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LXX Leviticus

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 18

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do according to the devices of Egypt, in which you lived: and according to the devices of the land of Canaan, into which I bring you, you shall not do; and you shall not walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe my judgments, and shall keep my ordinances, and shall walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep all my ordinances, and all my judgments, and do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them:⁠ I am the Lord your God. 6 No man shall draw near to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother, for she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister by your father or by your mother, born at home or abroad, her nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your son's daughter, or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; because it is your nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife; she is your sister by the same father: you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister, for she is near akin to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near akin to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, and you shall not go in to his wife; for she is your relation. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law, for she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife: it is your brother's nakedness. 17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you will not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter, you will not take, to uncover their nakedness, for they are your kinswomen: it is impiety. 18 You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, as a rival, to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her, while she is yet living. 19 And you shall not go in to a woman under separation for her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness. 20 And you shall not lie with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall not give of your seed to serve a ruler;⁠ and you shall not profane my holy name; I am the Lord. 22 And you shall not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination. 23 Neither shall you lie with any quadruped for copulation, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connection with it; for it is an abomination. 24 Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for in all these things the nations are defiled, which I drive out before you, 25 and the land is polluted; and I have repaid their iniquity to them because of it, and the land is aggrieved with those who dwell upon it. 26 And you shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and you shall do none of these abominations; neither the native, nor the stranger that joins himself with you: 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land did who were before you, and the land was defiled,) 28 and for fear that the land might be aggrieved with you in your polluting it, as it was aggrieved with the nations before you. 29 For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people. 30 And you shall keep my ordinances, that you may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and you shall not be polluted in them; for I am the Lord your God.

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 18:21 and LXX Leviticus 18:21

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

The Hebrew version of Leviticus prohibits handing over one’s children to Molech which may be the name of a deity or the kind of sacrifice. The Greek version reads the letters as the word for king, changing child sacrifice to service to another king.

Passages

Leviticus 18:21

Hebrew Bible
20 You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord! 22 You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman; it is a detestable act.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

LXX Leviticus 18:21

Septuagint
20 And you shall not lie with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall not give of your seed to serve a ruler; and you shall not profane my holy name; I am the Lord. 22 And you shall not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Leviticus

References

"... Unknown to Septuagint users without access to the Hebrew source, the translator here made successive scribal errors as a result of misreading or mishearing his unpointed Hebrew text (for dictation theory of the Septuagint, see van der Louw 2008a: 211-229). He first confused the final ר as a ד and thus mistook להעביר [the Masoretic Text] 'to make pass over' (that is, 'to offer') for להעביד 'to cause to serve,' which he rendered as λατρεύειν 'to serve.' Next he mistook מלך 'Molech' for מֶלֶך 'king,' which he translated ἄρχοντι 'ruler' (likewise, Leviticus 20:2, 3, 4, 5; compare 'ruler' in Leviticus 4:22-26). This altered purpose clause, 'you must not give any of your semen in order to serve a ruler [λατρεύειν ἄρχοντι],' may well depict service to Ptolemaic male leaders and elites by engaging with them in sexual intercourse, which is prohibited in the next verse (verse 22). ..."
Mark A. Awabdy, Leviticus (Septuagint Commentary Series) (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 331–332.

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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