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Genesis 22 says that Isaac is Abraham’s only son, heightening the stakes of the command to sacrifice him. The Greek Septuagint changes the description of Isaac to “your beloved son,” perhaps to soften the intensity or to harmonize it with Ishmael.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 22:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 2 God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” 3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 22:2
Septuagint
1 And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Look! I am here. 2 And he said, Take your son, the beloved one, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. 3 And Abraham rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole burnt offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him,
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The one arena in which the character of Abraham is most altered is in the naming of Isaac. Recall that the naming of Isaac played an important role in stressing the father-son relationship and hence deepened the challenge Abraham faced. The fact that Isaac was Abraham's only son is placed before the Hebrew reader in verses 2, 12, and 16 ... In the first two instances, the word is eliminated. We also saw that it was used nine times in this narrative to solicit emotion from the Hebrew reader. In two instances, the "my son" of the Hebrew was replaced with ('child') and no personal pronoun. Those may be found in verses 7-8. These references in the Hebrew are clearly designed to deepen the reader's appreciation of the father-son relationship and hence amplify the nature of the trial and Abraham's obedience. The net effect of the Greek translation is to mitigate that outcome ..."
John A. Beck, Translators as Storytellers: A Study in Septuagint Translation Technique, StBibLit 25 (New York: Peter Lang, 2000), 85.
* 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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The Masoretic text is much newer than 5th century B.C we don’t have original paleo Hebrew manuscripts the Jews rewrote their books in a new alphabet the Septuagint is the oldest version of the Old Testament books we have that’s why it’s quoted more in the New Testament it’s what they were reading no ...
The Masoretic text is much newer than 5th century B.C we don’t have original paleo Hebrew manuscripts the Jews rewrote their books in a new alphabet the Septuagint is the oldest version of the Old Testament books we have that’s why it’s quoted more in the New Testament it’s what they were reading not the Masoretic texts.