Texts in Conversation
Exodus 40 says God’s presence filled the tabernacle so fully that Moses could not enter. The Greek Septuagint changes this to say the cloud “overshadowed” the tent, reshaping it to stress God’s transcendence while trying to keep a sense of nearness.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 40:35
Hebrew Bible
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 But when the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on all their journeys;
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Exodus 40:35
Septuagint
34 And the cloud covered the tabernacle of witness, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. 36 And when the cloud went up from the tabernacle, the children of Israel prepared to depart with their baggage.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In the Septuagint of Exodus, the idea of God’s dwelling in Exodus 25:7 is replaced by the notion of God’s appearance and in Exodus 29:45 by the motive of human invocation of God. The connection of “dwelling” with the glory of God is replaced in Exodus 24:16 by the motif of descending and in Exodus 40:35 by the motif of overshadowing. Critical examination of these changes suggests they are the conscious work of the translator. Due to this emphasis of God’s transcendence, any definition of physicality or containment of God is avoided ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 144.
* 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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