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

of the Hebrew text. The VSS. render variously, and throw
no light on the question. Vulg. has ' terram visionis! Onq.
tijnha yi_si) ^land of worship! Pesh. U^cooi? U>)! = p^<
n^DNn, cf. their rendering of 2 Chron. 3, i, ^ land of the
Amorites ;' also Geiger, Urschrft, p. 278. Di., p. 292, seems
inclined to think that the Pesh. may have preserved the



original reading.

n*'l^n . The derivation is unknown, but seems to have
been connected by 2. play with UNl; cf. vers. 8 and 14. For
derivations of the word that have been suggested, cf. Ges.,
Thes., p. 819; C. P. Ges., sub voce ; also a note by Cheyne
in the American Journal Hehraica, April, 1885, p. 252.
It cannot mean ^ shown of fah,' which would be '"ll^^n^ iS'^-



CHAP. 22, VERS. 2-13. 209



4. *^UJ*^7tI*n DVl is connected by the LXX with I^M in
ver. 3, but incorrectly.

^^\2;'^*^ is the imperf. wiih waw consec. after a time deter-
mination; cf. on 19, 15.

5. HDT'J. Cohortative, expressing the intention more
strongly than the simple imperf. ; cf. Driver, § 49 a.

HD has here a local force, as Gen. 31, 37 (rare).

<

7. ^'}jn , also pointed ''3Jn, and in pause ^^3n ; cf. Dav.,

§ 49 ; Ges., § 100. 5; Stade, § 380. The suffix is a verbal
suffix here with the nun demonstrative ; cf. Stade, § 359 b. 4.

8. ^h n^^n^ D^n^^^ = 'G'^^ wUl provide hivV etc.; cf.
4I5 33 ^T^'^ N">^ 'inyi; I Sam. 16, i 'h nnn WNl ''ID, 17

12. ^ And He said, Stretch not forth thine hand to the hoy,
a?id do not do anything to him ; for ?tow I know that thou art
a fearer of God (cf. note on 4, 14) ; for thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only one, from me^

ri-trn ^^71 is almost^n^b^n nS? ''3, which would be more
emphatic: \ here expresses a consequence; see M. R.,
§ 148 c ; Ges., § 158 ; cf. its use in the waw conv. in 20, 12,
^ and so she became my wife;' 23, 20; Driver, § 74.

^?2"^^^?D from DIND 'a spot,' 'a dot,' then ' anythi?ig ;' cf.
the YvQwoh point.

13. "^nSl. Sam., LXX, Targ.-Ps. Jon., Pesh., forty-two
Codices (Tuch and Wright) read nns, i. e. 'a single ram,'
rams in ordinary cases going about in flocks (Tuch), which is
preferred by some, e.g. Ewald, but which is not so probable,
for nnb5 looks like an emendation of ^^^D; cf Driver, § 13; M. R., § 3. i a; Dav., S., § 41 a;
Ges., § 106. 3 a.

13. ' And he spake imio Ephron in the ears of the people of
the lafid, saying, If only thou — pray hear me — I give the 7noney
for the field, take it from me, that I may bury my dead there!
The optative sentence beginning with DS is broken off, and
continued with h and the imperative. Olshausen supposes
that some words have dropped out of the text after nnx.
Hitzig ingeniously renders nri^ DN, as perfect Qal of T^^
^ if thou art willing' which is quite suitable; but the Qal of
m&< occurs nowhere else, the verb being only found in the
NiPal ; cf 34, 15. LXX have eTreiS?) tt/jos e'/ioO ef; TT/Jo? €fiov=:
' on my side,' cf. LXX, 29, 34 and 31, 5, and Dr., p. 182.

15. Cf. on ver. 6. The LXX and Sam. have also read
i6 here.

16. "^HDv nH\ 'Current with the ??iercha?tts ;' the art.
is according to Ges., § 126. 3 a; M. R., § 68; Dav., S.,
§ 22 b; cf the shorter phrase in 2 Kings 12, 5 "iny P]DD
' current money! i. e. such as the merchants would accept.
' People had at that time no coins issued by the State, but
only bits of metal — which came into use through the require-
ments of trade — of fixed weights, and possibly with the weight
marked on them; these pieces were weighed to avoid any
fraud,' Knobel, cited by Di., p. 298.

17. Dp"^*). ' So the field .... zvas ensured to Ahrahain ;'



CHAP. 23, VER. 13 CHAP. 24, VER. 2. 21 7

cf. Driver, § 74 a; M. R., § 18. Rem. a; Ges., § iii. 3 a.
Dip in this sense occurs again in Lev. 25, 30. 27, 14. 17. 19.
This use of Dip is pecuhar to P.

S10?2 "^^^7 = ' be/ore^ i.e. ' casl of ;' so ^JD h'^ in ver. 19 ;
cf. 16, 12.

18. 1^1 ^S3, ^yi. 1 corresponds to 7 in ver. 10; it is
distributive here, as in 7, 21, which compare.

19. n^Drtjn nitl\ rht^'Z)::^ is only found in P; so
again 25, 9. 49, 30. 50, 13.

p^in t^in ^51^?:^. observe that P never mentions the
NiDD '•:ii'« (13, 18. 14, 13. 18, i), but calls the place ^^/j youngest son;' cf. M. R.,
§ 81 b, and note on 10, 21. Probably Eliezer is the servant
here intended. The Targ. Ps.-Jon. mentions him here
expressly by name. Each large household had a servant
of this sort; cf. Joseph in 39, 4. 22 (Ps. 105, 21), also
43, 16. 44, I irT'a bv "iK'N. At a later period the office
was one of the important posts at court ; cf. i Kings 4, 6.
Is. 22, 15.

'^:D"I'' nnn •Jl*' t^: XT'\!:=' place thy hand under my
thigh' i.e. swear to me; cf. 47, 29, which is the only other
passage where this mode of swearing is mentioned. Some
(Tuch, Del.) see a reference to circumcision in these words.
Odiers (Di.) explain — from 46, 26. Ex. i, 5. Judg. 8, 30 — the
words symbolically, as invoking his descendants to maintain



2l8 GENESIS,



the oath and avenge any infraction of it; of. Di., p. 301,
who cites an instance of a similar form of oath among the
Bedouins in Egypt; also the following extract from the
Journals of Expeditions in North-west and West Atistratia,
by George Grey, vol. ii, p. 342, London, 1841 : 'Genesis,
chap. 24, ver. 9,' after quoting the verse from the A.V. the
writer continues, ' this is exactly the form that is observed in
south-western Australia, when the natives swear amity to one
another, or pledge themselves to aid one another in avenging
a death. One native remains seated on the ground with his
heels tucked under him in the eastern manner ; the one who
is about to narrate a death to him approaches slowly and
W4th averted face, and seats himself cross-legged upon the
thighs of the other ; they are thus placed thigh to thigh, and
squeezing their bodies together they place breast to breast —
both then avert their faces, their eyes frequently fill with
tears — no single word is spoken, and the one who is seated
uppermost places his hands ufider the thighs 0/ his friend ;
having remained thus seated for a minute or two, he rises up
and withdraws to a little distance without speaking, but an
inviolate pledge to avenge the death has by this ceremony
passed between the two ^' Ibn Ezra in his commentary on
the passage has the following: ]3'^ ,''::"i"' nnn "J'T' N*J D^b^

Dcb i6 rb')2n n^nnn v'^m hm p hm 'ib"'Ni rh^^b tdi idn
IT nnn n^ mx Dibi? Dnn D'^D'^n ]2^^^'o n\i^ "h^ ninpm
^D-i^ nnn in^ w D^b' ^nv^nn nn^s dx nynni imt^'in nvi:^ ••d
1J1V1 nib'vij iniK'n nnn n^ n^r^ Dyo^ im hv T^'m ^t^v jn^m

Ay\7\ pxn N^n pny tiDt^r^n ntl 'Some say this refers to
circumcision ; but if this were so, he ivould have sworn by the



1 For this reference I am indebted to Prof. Driver, who kindly sent
me a note he had received on this verse from Dr. Tylor, the Reader
(now Prof.) in Anthropology at Oxford.



CHAP. 24, VERS. 4-8. 219

coveiiani of circumcismi, a?id not by Jehovah. What appears
most probable to me is, that it was a custom in those days for
a man to place his hand under the thigh of him in whose
service he was : the 7?ieaning would then be^ " if thou art in my
service, place thy hand, I pray, under my thigh ;" the master
would thus be sitting with his thigh on the {servant's) hand ;
the meaniiig being, " behold, my hand is under thy authority to
do thy zvill ;" and this custom still exists ifi India!

4. ''D = ' but! after the negative ; cf. 45, 8. i Kings 21, 15 ;
see Ewald, § 354 a (who compares the German soiiderji (not
aber) after nicht)\ Ges., § 163. i; Dav., S.^ § 155. Fifteen
MSS. and the Heb.-Sam. Codex read D5v ayaOSav ', SO

45, 18 DnvD )nN» y\n dn; 2 Kings 8, 9 pb^^n niD i^^i.

Q*^"!!"!^ D1S. 'Aram of the huo river s^ i.e. Mesopotamia,
Deut. 23, 5. Judg. 3, 8. The two rivers are usually identified
with the Euphrates and Tigris, so Del.^ Halevy, cited by
Di., p. 302, takes them to be the Euphrates and Chrysorrhoas.
Di. himself, with greater probability, thinks that the Euphrates
and Chaboras p^^C') are the two rivers intended.

11. D'^?:^!! nS2 7^^, i.e. the fountain that is usually to
be found near a town ; cf. Ex. 2, 15 ; see Ewald, § 277 a.

12. b^^ rr^pn. ^ Pray cause it to meet ?fie ;' cf 9, 22
for the omission of the ace, and the note there; see also

27, 20 ^js^ yrh^ m.T m\>r\ ^d.

14. ^Jllay it be that the damsel to wJiom I shall say, Pray
let down thy pitcher that I may drink, and she answer, Drink,
and I will also water thy camels ; {jnay it be that) her thou
hast adjudged to thy servant Isaac, and thereby I shall knoiv
that thou hast shewn ??y master kindness!

T\^TV\ is the perf with waw con v., where no imperf.

T T : *

precedes, used as a precative or mild imperative; cf 47, 23
r\i::)^^r^ nwX Dnvm; Deut. 7, 9 nyTI; Driver, § 119 d; Ges.,
§ 112. 4 b. R.



CHAP. 24, VERS. 9-15. 221



ni^2t^"i . . . "^T2t^ ^ITN. n-i?:N'i is perf. with waw conv.
after an imperf. with "i:^5