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The Samaritan version of Genesis and the Greek Septuagint both say Joseph enslaved the Egyptians as servants, while the traditional Masoretic Hebrew text says he only moved them into the cities. This is based on two Hebrew letters that look similar.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Samaritan Genesis 47:21
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he removed them to servants from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
LXX Genesis 47:21
Septuagint
20 And Ioseph acquired all the land of the Egyptians for Pharao. For the Egyptians sold their land to Pharao, because the famine gained mastery over them. And the land became Pharao’s— 21 and the people he subjugated to him as slaves from the furthest boundaries of Egypt to the furthest— 22 except for the land of the priests alone. Ioseph did not acquire it, for by a grant Pharao gave a gift to the priests, and they would eat the grant that Pharao gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
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Notes and References
... Examples of interchanged letters in common nouns follow: Graphic similarity ד/ר ... Genesis 47:21 the Masoretic Text (and as for the people), he transferred (them) to the cities. the Septuagint κατεδουλώσατο . . . εἰς παῖδας he enslaved (them) . . . as servants (= the Samaritan Pentateuch). Note that the two retroverted variants are interrelated and must be evaluated together. ...
Tov, Emanuel
The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research
(p. 148) Eisenbrauns, 2015
* 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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