Genesis

Stephen Mitchell

• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9780062034939
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

"Breaks fresh ground...Mitchell's translation tells the stories in a voice much like the ancient Hebrew, without adornment."— Seattle Times

From the author of The Gospel According to Jesus comes a newadaptation of the book of Genesis.

In this highly acclaimed translation, Stephen Mitchell conveys in English the simplicity, dignity and powerful earthiness of the original Hebrew. More than just interpreting it, he also separates stories that were combined by scribes centuries after they were written, explaining their sources and omitting all verses that are recognized as scribal additions. Like removing coat after coat of lacquer from a once-vibrant masterpiece, this allows readers to appreciate the clarity of the original tales.

Genesis is an extraordinarily beautiful book that is accessible in a way that no other translation has ever been. It will shed new light on readers' understanding of this seminal work of sacred scripture.

Beer-sheba

VERSION 1: E

At about that time Abimelech said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. Swear to me now by God that you will not act dishonestly with me or with my descendants and that, as I have been loyal to you, you will be loyal to me and to the people of the land where you have been living.”

And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a pact. That is why that place was named Beer-sheba, The Well of the Oath, because the two of them swore an oath there.

Beer-sheba

VERSION 2: J

And Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abi-melech’s men had seized. And Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You never told me, and this is the first time I have heard of it.”

And Abraham set apart seven ewes from his flock. And Abimelech said, “What does this mean?”

And Abraham said, “Accept these seven ewes from me as proof that I am the one who dug this well.” That is why that place was named Beer-sheba, The Well of the Seven.

The Binding of Isaac

E

Some time later, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, “Abraham.”

And he said, “Yes.”

And he said, “Take your son, your darling, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and burn him there as a sacrifice on one of the hills that I will show you.”

And early in the morning Abraham saddled his donkey, and took two of his men with him, and his son Isaac, and the wood that he had chopped for the sacrifice, and set out for the place that God had spoken of.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in thedistance. And he said to his men, “You stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go up there and worship and come back to you.”

And Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and put it on his son Isaac. And he himself took the firestone and the knife. And the two of them walked on together.

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father.”

And he said, “Yes, my son.”

And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood. But where is the sheep for the sacrifice?”

And Abraham said, “God will provide a sheep for the sacrifice, my son.”

And the two of them walked on together.

And they came to the place that God had shown him. And Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham reached out and picked up the knife to slaughter his son.

And God called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

And he said, “Yes.”

And he said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do him any harm. Now I know how deeply you revere God, since you have not withheld your son, your darling, from me.”

And Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. And he went and took the ram and burned it as a sacrifice instead of his son. And he named that place YHVH-yireh, The Lord Provides.

And Abraham went back to his men, and they set out together for Beer-sheba. And Abraham stayed in Beer-sheba.

The Cave of Machpelah

P

And when Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old, she died in Kiryat-arba (which is now Hebron), in Canaan. And Abraham made preparations to mourn for Sarah, and stood up from the ground where he had been sitting beside her body, and went and said to the Hittites, “I am an alien among your people, but please sell me a burial site, so that I can bury my dead.”

And the Hittites answered Abraham, “Sir, you are a great lord among us. Bury your dead in the best grave we have; there is not one of us who will deny you his grave.”

Then Abraham bowed low to the Hittites, the natives of the land. And he said to them, “If you wish to help me with the burial, persuade Ephron, son of Zohar, to sell me the cave of Machpelah, which is at the edge of his land. Let him sell it to me in your presence, at its full price, so that I can use it as a burial site.”

And Ephron was there among the elders of the city. And he said to Abraham, “Sir, you may have that land, with its cave, as a gift from me; I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead there.”

And Abraham bowed low to the elders and said to Ephron, “No, please: let me pay you for the land. Take the money for it, and let me bury my dead there.”

And Ephron said, “Sir, a bit of land worth two hundred ounces of silver—what is a trifle like that between me and you? Go, bury your dead.”

And Abraham nodded to Ephron, and he weighed out for himthe amount that he had named before the elders of the city: two hundred ounces of pure silver.

So Ephron’s land in Machpelah, east of Mamre — the land, its cave, and all the trees within the boundaries of the land — became the property of Abraham in the presence of the elders of the Hittites. And after this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, east of Mamre (which is now Hebron), in Canaan.

The Betrothal of Rebecca

LATE SOURCE

Now Abraham was very old, and the Lord had blessed him in all things. And when the time of his death drew near, Abraham said to the slave who had been longest in his service and who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh and swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son Isaac from the Canaanite women here, but that you will go to my native land and my kinsmen and bring back a wife for him.”

And the slave said, “What if the woman is not willing to come with me: should I take your son back to the land you came from?”

And Abraham said, “Don’t take my son there for any reason. The Lord, who called me from my fathers house and from the land where I was born and who promised me that he would give this land to my descendants — he will send his presence before you, and you will find a wife there for my son. And if the woman is not willing to come with you, then you are absolved from this oath. But you must never take my son back there.” And the slave put his handunder Abrahams thigh and swore that he would do as he had been commanded.

And he took ten camels from his master’s herds and set out, with all his master’s wealth at his disposal. And he traveled to Aram-naharayim, to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city toward evening, when the women come out to draw water. And he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, please send me good luck today and keep faith with my master. Here I am, standing by the spring as the young women come out to draw water. I am going to say to one of them, ‘Please pour me some water from your jar’; if she answers, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels, ‘ let her be the one you have appointed for Isaac. That is how I will know you have kept faith with my master.”

Before he had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder (she was the daughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother). And she was very beautiful, and of marriageable age, and had never slept with a man. And she went down to the spring and filled her jar. And as she came back, the slave ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

And she said, “Drink, sin,” and quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. And when he had had enough, she said, “I will draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough.” And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well and drew water for all his camels. And the man stood gazing at her, wondering whether the Lord had made his errand successful.

And when the camels had finished drinking, he took out a goldnose-ring weighing a quarter of an ounce and put it on her nose, and he put two bracelets weighing five ounces on her arms. And he said, “Tell me, please, whose daughter you are. And is there room for us in your father’s house?”

And she said, “I am the daughter of Nahor. And yes, we have plenty of straw and fodder, and room for you to spend the night.”

And the man bowed down to the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has never stopped dealing kindly with my master. For he has led me straight to the house of my master’s brother.”

And Rebecca ran to her mother’s house and told them what had happened.

And when Laban, her brother, saw the nose-ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and heard her tell what the man had said, he ran out to the spring. And he found the man standing there beside the camels, and he said, “Welcome, sir, and come in; why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and cleared a place for the camels?”

And he led the man to the house, and unloaded the camels, and gave them straw and fodder, and brought him and his men water to bathe their feet. But when food was set before him, the man said, “I will not eat until I have told my story.”

And Laban said, “Tell it.”

And he said, “I am Abraham’s slave. And the Lord has blessed my master and made him very rich, and has given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah, my master’s wife, bore my master a son in her old age, and he has assigned him everything he owns. And my master made meswear an oath, saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the Canaanite women here, but you must go to my father’s house and my family, and bring back a wife for him.’ And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman is not willing to come with me?’ And he said to me, ‘The Lord, in whose ways I have walked, will send his presence with you and will bring you success, and you will find a wife for my son among my family and my father’s house. Only if you come to my family and they refuse you, will you be absolved from this oath.’ And today I came to the well and prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please bring me success now. Here I am, standing by the spring, and I am going to say to one of the girls coming to draw water, “Please pour me some water from your jar”; if she answers, “Drink, and I will also draw water for your camels, “let that be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ And before I had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ And she quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. And I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Nahor.’ Then I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. And now tell me whether or not you intend to honor my master’s wish, so that I can know what to do next.”

Then Laban said, “This comes from the Lord; it is not for us to approve or disapprove. Here is Rebecca: take her and go; let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has decided.”

And when Abrahams slave heard this, he bowed to the ground in thanksgiving to the Lord. Then he took out silver and gold jewelry and bridal garments, and gave them to Rebecca, and he gave costly presents to her brother and her mother. And he and his men ate and drank, and they spent the night there.

And in the morning he said, “Please give me permission to go back to my master.”

And Rebeccas brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for another week or so; then she can leave.”

And he said, “Please don’t keep me here, now that the Lord has brought me success. Give me permission to leave and return to my master.”

And they said, “Let us call the girl and ask her.” And they called Rebecca and said, “Are you willing to go with this man?”

And she said, “Yes.”

So they sent Rebecca off, with her old nurse and Abraham’s slave and his men. And they blessed her, say...