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The opening of Job describes him offering sacrifices for his children. The Septuagint translation adds that he offered an ox as a sin offering, harmonizing it with the Torah and breaking the narrative setup that this happens before the Torah was given.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Job 1:5
Hebrew Bible
3 His possessions included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. Thus he was the greatest of all the people in the east. 4 Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice.
Date: 500–401 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Job 1:5
Septuagint
3 And his cattle consisted of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys in the pastures, and a very great household, and he had an extensive farm on the earth; and that man was most noble of the men of the east. 4 And his sons visiting one another prepared a banquet every day, taking with them also their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the banquet were completed, Job sent and purified them, having risen up in the morning, and offered sacrifices for them, according to their number, and one calf for a sin-offering for their souls: for Job said, I fear that my sons have thought evil in their minds against God. Thus, then Job did continually.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Job we meet in the Greek text is made even more pious than the Job we met in the Hebrew text. The actions of Job contain two significant additions. In 1:4-5, the precautionary sacrifice of Job is mentioned. Then the Greek storyteller adds one more line to his story. '... and one ox as a sin-offering for their lives'. This addition enhances Job's character by placing his worship in the context of Old Testament worship rites ..."
John A. Beck, Translators as Storytellers: A Study in Septuagint Translation Technique, StBibLit 25 (New York: Peter Lang, 2000), 123.
* 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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