Глава 29

Gen.29:27. “So, finish the week with this daughter, and I will also give you another.” After Jacob, cunningly deceived, took Leah as his wife instead of Rachel, his father-in-law Laban tells him to complete seven days after marrying his first daughter and thus take Rachel as his wife. For her, he should have served again for another seven years. Therefore, not after seven more years, as some incorrectly believe, he took Rachel as his wife, but seven days after marrying his first wife. Because it follows: “And he went in to Rachel, and loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for seven more years” (Gen. 29, 30). Gen.29:32. “And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and called his name Reuben.” I want to give the etymology of the names of all the patriarchs at once in order to make the presentation shorter. “And she called him,” it is said, “by the name of Reuben, saying: for the Lord has seen my humility.” Ruben (רְאוּבֵ ֑ן) translated as "son of vision". Gen.29:33. “And she conceived,” it is said, “another son, and said: Because the Lord heard me because my husband hates me, he gave me this more son. And she called him by name Simeon." Because she was heard, she gave her son the name Simeon. Because simeon (שִׁמְע ֽ וֹן) is translated as “hearing.” And about the third patriarch it follows: Gen.29:34. “And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said: Now my husband will be with me, since I bore him three sons. Therefore she called him by the name Levi." Where we read: “My husband will be near me,” Aquila translated: “My husband will join me,” which in Hebrew sounds like illave (יִלָּוֶ ֤ ה), and is translated differently by Jewish teachers. They say: “My husband will accompany me,” that is, “I do not doubt my husband’s love for me, he will be my companion in this life, and his love will accompany and guide me even to death, because I bore him three sons.” Gen.29:35. “And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said: Now for this I will confess to the Lord. And so she called him by the name Judas.” "Confession" in Hebrew is Juda (יְהוּדָ ֑ ה). Thus, from “confession” the name “confessor” was given. Although here the word “confession” is used instead of the word “thanksgiving” or “praise”, as is often the case in the psalms and in the Gospel: “I will confess to You, Lord, Father of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25), that is, “I thank You” or “I praise You” 48. Here attention is drawn to one lexical feature of the biblical Greek and Latin languages, which is that the verb ἐξ ομολογοῦμαι confiteor “to acknowledge, confess” takes on the additional meaning of “to praise, to thank.” This is a consequence of the calque translation of the Hebrew verb ידה ( hiphil הוּדָ ֑ ה ), which can mean “to acknowledge (sin)” (Prov. 28:13) and “to praise, glorify” (Gen. 49:8).