Texts in Conversation
The Greek Septuagint preserves an older version of Deuteronomy 32 that describes the “sons of God” rejoicing. This resembles Psalm 97 and shows this was a part of Israel’s early theological tradition. Later translations removed it to avoid polytheism.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 32:43
Hebrew Bible
40 For I raise up my hand to heaven, and say, ‘As surely as I live forever, 41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword, and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; I will execute vengeance on my foes, and repay those who hate me! 42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh—the blood of the slaughtered and captured, the chief of the enemy’s leaders.’” 43 Cry out, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge his servants’ blood; he will take vengeance against his enemies, and make atonement for his land and people. 44 Then Moses went with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Deuteronomy 32:43
Septuagint
40 For I will lift up my hand to heaven, and swear by my right hand, and I will say, I live for ever. 41 For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to my enemies, and will repay those who hate me. 42 I will make my weapons drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, it shall glut itself with the blood of the wounded, and from the captivity of the heads of their enemies that rule over them. 43 Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the sons of God worship him; rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people, and let all the angels of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and repay justly his enemies, and will reward those who hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people. 44 And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Deuteronomy 32 ... The Masoretic and Samaritan texts of this verse both reflect an upstream theological change for similar reasons to 32:8. However, there are more substantial differences between the textual witnesses to this verse. In 4QDeutq, which preserves this verse, this text differs significantly from the Masoretic text, with six cola to the Masoretic’s four. The LXX is even more expansive, with a total of eight cola. Like 32:8, this verse originally referred to a plurality of divine beings. In 4QDeutq, colon a2 reads והשתחיו לו כל אלהים ‘And worship him, all (you) gods.’ This is cited in Ps 97:7, which is dependent on this verse (see McCarthy 2007, 153). The LXX interprets אלהים as υἱοὶ θεοῦ, ‘sons of God’, but the common source text of the Masoretic and the Samaritan made a more radical intervention: this colon was eliminated for theological reasons along with its parallel first colon, a1, which places ‘heavens’ in parallel to ‘gods’. This was done for the same reasons as the change to 32:8, to remove the possible idea of polytheism. Along with this, ‘his sons’ in colon b1 was changed to ‘his servants’ for the same reason ..."
Philip Mark Reid, “A Preliminary Investigation into the Samaritan Pentateuch as an Intralingual Translation” (MA diss., University of the Free State, 2021), 96.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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