For the next three selections, Zaphōn will relate a story about a family that left Ur, which is located about 500 kilometers south of Media, and eventually settled some 1,500 kilometers west in the area along the Mediterranean between the Phoenician cities of Sidon and Tyre and the delta of the Nile. That family was the progenitor of Zaphōn's people. The text comes from the Septuagint, a translation of Hebrew writings begun in the 3rd century BCE by editors and translators in Alexandria.

Here are a few notes about the text:

• The original Greek text uses past tenses. This selection recasts the story in the historical present. You will, however, encounter some future forms.
• You will see that the Hebrew names do not decline, i.e., they do not change form according to the case they assume, so you will need to read carefully and pay close attention to the cases of the definite articles to identify the syntactic role each plays in its clause.
• The Greek of the Septuagint is Koine, a form of Greek that emerged in the wake of Alexander's conquest of Asia. It differs somewhat from the Attic dialect you have been learning, for example, in the use of the pronoun αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό. This selection comes primarily from Genesis 11.27-32, but it also incorporates some material from Herodotus and other passages in the Septuagint along with a few additions that parallel material you have seen before.
  

τὸ ἀνάγνωσμα περὶ τῶν προγόνων

Ζαφών· νῦν δὲ κάθησθε, ὦ φίλοι, καὶ ἀκούετε. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐθέλω μῦθον ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν προγόνων λέγειν.

οὕτως ποτὲ Ἀσσύριοι ἄρχουσι τῆς ἄνω Ἀσίης καὶ ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν Χαλδαίων οἰκεῖ ὁ Ἅβραμ. ὁ πατὴρ τῷ Ἅβραμ Θάρα ἐστὶ καὶ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῷ εἰσὶ Ναχὼρ καὶ Ἁρρὰν. τῷ δ' Ἁρράν εἰσι τρεῖς παῖδες καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτοῖς ἐστὶ Λὼτ καὶ Μελχὰ καὶ Ἰεσχά. ὁ δ' Ἁρρὰν ἀποθνήσκει. καὶ διὰ χρόνου ὁ Ναχὼρ καὶ ὁ Ἅβραμ ἄγονται γυναῖκες. ἡ δὲ γυνὴ τῷ Ἅβραμ ἐστὶ Σάραν καὶ ἡ γυνὴ τῷ Ναχώρ ἐστι Μελχά ἡ θυγάτηρ Ἁρρὰν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. ἔστι τῇ Μελχὰ καὶ τῷ Ναχὼρ υἱός, καί τὸ ὄνομα τῷ υἱῷ ἐστὶ Βαθουήλ. ἀλλ' οὐδέ υἱός ἐστὶ τῇ Σάραν καὶ τῷ Ἅβραμ οὐδὲ θυγάτηρ· ἡ γὰρ Σάραν στεῖρα καὶ οὐ δυνατή ἐστι τεκνοποιεῖν. καὶ λαμβάνει Θαρα τὸν Ἅβραμ υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν Λὼτ υἱὸν τοῦ Ἁρρὰν υἱὸν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν Σαραν τὴν νύμφην τοῦ Ἅβραμ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξάγει αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς χώρας τῶν Χαλδαίων εἰς τὴν γῆν Χαναὰν καὶ ἔρχεται ἕως Χαρρὰν καὶ κατοικεῖ ἐκεῖ. καὶ γίγνονται πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι τῷ Θαρα ἐν Χαρρὰν διακόσια πέντε ἔτη, καὶ ἀποθνήσκει Θαρα ἐν Χαρράν.

καὶ λέγει ὁ Κύριος τῷ Ἅβραμ· "ἔρχου ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν ἄν σοι δείξω·

καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ εὐλογήσω σε καὶ μεγαλυνῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου, καὶ ἔσῃ εὐλογητός· καὶ εὐλογήσω τοὺς εὐλογοῦντάς σε, καὶ τοὺς καταρωμένους σε καταράσομαι· καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς."

Vocabulary