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LXX Deuteronomy

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 33

1 And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said, The Lord has come from Sinai, and has appeared from Seir to us, and has hastened out of the mount of Paran, with the ten thousands of Kadesh; on his right hand were his angels with him.⁠ 3 And he spared his people, and all his sanctified ones are under your hands;⁠ and they are under you; and he received of his words 4 the law which Moses charged us, an inheritance to the assemblies of Jacob.⁠ 5 And he shall be prince with the beloved one, when the princes of the people are gathered together with the tribes of Israel. 6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let him be many in number. 7 And this is the blessing of Judah; Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and may they come in to his people: his hands shall contend for him, and you shall be a help from his enemies. 8 And to Levi he said, Give to Levi his manifestations, and his truth to the holy man, whom they tested in the testing; they reviled him at the water of strife. 9 Who says to his father and mother, I have not seen you; and he did not know his brothers, and he refused to know his sons: he kept your oracles, and observed your covenant. 10 They shall declare your ordinances to Jacob, and your law to Israel: they shall place incense in the time of your fierce anger continually upon your altar. 11 Bless, Lord, his strength, and accept the works of his hands; break the lower back of his enemies that have risen up against him, and let not those who hate him rise up. 12 And to Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in confidence, and God overshadows him always, and he rested between his shoulders. 13 And to Joseph he said, His land is of the blessing of the Lord, of the seasons of sky and dew, and of the deeps of wells below, 14 and of the fruits of the changes of the sun in season, and of the produce of the months, 15 from the top of the ancient mountains, and from the top of the everlasting hills, 16 and of the fullness of the land in season: and let the things pleasing to him who appeared in the bush⁠ come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of him who was glorified above his brothers. 17 His beauty is as the firstling of his bull, his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them he shall thrust the nations at once, even from the end of the earth: these are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasseh. 18 And to Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar in his tents. 19 They shall utterly destroy the nations, and you shall call men there, and there offer the sacrifice of righteousness; for the wealth of the sea shall suckle you, and so the markets of those who dwell by the sea-coast will. 20 And to Gad he said, May the one who enlarges Gad be blessed: as a lion he rested, having broken the arm and the ruler. 21 And he saw his first fruits, that there the land of the princes gathered with the chiefs of the people was divided; the Lord performed righteousness, and his judgment with Israel. 22 And to Dan he said, Dan is a lion's cub, and shall leap out of Bashan. 23 And to Naphtali he said, Naphtali has the fulness of good things; and let him be filled with blessing from the Lord: he shall inherit the west and the south. 24 And to Asher he said, Asher is blessed with children; and he shall be acceptable to his brothers: he shall dip his foot in oil. 25 His sandal shall be iron and brass; as your days, so shall be your strength. 26 There is not any such as the God of the beloved; he who rides upon the heaven is your helper, and the magnificent One of the firmament. 27 And the rule of God shall protect you, and that under the strength of the everlasting arms; and he shall cast forth the enemy from before your face, saying, Perish. 28 And Israel shall dwell in confidence alone on the land of Jacob, with grain and wine; and the sky shall be misty with dew upon him. 29 You are blessed, Israel; who is like you, people saved by the Lord? your helper shall hold his shield over you, and his sword is your boast; and your enemies shall speak falsely to you, and you shall tread upon their neck.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 33:16 and LXX Deuteronomy 33:16

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

In Deuteronomy 33, a blessing for Joseph mentions one who “lived in the bush,” describing God’s presence that contrasts with Deuteronomy’s usual view of God in heaven. The Greek Septuagint changes this to say God was “seen” in the bush to harmonize it.

Passages

Deuteronomy 33:16

Hebrew Bible
15 with the best of the ancient mountains and the harvest produced by the age-old hills; 16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. May blessing rest on Joseph’s head, and on the top of the head of the one set apart from his brothers. 17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

LXX Deuteronomy 33:16

Septuagint
15 from the top of the ancient mountains, and from the top of the everlasting hills, 16 and of the fullness of the land in season: and let the things pleasing to him who appeared in the bush come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of him who was glorified above his brothers. 17 His beauty is as the firstling of his bull, his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them he shall thrust the nations at once, even from the end of the earth: these are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasseh.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Deuteronomy

References

"... In the Masoretic text of Deuteronomy 33:16, it is mentioned that the grace of God “who dwells in the bush” should come to Joseph. The translator has used ὀφθῆναι ('to be seen'). Maybe he wanted to suggest links to Exodus 3:2. In any case, the Masoretic text at Deuteronomy 33:16 contradicts everything ever said in Deuteronomy about God’s dwelling in heaven, his presence in Israel, and the nature of this presence ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 146.

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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Deuteronomy 33:16 and LXX Deuteronomy 33:16

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