[B-Greek] Coat of what?

Eric Weiss eweiss at gte.net
Tue Jan 13 11:43:03 EST 2004


Bagster coat-pocket-size Hebrew lexicon defines the Hebrew phrase 
as: "coat of many colors, Gen. 37:3; long cloak covering the hnads 
and feet (Ges. and Lee); but Jacob knew Joseph's coat when torn and 
dipped in blood; it was the quality or color of the cloth, 
therefore, not the shape that distinguished it; LXX CITWN POIKILOS"

THE LIVING TORAH (Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan) translates it as: "Israel 
loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, since he was the 
child of his old age. He made [Joseph] a long colorful coat. 

VeYisra'el ahav et-Yosef mikol-banav ki-ven-zekunim hu lo ve'asah 
lo ktonet pasim." and makes this comment:

"Commentary:
long colorful coat
  Kethoneth passim in Hebrew. It was a royal garment; 2 Samuel 
13:18 (cf. Ralbag ad loc.). The word passim can be translated 
as 'colorful' (Radak; Septuagint), embroidered (Ibn Ezra; Bachya; 
Ramban on Exodus 28:2), striped (Ibn Janach; Radak, Sherashim), or 
with pictures (Targum Yonathan). It can also denote a long garment, 
coming down to the palms of the hands (Rashbam; Ibn Ezra; Baaley 
Tosafoth; Bereshith Rabbah 84), and the feet (Lekach Tov). 
Alternatively, the word denotes the material out of which the coat 
was made, which was fine wool (Rashi) or silk (Ibn Janach). Hence, 
kethoneth passim, may be translated as 'a full-sleeved robe,' 'a 
coat of many colors,' 'a coat reaching to his feet,' 'an ornamented 
tunic,' 'a silk robe,' or 'a fine woolen cloak.'"

See http://bible.ort.org/intro1.asp?lang=1 for this valuable tool.


Eric S. Weiss
eweiss at gte.net
http://www.geocities.com/papaweiss1/index.htm




More information about the B-Greek mailing list