Genesis 34:27
בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב בָּאוּ עַל הַ חֲלָלִים וַ יָּבֹזּוּ הָ עִיר אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ אֲחֹותָם
The builders of Heel have come in upon the Pierced ones,1076 and they are plundering the City which has made-unclean their sister,1077
| 1077 | plundering the city which has made-unclean their sister. The Hebrew is plain. Translators have always changed the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר to mean “because” when it properly means who or which. The verb “they-made-unclean” טִמְּא֖וּ is in the Piel form but translators again like to render it as though it were the reflexive Niphal form, i.e “because their sister had been made unclean”. The Piel form can be translated either way as it is not specifically reflexive. The narrative here seems to say “the City defiled Justice.” An enigma? |