Genesis 47:31 — Jacob's bed, or Jacob's staff?
Genesis 47:31 has readings for Jacob bowing on his bed and for him being on the top of his staff. The identical consonants המטה receive different vowels.
What the APB prints.
Every witness, on the record.
What a blind committee did here.
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.
The blind committee’s printed APB text has Israel bowing upon the head of the bed. For this crux, the record supplies no rationale note, and the pericope’s audit verdict is “clean”.
The case for each reading.
If “staff”
Reading A takes המטה as הַמַּטֶּה (hammatteh), the staff. Its support here is the Septuagint (LXX), which reads ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ and is given in the packet as on the top of his staff. The packet also states that Hebrews 11:21 quotes exactly this wording. On this reading, Israel’s final action is associated with the top of his staff rather than the head of a bed. The consonants by themselves do not distinguish this reading from the alternative.
If “bed”
Reading B takes המטה as הַמִּטָּה (hammittah), the bed. The Masoretic Text (Westminster Leningrad Codex) reads the word as bed through its pointing, and the APB prints that sense in Genesis 47:31: Israel bowed upon the head of the bed. This reading therefore follows the supplied Masoretic pointing and the site’s printed translation. At the same time, the packet explicitly says that the consonantal text supports either reading, so the consonants alone do not settle whether bed or staff is intended.
Uncertainty remains because the consonants המטה support either reading while the supplied witnesses differ. The variation changes the object named in Israel’s gesture. It does not change the oath in Genesis 47:31 or the burial request and promise in Genesis 47:30. No doctrinal consequence is supplied in this packet.
Asked plainly.
Did Jacob bow on his bed or lean on his staff in Genesis 47:31?
The supplied witnesses preserve both readings: MT points המטה as bed, while LXX reads on the top of his staff.
Why can Genesis 47:31 mean bed or staff?
The consonants are identical: המטה. The distinction depends on the vowels, which the packet says were added a millennium later.
Why does Hebrews 11:21 mention a staff?
The packet says that Hebrews 11:21 quotes exactly the LXX wording ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ.
More places where the manuscripts argue.
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.
Weigh it yourself.
The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.