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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 20: 1
  • Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2007 09:08:14 +0200

Hello Jim,

Welcome back!

Besides the bad English, which you are aware of, your translation does not work for three reasons:

1. Language. While the word "Negev" can refer to either the region of that name in the south of Israel (in biblical terms, what we today would call the northern Negev, or the Beer-Sheva - Arad valley. The areas south of that, which today are included in the Negev, are called "the wilderness of Sin/Zin" and "the wilderness of Paran" in the Bible), or it can just mean "south". However in this case, the construct "Arcah Han-negev" is a proper place-name: "The Land of the Negev". So it cannot mean "south of....".
While you might propose that the Shin in "Shur" should be read as a Sin, that still does not get you to Sur/Tyre, which is spelled with a Sade (in our transliteration system: Cur). Shin/Sin and Sade are not graphically similar, nor are they phonetically interchangable, so your proposal does not work.

2. Geography. Kadesh, Shur and Gerar are all well known places in the western Negev and/or northern Sinai (in modern terms), even if there are disagreements as to their exact identification. While in Gerar, Abraham and Sarah have a "run-in" with the local king Abimelech, who in other passages is identified as king of the Philistines and as having dealings in Beer-Sheva. Whether you consider these stories as being historcal, anachronistic or simply made-up, the geography is clear, and it points to the western Negev. Remember that when Isaac arrives in the same Gerar and meets the same Abimelech in chapter 26, he is on his way to Egypt.
On the other hand, Tyre and the northern Kedesh are in totally separate geographical zones, and "Guri" is apparently in the area of what is now known as the Golan (perhaps a corruption of "Geshur"). Even if "Guri south of the line connecting Kedesh and Tyre" could work linguistically, it makes no sense geographically.
By the way, that northern city is called "Kedesh" (despite the way it is spelled in a lot of books), as are all of the other similarly named places in the north (I know of three). The only place vocalized "Kadesh" is the one in the south, Kadesh (Barnea). There are scholars, BTW, who believe that there are two such places in the south as well, one called Kadesh-Barnea, the other just Kadesh.

3. General context: As I've already pointed out, the whole story takes place in the south. In the next few chapters, Abraham is still in the south. He sends Hagar to the southern desert. He meets Abimelech in Beer-Sheba. And eventually, he sets out from there to sacrifice Isaac. There is no mention of his having returned from the far north. Your whole conception of the desert as a place that Abraham would find inhospitable for his wife and newborn son is unbased. Abraham was a pastoralist nomad - a Beduin in today's terminology. Such areas as the northern Sinai and Western Negev, with their seasonal streams, springs and wells were exactly the kind of terrain that he was at home in. Thousands of babies are born there every year - why would Abraham even think of looking for a different place? And to travel with a very old, pregnant wife all the way to Lebanon, with its forests and snow? Why on earth?

Yigal Levin

----- Original Message ----- From: <JimStinehart AT aol.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 1:25 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Genesis 20: 1



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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