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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Genesis 24:55 - 24:55
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Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten - The original is very abrupt and obscure, because we are not acquainted with the precise meaning of the form of speech which is here used; ימים או עשור yamim o asor Days or Ten, probably meaning a year or ten months, as the margin reads it, or a week or ten days. This latter is the most likely sense, as there would be no propriety after having given their consent that she should go, in detaining her for a year or ten months. In matters of simple phraseology, or in those which concern peculiar customs, the Septuagint translation, especially in the Pentateuch, where it is most accurate and pure, may be considered a legitimate judge; this translation renders the words ἡμερας ὡσει δεκα, about ten days. Houbigant contends strongly that instead of the words ימים או עשור yamim o asor, days or ten, we should read חדש ימים chodesh yamim, a month of days, i.e., a full month; without which emendation he asserts, locus explicari non possit, “the passage cannot be explained.” This emendation is supported by the Syriac version, which reads here yerach yomin, a month of days, or a full month. The reader may adopt the Syriac or the Septuagint, as he judges best.