The Stoppage of the River Jordan, A.D. 1267

s enquiry on p. 261, I would like to draw his attention to the two English versions of Joshua iii, 16.The Revised Version reads, "rose up in one heap, a great way off, at .Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan."This rendering follo~s the Kethib of the Massoretic Hebrew.The Authorised Version reads, "rose up upon an heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zarethan."This rendering follows the Keri of the Massoretic Hebrew.Of course the difference depends on whether :J. or 0 is read before t:J,~.If we are content with the latter, perl~aps it would bear the interpretation Colonel Watson desires."The waters ..... rose one mound a great way off from Damieh, that is (it happened) opposite to Zarethan."But the LXX rendering would appear to show that there 'must have been a wholly different reading here in their time.They knew nothing of "the city Adalll," or "Zarethan" either.The first three letters of O,~O they took for a repetition of ,'~'Q that precedes, and translated 'uepoapa uepoapwr.But how they got €CJr }LEpOVr Kapta8tapEl}L out of the subsequent Hebrew letters as they now stand is not clear.However, all Colonel 'Vatson will care for probably is to know that the A•V and the Keri of th~Hebrew will perhaps bear the interpretation, though not the exact tran::;lation, he desires

Ancient history · Palestine · Political science · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History