MT שָׂבָ֑ע is translated 'plenty, satiety, abundance' in the lexicons; NIDOTTE adds 'produce / grain(?)' with the question mark. The MT reading שָׂבָע is supported by evidence from TargProv, Vulg, and Syr. The LXX, however, has πλησμονῆς σίτου 'abundance of grain,' which differs from MT by the apparent addition of the word σίτου 'grain.' The LXX rendering might reflect an earlier conflation of שבר and שבע, and some scholars estimate that שבר ('grain') would have been the Vorlage of an original LXX (Old Greek) σίτῳ 'grain.' Others regard LXX σίτου as a gloss within the Greek transmission or as a translational addition intended to make explicit the implied meaning of שבע.
Favoring the Old Greek reconstruction, BHS commends שֶׁבֶר even as Toy had preferred 'corn' (in the sense of 'grain') on the basis of the Greek and on contextual grounds, thinking specifically of the parallel to 'must' (i.e. 'wine'). More recently BHQ again expressed the view that σίτῳ is the original, Old Greek rendering and πλησμονῆς is a secondary modernization. Against the proposed reconstruction, Fox thinks that σίτου (in LXX πλησμονῆς σίτου) is a scribal gloss because a note in the Syro-Hexapla indicates that σίτου was not present in either the LXX or the Hebrew. Taking a slightly different approach, Fritsch regards LXX πλησμονῆς σίτου as a double translation, a "doublet."
Although BHQ considers σίτῳ as the original LXX rendering (based on שׁבר), the editor did not express a preference for that reading, and some commentators, e.g. Murphy, Delitzsch, McKane, and Meinhold ('Sättigung'), clearly opt for שׂבע in the sense of 'plenty' or 'satiety.' Waltke too prefers 'plenty,' but he does not rule out the sense of 'grain,' and the same holds for Fox, who translates 'abundance.' The sense 'grain' for שׂבע was first suggested by Dahood (1963). The evidence goes back to the Phoenician Karatepe inscription from the 8th cent. B.C.E. in which the phrase śbʿ wtrš occurs in the sentence, 'May this city be the possessor of plenty [implying 'plenty of grain'] and wine.' So śbʿ 'plenty' in connection with trš 'wine' has been taken to mean 'grain.' But THAT provides evidence that, even in combination with trš, śbʿ is used in its core sense 'plenty, satiety' in inscriptions, including the Karatepe inscription. Still, Clifford follows Dahood's lexical argument and translates 'filled with grain,' as does Whybray. HPR leaves open the possibility of translating שָׂבָע as 'fullness' or as 'corn.'
English translations may be divided into three groups: (1) those that are based on MT שָׂבָע 'plenty, abundance, satiety' etc., e.g. KJV, RV, ASV, JPS, RSV, NASB, NRSV, NKJV, ESV, ISV, NIV, NET, TNIV, (2) those that explicitly rely on a presumed LXX Vorlage שׁבר, e.g. AT, NAB, NJB, and (3) those that interpret שָׂבָע as 'grain' or else they too rely on LXX as in the second group, e.g. JM, JB, TEV, NJPS, NLT, CEV, NEB, REB. In the absence of explicit textual notes, it is difficult to know for sure which textual base these translations reflect. |