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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 33

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and saw, and look! Esau his brother coming, and four hundred men with him; and Jacob divided the children to Leah and to Rachel, and the two handmaidens. 2 And he put the two handmaidens and their children with the first, and Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 But he advanced himself before them, and did reverence to the ground seven times, until he drew near to his brother. 4 And Esau ran on to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and fell on his neck; and they both wept. 5 And Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, and said, What are these to you? And he said, The children with which God has mercifully blessed your servant. 6 And the maidservants and their children drew near and did reverence. 7 And Leah and her children drew near and did reverence; and after this drew near Rachel and Joseph, and did reverence. 8 And he said, What are these things to you, all these companies that I have met? And he said, That your servant might find grace in your sight, my lord. 9 And Esau said, I have much, my brother; keep your own. 10 And Jacob said, If I have found grace in your sight, receive the gifts through my hands; therefore I have seen your face, as if any one should see the face of God, and you shall be well-pleased with me. 11 Receive my blessings, which I have brought you, because God has had mercy on me, and I have all things; and he constrained him, and he took them. 12 And he said, Let us depart, and proceed right onward. 13 And he said to him, My lord knows, that the children are very tender, and the flocks and the herds with me are with young; if then I shall drive them hard one day, all the cattle will die. 14 Let my lord go on before his servant, and I shall have strength on the road according to the ease of the journey before me, and according to the strength of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir. 15 And Esau said, I will leave with you some of the people who are with me. And he said, Why so? it is enough that I have found favor before you, my lord. 16 And Esau returned on that day on his journey to Seir. 17 And Jacob departs to his tents; and he made for himself there habitations, and for his cattle he made booths; therefore he called the name of that place, Booths. 18 And Jacob came to Salem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan,⁠ when he departed out of Mesopotamia of Syria, and took up a position in front of the city. 19 And he bought the portion of the field, where he pitched his tent, of Hamor the father of Shechem, for one hundred lambs. 20 And he set up there an altar, and called on the God of Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Genesis 33:18 and Jubilees 30:1

Septuagint · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Jubilees and the Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis 33 describe Jacob arriving at Shalem, a city near Shechem, without linking it to Jerusalem. This contrasts with traditions that identify Salem with Jerusalem, seen in Psalms and other Hebrew texts.

Passages

LXX Genesis 33:18

Septuagint
16 And Esau returned on that day on his journey to Seir. 17 And Jacob departs to his tents; and he made for himself there habitations, and for his cattle he made booths; therefore he called the name of that place, Booths. 18 And Jacob came to Salem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he departed out of Mesopotamia of Syria, and took up a position in front of the city. 19 And he bought the portion of the field, where he pitched his tent, of Hamor the father of Shechem, for one hundred lambs. 20 And he set up there an altar, and called on the God of Israel.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

Jubilees 30:1

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 And in the first year of the sixth week [2143] he went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, in the fourth month. 2 And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the house of Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with her and defiled her, and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. 3 And he implored his father and her brothers that she might be given to him as a wife. And Jacob and his sons were angry because of the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spoke to them with evil intent and dealt deceitfully with them and tricked them.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

References

"... when Jacob fulfills his vow and builds an altar there and subsequently tithes (Jubilees 31:3; 32:4–9), he then actually plans to build the (cultic) place there (Jubilees 32:16). He is, however, prevented from doing this by the angel of God (Jubilees 32:22). The pillar itself did not function as a cult object, only as a pillar to mark the place, which is also emphasized with the addition in Jubilees 27:27 that Jacob set up the stone “as a pillar for a marker in this place.” In all other respects, the vow is not itself altered and Jubilees closely follows Genesis. If God fulfills his promises, God will become Jacob’s God, and Jacob will in turn tithe from everything God has given him, and the place shall become a house of the Lord. Thus, the author has been more concerned with Jacob’s actions than with the Abrahamic Promise itself ... God’s promise to Jacob still includes the promises God gave to Abraham. That Jacob will return “in peace” is highlighted by harmonizing God’s promise with Jacob’s vow, and this is an important promise in Jubilees since Isaac refers to it many times when he comforts Rebekah after Jacob has been sent away. Later on, that Jacob returns “in peace” is retained in the double interpretation of Genesis 33:18 in Jubilees 30:1 ..."
Topias K. E. Tanskanen, “Jacob, the Torah, and the Abrahamic Promise: Studies on the Use and Interpretation of the Jacob Story in the Book of Jubilees” (diss., Åbo Akademi University, 2023), 196–197.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Genesis 33:18 and Jubilees 30:1

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