Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Ecclesiastes warns to not tell the priest that a broken vow was a mistake. The Greek Septuagint reads that word as God himself, so the excuse is made directly to God rather than to a temple official.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ecclesiastes 5:6
Hebrew Bible
5 It is better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay it. 6 Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the priest, “It was a mistake!” Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands? 7 Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. Therefore, fear God.
LXX Ecclesiastes 5:5
Septuagint
4 It is better for you not to vow than for you to vow and not repay. 5 Do not set your mouth to make your flesh sin, and do not say before God’s face, “It is ignorance,” lest God become angry at your voice and destroy the works of your hands. 6 For dreams and futile things and many words are in abundance. As for you, fear God! Unfairness
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Notes and References
... messenger. The Septuagint (supported by the Syrohexapla) and Syriac have “God,” but that reading is probably interpretive—it assumes that hammalʾak meant “God,” especially since in the same verse it is God who will be angry if one behaves inappropriately. The Masoretic Text is supported by Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Vulgate, and Targum. It is sometimes argued that hammalʾak is secondary, being an attempt to “soften the anthropomorphism” (see Whitley, Koheleth, pages 48–49). It must be observed, however, that no such attempt to soften the language is evident in 5:1, which speaks of people bringing forth a matter “before God” (lipne haʾelohim), or in 5:3, which refers to people making vows leʾlohim “to God.” The Masoretic Text is probably correct. ...
Seow, Choon-Leong
Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
(p. 196) Yale University Press, 2008
* 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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