Unhelpful Help in NET note

David Paul

Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”



The NET Bible (2006). Biblical Studies Press.



The above is a note for Gen. 49:24. In other words, instead of shaam it should be read as sheim.
Why? Apparently, just because...or perhaps because they say so.
I'm glad that's cleared up.

Rich DeRuiter

David Paul said:

Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.” The NET Bible (2006). Biblical Studies Press.

The above is a note for Gen. 49:24. In other words, instead of shaam it should be read as sheim.

Why? Apparently, just because...or perhaps because they say so.

I'm glad that's cleared up.

David, this would be an issue to address to the NET translators, as Logos' responsibility is to simply reproduce the resource.

Investigating the textual/translation issue yourself might provide an explanation of the reasons the NET makes the suggestion it does.

George Somsel

David Paul said:

Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.” The NET Bible (2006). Biblical Studies Press.

The above is a note for Gen. 49:24. In other words, instead of shaam it should be read as sheim.

Why? Apparently, just because...or perhaps because they say so.

I'm glad that's cleared up.

But they aren't the only ones who say so—and there are reasons for that.

"24. Here begins a long sentence which carries through 26a. In this regard, the present passage is paralleled by the pronouncement about Joseph in the Song of Moses, Deut 33:13–16a. Both sayings, moreover, end with the identical distich (26b: 16b). The parallels are very helpful, precisely because they diverge in certain details.

…

"their arms were unsteady. The pronominal suffix is again singular in Heb., and is to be interpreted the same way as with the bow. The predicate (Heb. wypzw) has an Ar. cognate (fzz) meaning "to tremble, shake."

"By dint of. Literally "by the hands of"; the favorable result of the contest is traced to the intervention of Joseph’s protector, the Champion (literally the "mighty one") of Jacob.

"In the translation, "by dint of" carries over to the next phrase. MT gives mšm, vocalized miššām "from there," which is neither a coordinate of mīdẹ̄ "by the hands of" nor appropriate to the context. TO, however, reads miššẹ̄m, "by the name," which can be a divine epithet ("Name," cf. SB), or can have the force of "because" (cf. Aram. miššūm, Akk. aššum)."

Speiser, E. A. Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes. Vol. 1. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven;　 London: Yale University Press, 2008.

DMB

NET's just summarizing quite a bit of back/forth in the last century at least. I don't have any serious commentaries that don't discuss it.

David Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/545428#Comment_545428

My point is that NET ought to have expended the energy to explain why they were making such a pronouncement. Otherwise it appears they are merely making pronouncements from on high. Their reputation for solid notations supported with evidentiary summations just seems to have been sucked into a black hole in this case.

Milford Charles Murray

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/545449#Comment_545449

David Paul said:

My point is that NET ought to have expended the energy to explain why they were making such a pronouncement. Otherwise it appears they are merely making pronouncements from on high. Their reputation for solid notations supported with evidentiary summations just seems to have been sucked into a black hole in this case.

Peace to all!                                   George!    *smile*        Thanks very much for your input here!     Appreciated!

               David, I'm glad you brought this up.                    Gave me the impetus to put my thinking cap on  .......    and my research goggles ...

From a purely Jewish perspective, here's some material from Nahum Sarna ....

Sarna, N. M. (1989). Genesis. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

 

23. Scripture nowhere else records attacks by archers upon Joseph. Unless this refers to some unreported episode in his life or to attacks on Ephraim and Manasseh by neighboring tribes or Canaanite armies, the phraseology may be figurative. It could allude to the Ishmaelites (see above), to the hostility of Joseph’s brothers, or to the slanderous accusations of Potiphar’s wife with their bitter aftereffects. The figure of slander as an arrow is well attested.⁴⁷

24. The Hebrew text is difficult. In the present state of our knowledge, this translation is the best that can be wrested from it. The idea seems to be that Joseph remained steadfast in the face of adversity and drew his strength from God, who championed his cause.⁴⁸

Mighty One of Jacob Hebrew ʾavir yaʿakov, a rare divine title, appearing elsewhere only four times, always in poetic texts. It corresponds to the Akkadian divine title bel abāri, “endowed with strength,” and is to be distinguished from ʾabbir, which is used of stallions, bulls, and warriors.⁴⁹

Jacob … Israel The ambiguity as to whether the patriarch or the people of Israel is intended is probably deliberate.⁵⁰ See the Introduction to this chapter.

There Hebrew mi-sham, literally “from there.” The patriarch may have pointed heavenward. The Peshitta reading mi-shem, “by the name of,” reflects the idea that the “Name” of God expresses the essence of His being from which flows help and salvation.⁵¹ Although this reading has been widely accepted as original, the biblical usage is invariably be-shem.

the Shepherd For the common image of God as a shepherd, see Comment to 48:15.

the Rock of Israel Hebrew ʾeven, literally “stone,” is nowhere else used as a divine name or in association with God. The present translation is that of tsur, “rock,” a frequent epithet of God,⁵² expressing strength, permanence, and protection. Unlike tsur, ʾeven does not appear as a component of proper names. It is possible that “Stone of Israel” may have been a very ancient title that disappeared early and that might have derived from the traditions about Jacob setting up a stone pillar at Bethel, as reported in 28:18, 22 and 35:14. This suggestion is bolstered by the use of the epithet “God of … your father” on that occasion (28:13) and by the title El Shaddai associated with the revelation there (35:11; 48:3). All these terms occur here in the Testament of Jacob.

25. The Testament to Joseph now shifts from the miseries of the past to the promise of the future. Underlying the blessing is the concept of a God who has a personal relationship with the individual and who, at the same time, is a cosmic, universal deity in sovereign control of all the forces of nature.

The God of your father This title stresses the continuity of the generations, the unbroken chain of religious tradition that alone makes the dying patriarch’s blessing meaningful and effective. Hebrew ʾel ʾavikhn is unique; otherwise, ʾelohim is used in this compound. The reason for the exception is that the composite epithet ʾel shaddai is here split up into its components for purposes of poetic parallelism (cf. Num. 24:4, 16).

blessings These consist of rain and dew and abundance of water resources, all of which symbolize fruitfulness of the soil and the fecundity (= “breast and womb”) of animals and humans.

breast and womb The natural order (cf. Hos. 9:14) is here reversed for reasons of sound-harmony (Heb. shamayim-shadayim; tehom-raḥam), and there is also an obvious word play between shaddai and shadayim.

the deep that couches below On Hebrew tehom, see Comment to 1:1. Here (cf. Deut. 33:13) it means the subterranean source of waters that rise to the earth’s surface. The language used is borrowed from a lost myth about a sea monster, another fragment of which is Habakkuk 3:10 (literally): “The deep gave forth its voice; it raised its hands on high.” This is another example of the biblical employment of mythic language purely as a literary convention, emptied of its original content.

26. According to the present rendering, the patriarch assures Joseph that the blessings he bestows on him immeasurably exceed what he himself had received from his forebears. This interpretation, however, depends upon a particular understanding of several unique and difficult words and phrases of uncertain meaning.

Surpass Hebrew gavar ʿal is used elsewhere of the flood waters that “swelled upon” the earth, as in Genesis 7:19, 24; of troops that “prevailed against” an enemy, as in 2 Samuel 11:23; and of God’s steadfast love being “great in respect^[1]

 

⁴⁷ For attacks on the Joseph tribes, cf. Josh. 17:16; Judg. 6:3–6; 1 Chron. 5:18–22. For slander as an arrow, see Jer. 9:2, 7(8); Prov. 25:18; 26:18f.

⁴⁸ The initial Heb. vav is taken as adversative, not conjunctive. Ibn Janaḥ, Ibn Ezra, and Radak take Heb. va-yafozzu in the sense of “to be firm,” although the only other example of the stem p-z-z means “to leap,” 2 Sam. 6:16. What is rendered “arms” is literally “the arms of his hands,” a unique and strange phrase.



⁴⁹ So only also Isa. 49:26; 60:16; Ps. 132:2, 5; cf. Isa. 1:24, “Mighty One of Israel.” For ʾubbir, cf. Judg. 5:22; Jer. 8:16; Isa. 34:7; Ps. 22:13; 78:25; Lam. 1:15.



⁵⁰ Cf. vv. 2, 7, 16, 28.



⁵¹ For this understanding of the Name, cf. Ps. 20:2, 8; 44:6; etc. For be-shem, cf. Ps. 20:6; 33:21; 44:6; 54:3; 89:25; 116:4, 13.



⁵² Cf. Deut. 32:4, 15, 31; etc.



Heb. Hebrew



^[1] Sarna, N. M. (1989). Genesis (pp. 343–344). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/545454#Comment_545454

There are a number of titles here.  The Mighty One of Jacob appears mainly in poetic texts—Psalms and Isaiah.  The God of your father reminds me of Der Gott der Väter was, I believe, a famous essay by Albrecht Alt.  While we have "Rock of Israel" here, one of the known epithets is "The Fear of Isaac" (פַחַד יִצְחָק).