfj, Xeyoutra, Outtol) pev fici yeyovev

eois Toi) viiv. 6 Se Kvpios pov TTpea^vrepos ] leaving "'inS untrans-
lated, and apparently taking ^t6^ = '^^^^, and ^pV = nn.i;
= n3n~iy.

Contrast the explanation of P in 17, 17.

14. Ill nin^'n ^^^C^n. 'is anything too hard (lit.
wonderful, extraordinary^) for Yahwchr' cf. Jer. 32, 17

N 2



l8o GENESIS,



nm b "l^D nb^' i6, and ver. 27 nm i^D xi'D^ -JDDH; Deut.
17, 8 lan 1DD si^S^ '•i. Cf. Ges., § 133. I. Rem. 2 ; Dav.,

S., § 34. R. 2.

nin*^p. ^ pointed with shewa: so B. and D. Ordinary
texts have njn"'?p, without shewa. The shewa is inserted
according to the Massoretic note, quoted by Del.^, p. 298,
D^JDD 2b:}) p^2D nc^D, i. e. 'Afoses leads {Israel) out, and Caleb
leads them in' which is the Massoretic way of saying that
the letters n, tt^, D make the tc of ''JnN — the vowels of which
are always in the text placed under mn'' — heard ; while after
the letters 3, i?, ^, the N is not sounded as a consonant, e.g.
rtin^3 = ''^n«3 for ^J*1n;3; the latter part of the rule holds
good for 1. So m.Tl^WXl for 't^^}-\ cf. Ges., § 23. 2 ;
Stade, § 112 b. note, who gives instances, e.g. Mic. 4, 13.
Neh. 8, 10. Gen. 40, i (cf. B. and D.'s editions here), where
rr;z does not become ~^.

15. Ppni^ ^^2 t^7 'nay, {for'i.e. but) thou didst laugh,'
^3 xi?, as in 19, 2. 42, 12. ""^ in antithesis after ^b, cf. Dav.,
S., § 118; Ges., § 163. I.

16. nrhxih Lll'OV ^^n nmnb^l 'whUe Abraham went
with them to escort them', circ. clause, as in vers. 12. 18. 19,
I. 24, 10. 15. 56. 25, 26. 28, 12. 44, 26 ; cf. Driver, § 159 ;
M. R., § 152 ; Dav,, S., § 138 c ; Ges., § 141. 2. R. 2.

urhxh. Cf. on 12, 20.



17-19. '' And Yahweh said (i.e. to Himself \ Shall I hide
from Abraham what I am going to do, (18) seeing that
Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and
all the nations of the earth will bless themselves in him? (19)
For I have chosen hi??i, to the end that he may charge his sojis,
a?id his house after him, and that they may observe YahweKs way,



CHAP. l8, VERS. 15-20. 181

by doing righteousness mid right ; so that Yahweh may bring
upon Abraham that which He hath promised concerning him!

17. HD^T^n, the participle preceding the subject, as in
Num. II, 29. Ez. 9, 8 ; see Ges., § 141. 4; Dav., -S"., § 104 c;
cf. note on 3, 5.

18. n^Tl^ Vn. i^n is for ^''T\^ the Holem quiescing in a
Waw, instead of a He; cf. 26, 28 i^^â– ^; Is. 22, 13 ^H^; see
Ges., § 75. Rem. 2 ; Stade, § 623 a.

nD"^n:r cf. on 12,3.

19. "l^nyf. Cf. Amos 3, 2. Hos. 13, 5, V"!'' here, and
in the two passages cited, = '/^ hiow a person thoroughly I
and so, after becoming well acquainted with him, ' to choose
or select him,' almost=:">n3; cf. a similar use of TrpoyivaaKeiv,
Rom. 8, 29.

lirt^ 'jV^^'j stronger than '^^,= 'eo consilio ut,' 'with the
intention of, 'to the end that,' R.V., always introduces the
intention; so Lev. 17, 5. Josh. 3, 4. Jer. 42, 6; Ewald,
§ 337 b; Ges., § 165. 2; Dav., S., § 149. A.V. is incorrect,
I VD? always = ut,

rymi^ . . ♦ ni!^^ nti?^^ \vrh. cf. on 12, 13.

The LXX have j^b^iv yap otl a-vvrd^ei, misunderstanding
the text ; so Pesh. and Vulg.

20. 'And Yahweh said. The cry concerning Sodom and
Gomorrah, it is indeed great ; and their sin, it is indeed very
heavy'.

ripyt \?> gen. object., as in 9, 2. 16, 5, which compare.

npyT and DDNJ^n are casus ahs. nil has the accent on
the penult., and so is third pers. perf. from nnn. Wellhausen
renders, * // is a report about Sodom and Gomorrah, that their
sin is great, that it is very heavy ;' 1 before Dn^{D^ being



l82 GENESIS,



Struck out ; which Di. rejects on the grounds that npVI does
not mean 'a report^ and that God would not Hsten to a
report.

"^I] = ^indeed' or ^ it is the case that' as in Is. 7, 9. Ps.
118, 10; cf. Ges., § 148. Rem. 2; Dav., S., § 118; Ewald,
§ 330 b ; unless it is assumed, with Lagarde and Olshausen,
that Tiyr^K^' has fallen out at the beginning of the sentence.
The LXX omit ''3.

21. '/ will irideed go down, that I may see whether they
have altogether done according to the cry concerning the?n, that
has come up to me!

rib^lin is pointed by the Massoretes as perfect, with the
article, which has apparently the force of the relative; cf.
Ewald, § 331 b. As this usage is rare outside the later
books of the Bible, Ewald, 1. c, and Di. reject it here, and
point as a participle. Cf Ges., § 138. 3 b; Dav., 6'., § 22.
R. 4. M. R., § 92. Rem. a, points out (citing cases, e.g.
I Kings II, 9 and Gen. 12, 7) that the Massora itself varies
on this point. The participle here is more natural, and only
involves a change in the position of the accent, from the
penult, to the last syllable; so 46, 27. For the various
cases where the art. seems to possess a relative force, the
reader may refer to Driver, Sam., p. 57 f.

(173 Itry, separated by the accents, so to be taken alone,
Th^ — 'omninol as in Ex. 11, i D3n^< C^i:^ C^iJ rh'2 \xh^'2.
In other passages nb^ nb'j; means ^ to utterly destroy;' cf.
Nah. I, 8. Zeph. 1,18.

22. nln^ "^y^ "yOV im^r â–¡n'^n^^l. According to
a tradition found as early as the Mechilta (on Ex. 15, 7) and
often repeated, this verse originally ran ''J27 "IDy imy mrfl
Dm^N, but was altered as too anthropomorphic; ''JD7 l^oy



CHAP. l8, VERS. 21-25. 183

having the notion of serving. But 19, 27 is against this, and
all the versions follow the text as we now have it, and read
niiT ''J27. This and similar corrections, called Tiqqune
Sophenm, are not to be regarded as real various readings,
but merely as changes proposed by the IMassoretes, to avoid
expressing anything in the text that was repugnant to them ;
cf. Strack, Proleg. Crit., p. 87. Geiger, Urschrift, p. 331,
considers that DniaN '^l'^ loy IJliy nin^ is the real reading,
citing the Talmud and Midrash in support of his view.
There are eighteen such passages in the O. T., but only
this one in Genesis. Cf further, Strack, 1. c, who cites
authorities ; also Bleek''s Introduction, 4th ed. [Wellhausen],
p. 624. The eighteen instances are given in Levy's Chald.
W. B. iiher die Targ., ii. p. 553 b ; the larger Massora, on
Num. I, I ; and in the Dikduke Ha-t'amim, edit. Baer and
Strack, Leipzig, 1879, § 57.

24. D'ipDT' ^^irn ^^7"l. h N'^J, sc. py or y:jJa = '/o take
away the siii fo?' any one I so ' to forgive!

25. ^ Far he it from Thee to do according to this thing, to
slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should
be as the wicked, far he it from Thee ; shall the fudge of all
the earth not execute judgment ?'

T\W\ , ♦ . n*^?2nT' , the cstr. inf. breaking off into a per-
fect with waw conv. : the perfect is used here, as a possible
case is stated, and not a fact ; in which case we should find
the imperf. with waw conv., as in 39, 18 N"\pN1 ♦ ♦ . '•D'^iriD ;
cf. Driver, § 118 (see the preceding section); Ges., § 112.
3 c. r;; Dav., S., § 96 ; so 27, 45 n^^) , , , aiD' ny, Ex. i, 16

jn\xi'i . . . pn^-^n, 2 Sam. 13, 28 ••niDNi , . . nvjD.

Tr)7T}=:.'profanum (lit. in profanuvi), nefas tibi sit! Del.
compares the Targ.-Talmud 'y N^n p7n 'z'/ is unholy for thee!



184 GENESIS,



The n is not the feminine ending, as the word is accented on
the penult.; cf. 44, 7 yinvb rh^bn. See also Barth, JV.jB.,
p. 136.

ntrV^, |0 as in 16, 2, which compare.

27. "^SDSI "IDy. Notice the alliteration, and cf. inni inn,

I; 2. nji y3, 4, 14. nnm iin, Ps. 21, 6.

28. plDn*'. See on 3, 3.

ion being one of the verbs of abounding and wantmg,
takes the ace; cf. note on i, 21.

30. ''^T\ "^Twh nn^ i"^^ ^t^. '0 Ut mt my Lord he
angry, and let me speak! "in^ is apoc. from n^n^. The
jussive here expresses an entreaty or request ; cf. 9, 27. 31, 49 ;
Driver, § 50 7; Ges., § 109. i a and b; M. R., § 8. 2 ; Dav.,
S., § 63 c. mniNI, the cohortative here and in ver. 32, may
be explained by Driver, § 49 ^ (used in asking permission),
as in 33, 14. 50, 5. Jer. 18, 18, or by Ges., § 108. 2 a {'thai
I may speak'); Dav., S., § 65. R. i.

19.

I. D^lD^^T'^n *^^t!.^=not as A.V. 'two angels' but 'two of
the angels! i.e. two of the three mentioned in 18, 2. On the
construction, cf. Ges., § 134. la; M. R., § 96 b; Dav., S.,
§36b.

niT*^ 15171. Circ. clause, as in 18, i; cf. also on 13, 7.
Render, ' While Lot was sitting in the gate! The city gate in
the east was usually a vaulted entrance, with large recesses
on either side ; here business matters were settled, and the
affairs of the town and all public matters discussed and
arranged; cf. 23, 10. 18. 34, 20. Deut. 21, 19.



CHAP. l8, VER. 27 CHAP. I9, VER. 3. 185

2. t^3 n^n, with short e (Seghol) (only here; cf. Ewald,
§ 91 d) and dagcsh forte conj., is unique; see also Ges.,
§ 20. 2 a. Rem. i.

•^:nS! is marked by the Massoretes ^im nnsn '': (i.e.
* '^pointed with pathach a7id pfofa7ie,' i.e. ' not used of God').

1^1 ^5] T^ID. It was regarded as a neglect of the duties
of hospitality to allow strangers to spend the night in the
street; cf. Judg. 19, 15, and contrast with this inhospitality,
24, 25. Ex. 2, 20. Judg. 13, 15. 'The modern Arabs con-
sider it a privilege to lodge strangers who may come to them,
and often disputes arise as to who shall have this honour.'
Kn. cited by Di.

DntD!Dtrn"l. ^''^^^'n prop. = '/(? shoutder oy place on the
shoulders^ i.e. to put one's baggage on the beasts of burden,
which was done early in the morning, so 'to rise early ^ to
resume the journey' The verb is a denom. from DDC' ' a
shoulder^ or rather ^ the portion of the back between the
shoulders' where any burden would be carried.

t^7, with emphatic or euphonic dagesh ; an unusual use
of dagesh, generally considered to be for the purpose of
securing a clear and distinct pronunciation of the consonant :
cf. Stade, § 40 c; Ges., § 20. 2 a. 2. Rem.; so l^^Sf IDIp,
ver. 14 ; «^ "1-1DN''1, i Sam. 8, 19 ; cf. Ex. 12, 31. Deut. 2, 24.
It is only found in accurate editions and MSS. See also
Del., Commentary on Ps. 94, 12, 5th ed. ; Baer, Liber Prov.^
Pref.j p. xiv ; Konig, Lehrg., p. 59.

3. nntrtD, prop, 'a drinking feast' then generally 'a meal
or banquet ;' cf. 21, 8. 26, 30.

n*1!^?2 â– = ' sweet or unsouredl i.e.' unleaveJied cakes ' (from
J*^*D ' to lap, suck *), and so more quickly prepared.



l86 GENESIS,



4. "1^1 nniD; cf. on 2, 5. Render, 'They had not yel gone
to sleep, ivhen the men of the city, the men of Sodo?n, surrounded
the house, both young and old, all the people in a body^

^no: is third perf. pi. Nif. of naD=mD^ Nifal being
originally Nafal ; the pathach being thinned down into hireq ;
cf. Dav., § 25. Rem. a; Ges., § 51. i; and compare the
Arabic vii form JiiJ} (in-qatala) and such Heb. forms as
.to:, 3^i:=:3m3 (Dav., § 9. i. Rem. b; Ges., § 24. 2 b) ;
Wright, Gram. Arab., i. p. 42. 22p: becomes 2p:, and the
pathach under the nun, standing in an open syllable before
the tone, becomes tone-long qame9 : cf. Stade, § 86. 3 ; Dav.,
§6. 2b; see also Ges., § 27. 2 a.

ni^p^ = lit. ^from the end', i. e. including the whole, so in
Jer. 51, 31. Cf. Judg. 18, 2. i Kings 12, 31 (not ' of the
lowest', but ^ of the whole body of the people'). The full
expression would be ni'i^nyi . ♦ ♦ nifi^rp, 47, 21. Jer. 12,
12. etc.

5. n^^TTf = ' to-night' ' this night,' the article, as in DIM,
ny\yn, has a demonstrative force : Ges., § 126. i a; Dav., S.,
§ 21. R. I ; Ewald, § 277 a. 3. So in 30, 15.

6. Uhl . . ♦ nriD. r\bl = ' the door of the house,' nriD =
' the entrance {gate).'

7. "^n^ =:' 7?iy friends ;' cf. 29, 4. Judg. 19, 23.

8. 7^^ for npN is found eight times in the Pentateuch and
once besides (i Chron. 20, 8), and always (except Chron. I.e.)
with the article; see Ges., § 34. i. Rem.; Dav., § 13. Rem. a;
Stade, § 171 b. It is commonly explained as an archaism,
but this is very doubtful. Robertson- Smith (in Wright, Co??ip.
Gram., p. 108') regards it as merely a ' scriptio defectiva'



I



CHAP. 19, VERS. 4- II. 187

(^^0 as in Phoenician; cf. C. I. S., I. 3. lin. 22 ; 14. lin. 5 ;
93. lin. 3. He considers ^^?^ in any case as younger
than Th^r^.

9. nt^/n'tr^. So in correct editions; the ordinary
editions have 'INpn^ with metheg, which is wrongly placed,
as the tone is on the penult. LXX, 'ATroVra cW. Vulg.
'recede I'lluc ;' cf. Is. 49, 20 y"''^? 'stand away! Render,

* Stand back!

I01DU) ♦ . ♦ "insn. 'This one came in to sojourn and
goes on ptayifig the judge ;' cf. 31, 15 IJiJDD nx i?DN* 03 i?DN''1

* aftd goes on to eat up our silver ;' Job 10, 8 ^jyi?nni ' and yet
thou goes t on to swallow me up / cf. Driver, § 79, 'The action
or its results continuing into the writer's present ;' also Ewald,
§§ 231 b, 342 a. I a.

tOlCtr. When the inf. abs. follows the finite verb, it
generally denotes a continued or lasting action ; cf. Ges.,
§ 113. 3 b; Ewald, § 280 b; and Dav., S., § 86. R. i.

"7n^;^rT. The H is the article, not the H interrogative.

II. Q^"^1DD1 'with blindness;' not absolute blindness,
but temporary loss of sight; the word only occurs once
again, 2 Kings 6, 18. PJV, Zech. 12, 4. Deut. 28, 28 is
different =(^//;/tf>z^^j, not merely a temporary affliction. DHliD
is from "*.1.^p [Safel of "»i: ('y)]=:'to make blind! which occurs
in Aramaic; cited by Levy, Chald. W. B. sub voce, as
occurring in Num. 16, 14 Targ. Ps.-Jon. (nil^Dn). On the
causative conjunction of the verb in Semitic, that has ^
or D as initial letter, cf. Wright, Comp. Gram., p. 205 ;
see also Dehtzsch, Assyr. Gram., p. 231. The article is
according to Ges., § 126. 3. Rem. c; Dav., ^5"., § 22. R. i;



l88 GENESIS,



LXX, dopaaia; Onq. ^^1")???' ' fatuitas ;' Syr. JliL4^i
* illusiones!

hn:X 1V1 ]tOpO. Cf. I Sam. 5, 9. 30, 2; \M. = 'from
a little one even unto a great one' i. e. ' alll every one being
regarded as either small or great, so the two extremes would
embrace all persons.

"12^1 ♦ . . ]^ as in 13, 3. 14, 23, and often.

12. HQ ^7 *^n ly = ' Who hast thou still here?' i.e. 'hast
thou any more belonging to thee in Sodom besides those in
thy house?'

\T\n, perhaps co\\ect\ve:=' sons-in-law ;' but the singular
without the suffix is strange, as one would expect '^'^J^H,
which the Pesh. has, ^^. Di. conjectures that :ni was
inserted between ']'» and Jnn, as no mention is made else-
where of sons which Lot had before the destruction.

13. l:n:^^ D'lnnir^b *^^. The participle is used of
future time (with the subject following, cf. 3, 5). See note
on 6, 17, and cf. 15, 14. 17, 19. 18, 17. 41, 25. 28. Ex. 9, 3.

Dnpi?!^ =' the ay concerning them ;' cf. on 18, 20.

Tt\T\^ ^^D Jl^^ as in ver. 27. 33, 18. Ex. 34, 23. i Sam.

I, 22. Ps. 16, II.

14. "^TTp^ 'who were to take,' 'the takers of his daughters;'
so Ewald, § 335 b; Ges., § 116. 2 ; better than (LXX, Targ.
Ps.-Jon., Kimchi, Del.) 'ivho had taken', which would be more
naturally expressed by "i:^N and the perf. ; and Lot would
scarcely leave his married daughters in Sodom without calling
them away.

^^^•!i '^^^p. :^ with emphatic dag. (see on ver. 2), to



CHAP. 19, VERS. 12-16. 189

ensure the clear pronunciation of the V between the two
u-sounds.

. . . D 'n^'n = '/o appear as' for which there is no proper
word in Hebrew; cf. 27, 12. 40, 10,

15. Render, ^ And when the nior7nng dawned, the aitgels
urged Lot, saying, lake thy wife and thy two daughters
that are with thee, lest thou be swept away in the punishment
of the city!

Tr)V "^ntrn 1M1. ID^^ 1:^X3 is rare and poetical,
Is. 26, 18. Ps. 58, 8 ; cf. M.R., § 60; Ewald, § 337 c; Dav.,
S., § 145 a.

"^!^^^^*^1 is imperf. HiP. of p^^. The waw conv. is used
after a time determination : so 22, 4 DnnniS Nb'^l ^^'hvi;r\ DVa,
I Sam. 21, 6 V1TI TlX^'a, Josh. 22, 7 DDin"'') , ♦ , tixhv) ''D ;
cf. Driver, § 127 b; Ges., § in. i. Rem. i ; M. R., § 132 b;
Dav., S., § 50 b.

nS!^T2^n, lit. ^ who are found' i.e. who are with thee in
thy house; cf. i Sam. 13, 15. 21, 4. The participle may
often be rendered by the present, as in 4, 10. 16, 8. 37, 16,
etc. nNVrOJn probably refers to â– jnji'X n^5 as well as to

nCDil ]0 . nSD z^^ to be snatched off, carried away y' so
I Sam. 12, 25. Num. 16, 26.
p>^ = ' punishment / ' c f. 4 , 1 3 .

16. n^nnn^'l, imperf. Hithpalpal of nnO; cf. "iDirrn^
from llD, Dan. 8, 7; Ges., § 55. 4; Stade, § 503.

7\^^ nb^nZl = ' through YahzveKs sparing him' i. e.
' because Yahweh spared him' the subject of the inf. construct
following in the genitive; cf. INI. R., § 117 ; Ges., § 115. 2.



IQO GENESIS,



Rem. I ; Dav., S., § 91 a : also Ps. 133, i D"'^^< n2^, Is. 47,
9 y\2r\ riDVyn. The inf. cstr. n7Cn has the fern. cstr. ending ;
here intentionally, as niiT nS'^oni could not be taken as
construct state with a following genitive. The inf. with
fern, ending n is common, especially in particular words,
viz. nnnN, hnt, r\i