Texts in Conversation
Exodus says Pharaoh will learn “there is no one like the Lord our God,” which can be read as acknowledging other gods. The Greek Septuagint changes this to “there is no other,” creating a strict monotheistic reading shaped by later theology.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 8:10
Hebrew Bible
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me—when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed from you and your houses, so that they will be left only in the Nile?” 10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, “It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Exodus 8:6
Septuagint
5 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Appoint me a time when I shall pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, to cause the frogs to disappear from you, and from your people, and from your houses, only in the river shall they be left behind. 6 And he said, Tomorrow: he said therefore, As you have said; that you may know, that there is no other but the Lord. 7 And the frogs shall be removed away from you, and from your houses and from the villages, and from your servants, and from your people, only in the river they shall be left.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Exodus 8:10, the incomparability of Israel’s God is asserted: למען תדע כי־אין כיהוה אלהינו (“So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God”). The translator, however, emphasizes theoretical monotheism (ἵνα εἰδῇς ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος πλὴν κυρίου): “so that you may know that there is no other except the Lord.” ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 13.
* 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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