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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

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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.

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Compare LXX Genesis 33:18 and Samaritan Genesis 33:18

Septuagint · Samaritan

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Summary

In the Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis, Jacob arrives at Salem near Shechem. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, scribes describe his arrival as peaceful to avoid a link with Jerusalem, the rival to Mount Gerizim as the proper place of worship.

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

Samaritan Genesis 33:18

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle. Therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth. 18 And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram, and camped in front of the city. 19 And he bought the plot of ground, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 And he built an altar there, and called it Eleluwwi-Israel.
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Genesis

References

“... Just as SP goes out of its way to stress the importance of Mount Gerizim, it also removes any hint of Jerusalem. In Gen. 33.18 ‘and Yāqob came in peace (שלום) to the city of Ashkem’, the spelling of ‘in peace’ is altered in such a way as to dispel any possible hint of Jerusalem (שלם; cf. Gen. 14.18: ‘Malki-ṣedeq king of Salem’). ...”
Moshe Florentin and Abraham Tal, The Samaritan Pentateuch: An English Translation with a Parallel Annotated Hebrew Text (Cambridge: Open Book, 2024), 26.

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