ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על החמור (שמות ד כ), זה אחד מן הדברים ששינו רבותינו לתלמי המלך כשכתבו לו את התורה יוונית, אלו הן,
(Exod. 4:20:) SO MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN AND MOUNTED THEM ON AN ASS. This is one of the passages which our masters changed for King Ptolemy (II Philadelphus) when they wrote the Torah for him in Greek.80Tanh., Exod. 1:22; Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 14; Meg. 9ab; similarly Gen. R. 8:11; Exod. R. 5:5; ARN, B, 37; cf. Soferim 1:7. These < passages > are the following:
2
אלהים ברא בראשית (בראשית א א),
(Gen. 1:1) "God created in the beginning" (with this word order).81This wording, which puts “God” first in the sentence, does not agree with the Septuagint, which follows the Masoretic Text.
3
זכר ונקבה בראם (שם שם כז),
(Gen. 1:27) "Male and his female he created them."82The only difference from the Masoretic Text is that “them” is expressed as a verbal suffix instead of as a separate word, nor does the Septuagint make any change. The Tanhuma parallel has “created him.” Other parallels (e.g., the Mekhilta) read: “A male and his female parts he created him.”
4
ויכל ביום הששי וישבות ביום השביעי (שם ב ב),
(Gen. 2:2) "So he finished on the sixth day and rested on the seventh."83The emendation agrees with the Septuagint and avoids the suggestion that, by finishing on the seventh day, the Holy One worked on the Sabbath.
5
ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלם ובדמות (שם א כז)
(Gen. 1:27) "Then God created the human in an image and in a likeness."84The Masoretic Text here reads: “THEN GOD CREATED THE HUMAN IN HIS IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM.” The Septuagint follows the Masoretic Text in affirming the divine nature of the human image but alters the text to read: “God made the human, according to the image of God he made him.”
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הבה ארדה ואבלה (שם יא ד),
(Gen. 11:7) "Come, let me go down and confound."85Again unlike the Septuagint as well as the Masoretic Text, this passage stresses the oneness of the Holy One by changing “us” to “me.”
7
כי באפם הרגו שור וברצונם עקרו אבוס (שם מט ו),
(Gen. 49:6) "For in their anger they slew a bull, and in their delight they uprooted a manger."86Against both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint, the emendation clears Simeon and Levi of homicide.
8
ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על נושא בני אדם (שמות ד כ),
(Exod. 4:20) "So Moses took his wife and children and had them ride on a carrier of human beings."87Thus the emendation avoids the indignity of having Moses’ family ride on an ass.
9
ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים ובשאר ארצות (שם יב מ),
(Exod. 12:40) "Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt and in other lands <was four hundred and thirty years>."88The emendation tends to agree with the Septuagint, which reads: “in Egypt and in the land of Canaan,” over against the Masoretic Text, which simply reads: “IN EGYPT.” Cf. the parallels in Tanhuma and in Mekhilta, which add “the land of Goshen” to Egypt and Canaan. The reason for the additions is that the Biblical record indicates elsewhere that Israel must have spent far less than four hundred years in Egypt. See Rashi on Exod. 12:40.
10
אשר חלק ה' אותם להאיר (דברים ד יט),
(Deut. 4:19) "Which the LORD has allotted to give light <to all peoples >."89Both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint omit “to give light.” Without these words, one might understand the verse to mean that, while Israel was forbidden to bow down to the heavenly host, they were allotted to other peoples as lesser deities.
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אשר לא צויתי לעובדם (דברים יז ג),
(Deut. 17:3) "Which I have not commanded those who serve them."90Both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint omit “those who serve them.”
12
וכתבו את צעירת רגלים (ויקרא יא ו), ולא כתבו את הארנבת, הוי ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וגו'.
They also wrote (in Lev. 11:6): "The slender footed." They did not write: THE HARE.91The Septuagint has “hare” here, but the Greek word used (dasupous) has the literal meaning, “hairy footed.” According to Meg. 9b, The Greek translators avoided the more common word for “hare” (i.e., Lagos) because it was the name of Ptolemy’s wife. In actual fact, however, it was Ptolemy’s father who was named Lagos. Thus (in Exod. 4:20): SO MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN….
ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על החמור (שמות ד כ), זה אחד מן הדברים ששינו רבותינו לתלמי המלך כשכתבו לו את התורה יוונית, אלו הן,
(Exod. 4:20:) SO MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN AND MOUNTED THEM ON AN ASS. This is one of the passages which our masters changed for King Ptolemy (II Philadelphus) when they wrote the Torah for him in Greek.80Tanh., Exod. 1:22; Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Pisha, 14; Meg. 9ab; similarly Gen. R. 8:11; Exod. R. 5:5; ARN, B, 37; cf. Soferim 1:7. These < passages > are the following:
אלהים ברא בראשית (בראשית א א),
(Gen. 1:1) "God created in the beginning" (with this word order).81This wording, which puts “God” first in the sentence, does not agree with the Septuagint, which follows the Masoretic Text.
זכר ונקבה בראם (שם שם כז),
(Gen. 1:27) "Male and his female he created them."82The only difference from the Masoretic Text is that “them” is expressed as a verbal suffix instead of as a separate word, nor does the Septuagint make any change. The Tanhuma parallel has “created him.” Other parallels (e.g., the Mekhilta) read: “A male and his female parts he created him.”
ויכל ביום הששי וישבות ביום השביעי (שם ב ב),
(Gen. 2:2) "So he finished on the sixth day and rested on the seventh."83The emendation agrees with the Septuagint and avoids the suggestion that, by finishing on the seventh day, the Holy One worked on the Sabbath.
ויברא אלהים את האדם בצלם ובדמות (שם א כז)
(Gen. 1:27) "Then God created the human in an image and in a likeness."84The Masoretic Text here reads: “THEN GOD CREATED THE HUMAN IN HIS IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM.” The Septuagint follows the Masoretic Text in affirming the divine nature of the human image but alters the text to read: “God made the human, according to the image of God he made him.”
הבה ארדה ואבלה (שם יא ד),
(Gen. 11:7) "Come, let me go down and confound."85Again unlike the Septuagint as well as the Masoretic Text, this passage stresses the oneness of the Holy One by changing “us” to “me.”
כי באפם הרגו שור וברצונם עקרו אבוס (שם מט ו),
(Gen. 49:6) "For in their anger they slew a bull, and in their delight they uprooted a manger."86Against both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint, the emendation clears Simeon and Levi of homicide.
ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וירכיבם על נושא בני אדם (שמות ד כ),
(Exod. 4:20) "So Moses took his wife and children and had them ride on a carrier of human beings."87Thus the emendation avoids the indignity of having Moses’ family ride on an ass.
ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים ובשאר ארצות (שם יב מ),
(Exod. 12:40) "Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt and in other lands <was four hundred and thirty years>."88The emendation tends to agree with the Septuagint, which reads: “in Egypt and in the land of Canaan,” over against the Masoretic Text, which simply reads: “IN EGYPT.” Cf. the parallels in Tanhuma and in Mekhilta, which add “the land of Goshen” to Egypt and Canaan. The reason for the additions is that the Biblical record indicates elsewhere that Israel must have spent far less than four hundred years in Egypt. See Rashi on Exod. 12:40.
אשר חלק ה' אותם להאיר (דברים ד יט),
(Deut. 4:19) "Which the LORD has allotted to give light <to all peoples >."89Both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint omit “to give light.” Without these words, one might understand the verse to mean that, while Israel was forbidden to bow down to the heavenly host, they were allotted to other peoples as lesser deities.
אשר לא צויתי לעובדם (דברים יז ג),
(Deut. 17:3) "Which I have not commanded those who serve them."90Both the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint omit “those who serve them.”
וכתבו את צעירת רגלים (ויקרא יא ו), ולא כתבו את הארנבת, הוי ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו וגו'.
They also wrote (in Lev. 11:6): "The slender footed." They did not write: THE HARE.91The Septuagint has “hare” here, but the Greek word used (dasupous) has the literal meaning, “hairy footed.” According to Meg. 9b, The Greek translators avoided the more common word for “hare” (i.e., Lagos) because it was the name of Ptolemy’s wife. In actual fact, however, it was Ptolemy’s father who was named Lagos. Thus (in Exod. 4:20): SO MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN….