The Covenant Confirmed

Chapter 24

1 But to Moses the Lord said, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,⁠ and seventy of the elders of Israel,⁠ and worship from a distance.⁠ 2 Moses alone may come near the Lord, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.” 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.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people⁠ and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”⁠ 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up,⁠ 10 and they saw the God of Israel.⁠ Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself.⁠ 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank.⁠ 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written,⁠ so that you may teach them.”⁠ 13 So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you.⁠ Here are Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute can approach them.” 15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord resided on Mount Sinai,⁠ and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.⁠ 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people. 18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 24:10 and LXX Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

Summary

Exodus 24 says Moses and the elders saw God and ate a meal, describing God with a body. The Greek Septuagint changes it to say they saw the “place” where God was to avoid saying that God was seen and harmonizing it with earlier warnings about seeing God.

Passages

Exodus 24:10

Hebrew Bible

8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank. 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.”

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

LXX Exodus 24:10

Septuagint

8 And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and said, Look at the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. 9 And Moses went up, and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. 10 And they saw the place where the God of Israel stood; and under his feet was as it were a work of sapphire slabs, and as it were the appearance of the firmament of heaven in its purity. 11 And of the chosen ones of Israel there was not even one missing, and they appeared in the place of God, and ate and drank. 12 And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to me into the mountain, and be there; and I will give you the tables of stone, the law and the commandments, which I have written to give them laws.

300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Exodus

References

"... In the closing scene of the Sinai narrative, Moses and a group of priests and elders experience a visio Dei and eat and drink on the mountaintop (Exodus 24:9-11). The Masoretic text indicates twice that they actually 'see God' (verse 10, 11), with no further explanation. Along with several other departures from a strictly literal translation, the LXX reports instead that they see God's 'place' ... It is not uncommon for the LXX to render active Hebrew verbs as passive and vice versa. In this case, however, a theological element is at stake. Even in the Masoretic text, some occurrences seem to be forms originally intended as qal ('to see') but later vocalized as niphal ('to appear') to attenuate the idea of humans seeing God. Point 7 not only tones down the idea of seeing God, but also avoids any possible contradiction with Torah commands and harmonizes 24:11 with its literary context. Earlier in the Sinai narrative, Moses is told that he must warn the people not to try to look at God, or else many will perish (19:21) ..."

Eric John Wyckoff, “When Does Translation Become Exegesis? Exodus 24:9–11 in the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint,” CBQ 74 (2012): 675–693.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

The Covenant Confirmed

Exodus40 chapters

Compare Exodus 24:10 and LXX Exodus 24:10

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Passages

Exodus 24:10

LXX Exodus 24:10

References

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