An Early Start
And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” Genesis 19:2 NASB
Rise early and go – Robert Alter pays attention to Hebrew subtlety. His translation of this verse reads, “O please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house to spend the night, and bathe your feet, and you can set off early on your way.” The changes might not seem like much until you realize that the Hebrew word šākam is an adverb, not a verb, in this sentence. Notice Hamilton’s clarification in TWOT:
to rise early 2386 שָׁכַם (šākam) rise early[1] The important thing to be observed here is that the meaning of šākam as “to rise early” can be certain only when some qualifying phrase or fact is added such as babbōqer “in the morning” (Gen 21:14), the reference to early morning dew (Hos 6:4; 13:3), the contrast with staying up late (Ps 127:2) and evening (I Sam 17:16). And even here the finite use of the verb is rare. Most often it is used adverbially and is coordinated with another verb. Thus Gen 19:2 (and many more) should read not, “You shall rise early and go on your way,” but “You can start ‘early’ on your way.”[2]
Since we want translations that not only communicate the message but are technically correct, we must follow Hamilton and Alter, not the NASB committee. The interesting thing here is Hamilton’s claim that Genesis 19:2 isn’t the only place where this correction must be made. Make the change in Exodus 8:20; Joshua 6:15, 8:14, Judges 7:1, 9:33, 19:9, 21:4; 1 Samuel 9:26, 15:12, 29:11; 2 Samuel 15:2; 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles 29:20; Psalm 127:2. One small mistake in Genesis spills over into the rest of the Tanakh.
What’s the lesson? Misunderstanding a single word can lead to multiple translation mistakes. Unfortunately, the reader has no way of knowing from the translated text that an error in one place causes errors in other places. This comes only with investigating each word, an overwhelming task for most of us. We rely on the translator to accurately communicate the original text, but now we see that this might not always be the case. How do we solve this problem? As a first step, read multiple translations. Wherever you discover some change in the meaning or the syntax or the grammar, dig deeper. There’s a reason why translations aren’t identical, and it’s not always the English propensity to use synonyms. Don’t be discouraged. Get an early start.
Topical Index: šākam, early, translation, Genesis 19:2
[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 2386 שָׁכַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 924). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 2386 שָׁכַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 924). Chicago: Moody Press.
