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LXX Exodus

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 19

1 And in the third month of the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 And they departed from Rephidim, and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and there Israel encamped before the mountain. 3 And Moses went up⁠ to the mount of God, and God called him [from heaven], saying, These things you will say to the house of Jacob, and you shall report them to the children of Israel. 4 You have seen all that I have done to the Egyptians, and I took you up as upon eagles' wings, and I brought you near to myself. 5 And now if you will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a special people above all nations;⁠ for the whole earth is mine. 6 And you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation:⁠ these words you will speak to the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he set before them all these words, which God appointed him. 8 And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and listen to: and Moses reported the words of the people to God. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, Look! I come to you in a pillar of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to you, and may believe you for ever: and Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments. 11 And let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will descend upon mount Sinai before all the people. 12 And you shall separate the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the mountain shall surely die. 13 A hand shall not touch it, for every one that touches shall be stoned with stones or shot through with a dart, whether beast or whether man, it shall not live: when the voices and trumpets and cloud depart from the mountain, they shall come up on the mountain. 14 And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified them, and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said to the people, Be ready: for three days do not come near to a woman. 16 And it happened on the third day, as the morning drew near, there were voices and lightnings and a dark cloud on mount Sinai: the voice of the trumpet sounded loud, and all the people in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses led the people forth out of the camp to meet God, and they stood by under the mountain. 18 The mount of Sinai was altogether smoking, because God had descended upon it in fire; and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the people were exceedingly amazed. 19 And the sounds of the trumpet were growing very much louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice. 20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai on the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And God spoke to Moses, saying, Go down, and solemnly charge the people, for fear that at any time they draw near to God to gaze, and a multitude of them fall. 22 And let the priests that draw near to the Lord God sanctify themselves, for fear that the Lord might destroy some of them. 23 And Moses said to God, The people will not be able to approach to the mount of Sinai, for you have solemnly charged us, saying, Set bounds to the mountain and sanctify it. 24 And the Lord said to him, Go, descend, and come up you and Aaron with you; but let not the priests and the people force their way to come up to God, for fear that the Lord might destroy some of them. 25 And Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Exodus 19:5 and Titus 2:14

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

At Sinai, God declares Israel will be his special people out of all the nations. Titus uses the same Greek phrase to describe Jesus’ purified people, expanding the original ethnic group to include all people.

Passages

LXX Exodus 19:5

Septuagint
4 You have seen all that I have done to the Egyptians, and I took you up as upon eagles' wings, and I brought you near to myself. 5 And now if you will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a special people above all nations; for the whole earth is mine. 6 And you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation: these words you will speak to the children of Israel.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Exodus

Titus 2:14

New Testament
13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good. 15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Titus

References

... Paul’s adaptation draws together the concepts of cleansing (from anomia) and election. The defilement in mind in Ezekiel 37:23 and 36:25 is that of exilic and postexilic idolatry, and the application of this to the Cretan context is not hard to see (1:10–16 and the use of the katharos word group in 1:15). The wider textual network that Paul contacts also associates purification from idolatry with the event of “becoming” God’s people and the ongoing act of “being” God’s people by way of the Godward covenant commitments required of his people. Paul sets the identity of the church into the Old Testament context specifically focused on the promise of the new (or renewed) covenant (compare Ezekiel 36:26–28). The textual network, beginning with Ezekiel 37:23, superimposes Christ’s purifying act over God’s act in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament covenantal transaction, by Yahweh’s action of cleansing (Ezekiel 37:23) and electing (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2), and upon the condition of the people’s faithfulness (Exodus 19:5), Israel would be known as “a people for his own possession” (for the phrase laos periousios, see also Exodus 23:22 LXX; Deuteronomy 26:18) — that is, the unique possession of Yahweh, bearing the imprint of his holiness ...
Philip H. Towner, "1-2 Timothy and Titus" in Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, editors. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker Academic; Apollos, 2007), 906–907.

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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LXX Exodus 19:5 and Titus 2:14

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