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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.

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Compare Exodus 24:16 and LXX Exodus 24:16

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

In Exodus 24, God's glory is said to live on Mount Sinai, suggesting a permanent presence. In the Greek Septuagint, this is changed to describe God descending on the mountain, likely theologically motivated to emphasize divine transcendence.

Passages

Exodus 24:16

Hebrew Bible
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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

LXX Exodus 24:16

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

References

"... In the Septuagint of Exodus, the idea of God’s dwelling in Exodus 25:7 is replaced by the notion of God’s appearance and in Exodus 29:45 by the motive of human invocation of God. The connection of “dwelling” with the glory of God is replaced in Exodus 24:16 by the motif of descending and in Exodus 40:35 by the motif of overshadowing. Critical examination of these changes suggests they are the conscious work of the translator. Due to this emphasis of God’s transcendence, any definition of physicality or containment of God is avoided ..."
Martin Meiser, The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 144.

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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