Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/632

 the image is that of a young thriving vine planted by a fountain and thus well supplied with water, whose tendrils extend over the wall.—a fruitful bough] Or 'A young fruit-*tree': lit. 'son of a fruitful [tree' or 'vine']. There is probably an etymological allusion to Ephraim ( = : We.).—23, 24. The figure is abruptly changed: Joseph is now represented as beset by troops of archers, whose attack he repels.—dealt bitterly ] The following word requires some amendment of text (v.i.).—24. abode unmoved] or 'constant.' Taken with the next line, this suggests a fine picture: the bow held steadily in position, while the hand that discharges the arrows in quick succession moves nimbly to and fro (Gu.). The expressions, however, are peculiar, and a different reading of the second line given in

'fruitful' (Is. 17$6$ 32$12$, Ezk. 19$10$, Ps. 128$3$), or, with archaic fem. termination. , 'bough' (Ezk. 17$6$ 31$5. 6$), might be thought of, but would be hardly suitable as gen. after .—Down to the Vns. have substantially the same text.—] defies explanation. Lit. filiæ discurrerunt super murum (V). But = 'tendrils,' has no analogy; means 'march' or 'stride,' but not 'extend'; and the discord of number is harsh (notwithstanding G-K. § 145 k). The Vns. reveal early corruption of the text, without suggesting anything better. G (= [E] ) (= ). S (? ).—Zimmern's zodiacal theory, which identifies Joseph with the sign Taurus, finds two tempting points of contact in the consonantal text: reading =, 'juvenca,' at the beginning, and, 'ox,' at the end. But the reconstruction of the text on these lines, with the help of Dt. 33$17$ (see ZA, vii. 164 ff.; ATLO$2$, 399), has no title to respect: against it see Ba. p. 116.—23. ] From [root], a by-form of , 'shoot,' with intrans, pf. (G-K. § 67 m). The simple pf. between two consec. impfs. being suspicious, the least change demanded is. [E]G and V (jurgati sunt) read, 'strove with him.' Parallelism suggests a noun as subj. to ; we might read, 'bowmen' (Jer. 50$20$), or (since the line is too short) (21$29$)—24a. G [= .—] S =. The sense 'abide' for is justified by Lv. 12$20$, 1 Ki. 22$4$, Ps. 125$1$, and nothing is gained by departing from MT.—] Lit. 'as a permanent one' ( essentiæ).—] 2 Sa. 6$1$† . G, S may represent (see Ba.).—[G ] ] is a hard