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Genesis 14 describes Abram chasing his enemies north of Damascus, describing the direction with a Hebrew idiom. The Greek Septuagint translates this awkwardly in Greek, a result that was likely confusing to those unfamiliar with the Hebrew idiom.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 14:15
Hebrew Bible
14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he mobilized his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders as far as Dan. 15 Then, during the night, Abram divided his forces against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 He retrieved all the stolen property. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people. 17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley).
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 14:15
Septuagint
14 And Abram having heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, numbered his own home-born servants three hundred and eighteen, and pursued after them to Dan. 15 And he came upon them by night, he and his servants, and he struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus. 16 And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he recovered Lot his nephew, and all his possessions, and the women and the people. 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and the kings with him, to the valley of Save; this was the plain of the king.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... There are other types of contexts in which the sort of translationese illustrated above is exhibited. The specification of directions is a case in point. Genesis 14:15, for example, states the following with respect to how far Abram pursues the forces that have taken Lot captive... Although that may well have been what the LXX translator understood the Hebrew to mean, his Greek readership would not readily have picked that up apart from knowledge of the Hebrew idiom ..."
Robert J. V. Hiebert, Translation Technique in the Septuagint of Genesis and its Implications for the NETS Version (International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Vol. 33, 2000), 76–93.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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