Deuteronomy 12:5

Hebrew Bible

3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 5 But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there. 6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

LXX Deuteronomy 12:5

Septuagint

3 And ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and ye shall burn with fire the graven images of their gods, and ye shall abolish their name out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so to the Lord your God. 5 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose in one of your cities to name his name there, and to be called upon, ye shall even seek him out and go thither. 6 And ye shall carry thither your whole-burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your first-fruits, and your vowed-offerings, and your freewill-offerings, and your offerings of thanksgiving, the first-born of your herds, and of your flocks.

 Notes and References

"... A particularly important interpretation for the book of Deuteronomy is the Septuagint’s establishment of the uniqueness of the place of the Jewish cult by translating ‘in one of your tribes (or cities)’ for ‘out of all your tribes’ of 12:5. In the final section (chapters 27-34), the interpretative elements are most numerous and they reflect the intention of the translator to express Yahweh’s love for his dispersed people: there is an avoidance of the divine contempt (31:20); divine punishment is ostensibly weakened (28:37); the acts of goodness are underscored (32:10-13); and there is an insistence on the privilege of God’s people (32:8-9; 32:35; 32:43, etc) ..."

Lim, Timothy H. "Deuteronomy in the Judaism of the Second Temple Period" in Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise (eds.), Deuteronomy in the New Testament (pp. 6-26) T&T Clark International, 2007

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.