Texts in Conversation
Genesis 25 has God tell Rebekah that “the older will serve the younger.” The Greek Septuagint changes this to “the greater shall be subject to the lesser,” shifting the oracle from birth order to relative status and power.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 25:23
Hebrew Bible
22 But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she asked the Lord, 23 and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” 24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 25:23
Septuagint
22 And the babes leaped within her; and she said, If it will be so with me, why is this to me? And she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her, There are two nations in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your belly, and one people shall excel the other, and the greater shall serve the lesser. 24 And the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she had twins in her womb.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... The second pair predicts the future of the two peoples’ relationships. Line three uses the verbal form ὑπερέξει with the genitive in the sense of “excel over,” thus “a people shall excel over a people,” that is, one group will excel over the other one. This prevalence is clarified in the last line “and the greater (that is, the older one) shall serve the lesser (that is, the younger).” The Greek translation preserves the equivalents of רב “large” versus צעיר “small.” That these lines are descriptive of later rivalries between the descendants of Esau, the Edomites, and of the younger Jacob, the Israelites, seems obvious. ..."
John William Wevers, Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis, SCS 35 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1993), 392.
* 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:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,