[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
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