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

9. "^nt^tom . . . vnt^^nn ^h D^^. a. 47, 6 dni

DnDb'i ♦ . , nyT; 2 Sam. 15, 33 n^^1 « , . nnny DX; and see
Driver, § 138 i. (a) ; M. R., § 3. i c ; Dav., 6^., § 130 b ; Ges.,
§ 159. 3. A. d. i? TlNDni. Cf. I Kings i, 21 '•J^l ^:n

10. ' J^or had we not tarried^ surely now we had returned'*
etc. nny '»2, as in 31, 42 ; cf. the note on that passage.

11. yi^^n n"^t2tO is usually rendered, 'â– from the song of
the land' i.e. of the products of the land of Canaan that are
celebrated and praised in song; cf. Jer. 51, 41. But Kn.
and Del. point out that such a highly poetical expression
would be very strange in this passage, and farther that IDT
and its derivatives are only used of songs in divine service.
Del. derives m'O] here from IDT (cf. niDTD) in the sense ' to
cut off,' so niDt would mean 'produce' or 'portion' But, as
Di. remarks, ' IDT is only used of cutting off what is useless,
or in the way.' Di. renders 'fruits' LXX, Kapnoi Better
is the explanation of D. H. Miiller, in B. W. B}^, p. 983,
' choice products,' from a root nrjt of doubtful meaning ; but
cf. in Arabic jVl^ ' a thing to be protected, sacred, inviolate,^
Lane, p. 978; Sab. IDT 'protect' Aram. '^\ 'to wonder at,'
and ji^^a? 'â– wonderful, admirable,' so J^^^^l, die Merkwilrdig-
keiten des Landes ; cf. C. P. Ges., sub voce, and on IDT HI-

ID7, nt^^^, ''">!^, see on 37, 25.

tr2"T, here probably not the honey of bees, but a syrup
prepared by boiling from the juice of the grape, Arab, dibs,
which is at the present day brought to Egypt from the
neighbourhood of Hebron.



342



GENESIS,



C^t^l. 'Pistachio nufs' =Pistacia ierebinthus, see C. P.
Ges., sub voce ; Low, Araj?i. Pflanzenn., No. 44, Pistacia vera.

Q^ipU)"!. ' And almonds' the fruit of the Amygdalus com-
vuinis. Almonds are found in Egypt, but only very rarely.

12. nilTO ^D^l. nJt^^D is here either an abverbial ace,
or in apposition to C|DD ; cf. ver. 15 ^d:d n^K'ro 'double in
silver;' Ex. 16, 22 T\:^m Dn!?; Deut. 15, 1 8 "1^-55' "l^JT nj/^D ''3;
Jer. 17, 18 in^S^nDCi^DT. SeeGes., § 131. 2d, and Rem. 5 a;
also Driver, § 194; Dav, S., § 38. R. 5 ; M. R., § 71. 4 1
Ewald, § 286 d.

14. "^nt^ ^Try^ nt^. See the note on 42, 19. LXX
and Heb.-Sam. read "iriNn here.

^xh^"^ ^inSbtr nU^^^r) •'D^^I . 'And /, if I am bereaved,

• : T T • : T

I am bereaved;' cf. Esther 4, 16 TlinN ^m3N IC'N^I ; 2 Kings
7, 4 1Dn»1 1Jn''»'' DNV In ''Jjl|'9^ notice the — in pause
for -^, and cf. 49, 3 TV for TV; 49, 27 ^"J^- ^^^ ^^9^' ^^^
Ges., § 29. 4 c; Ewald, § 93. 3; Stade, § 459 c. i (who
accounts for the use of the pausal form with -^ here, 'der
Euphonie wegen,' for euphony).

16. n^IO is imperative for the usual form HDtp^ but only
in this passage, possibly, as Bottcher suggests, on account of
the following H^D, to produce a change in the sound of the
final syllable of the first word (D^tp).

18. HtL^n, 'because how it came there was unknown to
them and inconceivable,' Del.*

T ^JinriT', lit. 'to roll 07icself tipon any one ;' cf. Job 30, 14

ibi'^nn r\^'^ nnn. hhyr\rh is inf cstr. Hithpo'al from i?^3.

20. ''m is a precative particle, always followed by ''^IX or
^pt^ z=pray! Some suppose that ''^ — '•yzi from nyzi = 'to asJi,'



CHAP. 43, VERS. 12-28. 343



and so lit. 'a petiiion ;' cf. the precative particles ^^33, and
iibOLS, in Aramaic, and for the contraction, ^3 from i'VB;
also Wright, Comp. Gra??i., p. 48. Nold., however (Wright,
I.e., p. 287), thinks this improbable. It is, perhaps, better to
derive '^ from a root "':3, ^3 = ' /^ ejitreal,' cf Arab. ^; 'h come
as a suppliant, entreat:' so ^n^< ^1 would = ' a supplication of
(i.e. to) my lord! Cf C. P. Ges., sub voce.

23. D^b D"17ir. Cf Judg. 6, 23. I Sam. 20, 21. ' DI^JK^
DD7 in the O. T. is always a formula of encouragement or
congratulation, later in Hebrew, as in Aramaic and Arabic,
a formula of greeting,* Del.

25. Onb â– )72l^*' DU? ^^2. 'That they were to eat bread
there! Imperf, as in ver. 7. 44, 8. 34. 47, 15. 48, 17; Dr.,
§ 39 ^ and y; Dav., S., § 43 b; Ges, § 107. 3 b; M. R.,
§ 7. 2 b.

26. IIJ^'^l'^V N with mappiq, perhaps to mark that it is
a consonant; cf. Lev. 23, 17 IN'^an; Job 33, 21 INi ('cum N
dagessato teste Masora, vide Michlol, 63b;' note in Baer
and Del.'s ed. o'ijob, p. 52); Ezra 8, 18 IN*^^"*! ('X dagessa-
tum auctore Masora ; ' note in Baer and Del.'s ed. of DanieU
Ezra, and Neh., p. 108). It appears (cf. Ginsburg, Verhandl.
des 5 intern. Orie?it. Congr.^ II. i. 136 if.) that the four
examples of a mappiq in t< mobile are only remains of a
much wider system of pointing the N mobile with mappiq,
which was once more consistently carried out in MSS. See
further, Ewald, § 21 e; Ges., § 14. i. R. 2; Stade, § 42 b;
Strack, Proleg. Critica, p. 19.

27. 35^2^^ d7U}n. n'h^ is here used as an adj.; cf
I Sam. 25, 6. 2 Sam. 20, 9.

28. "llp^l, impf Qal of mp ; see Ges., § 67. 5 end ; Dav.,



344

§ 42. 6. foot-note 2. lip and mnntt'n occur together again
in 24, 26. 48.

29. ^pn*^. So again Is. 30, 19 for ^^1^^; cf. Ges., § 67.
Rem. 2 ; Ewald, § 251. 2d.

30. Vnn"^ nM: *•::. Cf. i Kings 3, 26. Hos. II, 8

(with D^Dm for D^DHl).

32. p73V t^7 ^^. Cf. Num. 9, 6. Deut. 12, 17. 22,19,
of legal and moral incapability. Kn. remarks on this verse :
' The predilection of the Egyptians for their own people and
land, and their exclusiveness towards strangers (Diod. i. 67 ;
Strabo, xvii. i. 6), is well known. The priests neither ate
nor drank anything that came from a foreign land (Porph.
iv. 7) ; the Egyptian would use no eating utensils belonging
to a Greek (Her. ii. 41). In a similar way they conducted
themselves towards the Hebrews, especially as they were a
nomad people, " tenders of flocks and herds " (see 46, 34 ;
and cf. also 39, 6).'

33. in?Dn^1. Cf. on 42, 28.

34. i^\l''*^*1 is impersonal, the implied subject being i^^3n ;
cf. 42, 25 ; Deut. 22, 8 bs>2r\ ^s^ ""D ; 2 Sam. 17, 9 yoK^n VD'^V
The LXX and Syr. have the plural here.

TVil'^ li}^n. Knobel calls attention to the frequency of
the number five in matters relating to Egypt, e.g. 41, 34.
45, 22. 47, 2. 24. Is. .19, 18. For T" in the sense Q)i' portion^
cf. 47, 24. 2 Sam. 19, 44. 2 Kings 11, 7.

Il^tl^'^l 'to be understood according to Hagg. i, 6,' Del.

44.

I. U?''t^ pDD. See Ges., § 139. i; M. R., § 94 b.

3. ''^:i1 □•'U):^^n") nt^ '\yiT\. 'The mommg dawned,



CHAP. 43, VER. 29 CHAP. 44, VER. 5. 345



and the men were sent aivay! The construction is the same
as in 38, 25 r\rh^ N\Ti riNVI^ Nin, so in the next verse,
"iDN* 5)0^) . . . INV^ nn. See note on 19, 23.

"Il^, intrans. perf. Hke IJ'U, niD (all); see Ges., § 72.
Rem. i; Stade, § 385 f.

4. Ip'^n^in \s^, ^Without having gone far ;' so Ex. 34,
28 r\T\^ ^b D^OI h'Z^ ih Urb ' without eating bread, or drijihng
water;' Lev. 13, 23 nnb^D N^ ' ivithout having spread! The
perfect is here equivalent to our past part. act. ; see Driver,
§ 162; Ges., § 156. 3 b; Dav., S., § 41. R- 3; M. R,
§ 153- R- b.

5. The LXX (cf. the Pesh. and Vulg.) insert at the end of
ver. 4, Iva Ti eKKeyJAare fiov to kovBv to apyvpovv ; perhaps an
explanatory gloss.

'Is not this that wherein my lord is wont to dri?ik, and he
(emphatic) ^ would surely practise divination therewith ' etc. .''
On 12, cf. Ges., § 119, 3 b. 4. and foot-note; and M. R.,
§ 52. I. Rem. a, who compares niveiv (v xP^^V> ^ll^^f'^ ^^
ossibus, and boire da?is un verre, with the use of the prep,
here, n nn::' occurs again in Amos 6, 6 p'' V"iT?03 D^HB^n.
Tuch takes the sentence slightly differendy, supplying D3T3
after ^