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Genesis 24 describes Abraham’s servant giving Rebekah a gold nose ring and two bracelets. The Greek Septuagint changes the nose ring to a pair of earrings, likely because nose rings were unfamiliar or unfashionable in the translator’s own time.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 24:22
Hebrew Bible
20 She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the Lord had made his journey successful or not. 22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold wrist bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her. 23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 24:22
Septuagint
20 And she hastened, and emptied the water-pot into the trough, and ran to the well to draw again, and drew water for all the camels. 21 And the man took great notice of her, and remained silent to know whether the Lord had made his way prosperous or not. 22 And it happened when all the camels ceased drinking, that the man took golden ear-rings, each of a drachm weight, and he put two bracelets on her hands, their weight was ten pieces of gold. 23 And he asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me if there is room for us to lodge with your father. 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Similar interpretative strategy is sometimes evident in contexts where the Hebrew narrative depicts aspects of culture that were foreign to the translator and his original readers. An instance of this is found in Genesis 24:22, where the gifts that Abraham's servant gives to Rebekah are described ... In this verse, the form of the jewelry involved has undergone metamorphosis at the hands of the LXX translator. Thus the "nose-ring" weighing a 'half shekel' has become 'earrings' weighing a 'drachm' each. This adaptation was, of course, occasioned by the fact that nose-rings were not part of the fashion scene in third century B.C. Alexandria, and if earrings were to be the substitute in the Greek text, they should come in pairs ..."
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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