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In the Hebrew version of Nehemiah, the long prayer of confession includes the Levites who call the people to bless God. The Greek translation prefaces it with the words ‘and Ezra said,’ changing the prayer to be from Ezra instead.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Nehemiah 9:6
Hebrew Bible
5 The Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God!”“May you be blessed, O Lord our God, from age to age. May your glorious name be blessed; may it be lifted up above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, along with all their multitude of stars, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You impart life to them all, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. 7 “You are the Lord God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham.
LXX Nehemiah 9:6
Septuagint
5 And the Levites, Joshua and Kadmiel, said, “Stand up, bless the Lord, our God, from eternity to eternity, and they will bless your glorious name and exalt it with every blessing and praise.” 6 And Ezra said, “You yourself are the Lord alone. You made heaven of heaven and all their position, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you make everything alive, and the armies of heaven do obeisance to you. 7 You are God. You chose Abram and led him out from the territory of the Chaldeans and placed upon him a name, Abraham,
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Notes and References
... The Septuagint's rendition of Nehemiah 9:6 also attributes the prayer of confession in Nehemiah 9:6-38 to Ezra. This interpretive translation seems reasonable in view of Ezra's prayer in Ezra 9. Still, no textual evidence confirms the inference of the translators. The Hebrew text attributes the prayer to the Levites. The Septuagint strengthens what the Hebrew text says both explicitly in Nehemiah 8 and implicitly in Nehemiah 9, namely, Ezra was there, and his priestly activity had a redeeming effect on the generation that finished the second and third stages of Cyrus' decree. For a different view, see H.G.M. Williamson who thinks that ‘the evidence of the Septuagint is worthless.’ ...
Ulrich, Dean R.
The Antiochene Crisis and Jubilee Theology in Daniel's Seventy Sevens
(p. 86) Brill, 2015
* 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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