Texts in Conversation
Exodus 26 uses the unusual idiom “a woman to her sister” to describe the joining of tabernacle curtains. The Samaritan Pentateuch replaces this with a more literal expression, removing the idiom.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 26:3
Hebrew Bible
1 “The tabernacle itself you are to make with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you are to make them with cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer. 2 The length of each curtain is to be 42 feet, and the width of each curtain is to be 6 feet—the same size for each of the curtains. 3 Five curtains are to be joined, a woman to her sister9, and the other five curtains are to be joined, a woman to her sister9. 4 You are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. 5 You are to make 50 loops on the one curtain, and you are to make 50 loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Samaritan Exodus 26:3
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
1 Also, you shall make the tabernacle [with] ten curtains of fine twisted linen, blue, and purple, and scarlet; you shall make them [with] cherubim made by a skilled craftsman. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same dimensions. 3 And five curtains shall be joined together to one another, and [the other] five curtains shall be joined to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of one curtain, in the edge of the [first] set, and you shall do the same in the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another.
Date: 130–120 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... In the same way it is employed: in addition to its primary meaning “friend,” it may also denote kinsman. The expression occurs sixteen times in the Pentateuch (Genesis 11:3, 7; 15:10; 31:49; 43:33; Exodus 11:2; 18:7, 16; 21:14, 18; 22:6, 9, 13; 32:27; 33:11; Deuteronomy 22:26). In all these instances, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic text exhibit the same reading. This is equally true of the 16 occurrences of the term of speech (Genesis 9:5; 13:11; 26:31; 37:19; 42:21, 28; Exodus 10:23; 16:15; 32:27, 29; Leviticus 7:10; 25:46; 26:37; Numbers 14:4; Deuteronomy 1:16; 25:11). As against this, in two cases in which the expression is not applied to human beings, the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch differs from that of the Masoretic text (Exodus 25:20; 26:3; 37:9) ..."
Shemaryahu Talmon, Text and Canon of the Hebrew Bible: Collected Studies (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2010), 202.
* 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.
Your Feedback:
User Comments
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,
Interesting, in this case it looks like the Samaritan bible has removed an idiom from the original Hebrew?
Interesting, in this case it looks like the Samaritan bible has removed an idiom from the original Hebrew?