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LXX Exodus

Septuagint

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Chapter 24

1 And to Moses he said, Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they shall worship the Lord from a distance. 2 And Moses alone shall draw near to God; and they shall not draw near, and the people shall not come up with them. 3 And Moses went in and related to the people all the words of God and the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, All the words which the Lord has spoken, we will do and be obedient. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and set up twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent forth the young men of the children of Israel, and they offered whole burnt offerings, and they sacrificed young calves as a peace-offering to God. 6 And Moses took half the blood and poured it into bowls, and half the blood he poured out upon the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people, and they said, All things whatever the Lord has spoken we will do and listen.⁠ 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. 13 And Moses rose up and Joshua his attendant, and they went up into the mount of God. 14 And to the elders they said, Rest there till we return to you; and look, Aaron and Or are with you: if any man has a cause to be tried, let them go to them. 15 And Moses and Joshua went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of God came down upon the mount Sinai,⁠ and the cloud covered it six days; and the Lord called Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was as burning fire on the top of the mountain, before the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up to the mountain, and was there in the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Exodus 24:10 and Philo, On the Confusion of Tongues 1:96

Septuagint · Classical

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Summary

Philo reads Exodus 24 in the Greek Septuagint, where the elders see only the place where God stood rather than seeing God directly. The Greek version softens the Hebrew Bible’s claim that the elders saw God.

Passages

LXX Exodus 24:10

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

Philo, On the Confusion of Tongues 1:96

Classical
95 But it is the distinctive mark of those who serve the living God neither to concern themselves with the work of cup-bearers, or bakers, or cooks, or any other earthly employments, nor to trouble themselves about arranging or adorning their bodies like bricks, but to mount up with their reason to the height of heaven, having chosen Moses, the type of the race which loves God, to be the guide of their path; 96 for then "they will see the place which is visible," on which the unchangeable and unalterable God stands; and the footstool beneath his feet, which is, as it were, a work of sapphire stone, and, as it were, a resemblance to the firmament of heaven, namely, the world perceptible by the outward senses, which he describes allegorically by these figures. 97 For it is very fitting for those who have formed a fellowship for learning to desire to see him; and, if they are unable to do that, at least to see his image, the most sacred word, and, next to that, the most perfect work of all the things perceptible by the outward senses, namely, the world? For to philosophise is nothing other than to desire to see things accurately.
20–50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Philo, On the Confusion of Tongues

References

“... At other times, Scripture presents the experience of seeing God in more active, physical terms. In Genesis 32:25-33—the all-important passage for Philo’s thought that narrates Jacob’s change of name to ‘Israel’—the patriarch wrestles with a man. Afterwards, however, in naming Peniel, he says, ‘I have seen God face to face.’ Another passage, Exodus 24:9-11, also describes physical sight, though God Himself is not directly seen. It says, ‘And Moses went up, and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the place where the God of Israel was standing; and there was under His feet as it were a work of sapphire stone, just like the appearance of the firmament of heaven in purity. And not one of the chosen ones of Israel perished; and they appeared in the place of God and ate and drank.’ (my translation) ...”
Ellen Birnbaum, The Place of Judaism in Philo’s Thought: Israel, Jews, and Proselytes (Atlanta: Scholars, 1996), 78.

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 24:10 and Philo, On the Confusion of Tongues 1:96

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