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

or flocks,' so that each flock had one servant ; cf. Ges.,
§ 123 d. 2 ; M. R., § 72. 2 ; Dav., -5"., § 29. R. 8.

18. ^tZ^^D'^. So pointed in Baer and Del.'s edition, fol-
lowing Ben Asher's reading. Ben Naftali reads, however,
'^?'T??r • ^^^ Asher's reading was ^Tox\oxmcQdiytf-ghd-shdcha,
Ben Naftali's _>^z/*-^(?j>^-r\mt^ ntr^?. ^d by attraction = no, so Judg. 13, 17 ^DIJ' ''D;
cf. 32, 28 ']?2C' riD. Ewald. § 325 a, and Di. prefer the ren-
dering, 'Who to thee is the camp ?' i.e. 'what dost thou wish to
do with them ?' ' because he brings the people into the fore-
ground.' Cf. Dav., S., §8. R. i.

10. nnp7"l = '/r^ take ;' cf. 40, 14 JTiW ^ pray shew
mercy ;' Judg. 6, 17 m&< h rT'b'yi 'pray give me a sign;' see
Driver, § 1 19 S ; and cf. Ges., §112. 5 a, /3.

n^n^S "^^D nb^i::. 'As one sees the face of God; i.e.
Jacob sees that Esau's face wears a friendly (lit. divine) aspect.
' It is a divine friendliness with which he came to meet him,'
Di. n^^^, the subject to the infinitive, is here indefinite, as
Ex. 30, 12 ; see Dav., S., § 91. R. i.



286



GENESIS,



II. n^^in is third pers. fern. sing. Hof. from NU, with the
old feminine ending n (instead of n), which is preserved as
the usual ending of the third fern. perf. in Arabic, Aramaic
and Ethiopic, and appears in Hebrew before the suffixes
and sporadically elsewhere; cf. Wright, Arab. Grain. ^ i. p. 60
Comp. Gram., p. 167 f.; Ges., § 74. Rem. i ; Stade, § 407 b
Dr., p. 236. Other instances of the fem. ending are ^^li^
DK^s:, nn^, ni5|X (the only case with the strong verb). LXX
have here ay ^'ueyKo. o-oi, = ^l^?5'^ , possibly not understanding
the anomalous form.

^r\^'^'2 = 'p?'esen/;' so Josh. 15, 19. Judg. i, 15. i Sam. 25,
27. 30, 26. 2 Kings 5, 15. n^'\2='a presen/,' i.e. as a proof
of favour, and often accompanied with a blessing. Knobel
compares the presents paid the clergy in the middle ages,
called Benedic Hones.

7 J "^7 tr^ "^Dl. 'â–  A7id because I have everything! ""p^. as
in Judg. 6, 30. I Sam. 19, 4. Is. 65, 16 ; see Ewald, § 353 a.
Esau has m ''an abundance;' Jacob, being under especial
divine protection, can say he has 73 ^everything!



â– ,^.



\^tr — '



13. 'vy r\y7V-=' lactantes! i.e. ' with young ;' so Is. 40,
II. 'hv=^ tipon me;' cf. 48, 7. i Sam. 21, 16; i.e. the
cattle who were with young were a burden and responsibility
to Jacob. The R. V. * with me ' does not sufficiently express

the bv-

inOI . . . Q^pDll , lit.= ' ^«^ they over-drive them . . . and
they die! i.e. ^ if they over -drive them . . . they wilt die! the
death of the cattle being conditional on their being over-
driven ; cf. 42, 38 oninini . . . jiDS inN-ipi=*a«^ if trouble

befall him . . .ye will briiig doivn;' 44, 4. 22 nJDl V^X HN 3Tyi ;
cf. 29. See, on two perfs. with waw conv. forming a con-



CHAP. 33, VERS. II-18. 287

ditional sentence, Driver, § 149; also Ges., § 112. 5 a, e ;
Ewald, § 357 a; M. R., § 28 ; Dav., S., § 132.

D')pDT1, the masc. suffix for the fern. ; cf. on 26, 15 ; and
on the third pers. pi. used indefinitely, see note on 29, 2.

14. *'t^t^T', \\t. = ' according to my gentleness^ i.e. gently.
7 is the b of 'norm' or condition, cf 2 Sam. 15, 11. Is. 11, 3.
32, I ; see Ew., § 217 d; Dav., 6'., § loi. R. b : so ^yh.

n^i^T't^n 7Ty^ = ^ according to the pace 0/ the cattle!
r\:i^'0 = ' property' (cf. "^JipP), here, from the context, in-
cluding cattle; cf. Ex. 22, 7 with vers. 9 and 10; i Sam.
15, 9-

17. ri^2 = perhaps, as Del.* suggests, ^a house' i.e. not
a tent, ^nx 27, 15, but 'a building;' here opposed to n^D
' booths,' ' tents.' Hence the name of the place, n:DD.

m^D was probably on the eastern side of Jordan, in a
valley, a little further west than Peniel ; cf. Josh. 13, 27.
Judg. 8. 5. 8. Ps. 60, 8. Its exact position is uncertain ; but
it must probably be sought for S. of the Jabbok, near the ford
of Damie, on the road from es-Salt to Nablous (Kohler,
Geschichte, i. p. 147, Keil, Del, Di.). Sh., G., p. 585,
however, thinks Succoth may be the present Tell Deir 'Alia,
a high mound in the Jordan valley, about i mile N. of the
Jabbok. At the present day a Sakut (t^^M.!) exists, south
of Bethshan, on the western side of Jordan, which is appar-
ently distinct from the n3D of this verse ; at any rate, it can
hardly be the Succoth mentioned here, as it would be too far
away from the line of Jacob's journey; see Di., p. 367 ; Del.^
p. 409; also cf. Bad., Pal., p. 167.

18. Q7tr= DiS'C'n, 28, 21, 'safe and sound,' after his late
meeting with Esau, and the danger there might possibly have



288 GENESIS,



been in encountering him. The LXX, Pesh., Hier. take ch^
as a proper name. The Heb.-Sam. reads tl)?^ here ; cf.
43, 27.

D3\2?, cf. note on 12, 6, and see Sh., G., pp. 332, 368 ff. ;
Bad., Fal., p. 216 f.

''DD D^ = ' de/ore;' cf. on 19, 13.

19. D2t!) ••n^^ "iinn •'n 1^72. 'From the sons of Hamor,
the father of S.,' i.e. the father of Shechem (34, 2), after
whom the city was called Shechem; cf. 4, 17. The LXX
omit ^32, * in order to agree with 34, i ff./ Di.

ntO^'top- LXX, Onq., Hier. render, 'lambs;' cf. Ber.
Rabba, c. 79 ; Targg. Ps.-Jon. and Jer. 'pearls' Rabbi
Akiba, in the Talmud, Tract. Rosh ha-sha7ia, 26 a, relates
that in Africa he heard a coin (nV^) called T\\y'^\>. Probably
the word =V/^«/ which is weighed' from Db'p=Arab. kJU=
'to divide,'' 'fix;' cf. ig.° 9 'a weight,' 'pair of scales' then
* a fixed weight,' equally used with the shekel by the patriarchs.
From a comparison with 23, 15. 16 some have supposed the
''p to be equivalent to four shekels, but this is quite uncertain.
r\'0'''''^\> occurs twice again, Josh. 24, 32. Job 42, 11, but neither
passage throws any additional light on the word. Cf. also
Madden, ytw/j"^ Coinage, p. 6.

34.

I. ipv^h rrh^ nirt^ n\h nn (cf. i6, 15 f. 25, 12),

an instance of P's circumstantial style.

2. T\Ty^ ly^'^'). 2:^^ with the ace, as in Lev. 15, 18.
24. Num. 5, 13. 19. 2 Sam. 13, 14. Deut. 28, 30. Kri; cf.
hyt^, which is construed with an ace. and always has a Kri



CHAP. 33, VER. 19 CHAP. 34, VER. 8. 289

2^^. The Mass. punctuation regards HN in these passages
as sign of ace., the analogy of 22i\:} with Dy, and S^VX, favours
the reading nriN, cf. Geiger, Urschrift, p. 407 f.

3' "^J??."!}' Cf. the note on 24, 14.

"I^^n 27 hv "^IT'I = ' ^//^ he spake kindly to the damsel;'

cf 50, 21 nni? h^ inTi; Is. 40, 2. Hos. 2, 16.

5. ^ Now Jacob had heard that he (Shechem) had defiled
Dinah his daughter, while his sons were with his cattle in the
field, and Jacob was silent until they came' 1^1 nni probably,
as in 37, 3 n^HD IP nb'yi, frequentative; cf. Driver, p. 162.
foot-note I ; Ges., § 112. 6 b. /3. Dav., S., § 58 b, takes it as
simple \va\v.

7. nrh "^n^i. cf. on 4, 5.

^^^â– itr^n ntry rhi': ^2 = 'Jor he had wrought Jolly
in Israel.^ n733 nb>y is the constant expression for any carnal
offence; cf. Deut. 22, 21. Judg. 20, 6. 10. 2 Sam. 13, 12.

I^^lLy. See Ges., § 45. i a; Stade, § 619 a. If the second
radical of the inf. constr. Qal is one of the six letters
n, D, 3, "[5 i, 3, when 7 is prefixed, it usually is pointed with
dag. lene (but not when 1 and D are attached), e.g. "^^'^
with ^ — (by Ges., § 28. i; Dav., § 6. 2 d) 3?f S', and with the
dag. lene ^2^? ; cf. Dav., § 6 end. foot-note (where a list of
the so-called half-open syllables is given which is useful for
reference), and Ges., § 45. 2. note.

niry*' ^^7 pi. Cf. 4, 7; and see note on 20, 9.

8. 1\rC^ npirn "^DI D:Dtr. ^ Shechem my son, his soul
cleaves' etc. ''J3 DDD', a casus pendetis ; cf. Deut. 32, 4 "11^»M
li^ys D''Dn, Is. II, 10 Itjhn^ D^IJ vi^X . . ♦ ""^^ ^i:?'; see Driver,
§ 197. 2 ; Ges., § 140. 3 ; M. R., § 132 ; Dav., S., § 106.

u



290 GENESIS;



D^nni. The pi. suffix includes the brothers with the
father; cf. 17 )^r\2; 24, 59 f.

9. i^nt^ "i^nnnn. So Deut. 7, 3. josh. 23, 12 (both

with 2) = to intermarry. I^ri^^ (cf. ver. 2) might possibly be
pointed I^JJIN ; cf. the construction ? |nnnn. ns fnnnn is found
again in i Kings 3, i, but whether HN in this passage is a
prep, or the sign of the ace. is uncertain; cf. Ewald, § 124 b.

10. nT^JlDI. "iriD is construed with an ace. like averb=
going; cf. 42, 34 nnon pNH T\'^\—' traffic in the land',
i.e. go to and fro in the land for the purpose of trading.

HQ IfPlh^n = ' settle down therein' lit. ' hold yourselves
fast thereinl The word is peculiar to P; so again 47, 27.

12. ]n?2'l "^nO. "inD = the price paid to the parents
for their daughter; cf. Ex. 22, 15. i Sam. 18, 25: |nD =
the gifts given to the bride ; cf. 24, 53, where a Hke distinction
is made.

13. ^^72ID "^tr^^ 'rai^'l. LXX, Ka\ iXd^crav airols, on

iji'iavav, which would mean, ^ and spoke, because they had defiled,'
or, (.?) ' and said, that they had defiled,' which would be better
expressed by NDt2 ^2 1"i?:N''"). The first meaning being very
lame and the second doubtful, it has been conjectured that
"im here must = the Arabic '13, and mean, * to act craftily
behind one' s hack' ^ lay sjiares for ;' cf. 2 Chron. 22, 10 (but
see B'ertheau); so Ges. in Thes., p. 315 a, Kn. This,
however, is not certain (see Di., p. 373); so perhaps it is
simpler to read nDlDl nm^l instead of in21''1 nD"iDn; so
Pesh. jlals o»^ o;.:;^!©. Kuenen emends, l^nins for DmriN,
but then r\21^'\ would have to mean V^^< i^N* t^'^N nDN^l .



15. i^^^O = '^;^ this condition,' 2 being the 2, of price;
cf. ver. 22. I Sam. 11, 2.



CHAP. 34, VERS. 9-24. 291

m^^^, imperf. NiP. of r\)i