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The Hebrew version of Ezekiel 21:3 declares that both the righteous and the wicked will be cut down without distinction. In the Greek Septuagint translation, this is changed to say that only the unrighteous and the wicked will be destroyed, likely to avoid the image of indiscriminate divine judgment.
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Ezekiel 21:3
Hebrew Bible
2 “Son of man, turn toward Jerusalem and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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LXX Ezekiel 21:3
Septuagint
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “On account of this, prophesy, son of man; set your face against Jerusalem and look intently upon their holy things; and you shall prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 And you shall say to the land of Israel, ‘Look, I am against you, and I will remove my sword from its sheath, and I will utterly destroy the unrighteous and lawless from you! 4 Because I will utterly destroy the unrighteous and lawless from you, so my sword will come out from its sheath against all flesh from the east to the north,
Date: 1st Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The concept of God’s goodness, a central issue of Plato’s philosophy, became also important for Jewish theology. Due to this doctrine, transmitters and translators sometimes modified the text. In order to avoid any suspicion of despotism, the translator of Amos transmuted the ironic imperatives in Amos 4:4 to indicatives, and he rendered ילוא (“perhaps”) in Amos 5:15 by ὅπως: God’s reaction on human repentance is not to be categorized by “perhaps”! In LXX Isaiah 6:9–10, the theory of divine hardening is avoided. The translator of Ezekiel altered Ezekiel 21:3-4 [LXX 8-9] ... According to the Masoretic text, God will destroy the righteous and the wicked whereas the Septuagint alters: God will destroy the unrighteous and the wicked ..."
* 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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