Texts in Conversation
In Exodus 24, Moses reads the book of the covenant to the people, and they answer that they will obey. The Letter of Aristeas follows the same pattern of public reading and consent when the Greek translation is read to the Jews of Alexandria.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 24:7
Hebrew Bible
3 Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,” 4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones—according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.”
Letter of Aristeas 1:310
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred on them. They warmly praised Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders. After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no
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Notes and References
“... Harry Orlinsky has made the most complete case that in the scene that we observe in these paragraphs the combination of reading aloud to the people followed by some expression of consent comprises the biblical procedure for making something authoritative and binding. So, in Exod 24:3–7, Moses takes the leaders of the people aside to worship God, then he “recounted to the people all God’s words and statutes. And all the people answered with one voice, saying, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do and heed’” (NETS). In 4 Reigns 23, when Josiah is presented with the scroll found in the temple, he gathered “all the elders of Iouda and Ierousalem”; then he read the scroll aloud to the people and to the priests and prophets, all of whom agreed to enter into the covenant. And, of course, in 2 Esdr 18:1–8 (=Neh 8:1–8 MT) Ezra brought the “book of the law of Moyses,” and he read from it to all the people all morning. They responded with “Amen.” ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(pp. 442-443) De Gruyter, 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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