Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/350

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seems to take us down to the bed-rock of Hebrew folklore.—9. to the Negeb] The 'dry' region between the Judæan highland and the wilderness of et-Tīh, extending from 10 or 12 m. N of Beersheba to the neighbourhood of Ḳadesh (v.i.). It is still a suitable pasture ground for camel-breeding Bedouin, and the remains of buildings and irrigation works prove that it was once much more extensively cultivated than at present.—10. the famine was severe (lit. 'heavy')] emphasising the fact that the visit to Egypt was compulsory. The Nile valley, on account of its great fertility and its independence of the annual rainfall, was the natural resort of Asiatics in times of scarcity; and this under primitive conditions involved an actual sojourn in the country. The admission of Semites to the rich pastures of Egypt is both described and depicted in the monuments (see Guthe, GI, 16).[1] The purchase of corn for home consumption (421ff.) was possible as a temporary expedient at a somewhat more advanced stage of culture.—11-13. The speech of Abram to his wife is an instructive revelation of social and moral sentiment in early Israel. The Hebrew women are fairer than all others, and are sure to be coveted by foreigners; but the marriage bond is so sacred that even a foreigner, in order to possess the wife, will kill the husband


9. (Symbol missingHebrew characters)] Dav. § 86, R. 4; G-K. § 113 u. The idea of continuous journeying lies not in (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (see on 112), but in (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (cf. Ju. 149).—(Symbol missingHebrew characters)] G (Symbol missingGreek characters): Aq. (Symbol missingGreek characters): Σ. (Symbol missingGreek characters). The word, from a [root] meaning 'dry,' occurs as a proper name of S Palestine (Ngb) in a document of the reign of Thothmes III. (Müller, AE, 148; Mey. ZATW, vi. 1). Its use to denote the S direction is rare in JE, and apparently confined to later additions (1314 2814, Jos. 185). The geographical limits of the region can, of course, only be roughly determined, chiefly from the list of its cities in Jos. 1521-32: on this, and its physical characteristics, see Che. EB, 3374 ff.; Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, ii. 351 f. (1871).—10. (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (Jer. 4215ff.)] properly 'dwell as a client or protected guest' ((Symbol missingHebrew characters) = Ar. ǧār: cf. OTJC2, 3421). The words, however, are often used in the wider sense of temporary sojourn (1513, Jer. 148), and this may be the case here.—11. (Symbol missingHebrew characters)] 162 1827. 31 192. 8. 19 272 (all J). The free use of (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (c. 40 t. in Gen.) is very characteristic of J (Ho. Einl. 110).—13. (Symbol missingHebrew characters)] oratio obliqua without (Symbol missingHebrew characters), G-K. § 157 a. G, on the contrary, (Symbol missingGreek characters)

  1. Cf. Authority and Archæology, p. 59; DB, ii. 531b (note ), 774b.