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In Leviticus 8, Moses anoints the tabernacle before the altar, but in the Greek Septuagint this is reversed. This may reflect a shift in focus, with the Hebrew version emphasizing holiness in the sanctuary and the Greek version emphasizing the altar.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 8:10
Hebrew Bible
9 Finally, he set the turban on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 11 Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the washbasin and its stand to consecrate them. 12 He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Leviticus 8:10
Septuagint
9 And he put the turban on his head, and put upon the turban in front the golden plate, the most holy thing, as the Lord commanded Moses. 10 And Moses took of the anointing oil, 11 and sprinkled of it seven times on the altar; and anointed the altar, and hallowed it, and all things on it, and the laver, and its foot, and sanctified them; and anointed the tabernacle and all its furniture, and hallowed it. 12 And Moses poured of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron; and he anointed him and sanctified him.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Septuagint moves verse 10 after verse 11. According to this perspective, Moses first consecrates the objects placed outside (the altar and the basin for ablutions) and then the interior objects (the tabernacle and its furnishings). In contrast, in the Masoretic text, the tabernacle is anointed first, before the other objects. However, the parallel is not perfect: in verse 10, the altar is simply anointed, whereas in Leviticus 8:11, it is sprinkled seven times with the anointing oil. The reversal observed in Leviticus 8:10-11 between the Masoretic and Septuagint clearly implies two different theological conceptions. In one case, holiness is primarily conferred on the tabernacle and its sacred objects, and only afterward on the altar. In the other case, the process is reversed ..."
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.
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