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Deuteronomy 32 refers to sacrifices made to unfamiliar gods, but the Greek Septuagint translation refers to them as “daimones,” a term that did not mean “evil spirits.” Instead, it only refers to foreign deities or objects of worship.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 32:17
Hebrew Bible
15 But Jeshurun became fat and kicked; you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt. 16 They made him jealous with other gods, they enraged him with abhorrent idols. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about. 18 You forgot the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Deuteronomy 32:17
Septuagint
15 So Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked; he grew fat, he became thick and broad: then he forsook the God that made him, and departed from God his Savior. 16 They provoked me to anger with strange gods; with their abominations they bitterly angered me. 17 They sacrificed to demons, and not to God; to gods whom they did not know: new and fresh gods came in, whom their fathers did not know. 18 You have forsaken God that fathered you, and forgotten God who feeds you.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... As we delve deeper, it becomes evident that the interpretation of LXX daimones is primarily achieved through the establishment and application of a pattern of lexical equivalence of δαιμόνιον for שד. This equivalence is first established in LXX Deuteronomy 32:17 and is subsequently followed at least once in the Greek Psalter (105[106]:37; compare 90[91]:6). Moreover, in the Greek Psalter and LXX Isaiah, δαιμόνιον is utilized in the same context and function as in LXX Deuteronomy 32:17—specifically, as a term of distinction that contrasts the God of Israel with all other entities or objects of sacrificial worship (i.e., LXX Psalm 95[96]:3–5; LXX Isaiah 65:3; compare 1 Enoch 19:2). Some instances of δαιμόνιον usage in the Greek Psalter, in particular, echo the concern for Jewish/Gentile difference in Jubilees’ treatment of transmundane powers. However, what remains less clear is whether and how the LXX usage serves to demonize daimones in a categorical sense akin to later Christian notions of demons as inherently evil ..."
Annette Yoshiko Reed, “When Did Daimones Become Demons? Revisiting Septuagintal Data for Ancient Jewish Demonology,” HTR 116.3 (2023): 340–375.
* 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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