Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

The Peshitta of the Old Testament - Part 9

Genesis 22 in many English Bibles has the subheading given as “The Sacrifice of Isaac.” This is really a misnomer, because no sacrifice of Isaac takes place. Jewish tradition refers to the chapter as “the Aqedah,” aqedah being the term for “binding”—hence “The Binding of Isaac.” This is obviously a more satisfying, and more accurate, subheading than the one commonly found. That, of course, has nothing directly to do with the Peshitta, but serves as an introduction to the one significant variant in the chapter. Verse 16 reads, “because you have not withheld your son, your only son.” That accurately represents the Hebrew text, but the ancient versions read differently. The Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, the Peshitta, and the Vulgate all read, “because you have not withheld you son, your only son, from me.” The question is which reading is original? Most translators obviously concluded the following: the phrase “from me” was added as an explanatory statement by the ancient versions, perhaps influenced by the wording of verse 12. It may, of course, be that the ancient versions were translated from a Hebrew text that had the additional words in it, but there is no way of proving that, as the standard Hebrew text, and all the extant variants do not have the additional wording. It may also be the case that the ancient versions influenced one another in the supplying of the additional phrase. In other words, the first of the versions may have added it, and then others followed suit, rather than having added the variant independently.

Genesis 25 tells the story of Abraham’s death. In verse 8, the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) reads, “He died at a ripe old age, old and contented.” The ESV renders it, “He died in a good old age, an old man and full of years.” It may seem to the English reader that the two versions are sating the same thing in different words. But behind that different rendering lies a subtle difference in the text. The HCSB has rendered the Hebrew text, which reads, “And he breathed his last, and Abraham died in a good old age, old and sated.” The ESV, on the other hand, has adopted the reading of the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and the Peshitta. These versions all read, “And he breathed his last, and Abraham died in a good old age, old and sated of days.” The phrase “sated of days” also occurs in the story of the death of Isaac in Genesis 35:29. Nothing about being “sated of days” occurs in the story of the death of Jacob in Genesis 49:33. The translators of the ancient versions may have been influenced in 25:8 by the fuller phrase in 35:29. If so, the influence did not extend to any additions to Genesis 49:33.

These differences are minor, but they illustrate the fact that textual variations are often subject to different understandings. In addition, these different understandings may be equally reasonable. Unless further manuscript evidence comes to light, the text critic often has to make his choice on the basis of which explanation seems more likely to him.

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