זֶרַע or זְרֹע in 1 Samuel 2:31

Question

The MT 1 Samuel 2:31 reads:

הִנֵּה, יָמִים בָּאִים, וְגָדַעְתִּי אֶת-זְרֹעֲךָ, וְאֶת-זְרֹעַ בֵּית אָבִיךָ--מִהְיוֹת זָקֵן, בְּבֵיתֶךָ.

Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

Or as the NIV (who actually follows the MT reading in this case) has it:

The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,

The way the MT chooses to vowelize זרע is really odd, since the context strongly suggests that the word זרע here should be taken as זֶרַע = seed/children rather than זְרֹע = hand/strength. This is actually clearly spelled out in the following verse that none will reach old age and they will all die before reaching maturity thereby cutting the line of Eli short.

Indeed some translations ignore the MT and interpret the verse in the more natural way. The ISV for example renders the verse as follows:

The time is coming when I'll cut away at your family and your ancestor's family until there are no old men left in your family.

I also think it is most unnatural to translate the Hebrew term into hand or strength, as it is entirely unclear what cutting off the strength of the house of Eli would mean in this context anyway.

Can anyone explain why the MT chooses to translate this verse in the most unnatural way (instead of children)? What evidence is there in favor of the MT, and how can it be justified?

Answer 1

Great question, as usual!

Some possibilities/considerations:

1. Earlier spellings of the word may have made it clear that this was the correct reading. For example, in this case, the full spelling of zera (seed) would be spelled זרע, while the full spelling of zero'a (strength) would be spelled זרוע. If there were earlier books that spelled the word this way, there would be no question as to the vowelization. (see here)

2. It is possible that they chose this vowelization since the verb גדע does not pair well with zera (seed). When Tanach refers to "cutting off seed" it uses the verb כרת. On the other hand, גדע seems to relate to a physical cutting, as would make sense with the word zero'a, which is literally an arm. See as well Job 22:9 and Psalms 37:17, noted in Ellicott's commentary.

3. It is possible that due to other connections where another word relating to strength is used, it chose to use a word of strength here. For example:

   • Rashi cites Samuel I 2:16, in which Chofni and Pinchas tell those bringing sacrifices that they will take from them "by force".
   • The Benson Commentary notes Psalms 78:61, which refers to the Ark as "God's strength", which refers to the episode in which this prophecy was fulfilled.

Answer 2

If God cut off the seed there would be no one in the house at all, but if he cut off the strength then they would all be weak and would not live to old age, so the second part of the verse supports the MT. Eli's house was deposed from the priesthood, rather than destroyed altogether.