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LXX Deuteronomy

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 12

1 And these are the ordinances and the judgments, which you shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives you for an inheritance, all the days which you live upon the land. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places in which they served their gods, whose land you inherit, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under the thick tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their groves, and you shall burn with fire the carved images of their gods, and you shall abolish their name out of that place. 4 You shall not do so to the Lord your God. 5 But in the place which the Lord your God shall choose in one of your tribes to name his name there,⁠ and to be called upon, you shall even seek him out and go there. 6 And you shall carry there your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your first fruits, and your vowed-offerings, and your free will offerings, the firstborn of your herds, and of your flocks. 7 And you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all the things on which you shall lay your hand, you and your houses, as the Lord your God has blessed you. 8 You shall not do all the things which we do here today, every man that which is pleasing in his own sight. 9 For until now you have not arrived at the rest and the inheritance, which the Lord your God gives you. 10 And you shall go over Jordan, and shall dwell in the land, which the Lord your God takes as an inheritance for you; and he shall give you rest from all your enemies all around, and you shall dwell safely. 11 And there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose for his name to be called there,⁠ there you will bring all things that I order you today; your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the first fruits of your hands, and your gifts, and every choice gift of yours, whatever you shall vow to your God. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite that is at your gates; because he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your whole burnt offerings in any place which you shall see; 14 save in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, in one of your tribes, there you will offer your whole burnt offerings, and there you will do all things whatever I charge you this day. 15 But you shall kill according to all your desire, and shall eat flesh according to the blessing of the Lord your God, which he has given you in every city; the unclean that is within you and the clean shall eat it on equal terms, as the doe or the stag. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the ground as water. 17 You shall not be able to eat in your cities the tithe of your grain, and of your wine, and of your oil, the firstborn of your herd and of your flock, and all your vows as many as you shall have vowed, and your thank-offerings, and the first fruits of your hands. 18 But before the Lord your God you shall eat it, in the place which the Lord your God shall choose for himself, you, and your son, and your daughter, your man-servant, and your maidservant, and the stranger that is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, on whatever you shall lay your hand. 19 Take heed to yourself that you do not desert the Levite all the time that you live upon the earth. 20 And if the Lord your God shall enlarge your borders, as he said to you, and you shall say, I will eat flesh; if your soul should desire to eat flesh, you shall eat flesh according to all the desire of your soul. 21 And if the place be far from you, which the Lord your God shall choose for himself, that his name be called upon it, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock which God shall have given you, even as I commanded you, and you shall eat in your cities according to the desire of your soul. 22 As the doe and the stag are eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean in you and the clean shall eat it in like manner. 23 Take diligent heed that you eat no blood, for blood is the life of it; the life shall not be eaten with the flesh. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground as water. 25 You shall not eat it, that it may be well with you and with your sons after you, if you shall do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord your God. 26 But you shall take your holy things, if you have any, and your vowed-offerings, and come to the place which the Lord your God shall choose to have his name named upon it. 27 And you shall sacrifice your whole burnt offerings, you shall offer the flesh upon the altar of the Lord your God; but the blood of your sacrifices you shall pour out at the foot of the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you shall eat. 28 Beware and listen, and you shall do all the commands which I charge you, that it may be well with you and with your sons for ever, if you shall do that which is pleasing and good before the Lord your God. 29 And if the Lord your God shall utterly destroy the nations, to whom you go in there to inherit their land, from before you, and you shall inherit it, and dwell in their land; 30 take heed to yourself that you do not seek to follow them after they are destroyed before you; you shall not seek after their gods, saying, How do these nations act toward their gods? I will do likewise. 31 You shall not do so to the Lord your God; for they have sacrificed to their gods the abominations of the Lord which he hates, for they burn their sons and their daughters in fire to their gods.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 12:5 and LXX Deuteronomy 12:5

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Deuteronomy 12 says that God will choose a place “out of all your tribes,” emphasizing divine selection and centralization. The Greek Septuagint changes this to “in one of your tribes,” shifting the focus toward a centralized divine presence.

Passages

Deuteronomy 12:5

Hebrew Bible
3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place. 4 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. 5 But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there. 6 And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

LXX Deuteronomy 12:5

Septuagint
3 And you shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their groves, and you shall burn with fire the carved images of their gods, and you shall abolish their name out of that place. 4 You shall not do so to the Lord your God. 5 But in the place which the Lord your God shall choose in one of your tribes to name his name there, and to be called upon, you shall even seek him out and go there. 6 And you shall carry there your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your first fruits, and your vowed-offerings, and your free will offerings, the firstborn of your herds, and of your flocks.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Deuteronomy

References

"... A particularly important interpretation for the book of Deuteronomy is the Septuagint’s establishment of the uniqueness of the place of the Jewish cult by translating ‘in one of your tribes (or cities)’ for ‘out of all your tribes’ of 12:5. In the final section (chapters 27-34), the interpretative elements are most numerous and they reflect the intention of the translator to express Yahweh’s love for his dispersed people: there is an avoidance of the divine contempt (31:20); divine punishment is ostensibly weakened (28:37); the acts of goodness are underscored (32:10-13); and there is an insistence on the privilege of God’s people (32:8-9; 32:35; 32:43, etc) ..."
Timothy H. Lim, “Deuteronomy in the Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Deuteronomy in the New Testament, ed. Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise (London: T&T Clark International, 2007), 6–26.

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

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