Go to Related Reading
About this book

LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 22

1 And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Look! I am here.⁠ 2 And he said, Take your son, the beloved one, whom you have loved, Isaac,⁠ and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. 3 And Abraham rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole burnt offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him, 4 on the third day; and Abraham having lifted up his eyes, saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his servants, Sit here with the donkey, and I and the lad will proceed thus far, and having worshiped we will return to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the whole burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took into his hands both the fire and the knife, and the two went together. 7 And Isaac said to Abraham his father, Father. And he said, What is it, son? And he said, Look, the fire and the wood, where is the sheep for a whole burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself a sheep for a whole burnt offering, my son. And both having gone together, 9 came to the place which God spoke of to him; and there Abraham built the altar, and laid the wood on it, and having bound the feet of Isaac his son together, he laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand to take the knife to kill his son. 11 And an angel of the Lord called him out of heaven, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Look, I am here. 12 And he said, Do not lay your hand upon the child, neither do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, and for my sake you have not spared your beloved son.⁠ 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and look! a ram caught by his horns in a plant of Sabec;⁠ and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a whole burnt offering in the place of Isaac his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord has seen; that they might say today, In the mount the Lord was seen. 15 And an angel of the Lord called Abraham the second time out of heaven, 16 saying, I have sworn by myself, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and on my account have not spared your beloved son, 17 surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the shore of the sea, and your seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies. 18 And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have listened to my voice.⁠ 19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to the well of the oath; and Abraham lived at the well of the oath. 20 And it happened after these things, that it was reported to Abraham, saying, Look, Milcah herself too has borne sons to Nahor your brother, 21 Uz the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of the Syrians, 22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel fathered Rebekah; these are eight sons, which Milcah bore to Nahor the brother of Abraham. 24 And his concubine whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Genesis 22:1 and James 1:13

Septuagint · New Testament

Share:

Summary

James says that God does not test anyone, which conflicts with the Greek Septuagint translation of Genesis 22, where God tests Abraham. Both use the same Greek verb for testing, yet present opposing claims. James either rejects that or is unaware of it.

Passages

LXX Genesis 22:1

Septuagint
1 And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Look! I am here. 2 And he said, Take your son, the beloved one, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of. 3 And Abraham rose up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole burnt offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him,
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

James 1:13

New Testament
11 For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. 12 Happy is the one who endures testing because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in James

References

"... Furthermore, in James 1:13 we discover the strange phrase, ([God] tests no one). What is strange about this is that the LXX of Genesis 22:1 contains the phrase, (God tested Abraham). While it is possible that James does not know the LXX, this particular verse is a good translation of the Hebrew, following the usual LXX practice of translating (to test), and thus there is no reason to believe that James would have translated the verse otherwise even if he were referring directly to the Hebrew text ..."
Peter H. Davids, “The Pseudepigrapha in the Catholic Epistles,” in The Pseudepigrapha and Early Biblical Interpretation, ed. James H. Charlesworth and Craig A. Evans, JSPSup 14 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993), 229.

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

Tags

Your feedback

LXX Genesis 22:1 and James 1:13

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library