Texts in Conversation
Genesis 17 introduces God as El Shaddai, a name likely meaning "God of the Mountain." The Greek Septuagint drops this title and simply says "I am your God," likely due to it not being relevant for a Greek audience.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 17:1
Hebrew Bible
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless. 2 Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 17:1
Septuagint
1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am your God, be well-pleasing before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... There is no Hebrew equivalent: El Shaddai is regularly rendered theos pantokrator in the LXX, but the reason lies in Hellenistic philosophy rather than in the Old Testament itself, despite later rabbinic speculation that shaddai means she-dai, the one "who is sufficient."" ..."
Katharine J. Dell, ed., Ethical and Unethical in the Old Testament: God and Humans in Dialogue (New York: T & T Clark International, 2010), 144.
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