Samaritan Torah, פַּרְשַׁת בְּשַׁלַּח

In the Song at the Sea we encounter, in Exodus 15:2

The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ וַיְהִי־לִי לִישׁוּעָה זֶה אֵלִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ אֱלֹהֵי אָבִי וַאֲרֹמְמֶנְהוּ׃

The Hebrew of the first words has always puzzled me; the literal translation is "My strength and a song of the Lord." In the Samaritan text, two of the words are joined into one: עזי וזמרתיה. I'm not sure how one should translate this.

The Hebrew is also curious in Exodus 17:16:

For he said, "Because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס יָהּ מִלְחָמָה לַה׳ בַּעֲמָלֵק מִדֹּר דֹּר׃

What it literally says is, "'For a hand on the throne of the Lord'", or possibly "'For, a hand on the throne, the Lord'." The word כֵּס is also extremely unusual; the normal word for chair/throne has an aleph on the end: כִּסֵא. The Samaritan text has this form, and lacks the Divine Name thereafter:

[Literal translation:] For he said, "For a hand on the throne: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי־יָד עַל־כִּסֵא מִלְחָמָה לַה׳ בַּעֲמָלֵק מִדּוֹר וָדּוֹר׃

Samaritan Torah notes         Jewish learning notes index