Scriptural Mormonism: Joseph Fitzmyer on Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) column 19, lines 17-21

Aramaic Text:

17 ולא̇> א<ת̇ק̇ץ̇ (vacat) ואתע̇ירת בליליא מן שנתי ואמרת לשרי אנ̇תתי חלם

18 ח̇ל̇מ̇ת̇ ו̇א[נה ]דחל [מן] ח̇למ̇א דן̇ ואמרת לי̇ אש̇ת̇ע̇י לי חלמך ואנדע ושרית לאשתעיא לה חלמא דן

19 [וחויתה] ל[ה ופשר] חלמא̇ [דן] אמ̇[ר]ת...די יבעון למקטלני ולכי למשבק ב̇ר̇ם דא כול טבותא

20 [די תעבדין עמי] בכול [אתר] די [נהוה בה אמרי] עלי די אחי הוא ואח̇ה̇ בטליכי ותפלט̇ נפשי בדיליכי

21 [ יב]ע̇ו̇[ן] לאעד̇י̇ותכי מגי ולמקטלני ובכת שרי ע̇ל מ̇ל̇י̇ בליליא (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary [3d ed.; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2004], 98)

Translation:

17. and it <was> not cut [down], (vacat) That night I awoke from my sleep and said to Sarai, my wife, “I have had a dream;

18. [and] I [am] frightened [by] this dream.” She said to me, “Tell me your dream that I may know (it).” So I began to tell her this dream

19. [and made it known] to [her, and (also) the meaning of this] dream, (and) s[aid], “[ ] who will seek to kill me and to spare you. But this is all the favor

20. [that you must do for me]: In what[ever place we shall be, say] about me, ‘He is my brother.’ Then I shall live by your protection, and my life will be saved because of you.

21. [And they will s]eek to take you away from me and to kill me.” Sarai wept because of my words that night.(Ibid, 99)

Commentary:

17. and it <was> not cut down. Qimron rightiy reads ולאתקץ, which is to be read as wělā’ ’ittěqāṣ or ’ittěqīṣ (see BLA §46k´). Qimron thinks that die negative is simply ל, which does occur in Old Aramaic, but that is not likely here. There is simply haplography in this case. Beyer (ATTM, 172) reads: ולא [קציץ], but there seems to be a taw following die aleph of ולא. Thereafter a vacat occupies about a third of die line.

That night I awoke from my sleep. Lit. “I was awakened.” The form ואתעירת is 1st sg. perf. ithpeel of עור (’ittǎ‘îret); it could also be ithpaal. Recall 15:21.

and said to Sarai, my wife. In this text, Sarah’s name is always spelled in the old form, שָׂרַי, “Sarai”; see Gen 11:29, 30, 31; and Gen 17:15 for the change to “Sarah.”

I have had a dream. Lit. “I dreamed a dream.”

18. [I] am frightened [by] this dream. I am reading simply חלמת וא[נה] דחל [מן] חלמא דן, following Muraoka (RevQ 8 [1972–75] 27), since there is not room enough for all the extra puzzling letters which Avigad-Yadin assume there are between חלמת and וא[נה] דחל. Beyer (ATTM, 172) reads rather: חלמת מן כע[ן] אדחל, “from now on I shall be afraid.” Similarly Qimron.

tell me your dream that I may know (it). Lit. “and I shall know.” On the form אנדע with nun, see NOTE on 2:20. This is a volitive use of the impf. אשתעי is the masc. sg. ithpaal impv. of שעי.

this dream. The form חלמה is wrongly read by Avigad-Yadin, with final he instead of aleph; it is followed by the dem. adj. דן. The error was noted likewise by Carmignac, RevQ 5 (1964–66) 511 n. 37.

19. [and I made it known] to [her and (also) the meaning of this] dream. The lacuna at the beginning of this line may be restored thus: [וחויתה] ל[ה ופשר] חלמא [דן]. Dupont-Sommer (Ecrits, 299) suggested, “[Puis elle me demanda I’explication] du songe, [et je lui dis].” He was followed by Michelini Tocci (I manoscritti, 295). In CBQ 22 (1960) 288, I had suggested a similar reconstruction, but it does not suit the existing traces of letters, especially the lamedhs, as well as die present suggestion. The first word after the lacuna, די, seems to introduce direct discourse, but Michelini Tocci (I manoscritti, 295) takes it as a relative pronoun: “<Some men> will come who will seek.…”

to kill me and to spare you. On the form of the inf. משבק, see NOTE on 19:15. These words are a literal translation of the Hebrew of Gen 12:12, with the verbs transferred to infinitival forms.

But this is all the favor [that you must do for me]. The reading of the first word is not certain, and little help is gained from the context. Avigad-Yadin read [בי]ום דא כול טבותא, translating, “this day all the good.…” They were followed by Bardtke (HFATM, 278), Gaster (Scriptures, 332, “Today”), Maier (Texte, 159), E. Osswald (ZAW 72 [I960] 11), Vermes (Scripture, 98), and Michelini Tocci (I manoscritti, 295). Their interpretation, however, cannot be correct, for יום would be the absolute sg. masc. and could not be followed by the fem. sg. dem. adj. For “this day” one would have to write ביומא דן (see 21:5; 22:21). Dupont-Sommer (Ecrits, 299) sensed the difficulty and translated instead, “[com]me ce (palmier). Toute la faveur.…” The last part of his translation is correct, but the first part is not. The reference of דא to תמרתא is far too cryptic, since the palm tree has not been mentioned since 19:16. Ginsberg (JNES 18 [1959] 147) was on the right track in suggesting [ב]רם דא כול טבותא. The first word is a conjunction of some sort. Ginsberg’s reading is based on the Abimelech story in Gen 20:13, “This is the kindness that you must do me; at every place to which we come, say of me .…” H. P. Rüger, apparently unaware of Ginsberg’s emendation, proposed the same interpretation, supporting it with translations of Tg. Onqelos and Tg. Ps.-Jonathan. Similarly, Puech (RevQ 9 [1977–78] 590); Qimron reads ב̇ר̇ם, whom I am following. Beyer (ATTM, 172) reads בחם, translating it, “in Egypt,” but that is highly unlikely in this text.

20. [that you must do for me]. Following Ginsberg and Ruger, I read [די תעבדין עמי]. The author has harmonized an element of the Elohist story of Abram’s encounter with Abimelech with the account that he is otherwise following, which is derived from the Yahwist story of Abram’s dealings with the Pharaoh in Genesis 12.

In what[ever place we shall be, say] about me. This reading, בכול [אתר] די [נהוה בה אמרי] עלי, seems better than Ginsberg’s because there does not seem to be space enough for all that he wants to read there (JNES 18 [1959] 147). Admittedly, it is not as literal a translation of Gen 20:13 as his ([נאתה לתמן אמרי]); there does not seem to be a trace of the lamedh, the upper shaft of which is often preserved. See also Rüger, ZNW 55 (1964) 131. For part of the expression, compare 21:1. Beyer (ATTM, 172) reads: בכול אתר די [נהך ל]ה, “at every place to which we come.” Similarly, DSSSE.

He is my brother. The author has preferred here the formulation of Gen 20:13 to that of Gen 12:13, “Please say that you are my sister so that I may be well treated for your sake, and my life spared through you.” Josephus (Ant. 1.8.1 §162) paraphrased the text similarly: ἀδελφὸς αὐτῆς εἶναι προσεποιήσατο. Cf. Eupolemos, quoted in Eusebius, Praepar. evang. 9.17.6: φάντος αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὴν εἶναι. Compare Josephus, J.W. 5.9.4 §379–81.

Then I shall live by your protection. On בטליכי, see NOTE on 19:16. Beyer (ATTM, 172) reads בדיליכי, as at the end of the line. The 2d sg. fem. suffix (-כי) is also found in earlier Aramaic; see BMAP 9:19, 20. It is vestigial in Syriac. The verb ואחי is a jussive form, 1st sg. peal impf. of חיי (see 20:22, 23).

my life will be saved because of you. Lit. “my soul will escape.” The clause reflects the Hebrew of Gen 12:13, with חפלט substituted for Hebrew חיתה בגללך. The Aramaic version here is quite independent of the later targumic traditions.

21. [they will s]eek to take you away from me and to kill me. I supply [יב]עו[ן], as in 19:19, and read with Ginsberg (JNES 18 [1959] 147) לאעדיותכי, the aphel inf. of עדי with the 2d sg. fem. suffix. This must be part of Abram’s alternate statement.