Texts in Conversation
Numbers 11:18 says the people “wept in the ears of God.” The Greek Septuagint removes this idiom to avoid describing God with human features, saying that the people simply cried out to God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 11:18
Hebrew Bible
17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself. 18 “And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the ears* of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, for life was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat. 19 You will eat, not just one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Numbers 11:18
Septuagint
17 And I will go down, and speak there with you; and I will take of the spirit that is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear together with you the burden of the people, and you shall not bear them alone. 18 And to the people you shall say, Purify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh; for you wept before the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: and the Lord shall give you flesh to eat, and you shall eat flesh. 19 You shall not eat one day, nor two, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days;
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In other texts, references to God’s ears etc. are avoided, not in order to avoid anthropomorphisms but in order to maintain a realistic scenario. In Numbers 11:1, 18, no real communication between God and Israel is described – therefore the translator seems to have determined that corporeal terms are inadequate. The translator of Joshua apparently could not imagine that, according to Josh 4:24, the whole world should recognize the “hand” of the LORD, and so he rendered די as δύναµις; to recognize the “might” of God is possible for the human mind ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 15.
* 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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