Samaritan Torah, פַּרְשַׁת וַיִּגַּשׁ

[lethargic_man]

When Jacob comes to Israel, it says (Gen. 46:5-7):

Genesis 46:5-7

בראשית מו ה-ז

Jacob rose up from Be'er-Sheva: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

וַיָּקָם יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיִּשְׂאוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם וְאֶת־טַפָּם וְאֶת־נְשֵׁיהֶם בָּעֲגָלוֹת אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַח פַּרְעֹה לָשֵׂאת אֹתוֹ׃ וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־מִקְנֵיהֶם וְאֶת־רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכְשׁוּ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ מִצְרָיְמָה יַעֲקֹב וְכָל־זַרְעוֹ אִתּוֹ׃ בָּנָיו וּבְנֵי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ בְּנֹתָיו וּבְנוֹת בָּנָיו וְכָל־זַרְעוֹ הֵבִיא אִתּוֹ מִצְרָיְמָה׃

His daughters? What daughters? I'm only aware of one, Dinah. The Samaritan text says:

בָּנָיו וּבְנֵי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ בנתו וּבְנוֹת בָּנָיו וְכָל־זַרְעוֹ הֵבִיא אִתּוֹ מִצְרָיְמָה׃

The normal word in Hebrew for "his daughter" is בִּתוֹ. Whether בנתו represents בְּנֹתָו spelled, unusually, without the י, or a word in Samaritan Hebrew but not Jewish Hebrew for "his daughter", I don't know. (The root has a נ but it normally drops out when there's a following consonant with no vowel in between, leaving the following consonant geminated, i.e. with a דָגֵשׁ חַזַק.)

In Genesis 47:21, the Samaritan text has Joseph enslave the Egyptians when they come to him penniless and starving; I already blogged about that here. I'll just add here that the Samaritan reading is actually supported by the surrounding verses 19 and 23.

After Joseph has taken possession of the Egyptians' land, it says (Gen. 47:26):

Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except only the priests' land, which did not become Pharaoh's.

וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָהּ יוֹסֵף לְחֹק עַד־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה עַל־אַדְמַת מִצְרַיִם לְפַרְעֹה לַחֹמֶשׁ רַק אַדְמַת הַכֹּהֲנִים לְבַדָּם לֹא הָיְתָה לְפַרְעֹה׃

The Samaritan text here reads:

וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתָהּ יוֹסֵף לְחֹק עַד־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה עַל־אַדְמַת מִצְרַיִם לְפַרְעֹה לחמוש רַק אַדְמַת הַכֹּהֲנִים לְבַדָּהּ לֹא הָיְתָה לְפַרְעֹה׃

This is difficult for me to translate. לחמוש looks like it ought to mean "to arm", but that doesn't make much sense. Perhaps it's just another Samaritan word variant, and means the same as in the Masoretic Text.

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