Texts in Conversation
In the Hebrew version of Judges, Sisera’s mother imagines soldiers sharing captured girls as plunder, a womb or two for each man. The Greek Septuagint interprets that Hebrew word as “compassion” rather than “womb,” having Sisera instead show mercy.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judges 5:30
Hebrew Bible
28 “Through the window she looked; Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice:‘Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot horses delayed?’ 29 The wisest of her ladies answer; indeed she even thinks to herself, 30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder—a girl or two for each man to rape! Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth, for the neck of the plunderer!’
LXX Judges 5:30
Septuagint
28 Through the window peered the mother of Sisera, out of the loophole, saying, “Why was his chariot put to shame? Why do his chariot’s feet tarry?” 29 Her clever princesses answered to her, and she turned back her words herself: 30 “Will not they find him distributing the spoils? He will have compassion to the head of a man. The spoils of dyed garments for Sisera, spoils of embroidery dyes, they are embroiderers’ dyes, spoils for his neck.”
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Notes and References
... It is interesting to note that the Greek translators have no problem in taking over the description of the greed of the women, but give a more positive picture of Sisera. The Septuagint (A): “Will they not find him dividing the spoil, showing friendship to friends towards a mighty man’s head?” The Septuagint (B): “Will they not find him dividing the spoil? Being compassionate he will show compassion towards a man’s head”. The translators interpreted רחם as the verb “to have compassion”. The Syriac translator mixed the consonants to חמור and translated “mule”. ...
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