Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

I have received a partial answer to our question of whether or not the 
Septuagint version of Genesis 46: 21 has “Huppim”.
 
A.  Here is the partial answer I received, in its entirety, from a person who 
knows the Septuagint very well:
 
“Dear Mr. Stinehart,
 
 Thanks for your query. A thorough answer to this specific question would 
 require consultation with the Goettingen edition of the LXX. But the short 
 answer is this. The two English translations you point to are from Brenton, 
 who worked with only one or two manuscripts for his edition and translation. 
 The Greek text in the ellopos.net translation is based on Rahlfs and so 
 retains the "Huppim" (thus translation and text do not match). If you are 
 looking for a sound translation, I would stick with the NETS version, since 
 Brenton's translation is based on a single manuscript. Hope this helps,
 
 jk
 Joel Kalvesmaki
_www.kalvesmaki.com_ (http://www.kalvesmaki.com/) ”
 
B.  Here are my own comments.  
 
1.  Call me naïve if you will, but I am shocked that on the Internet, in what 
appear to be side by side Greek text and English translation of the 
Septuagint, what you are sometimes getting, instead, is a Greek text, and 
then an 
English translation of a different Greek text.  So in the Greek text on the 
Internet, even I could see “Huppim”, yet in the side-by-side English 
translation, 
there is no “Huppim”.
 
Apparently some Septuagint versions of Genesis 46: 21 have “Huppim” and some 
do not.  All the more reason to suspect that the Septuagint version of 
chapter 46 of Genesis is not entirely reliable.
 
2.  The NETS translation, which supposedly is the best English translation of 
the Septuagint, is at:  
_http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/01-gen-nets.pdf_ 
(http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/01-gen-nets.pdf) 
 
The NETS translation of Genesis 46: 21 has “Huppim”, but nevertheless says 
that Rachel had 18 descendants.  But with “Huppim” in there, there clearly 
are 
19 descendants of Rachel listed in the text, by my count.  I see no basis in 
the Septuagint for not counting Arad, who is listed as the last-named 
descendant of Benjamin.  So something is askew at Genesis 46: 21 for at least 
some 
versions of the Septuagint.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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