16 August 2022 draft-bible
1. well on in age. Hebrew, ‘going in the days’, an idiom expression for old age.
2. servant. Hebrew ʿebed, a term which usually refers to a slave. It may be correct to translate it as ‘slave’ here as well. However, this passage indicates that the person in question was in a position of high authority in Abraham’s household, and another passage (Genesis 15:2-3) which may be referring to this same individual seems to indicate that one of the members of Abraham’s household, perhaps a steward or high-ranking servant, had attained the position of heir to Abraham prior to the birth of Isaac. If Abraham’s highest-ranking ʿebed had at some point acquired a legal status in any way approaching that of a biological child, I have some doubts about whether ‘slave’ is still the correct term for such a person. In this case of doubt, not knowing the correct course of action, I will leave the WEB’s reading as is.
2. elder. Either the term refers to this servant’s high position of authority, or else makes this the oldest servant that Abraham had. In either case, age and authority tended to go together in the Ancient Near East, a relationship that is captured to some degree in the English term ‘senior’, which can refer either to an older person or to a high-ranking member of an organization.
2. under my thigh. It is often asserted that ‘thigh’, in this and some other passages, is a euphemism for genitals. Touching the genitals of a person upon making a solemn oath is an attested practice in the Ancient Near East.
10. and went … and went. According to Dillmann, we ought to follow the Septuagint in omitting the first ‘and went’ in this verse (Genesis, Vol. II, chs. 12-50, trans. Stevenson, 1897). Note that the ASV and WEB are not making the emendation Dillmann suggests – they are simply tranlsating the Hebrew wylk in two different ways in this verse: first as “departed”, later as “went”.
10. all manner of good things. Hebrew kol-ṭub. If kol-ṭub means ‘all manner of good things’, it refers to the servant taking a variety of gifts from Abraham with him (literally, ‘in his hand’). On the other hand, if kol-ṭub means ‘all his masters goods’, then the text is informing us all Abraham’s goods are under this servants control (literally, ‘in his hand’) – not that Abraham’s entire property is going along on the trip. After all, it is not just highly unlikely that the servant would take all Abraham’s goods with him—it is ruled out by the declaration that he only takes ten of his master’s camels on the trip. Dillmann (Genesis, Vol. II, chs. 12-50, trans. Stevenson, 1897) and Driver (Genesis, 10th ed., 1916 [1904]) agree with the rendering in this translation.
11. Aram Naharaim. This name can be read, in Hebrew, as “Aram of the Two Rivers”. Perhaps it is for this reason that some translations, like ASV and WEB, have read the term as “Mesopotamia”, which means ‘land between rivers’ in reference to the Euphrates and Tigris. However, according to Pitard, “Aram-Naharaim”, in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, the term refers more specifically to “an area in upper Mesopotamia”. If Pitard is correct – or even if there is simply a reasonable chance that Pitard is correct – it is better to leave the term ‘Aram Naharaim’ as is rather than to translate it ‘Mesopotamia’.
14, 16. young woman. In this passage, the word naʿara appears multiple times. Sometimes, as in the case of Rebekah, it refers to a woman as simply young, without implying anything further about social standing. However, in the plural it is sometimes used in the sense of attendants or servants. For consistency’s sake, I will be reading ‘young woman’ or ‘young women’ for this term throughout this chapter. The WEB’s choice of ‘young ladies’ I will avoid, because ‘lady’, at least in some of its senses, can imply the opposite of being an attendant or servant.
22. half a shekel. Hebrew beka, a measurement which the Bible defines elsewhere as half a shekel (Exodus 38:26).
22. ten [shekels weight of] gold. In the Hebrew Bible, the default unit of weight, especially in dealing with precious metals, is the shekel, and so sometimes a weight in shekels is given without the word "shekel" being explicitly introduced. Archaeological findings have established that a shekel was about eleven grams.
28. young woman. As in verse 14.
33. he said (second instance). So reads the Hebrew. WEB supplies the subject "Laban".
49. right. Hebrew yamin, which can also be translated as "right hand".
53. silver jewelry, and gold jewelry. Hebrew kᵉlei-kesef u-kᵉlei zahab. A very literal translation here might read "gold objects, and silver objects".
55, 57. young woman. As in verse 14.
57. ask her herself. Literally, "ask her mouth".
60. become thousands of ten thousands. So, literally, reads the Hebrew. The ASV/WEB ‘be the mother of …’ is a paraphrased explanation of what the brothers meant by ‘become thousands of ten thousands’.
61. young women. As in verse 14. While I do take some small exception to the WEB’s practice of translating naʿara in this chapter as ‘young ladies’, in this verse it seems that WEB has accidentally forgotten the word ‘young’.
62. Negev. The Negev, sometimes translated as ‘the South’ is the southern desert region of Canaan.
64. alighted. Literally, ‘fell’, though in this context the word refers not to accidental ‘falling’ put to a rapid dismounting or jumping off. ‘Alight’, with its meanings of both dismounting and falling through the air, seems to approximate the original verb well. To simply say she ‘got off’ seems a bit lacking.
65. this man walking. Hebrew ha-ʾiš ha-lazeh ha-holek.
65. recounted. This is not higgid, a common word for ‘tell’, but the somewhat less common siper, etymologically linked to a noun for counting. A somewhat similar relation obtains in English between the verbs count and recount.
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