Childless, and “the son of the mesheq of my house”
Says אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה is “Lord YHWH”: the name is pointed with the vowels of elohim, so after adonai it is read “God”; BSB has “O Lord GOD” and the Greek “Δέσποτα Κύριε.” מַה־תִּתֶּן־לִי is “what will you give me,” and וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי is “while I am going childless.”
Says וּבֶן־מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר reads word for word “and the son of the mesheq of my house, he is Damascus Eliezer.” The Hebrew has Damascus first and Eliezer second; BSB reverses them, “Eliezer of Damascus.” Mesheq occurs only here and sounds like dammeseq, “Damascus.” The Greek takes it as a name, “ὁ δὲ υἱὸς Μάσεκ.”
Says In 15:3 הֵן לִי לֹא נָתַתָּה זָרַע is “behold, to me you have given no seed,” and וְהִנֵּה בֶן־בֵּיתִי יוֹרֵשׁ אֹתִי is “and behold, a son of my house is going to inherit me,” with the participle of yarash; BSB has “a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Implies Verse 3 restates verse 2 in plainer words, so the hard phrase of verse 2 names the household member who would inherit if Abram died without a son.
Uncertain The exact sense of mesheq and the syntax of “Damascus Eliezer” are not settled; the phrase may mean “possession” or be shaped to echo the city’s name. No lean is taken here.
Claims
- Saysאֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה is “Lord YHWH”: the name is pointed with the vowels of elohim, so after adonai it is read “God”; BSB has “O Lord GOD” and the Greek “Δέσποτα Κύριε.” מַה־תִּתֶּן־לִי is “what will you give me,” and וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי is “while I am going childless.”
- Saysוּבֶן־מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר reads word for word “and the son of the mesheq of my house, he is Damascus Eliezer.” The Hebrew has Damascus first and Eliezer second; BSB reverses them, “Eliezer of Damascus.” Mesheq occurs only here and sounds like dammeseq, “Damascus.” The Greek takes it as a name, “ὁ δὲ υἱὸς Μάσεκ.”
- SaysIn 15:3 הֵן לִי לֹא נָתַתָּה זָרַע is “behold, to me you have given no seed,” and וְהִנֵּה בֶן־בֵּיתִי יוֹרֵשׁ אֹתִי is “and behold, a son of my house is going to inherit me,” with the participle of yarash; BSB has “a servant in my household will be my heir.”
- ImpliesVerse 3 restates verse 2 in plainer words, so the hard phrase of verse 2 names the household member who would inherit if Abram died without a son.
- UncertainThe exact sense of mesheq and the syntax of “Damascus Eliezer” are not settled; the phrase may mean “possession” or be shaped to echo the city’s name. No lean is taken here.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 15:2–3 (WLC/OSHB; morph HNp HAamsa HNcmsc HVqrmsa)
- BSB public domain Gen 15:2–3 (BSB)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 15:2, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 23 (leaf n54). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-12
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