[B-Greek] Coat of what?

Maurice A. O'Sullivan mauros at iol.ie
Tue Jan 13 11:19:22 EST 2004


At 15:19 13/01/2004, Bart Torbert wrote:

>In Genesis 37:3 in the King James we get the notion that Joseph was given a
>"coat of mnay colors".  But other translations give all sorts of other
>readings.

Not surprising, given that the phrase  _kutonet pas_    in the MT is 
described (in a foonote to the JPS translation) as " Hebrew uncertain ", 
and that Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic 
Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) states:

 >> special tunic, i.e., long robe with long sleeves, with a special focus 
that this garment is not "work clothing" (Ge 37:3, 23b, 32a; 2Sa 13:18, 
19+), note: good argument can be given that tunic was special because it 
was a richly ornamented robe <<::


>How is this verse rendered in the LXX and what is the strictest sense of 
>the phrasing.

From:
Lust, J., Eynikel, E., & Hauspie, K. (2003). A Greek-English Lexicon of the 
Septuagint : Revised Edition. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart

POIKILOS -H -ON  adj.
colourful, multicoloured, variegated 1 Chr 29,2; spotted Gn 30,37; spotted, 
speckled (of sheep) Gn 30,39; piebald (of a horse) Zech 1,8; wrought in 
various colours, embroidered, beautiful (of clothes) Gn 37,3; manifold, 
various 3 Mc 1,21

And given that this lexicon lists CITWN as: Semit. loanword (Hebr. 
_kutonet_  ); tunic, shirt (garment worn next to the skin by women) I don't 
think the LXX is going to tell you any more.


But in any case, I would question your quest for "strictest" -- perhaps you 
would care to spell out what you mean by this. when translating from one 
language to another?


Maurice A. O'Sullivan  [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie





More information about the B-Greek mailing list