Vincent Melli

The Holy Bible · Genesis

Genesis 49 — Hebrew and Greek compared

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Same 5   Similar 8   Different 8   Divergent 1   Disparate 11

Disparate in this chapter: 49:3, 49:4, 49:9, 49:10, 49:14, 49:15, 49:21, 49:22, 49:24, 49:25, 49:26

Each verse is rendered independently from the Hebrew (Rabbinic reading tradition) and from the Greek (Saints reading tradition). The badge classifies the relationship between the two readings; the note beneath records the source document’s comparison and attributed interpretation. Each column retains its own verse references where numbering differs.

Israel Addresses His Sons

49:1  Same

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:1 Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, so I may tell you what will befall you in the latter days.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:1 Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, so I may tell you what will befall you in the latter days.”

The latter-days expression is retained. Its horizon within the blessings should be distinguished from later eschatological applications.

49:2  Same

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:2 “Gather and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:2 “Gather and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.”

Rahlfs–Hanhart has neither the extra to me nor the repeated listen that appeared in the earlier draft. [G49]

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi

49:3  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the firstfruits of my strength,
foremost in dignity and foremost in power.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:3 “Reuben, my firstborn,
you are my strength and the beginning of my children,
hard to bear and stubbornly self-willed.”

Hebrew describes firstborn preeminence; Greek already voices rebuke. The movement into verse 4 matters before calling the descriptions incompatible [H49; G49].

49:4  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:4 “Unstable as water, you will not excel,
for you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:4 “You overflowed in insolence like water; do not boil over,
for you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled the couch where you went up.”

The loss-of-preeminence/boiling images and final pronoun shift differ. Hebrew’s switch to he is retained [H49; G49].

49:5  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their weapons are instruments of violence.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
they carried out injustice by their own choice.”

Hebrew’s final word is difficult; weapons is provisional. Greek explicitly refers to their choice [H49; G49].

49:6  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:6 “Let my soul not enter their council;
let my honor not join their assembly.
In their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung an ox.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:6 “Let my soul not enter their council;
let my inward being not rest upon their conspiracy.
In their wrath they killed men,
and in their desire they hamstrung a bull.”

Hebrew has honor and joining the assembly; Greek uses liver as an inward-being image and a verb of resting or leaning upon. The earlier rendering contend misread that Greek verb. Both retain the killing and hamstringing. [G49]

49:7  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:7 “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
and their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:7 “Cursed be their wrath, for it was self-willed,
and their anger, for it was hardened.
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.”

Both condemn the anger and announce dispersal; the descriptions differ [G49].

Judah

49:8  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on your enemies’ necks;
your father’s sons will bow before you.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:8 “Judah, may your brothers praise you;
your hands will be on your enemies’ backs;
your father’s sons will bow before you.”

The praise mood and neck/back image differ. Bowing before Judah expresses homage, without adding divine worship [G49].

49:9  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:9 “Judah is a lion’s cub.
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouched and lay down like a lion, like a lioness;
who will rouse him?”

Greek · Saints priority

49:9 “Judah is a lion’s cub.
From a shoot, my son, you have gone up.
You reclined and slept like a lion, like a cub;
who will rouse him?”

Prey/shoot, lioness/cub, and the person of the reclining verb differ. The two images are kept distinct [G49]. The origin and reclining images together substantially reshape the portrait.

49:10  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:10 “The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes;
to him will be the obedience of peoples.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:10 “A ruler will not fail from Judah,
nor a leader from his thighs,
until the things reserved for him come;
he will be the expectation of nations.”

Shiloh is retained provisionally from the project; its syntax and meaning are disputed, including readings involving tribute or the one to whom rule belongs. Greek explicitly has things reserved for him and expectation. Reception is separately attributed below [H49; G49]. Rabbinic reception: Rashi reads Shiloh messianically as the king to whom kingship belongs [R49]. Saints reception: Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 52, reads the blessing in relation to Christ’s coming and the nations’ hope. This is Christian messianic interpretation [S49].

49:11  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:11 “Binding his foal to the vine,
his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine,
his clothing in the blood of grapes.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:11 “Binding his foal to the vine,
his donkey’s colt to the tendril,
he will wash his robe in wine,
his mantle in the blood of the grape.”

The clothing and vine terms differ in expression; the wine imagery is preserved without adding its later sacramental interpretation [G49].

49:12  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:12 “His eyes are dark with wine,
and his teeth white with milk.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:12 “His eyes are joyful from wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.”

Hebrew’s color term and the from/with relation remain difficult; dark with wine is provisional. Greek describes joyful eyes from wine and expressly compares the teeth with milk; it does not compare the joy with wine. [G49]

Zebulun, Issachar, Dan

49:13  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:13 “Zebulun will dwell by the seashore;
he will be a haven for ships,
and his flank will reach Sidon.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:13 “Zebulun will dwell by the sea,
beside a haven for ships,
and extend as far as Sidon.”

The coastal descriptions correspond without identifying a modern boundary [G49].

49:14  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:14 “Issachar is a strong-boned donkey,
lying between the sheepfolds.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:14 “Issachar desired what is good,
resting between the inheritances.”

Greek has no donkey image; the resting places also differ. Sheepfolds is a provisional rendering of the difficult Hebrew term [H49; G49].

49:15  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:15 “He saw that rest was good
and the land pleasant.
He bent his shoulder to bear burdens
and became subject to forced labor.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:15 “He saw that rest was good
and the land fertile.
He bent his shoulder to labor
and became a tiller of the soil.”

Forced labor/tilling differs materially in the final social description [G49].

49:16  Same

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:16 “Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:16 “Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.”

The corresponding meaning and content agree.

49:17  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:17 “Let Dan be a serpent by the road,
a horned snake by the path,
biting a horse’s heels
so its rider falls backward.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:17 “Let Dan be a serpent by the road,
lying in wait by the path,
biting a horse’s heel
and its rider will fall backward.”

The Hebrew snake description and Greek ambush expression differ [G49].

49:18  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:18 “I wait for Your salvation, YHWH.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:18 “I wait for the Lord’s salvation.”

Rahlfs–Hanhart has the first-person verb I wait, not a participle continuing verse 17. Hebrew addresses YHWH; Greek speaks of the Lord’s salvation. [G49]

Gad, Asher, Naphtali

49:19  Same

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:19 “Gad, a raiding band will raid him,
but he will raid at their heels.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:19 “Gad, a raiding band will raid him,
but he will raid at their heels.”

The repeated raid wording retains the Hebrew name-play and the corresponding Greek repetition [G49].

49:20  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:20 “Asher’s bread will be rich,
and he will provide royal delicacies.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:20 “Asher’s bread is rich,
and he will provide delicacies for rulers.”

Royal/rulers corresponds in the provision image [G49].

49:21  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:21 “Naphtali is a doe set free,
giving beautiful words.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:21 “Naphtali is a spreading tree,
yielding beauty in its fruit.”

Animal and speech imagery differs from Greek’s tree and produce. Both clauses are difficult; spreading tree is provisional, without importing a botanical species [H49; G49].

Joseph and Benjamin

49:22  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough beside a spring;
its branches climb over the wall.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:22 “Joseph is a grown son,
a grown son, envied;
my youngest son, return to me.”

The Hebrew poetic construction is difficult; the traditional fruitful-bough reading is provisional. Greek has repeated son language and a direct summons; these are not blended [H49; G49].

49:23  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:23 “The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and bore him hatred.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:23 “They plotted against him and reviled him;
the archers pressed him hard.”

The hostile actions differ in expression and detail [G49].

49:24  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:24 “But his bow remained firm,
and his arms were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
from there, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,”

Greek · Saints priority

49:24 “Their bows were powerfully shattered,
and the sinews of their arms grew slack
by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob;
from there is the One who strengthened Israel,”

Hebrew describes Joseph’s bow and arms; Greek describes his attackers’ broken bows and weakened arms. Shepherd/Stone and the strengthening clause differ. V1’s abbreviated Hebrew is completed; the syntax remains difficult [H49; G49].

49:25  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:25 “by the God of your father, who will help you,
and by the Almighty, who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep lying beneath,
blessings of breasts and womb.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:25 “from the God of your father;
my God helped you and blessed you
with a blessing of heaven above
and a blessing of the earth that holds all things,
because of a blessing of breasts and womb,”

The source verse begins with from the God of your father, continuing verse 24. The Almighty / my God, future / past blessing, and deep / all-containing earth give substantially different descriptions. [G49]

49:26  Disparate

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:26 “Your father’s blessings exceed the blessings of my forebears,
reaching the bounty of the everlasting hills.
May they rest on Joseph’s head,
on the crown of the one set apart from his brothers.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:26 “a blessing of your father and your mother;
it has prevailed over the blessings of lasting mountains
and the blessings of everlasting dunes.
They will rest on Joseph’s head
and on the crown of the brothers whom he led.”

Greek continues the singular blessing expression, then has a singular prevailed verb: it is understood here of the blessing. Its mother, mountains, and dunes differ from Hebrew’s forebears and hills. The final Greek genitive refers to the brothers whom Joseph led; the earlier rendering had substituted the crown of their leader. Both the Hebrew poetry and Greek syntax still need specialist review. [H49; G49].

49:27  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours prey,
and in the evening he divides spoil.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he will still eat,
and toward evening he will distribute food.”

Hebrew has prey and spoil; Greek has still and food. Rahlfs–Hanhart’s final verb is future: he will distribute. [G49]

Israel’s Final Charge

49:28  Different

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each according to his blessing.

Greek · Saints priority

49:28 All these are Jacob’s twelve sons. Their father spoke these things to them and blessed them, blessing each according to his blessing.

Tribes of Israel/sons of Jacob differs in perspective. V1’s unique is unnecessary [G49].

49:29  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:29 He charged them, saying, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,”

Greek · Saints priority

49:29 He said to them, “I am about to be added to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,”

Greek lacks a separate charge verb; the death formulas correspond [G49].

49:30  Divergent

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:30 “in the cave in the field of Machpelah, opposite Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial holding.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:30 “in the double cave opposite Mamre in Canaan, the cave Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial holding.”

Machpelah/double cave repeats the established name/translation distinction. Greek here lacks the separate purchase of the field, named in verse 32 [G49].

49:31  Same

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:31 “There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah,”

Greek · Saints priority

49:31 “There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah,”

Rahlfs–Hanhart has I buried Leah, agreeing with Hebrew. The earlier draft’s plural they is corrected. [G49]

49:32  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:32 “The field and the cave in it were purchased from the sons of Heth.”

Greek · Saints priority

49:32 “in the holding of the field and the cave in it, acquired from the sons of Heth.”

Greek continues the preceding burial statement; V1’s added permanent is removed [G49].

49:33  Similar

Hebrew · Rabbinic priority

49:33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Greek · Saints priority

49:33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he raised his feet onto the bed, expired, and was added to his people.

The bed movement and death formulas correspond. No soul leaving the body is added to the wording [G49].

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Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.

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