Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Oun Kwon:
 
You wrote:  “Yes it says "... And Gera begot Arad". However Huppim IS also 
clearly shown in the text as I see it clearly on both.  Looking at 
_http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/_ 
(http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/)  
(English translation of LXX ) and 
_http://www.apostolicbible.com/downbook.htm?pdf=OldTestament.pdf_ 
(http://www.apostolicbible.com/downbook.htm?pdf=OldTestament.pdf)   
(interlinear).  Do you happen to have a different version of LXX itself?”
 
You have raised a fascinating issue.  When I look on the Internet, about half 
the English translations of the Septuagint version of Genesis 46: 21 have “
Huppim” in there, and about half do not have any “Huppim” in there at all.  
Yet 
all of the Septuagint versions state that Rachel had 18 descendants.  If 
Huppim is in there, and Arad is counted, then Rachel would have 19 
descendants, by 
my count.  And even more mysteriously, although I do not read Greek, when I 
look at the Greek original of even those translations that have no “Huppim” 
in 
there, I seem to see a name in Greek that might possibly be “Huppim”.
 
Are there various versions of the Septuagint, some of which have “Huppim”, 
and some of which do not?  Or is it, rather, a question of different 
translations of a Greek word that might be translated as “Huppim”, or might 
be 
translated as not being anyone’s name at all?  I do not know.
 
Here are three Septuagint versions in English that show no “Huppim” in the 
English translation, which is what I had been relying upon.  (I have also 
read 
on the Internet that there is no “Huppim” in the Septuagint version of 
Genesis 46: 21, but I realize that often what one reads on the Internet is 
not 
true.)  
 
But as to the first translation below, which has no “Huppim” in the English 
translation (as you can see), please look at the Greek and see if there might 
nevertheless be a “Huppim”, or something like that, in the Greek original.  
(I unfortunately do not know how to read Greek.  If the Greek letters do not 
come through on this post, which will probably be the case, please go to the 
Internet cite and look at the Greek.)
 
1.  _http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/septuagint-genesis/46.asp_ 
(http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/septuagint-genesis/46.asp) 
 
“21 and the sons of Benjamin; Bala, and Bochor, and Asbel. And the sons of 
Bala were Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim. And Gera begot 
Arad.”
 
But does the Greek text on this same site have something like “Huppim”?  
Here is the Greek text:
 
“21 υἱοὶ δὲ Βενιαμιν· Βαλα καὶ Χοβωρ καὶ Ασβηλ. ἐγένοντο
 δὲ υἱοὶ Βαλα· Γηρα καὶ Νοεμαν καὶ Αγχις καὶ Ρως καὶ 
Μαμφιν καὶ Οφιμιν· Γηρα δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αραδ.”
 
2.  _http://ecclesia.org/truth/septuagint-hyperlinked.html_ 
(http://ecclesia.org/truth/septuagint-hyperlinked.html) 
 
“46:21 and the sons of Benjamin; Bala, and Bochor, and Asbel. And the sons of 
Bala were Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim. And Gera begot 
Arad.”
 
3.  _http://www.ccel.org/bible/brenton/Genesis/46.html_ 
(http://www.ccel.org/bible/brenton/Genesis/46.html) 
 
“And the sons of Benjamin; Bala, and Bochor, and Asbel. And the sons of Bala 
were Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim. And Gera begot Arad.”
 
4.  And here’s a French translation of the Septuagint.  Note there’s no “
Huppim”.
 
http://orthodoxie.club.fr/ecrits/70/gen.htm
 
“21. Fils de Benjamin : Bala, Bochor et Asbel; fils de Bala : Géra, Noénian, 
Anchis, Rhos et Mamphini; Géra engendra Arad.” 
 
Let me add that regardless of the explanation for this apparent contradiction 
in the Septuagint version of Genesis 46: 21, my own analysis still stands.  I 
think that “Huppim” was in there in the original text.  If some of the 
Septuagint versions have a “Huppim” (a fact of which I was previously 
unaware), 
that actually strengthens my case that “Huppim” was in the original text.  If 
some of the Septuagint versions have a “Huppim” but still state that Rachel 
had 18 descendants, when in fact on that reading Rachel actually had 19 
descendants, that strengthens my case as well, as it shows how the Septuagint 
version 
cannot square with the actual numbers.
 
Thank you for raising this fascinating enigma.  I myself do not quite 
understand where these varying English translations of the Septuagint version 
of 
Genesis 46: 21 are coming from, with several such translations including 
“Huppim”
, and several such translations not including any “Huppim” at all.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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