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.
Share:
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: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
LXX Deuteronomy 32:43
Septuagint
40 For I will lift my hand into the heavens, and I will swear by my right hand, and I will say, “I will live for eternity.” 41 For I will sharpen my dagger like lightning, and my hand will cleave to judgment, and I will recompense my enemies with vengeance, and those who hate I will repay. 42 I will make my arrows drunk from bloodshed of the wounded and of the captives, from the head of the rulers of the enemies. 43 Delight, O heavens, with him and worship him, you sons of God. Delight, O nations, with his people and prevail with him, all you angels of God. For he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will avenge and he will repay the enemies with vengeance, and he will repay those who hate, and the Lord will cleanse out the land of his people.’ ” 44 And Moses wrote this song on that day, and he taught it to the sons of Israel. And Moses entered and spoke all the words of this law into the ears of the people, he and Joshua of Nun.
Date: 3rd Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
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 םיהלא לכ ול ויחתשהו ‘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 םיהלא 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 ..."
Reid, Philip Mark
A Preliminary Investigation into the Samaritan Pentateuch as an Intralingual Translation
(p. 96) University of the Free State South Africa, 2021
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.