Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] daughters jacob never spoke of

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] daughters jacob never spoke of
  • Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:15:27 +0200


----- Original Message ----- From: "sujata" <shevaroys AT yahoo.com>


Gen 46:15 refers to 33 sons and daughters beside Dinah through Leah, but the sons and grandsons listed in Gen 46:8-14 total to 33. Is the translation "sons and daughters" correct?
Best,
sujata


Not quite. You are probably using a "politically correct" translation like NRSV. The Hebrew says: "These are the SONS of Leah which she bore Jacob in Paddan-aram, and Dinah his daughter, all souls, his sons and his daughters, thirty-three". Note "and his daughters". Even though the list does actually list 33, making it clear that no more than Dinah are counted, it still uses the plual "his daughters" in exactly the same way as it does in 37:35.

This means one of two things. Either either the plural is used losely, "sons and daughters" meaning "children", no matter what the actual ratio is, or there WERE other daughters, which were simply not "counted". Remember, we're discussing a patriarchal society, in which women did not "count", unless they were remarkable in their own right (there were such women), or unless they got their brothers into trouble, as in the case of Dinah. Since she had already been mentioned, the text continues to count her.

I would not object to either interpretation, as long as it fit the context of the text.

Yigal




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page