Глава 30

Gen.30:5–6. “And Bilhah conceived and bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, The Lord judged me, and heard my voice, and gave me a son. That's why she called him Dan." She pointed out the reason for the name: the servant's son is given the name "judgment" because the Lord "judged" her. After all, “Dan” is translated as “judgment.” Gen.30:7–8. “And Bilhah Rachel’s handmaiden conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. And Rachel said: God made me dwell in the same place with my sister, and I became stronger. And she called his name Naphtali." A completely different reason for the name Naphtali is offered here than that which is written in the Book of Hebrew Names. Therefore, Aquila says: συνανεστρεψεν με ο Θεος, και συνανεστραφην. Instead, the Hebrew text reads: nephthule eloim nephthalethi ( נַפְתּוּלֵ ֨ י אֱלֹהִ ֧ ים נִפְתַּ ֛ לְתִּי ). Thus, from “conversion” or from “combination” she gave her son the name Naphtali, because this word means both: “conversion” and “combination” 49. And then follows: Gen.30:10–11. “And Zilpah Leah’s servant gave birth to a son for Jacob. And Leah said: fortunately. And she called his name Gad." Where we put “fortunately”, the Greek also says ἐν τύχ ῃ, which can be translated as “luck”. The Hebrew text reads bagad (בְּגָד), which Aquila translates as “an armed force came.” And we can say “in arms.” Because ba can mean the preposition “in”, or it can mean “came”. Therefore, from “fortune” or from “armament” the son of Zilpah was named Gad. What follows: Gen.30:12–13. “And Zilpah Leah’s servant gave birth to Jacob’s second son. And Leah said: I am happy because women consider me happy. And she called him by the name Asir - wealth." The word "wealth", that is, πλοῦτος, is added incorrectly, since the etymology of the name Asher is revealed by the power of Scripture itself, which says: "I am happy, and women consider me happy." And because people consider her happy, she called her son “happy.” Therefore, aser (אָשְׁרִ֕) does not mean "wealth" but "happy", at least in this place. However, in other places, due to the fact that the word has two meanings, wealth may also be called this way 50. Gen.30:17–18. “And God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, God has given me my reward, because I gave my maidservant to my husband. And she called his name Issachar." Seventy interpreters explained the etymology of this name as “there is a reward.” In no case should it be assumed that what is written means “which is the reward.” Many people adhere to this incorrect reading by adding a pronoun. However, the whole name Issachar is translated as “there is a reward.” Because is ( יִשָּׂ ) means “there is”, and sachar ( שכָ ֽ ר ) means “reward”. And this is because she used the mandrakes of her son Reuben to buy the entry of her husband into her, which was due to Rachel. What follows: Gen.30:19–20. “And Leah conceived again, and bore Jacob a sixth son. And Leah said: The Lord has given me a good gift. Now my husband will live with me, because I gave birth to six sons. And she called his name Zebulun." Where we put “he will live with me”, and the Seventy interpreters translated “he will love me”, in the Hebrew text there is jezbuleni ( יִזְבְּלֵ ֣ נִי ). And the meaning of this is this: “Since I bore Jacob six sons, I no longer have anything to worry about. After all, now my husband will live with me. That’s why my son is called “dwelling”” 51. Therefore, in the Book of Names, Zebulun is incorrectly and arbitrarily translated as “night-flowing.” Gen.30:21. “And after that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dina.” This name translates as "litigation", which the Greeks more expressively call δίκη. The fact is that Dinah caused a quarrel in Shechem. After the names of the children, it is necessary to explain the names of the parents. Lia ( לֵאָ ֗ ה ) is translated as “working” 52 , Rachel ( רָחֵ ֑ ל ) is “sheep”, her son Joseph ( יוֹסֵ ֖ ף ) is called “addition” due to the fact that his mother desired the addition of another son 53 . Gen.30:32–33. “I will go through your entire herd today. Separate from it all the motley and multi-colored cattle: all the motley and multi-colored cattle among the goats will be my reward. And justice will answer for me tomorrow, when my reward comes to you. Everything that is not colorful and colorful among the goats and lambs will be considered stolen by me.” and so on. The Seventy Interpreters have a very confusing meaning. And to this day I have not been able to find any of our writers who would clearly state what this passage says. “Do you want,” says Jacob, “for me to serve you for seven more years? Do what I demand. Separate all the variegated and variegated ones, both sheep and goats, and give them into the hands of your sons. And give me white and black, that is, cattle of the same color from both herds. So, if from white and black, which are of the same color, something variegated is born, it will be mine, and if something of the same color is yours. I don't ask for anything complicated. The nature of animals is on your side, so that whites are born from whites, and blacks are born from blacks. And on my side is my justice: God sees my humility and my work.” Laban gladly seized the opportunity. And he did as Jacob demanded: he separated Jacob and his sons by a distance of three days' journey, so that no deception would arise due to the proximity of the animals. Thus Jacob came up with a new trick and used his natural cunning to combat the nature of the white and black cattle. Namely, he partially removed the bark from three types of branches: poplar, almond and pomegranate (although the Seventy had storax, walnut and sycamore branches). Thus, he received a variegated coloring of the branches. So in those places where he left the bark, the original color was preserved, and where he removed the bark, there the white color was revealed. So, Jacob waited for the time when the cattle usually mate and, after the heat of the day, greedily rushed to the watering place. Then he laid colorful branches in the ditches. At the height of the desire to drink, Jacob arranged for the sheep and goats to be impregnated, allowing rams and goats to join them. So, from a double desire, while they were drinking and at the same time being impregnated by males, the sheep and goats conceived offspring corresponding to the image of the rams and goats climbing on top of them, which they saw in the mirror of the waters. Indeed, because of the branches that lay in the ditches, the color of the reflections of the animals was also variegated. And it is not surprising that when women conceive, a pattern operates so that they give birth to such offspring as they see or imagine what they are conceiving at the moment of the strongest kindling of lust. Because they say that the same thing happens in the horse herds of the Spaniards. And Quintilian, in that legal battle, when a respectable married woman was accused of giving birth to an Ethiopian, for her defense, cited as evidence the very regularity inherent in conception that I just mentioned. And after the white and one-colored herds produced motley and two-colored kids and lambs, Jacob separated them and removed them from the original herd. And if an animal of the same color was born, that is, white or black, Jacob handed it over to the hands of the sons of Laban. But he continued to place the branches from which he had stripped the bark into the ditches through which the water flowed. And the cattle came to water and stood opposite the branches. So the animals conceived at the very time they came to drink. Gen.30:41–42. “And the cattle conceived before the branches of Jacob, which he laid before the animals in the ditches, that they might conceive before the branches. And he did not place branches in front of the lagging sheep; and the animals that lagged behind became Laban’s, and the animals that kept up became Jacob’s.” The Seventy do not have this, but instead of “lagging behind” and “advancing,” they gave as a translation something that defies understanding. And here is what Scripture says: Jacob, an inventive and cunning man, remains honest and fair again with the help of another trick. After all, if the cattle had given birth to all the lambs and kids with motley hair, then some suspicion of deception would have arisen, and the envious Laban would have openly opposed this. Consequently, Jacob arranged everything in such a way that he himself would receive the fruit of his labor, and Laban would not remain completely naked. If the sheep and goats were fertilized at the beginning, he would place branches in front of them so that colorful offspring would be born, because spring fruit is better. And whenever the sheep and goats were looking for males late, he did not place branches in front of their eyes so that cattle of the same color would be born. And everything that was born first was due to Jacob, since it was two-colored and variegated. And everything that was born after that went to Laban, since cattle of the same color appeared both black and white. And in the place where it is written “that they should conceive before the branches,” in the Hebrew text there is jeamena ( לְיַחְמֵ ֖ נָּה ). I am only able to express the meaning of the Hebrew word descriptively. Because jeamena means, strictly speaking, a state of extreme burning of the flesh during intercourse, in which the whole body shakes, and the action of lust is in the final stage and is nearing completion. Reference to the etymologically accurate translation given by Aquila of the verb נִפְתָּ ֥ ל ( συστρέϕω – lit. “to twist, roll up”, trans. “to unite”, cf. Proverbs 8, 8 נִפְתָּ ֥ ל בָּ ֝ הֶ ֗ ם אֵ ֥ ין “there are no letters in them. twisted, that is, insidious, cunning”), may seem like a mistake, since this place is traditionally understood as evidence of the struggle between Leah and Rachel: “...By the strong struggle of the holy father, we are talking here about the close mutual communication of two sisters who are forced to live “in the same habitat.” That is, the figurative meaning of the verb is defined here somewhat differently than is customary in modern Bible translations. This refers to the consonance of the words אָשְׁרִ ֕ “happy” and עשְׁרִ ֕ “wealth.” The verb זְבְּלֵ ֣ is a hapax legomenon. Its meaning is usually determined using the same root noun יִבְּלֵ ֣ - “dwelling” or “exalted dwelling” (1 Kings 8; 13, Ps. 49:14; Hab. 3:11; Isa. 63:15). Accordingly, the verb can mean “to live” or “to exalt.” The name Leah here is associated with the verb לֵאָ ֗ ה - “to be tired, exhausted.” Literally: “adding” - from the verb וֹסֵ ֖ ף “to add” (for example, 1 Samuel 12; 19, 27, 4).