Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Nir Cohen:
 
Thanks for that nifty cite.
 
1.  But this sentence of yours is wrong:  “it appears that serah is 
mentioned three times in genesis and several times in the jewish and 
samaritan 
tradition.”
 
$RX is only mentioned once in Genesis, at Genesis 46: 17.  The other two 
references to $RX are in Numbers and Chronicles.  Note that Numbers 26: 46 
makes the same mistake as scholars do in saying that $RX is Asher’s “daughter”
.  What Genesis 46: 17 actually says, by contrast, is that $RX is the “sister
” of Asher’s sons.
 
The key to understanding both $RX [a name which means “like Sarah”] and 
$RY [Sarah’s birth name] is to realize that $RX is not the blood daughter of 
Asher, and $RY is not the blood daughter of Terah.  The text of Genesis is 
telling us what is going on, if we pay close attention to what the text says 
and does not say.
 
2.  You wrote:  “was serah mentioned in 46:17 in relation to the rabbinical 


tradition of her role in making two important revalations connected with


joseph?”
 
The Patriarchal narratives are much older than rabbinical Midrash.  $RX 
plays no role whatsoever regarding Joseph in the Patriarchal narratives.  
Rather, $RX is included at Genesis 46: 17 in order to confirm that what Terah 
did 
for $RY and Terah’s blood son Abram was right, being essentially identical 
to what Asher later did for $RX and Asher’s blood son Beriah.
 
3.  You wrote:  “was serah mentioned because of inheritance issues…?
 
Yes, the point of $RY being made Abram’s “sister”, and of $RX being made 
Beriah’s “sister”, was precisely to ensure that such “sister” would be the 
man’s sole main wife, so that her son or sons would receive the man’s 
entire inheritance.
 
Yes, that’s exactly right.  The Hebrew author mentions this situation a 
second time at Genesis 46: 17 in order to confirm that what Terah had done 
for 
his blood son Abram had been the right thing to do.  The situation was that 
$RY was not Terah’s blood daughter, but rather Terah always thought of her 
as being his “daughter-in-law”, per Genesis 11: 31.  Just like what Asher 
did for $RX and his blood son Beriah.  Same.  And Yes, in both cases it was, 
as you say, all about “inheritance issues”.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois