Michael S. Heiser
What is the Septuagint?
The Septuagint, of course, is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The Septuagint was the Old Testament of the early Greek-speaking Church, and it is by far the version of the Old Testament most frequently quoted by Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament.
But many pastors, seminary students, and laypeople devoted to Bible study might wonder about the value of the Septuagint for Bible study.
Rather than try to persuade you of the value of the Septuagint by means of these kinds of arguments, I thought it might be helpful to provide a practical example where the Septuagint explains what seems to be a New Testament theological blunder. I’m betting most of us are interested in that sort of thing!
Below is Deuteronomy 33:1–2 side by side in two translations. On the left is my literal rendering of the traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the Masoretic text. On the right is an English translation of the Septuagint at this passage. I have boldfaced significant differences for some discussion.
| 1 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: Yahweh came from Sinai, and He shone upon them from Seir. He appeared in radiance from Mount Paran, and approached from Ribeboth-Kodesh, from his right lightning flashed at them. 3 Indeed, he loved the people, all his holy ones at your hand. And they followed at your feet; he bears your words, 4 the law which Moses commanded us, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. |
1 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: The LORD came from Sinai, and He shone to us from Seir; He made haste from Mount Paran with ten thousands of Kadesh, his angels with him. 3 And He had pity on his people, and all the holy ones were under your hands; and they were under you; and he received his words, 4 the law which Moses charged us, an inheritance to the assemblies of Jacob. |
What are we looking at?
Some English translations (ESV, NIV, NASB) are close to the Septuagint or sound like a mixture of the two choices. As the traditional Hebrew text goes, the Hebrew phrase in verse 2 underlying Ribeboth-Kodesh is the same (except for spelling) as what occurs at Deut. 32:51 (Meribath Kadesh). This is why most scholars today consider the phrase to be a geographical place name, and I agree. The Septuagint, however, obviously has something else going on!
While it is possible to get “ten thousands of Kadesh” from the Hebrew consonants of the traditional Masoretic text, the common Hebrew word for angels (mal’akim) does not appear in the traditional Masoretic text. The Septuagint translation (aggeloi) came from a different Hebrew text.
One more observation: in verse 3 the Masoretic Text seems to equate “the people” with “all his holy ones.” Yahweh’s people, his holy people, are under his authority (“under your hand”). They follow at the LORD’s feet and receive the Law. Note that the singular pronoun “he” in “he bears your words” likely refers to Israel collectively (i.e., Israel bears your words). Israel is often referred to as a singular entity in the Bible (“my son,” Exod 4:21–23; “my servant,” Isa 44:1). The Septuagint, however, gives the reader the feel that “his people” and “all the holy ones” are different groups. In the Septuagint, God pities his people, and his holy ones—the angels referred to in the previous verse—are under his authority. Israel, of course, receives the law.
So what?
So who cares? Well, the Septuagint here helps us understand an oddity mentioned in several places in the New Testament—the idea that the Mosaic Law, given at Sinai, was actually given by angels.
Check out these New Testament passages:
Acts 7:52–53
52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”Hebrews 2:1–2a
1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?Galatians 3:19
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
Simply put, if you stick to the traditional Masoretic Hebrew text for your Old Testament, there is no place that the New Testament writers could have drawn such an idea. The closest you come to that is in Psalm 68:17. While that verse has a multitude of angelic beings at Sinai, it says zilch about the Law.
The point is that the New Testament references have provided fodder for biblical critics who want the New Testament to be guilty of either an outright error in thought or just contriving a doctrinal point out of thin air. The Septuagint shows us that those perspectives are just simply incorrect. The New Testament writers weren’t nitwits or dishonest.
They were using the Septuagint.
Intrigued?
You can start reading and studying the Septuagint today with the Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint (LES). This second edition of the LES makes more of an effort than the first to focus on the text as received rather than as produced. Because this approach shifts the point of reference from a diverse group to a single implied reader, the new LES exhibits more consistency than the first edition. Retaining the familiar forms of personal names and places, the LES gives readers the ability to read it alongside their favored English Bible. Translated directly from Swete’s edition of the Septuagint, the LES maintains the meaning of the original text, making the Septuagint accessible to readers today.
Explore the Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint (LES) today.
Related articles
- When and How to Use the Septuagint in Your Bible Study
- How to Compare the Septuagint to the Original Hebrew in Logos
- When and How to Use the Septuagint in Your Bible Study
- What Is the Talmud and Is It Beneficial for Christians?
Related resources
- Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint (LES)
- Gottingen Septuagint (67 vols.)
- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
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