Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:
 
You wrote:  “To catch the flavor of what Jacob said, an accurate yet free and 
idiomatic translation [of Genesis 49: 3] could be ‘Your head is too swollen 
and you are too pushy’."
 
Karl, that is a brilliant interpretation of Genesis 49: 3.  It is totally 
different than any translation I have ever seen, yet it could fit the literal 
wording, and it could fit the context as well.
 
Perhaps the author of the Patriarchal narratives deliberately is using a 
double meaning here.  On one level, the meaning could be how this verse is 
usually 
translated.  Yet on another level, the meaning could be what you have set 
forth.  And maybe your meaning is what the author was primarily meaning.  
After 
all, every single firstborn son in the Patriarchal narratives gets the shaft, 
and rightly so in the peculiar view of the author of the Patriarchal 
narratives.  So in many ways your new reading of Genesis 49: 3 fits my 
overall view of 
the Patriarchal narratives better than my traditional reading had.
 
Thank you for your insight.
 
The more I think about it, the more I think you may be right here.  Your 
interpretation fits the context perfectly.
 
Nifty!  Thanks much.  Much appreciated.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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