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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Genesis 20: 1
  • Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 19:25:03 EDT


B Hebrew List:
I would like to know if my proposed new translation of Genesis 20: 1 is
grammatically possible.
Traditional translation of Genesis 20: 1 (JPS1917):
“And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the South, and dwelt
between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.”
Proposed new translation of Genesis 20: 1:
“And departed from there Abraham to the southern region of, and he settled
between, Kadesh and Sur, and he sojourned in Gerar.”
There’s no way that Abraham and Sarah would decide to settle or dwell in the
middle of the Sinai Desert right before Sarah bears Isaac. Under my
proposed new translation, Abraham and Sarah sensibly go to southern Lebanon
to have
the baby. Abraham and Sarah had been to Egypt and back in chapters 12 and
13
of Genesis, so they well knew how desolate the Sinai Desert was. There is
no way that, having received the divine promise at Genesis 18: 14 that Sarah
would bear Isaac “when the season cometh round”, that is, when spring
returns, and knowing that YHWH was keeping these divine promises, as proven
by the
sudden destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah which was also divinely promised in
chapter 18, that Abraham and Sarah would move to the middle of the Sinai
Desert for Sarah to carry the child to term and bear the child. Nor would
they
settle or dwell in the Sinai Desert and then move to the Negev Desert, east
of
Gaza. None of that traditional interpretation of this key text makes any
sense.
I realize that my proposed translation is “stilted”. That’s because it’s
a very literal translation. The question is not whether my proposed
translation is smooth English, but rather whether it is a grammatically
possible
reinterpretation of Genesis 20: 1.
There were no commas or other punctuation in the original Hebrew text, so it
seems to me that one should not give too much deference to the traditional
placing of the English commas. By moving the English commas as I have
done,
a formerly nonsensical verse would now make complete sense. I view “Kadesh”
as meaning here the Lebanese city-state of Kadesh ( though elsewhere in the
Patriarchal narratives it is used to refer to Kadesh-Barnea). I view “S(h)ur”
as referring to the Lebanese city-state of Sur (Sur in Arabic, Sur or Shur
or Tsur in Hebrew, Surru in the Amarna Letters, “Tyre” in English, following
the Greek mispronunciation), although elsewhere in the Patriarchal
narratives it is used to refer to the Shur Desert on the western edge of the
Sinai
Desert. Note that Genesis 25: 18 seems compelled to mention that the
reference
in the text there to “S(h)ur” means the Shur near Egypt; that implies that
there is another Sur that is nowhere near Egypt. Finally, instead of seeing

Gerar” as being a fictional locale in the Negev Desert (which is not, by the
way, “between Kadesh and S(h)ur” in any event), I view “Gerar” as being
historical Garu, a portion of which, per the Amarna Letters, extended as far
west as the coast of Lebanon. (The later mention of “Beersheba” means
little,
as the “Beersheba” that Hagar goes to in the middle of chapter 21 of
Genesis is obviously a different place than the “Beersheba” to which Abraham
goes “
at that time” [Genesis 21: 22] at the end of chapter 21.)
I am mainly worried whether the grammatical construction I am proposing for
Genesis 20: 1 is possible in Biblical Hebrew.
Any thoughts would be very greatly appreciated.
Jim Stinehart



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