Abraham, Blessing, And the Nations: A Reexamination of the Niphal and Hitpael of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in the Patriarchal Narratives‪.‬

1. INTRODUCTION A long-recognized crux interpretum in Genesis is the diathesis of the Niphal (Gen 12:3; 18:18; 28:14) and Hitpael (Gen 22:18; 26:4) stems of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in the different renditions of the patriarchal promise of blessing. Many scholars assume that both stems should be translated the same way, arguing for either a medio-passive or a reflexive translation. These two translations reflect two distinct paradigms of understanding the relationship between Abraham and the nations, respectively: blessing mediation (the nations are blessed through Abraham) and blessing utterance (the nations will utter blessings using the name of Abraham, recognizing his status as one greatly blessed by God). The difference between these interpretative frameworks is significant, as aptly summarized by Michael Brown: "In point of fact, it is one thing to receive blessing through Abraham's seed (passive or middle sense); it is another thing to desire to be like Abraham's seed (based on the reflexive sense)." (1)