13 August 2022 draft-bible
1. Leave. A less archaic equivalent for ‘Get thee out of’.
1. relatives. A less archaic equivalent for ‘kindred’.
1. for the land. Hebrew ʾel ha-areṣ. The WEB adds a verb: “and go to the land”.
2. I will make you a__. This is closer to the structure of the Hebrew wording than either the wording found in the ASV or WEB.
2. The translation you will be a blessing reads wehᵉyeh bᵉrakah as a more or less simple statement about the future. Abraham will be a ‘blessing’ (whatever that means – this is another question worth some discussion). The ASV, on the other hand, has be thou a blessing, bringing into the English language the fact that in Hebrew the verb in question is an imperative. There has been a great deal of discussion about what precisely is implied by the forms of the Hebrew verbs in 12:1-3. For an entry into this discussion, see Joel S. Baden’s contribution, “The Morpho-Syntax of Genesis 12:1-3: Translation and Interpretation”, in Catholic Biblical Quarterly (2010). One interpretation, though not followed by Baden, is to read “and I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing”. Another suggestion (see the notes in Alter’s translation) is to emend the vowels and read, “make your name great, and it [your name] will be a blessing”. Without wading too deeply into the issues involved, I will note that the WEB-based translation above, “and you will be a blessing”, is in good company – this is the line of interpetation followed by Robert Alter, the KJV, NIV, and the New American Bible. Interpretations that include “so that” include the NRSV, NET, and ESV.
2. a blessing. The meaning of this passage hinges, in part, on the question of what it means for a person to ‘be a blessing’. In contemporary English usage, at least in some religious circles, to ‘be a blessing’ is to be a source of benefit to others. But it is not necessarily the case that English usage will accurately guide the understanding of a Hebrew text. As Baden (“Morpho-Syntax”, p. 228) points out, citing Umberto Cassuto, “the only other biblical use of the phrase [‘be a blessing’]” is Zechariah 8:13, points in a somewhat different direction. There, Israel is pictured as ‘a blessing’ when Israel is flourishing through God’s blessing – that is, ‘to be a blessing’ is ‘to visibly be an example of someone who is blessed’, rather than ‘to be someone who blesses others’. Perhaps, in fact, reading ‘be a blessing’ from wehᵉyeh bᵉrakah is misleading, and we should follow the example of the NET in reading, “you will exemplify divine blessing”.
3. and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. Hebrew u-mᵉqalelka ʾaʾor. The WEB follows the Hebrew here in using two different verbs. The ASV, on the other hand, flattens both the verbs qll and ʾrr into the single word ‘curse’. But if the Hebrew author had intended to repeat a word, he could easily have done so. After all, the Hebrew does in fact repeat itself in the part which goes, “And I will bless those who bless you” (wa-ʾabarakah mᵉbarᵉkeika).
3. by you all the families of the earth will bless each other. The verb bless in this clause is conjugated niphʿ__al, and the question is what this implies. One interpretation, very common in Christian translations of the Bible, is that the niphʿ__al here communicates a passive meaning, that is, that by means of Abraham all nations will ‘be blessed’. On othe other hand, if the niphʿ__al is used to communicate a reflexive meaning, then it is ‘through Abraham’ that all the nations will ‘bless themselves’. Which of these two options makes more sense depends in part upon what it means to ‘be a blessing’, for which see the note on verse 2. For the meaning of ‘be a blessing’ see Zechariah 8:13, and as to the reflexive use of ‘bless’, see Genesis 22:18, 26:4, and Jeremiah 4:2. The comparison of these three passages, where bless is conjugated hitpaʿel, with three niphʿ__al instances (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 28:14) convince Baden (“Morpho-Syntax, p. 233) that “it is almost certain that the niphal here should be understood as reflexive.”
4. told. This seems a slightly more natural rendering than ‘spoken to’.
4. from Haran. This seems a slightly more natural rendering than ‘out of Haran’.
5. possessions. Hebrew rekuš, used for various sorts of physical property.
5. people. Hebrew nefeš. There are many parallel examples (see BDB) which show that the word here refers to persons, who would in this case be slaves. It should not be taken as indicating in any way that Abram and his family were collecting souls, as opposed to bodies. The translation of nefeš as ‘soul’ often distorts the plain sense of a passage.
5. acquired. The Hebrew ʾasah is nearly as general a verb as can be found in Hebrew, but see BDB for examples of where it refers to acquiring property.
5. entered. Hebrew boʾ.
6. At that time, Canaanites were in the land. Literally, the ASV is correct to read “the Canaanite”, as the Hebrew term is singular, but the meaning is clearly plural, and so the WEB’s rendering is clearer.
7. To your seed. In Hebrew, this phrase is at the beginning of the sentence, a technique which can be used for emphasis.
8. moved on. The Hebrew verb is ʿtq, which is not all that common but it seems that definitions of it tend to lean either toward leaving or moving forward. To ‘move on’ is in English a way of expressing either or both ideas. The word choice ‘moved on’ also appears in the NRSV, NAB, and CSB. (Where there is just one verb in the Hebrew, the WEB translates it as two: “left … to go to”.)
8. with. Neither ‘with’ nor ‘having’ explicitly appears in the Hebrew. Either is a word simply added for smoother reading in English, and so in this case ‘with’ is a smoother choice.
9. traveled. An update for ‘journeyed’, which is now dated.
10. sojourn. The word ‘sojourn’, and it’s Hebrew counterpart gur, mean to go to a place and stay there for a time as a guest or foreigner. It is an appropriate word for how one would flee a temporary disaster in one’s homeland. The word ‘sojourn’ carried certain social or legal connotations in the world of the Hebrew Bible, as the status of a permanent resident in an area was generally different from the status of a guest or visitor. Compare Genesis 19:9 – “This man came to sojourn, and now he would act like a judge.” I think sojourn still has enough life left in the English language to retain it and avoid wordy equivalents like ‘live as a foreigner’.
10. heavy. Hebrew kabed. ‘Heavy’ is the literal meaning; ‘sore’ and ‘severe’ explain the metaphor.
11. See now. Hebrew hinneh-na. This is the WEB’s attempt to remove the outdated ‘Behold now’.
11. beautiful … to look upon. Hebrew yefat marʾeh, literally something like, ‘beautiful of appearance’.
13. go well for me. Hebrew yitab-li, so this rendering is about as literal, but not as dated, as ‘be well with me’.
13. that my life may be preserved. Hebrew wᵉḥaytah nafši, literally something like, “that my breath may live”.
14. the Egyptians. Hebrew ha-miṣrim, literally, ‘the Egyptians’.
15. beautiful. Hebrew yafah. The word ‘fair’ has two disadvantages: it is a bit dated, and it can also (unlike yafah) mean ‘light-skinned’.
15. officials. Hebrew śarim. The word ‘princes’, in modern English, often implies an individual related by blood to a king or queen, often their child. The Hebrew śar, on the other hands, refers more generally to the leaders of a society or royal court.
16. treated Abram well. This is perhaps more clear in today’s English than ‘dealt well with Abram’.
16. cattle. Hebrew baqar. ‘Cattle’, as referring to bovines more generally, is probably a better equivalent to the Hebrew term than ‘oxen’ which refers (a bit too specifically) to male bovines trained as draft animals.
16. slaves. In general, I try to avoid euphemisms like ‘servants’ when translating words that refer to slaves.
17. plagued … plagues. The words in Hebrew are nagaʿ and nᵉgaʿim, very clear relatives of one another. The WEB’s rendering “afflicted … plagues” breaks the repetition.
19. Now here is your wife. Take her and go. It is difficult to relay in translation just how terse Pharaoh is being here. In Hebrew, wᵉʿatta hinneh ʾišteka qaḥ walek. "And now, here: your wife. Take and go."
20. sent him off. Hebrew wayᵉšalḥu.
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