Texts in Conversation
in 2 Samuel, David curses the mountains of Gilboa with obscure Hebrew language. The Greek Septuagint attempts to clarify it by connecting “fields of offerings” with “fields of first fruits,” repeating the beginning of the poem. This mix of unrelated phrases shows how translators struggled to clarify difficult texts.
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2 Samuel 1:21
Hebrew Bible
20 Don’t report it in Gath, don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate! 21 O mountains of Gilboa, may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. 22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of warriors,the bow of Jonathan was not turned away.The sword of Saul never returned empty.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
LXX 2 Samuel 1:21
Septuagint
20 Do not speak it in Gath and do not proclaim it in the gates of Ashkelon. Otherwise the daughters of the foreigners would celebrate. Otherwise the daughters of the uncircumcised would rejoice exceedingly. 21 O mountains in Gilboa, do not let the dew come down, and may there be no rain upon you or fields of first fruits because there the shield of the mighty was treated contemptuously. The shield of Saul was not anointed with oil. 22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not return empty to his back and the sword of Saul did not come back empty.
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... upon you ... the deeps. The Masoretic text seems to mean, 'upon you, nor fields of offerings'. This reading has been taken by those who retain it 'to mean that David lays a curse on the hills of Gilboa that there be no field bearing fine fruits, worthy of being set aside for sacred imposts' (Gordis, 1940), who goes on to say, 'That this is far-fetched and unsatisfactory is obvious ...'). The Septuagint suggests a different reading ... This reading is intelligible in the context, and a case might be made for its originality but the first part of it which corresponds to the Masoretic text is evidently an intrusion from the opening line of the poem, which may have been introduced marginally to correct the reading but found its way into the text at this point. Surely, then it follows that we must reject the rest of the Septuagint reading as well, inasmuch as it makes little sense after ('and the fields of the mountains of death'). We are obliged, it seems, to make sense of this by reinterpretation or emendation ..."
* 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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