give suck: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according to the pace of the cattle that is before me, and according to the the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

pace of 15 And 'Êsâv said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

16 So 'Êsâv returned that day on his way unto Sê'îr. 17 And Ya'aqôb journeyed to Sukkôth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle therefore the name of the place is called Sukkôth (booths).

XXXIII.1

THE SONS OF YA'AQÔB AND THE INHABITANTS OF

SHECHEM.

2 [Ya'aqôb came to dwell near the town of Shechem.] XXXIII. 19 And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of 'Hamôr, Shechem's father, for an hundred qesîtâh.

1 For this narrative the latest editor of Genesis has adopted the narrative of the Elohist as the fundamental basis. He has only taken a certain number of verses from the Jehovistic narrative, and these he introduces by way of complements. The result is that when the Jehovistic narrative is removed from the text there are several gaps, which we have endeavoured to fill up conjecturally, placing our restorations between brackets.

2 To fill up these gaps we have preferred to restore the text of the Elohist when narrating the same facts, instead of inserting a narrative of our own which would not assimilate with the rest of the narrative.

20 And he erected there an altar, and called it ÊlElôhê-Yisrâêl (Êl is the God of Yisrâêl).

1 [And Shechem the son of 'Hamôr the 'Hivvy, the prince of the land, saw Dinâh, the daughter of Lêâh, whom she bare unto Ya'aqôb.]

XXXIV. 3 And his soul clave unto Dinâh the daughter of Ya'aqôb, and he loved the damsel, and spake to the heart of the damsel.

2 And he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her.

5 Now Ya'aqôb heard that he had defiled Dinâh his daughter; and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Ya'aqôb held his peace until they came.

7 And the sons of Ya'aqôb came in from the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Yisrâêl in lying with Ya'aqôb's daughter; which thing should not be done.

11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her

brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye

shall say unto me I will give.

12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.

13 And the sons of Ya'aqôb answered Shechem and 'Hamôr his father with guile, and spake, because he had defiled Dinâh, their sister.

14 And said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us.

if

1 [Only on this condition will we consent unto you : ye will be as we be, that every male of you be

circumcised.

19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Ya'aqôb's daughter: and he was honoured above all the house of his father.

1

1 [And unto him hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised like him.

And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Ya'aqôb, Shime'ôn and Lêvy, Dinâh's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city unawares, and slew all the males.]

26 And they slew 'Hamôr and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinâh out of Shechem's house, and went forth.

27 The sons of Ya'aqôb came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

29 All their wealth, and all their little ones and their wives, took they captive and spoiled, even all that was in the house.

1

1 [And Ya'aqôb said to Shime'ôn and Lêvy, Ye have troubled me, to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land. They will gather themselves together against me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.] 31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

XXXIV.

BÊTH-ÊL RECONSECRATED.1

XXXV. 1 And Elôhîm said unto Ya'aqôb, Arise, go up to Bêth-Êl, and dwell there: and make there an altar [unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of 'Êsâv thy brother.]

2 Then Ya'aqôb said unto his household, and to all that were him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments.

3 And let us arise, and go up to Bêth-Êl; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I

went.

4 And they gave unto Ya'aqôb all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears and Ya'aqôb hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

5 And they journeyed, and the terror of Elôhîm was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Ya'aqôb.

6 So Ya'aqôb came to Lûz, which is in the land of Kenâ'an (the same is Bêth-Êl), he and all the people that were with him.2

7 And he built there an altar, and called the place

1 This is another fragment which the Jehovist has taken from the older document in which God is called Elôhîm, and from which he has already borrowed so much. His own share in making additions to the text is only to be traced in the two portions of vv. 1 and 7, which we have put into brackets. It may

2 There is some uncertainty respecting the origin of this verse. belong to the Elohist. M. Schrader thinks it does.

El-Beth-Êl: [because there Elôhîm was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.]

8 And Deborah Ribqâh's nurse died, and she was buried below Bêth-Êl under the terebinth: and the name of it was called Allôn-Bâcûth (the terebinth of weeping).

XXXV.

DEATH OF RÂ'HÊL.

XXXV. 16 And they journeyed from Bêth-Êl; and there was still some way to come to Ephrâthâh: and Râ'hêl travailed, and she had hard labour.

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son.

18 And it came to pass, as she gave up the ghost (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Ôny (son of my sorrow); but his father called him Bin-Yâmîn (son of the right hand).

19 And Râ'hêl died, and was buried in the way to Ephrâthâh (the same is Bêth-Le'hem).

20 And Ya'aqôb set up a column upon her grave: the same is Maçebeth Qeturâth-Râ'hêl (the column of Râ'hêl's grave) unto this day.

21 And Yisrâêl journeyed, and spread his tent beyond Migdal-'Êder.

22 And it came to pass, while Yisrâêl dwelt in that land, that Reûbên went and lay with Bil'hâh, his father's concubine, and Yisrâêl heard of it.1

The Jehovist should relate here, as is done in our present copy of