Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Zephaniah is so broken that ancient translations never agreed on it. The Greek Septuagint rearranges the letters, changing language about people kept from festivals into God gathering the crushed and asking who shamed the city.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Zephaniah 3:18
Hebrew Bible
17 The Lord your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver. He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you.” 18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals—I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. 19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you. I will rescue the lame sheep and gather together the scattered sheep. I will take away their humiliation and make the whole earth admire and respect them.
LXX Zephaniah 3:18
Septuagint
17 The Lord your God is among you; the Mighty One will save you. And he will bring upon you the festivity and renew you in his affection, and he will rejoice because of you in delight as in a day of festival. 18 And I will gather together those who are crushed. Alas, who took up a reproach against her? 19 Behold, I will act among you for your sake in that time,” says the Lord. “And I will save the oppressed one and the rejected one. I will gather them for a boast, and they will be renowned in all the earth.
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Notes and References
... Out of all the other versions, the Septuagint indicates the most serious struggle, which is reflected in the wrong division, in 'woe', and in an interrogative sentence, none attested in the Masoretic Text. Moving 'festival' to verse 17, it reads, 'And I shall gather the broken ones. Woe! Who carried upon her disgrace?' ... The Vulgate, as well, carries a question, 'how is there disgrace upon her?' but no interjection. Its division follows the Masoretic Text. The attempts of the Witnesses to give the verse some sense confirm its endurance at least since the third century BCE. This is also attested in MurXII. ...
* 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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