Texts in Conversation
In Leviticus, the person offering the sacrifice is the one who kills the animal, but in the Greek Septuagint translation this task is given to the priests. This follows a pattern in the Greek that changes ritual duties and gives them to the priests.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 1:5
Hebrew Bible
4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar, which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts,
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Leviticus 1:5
Septuagint
4 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering as a thing acceptable for him, to make atonement for him. 5 And they shall kill the calf before the Lord; and the sons of Aaron the priests shall bring the blood, and they shall pour the blood all around on the altar, which is at the doors of the tabernacle of witness. 6 And having flayed the whole burnt offering, they shall divide it by its limbs.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Tags:
Search:
Notes and References
"... The plural, harmonized with the other plurals in the context, likely reflects the following concern: in the Masoretic text, the slaughter of the victim is attributed to the offerer and not to the priest. However, this is a characteristic perspective of the priestly tradition (P), according to which the slaughter is not the central moment of the sacrifice. The Septuagint (and the Samaritan Pentateuch) contains the same reading in verses 6 and 9, where even the number of the noun is modified, as well as in verses 11 (not in the Samaritan Pentateuch), 12, and 13. The change, likely due to theological considerations, is attested in various textual traditions and was probably already present in the Vorlage of the Septuagint ..."
Giorgio Paximadi, “Entre variantes et interprétations. Corruption textuelle ou exégèse dans le texte de la Septante du Lévitique ?” in The Text of Leviticus: Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium of the Dominique Barthélemy Institute, ed. Innocent Himbaza (Leuven: Peeters, 2020), 133–148.
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,