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LXX Numbers

Septuagint

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Chapter 12

1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom Moses took; for he had taken an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Has the Lord spoken to Moses only? has he not also spoken to us? and the Lord heard it. 3 And the man Moses was very meek beyond all the men that were upon the earth. 4 And the Lord said immediately to Moses and Miriam and Aaron, Come forth all three of you to the tabernacle of witness. And the three came forth to the tabernacle of witness. 5 And the Lord descended in a pillar of a cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of witness; and Aaron and Miriam were called; and both came forth. 6 And he said to them, Hear my words: If there should be of you a prophet to the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision, and in sleep I will speak to him. 7 My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. 8 I will speak to him mouth to mouth in appearance, and not in riddles; and he has seen the glory of the Lord;⁠ and why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the great anger of the Lord was upon them, and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from the tabernacle; and, look, Miriam was leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, look, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, Please, my lord, do not lay sin upon us, for we were ignorant of how we sinned. 12 Let her not be as it were like death, as an abortion coming out of a mother's womb, and it devours the half of her flesh.⁠ 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, God, Please, heal her. 14 And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had only spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? let her be set apart seven days outside the camp, and afterwards she shall come in. 15 And Miriam was separated outside the camp seven days; and the people did not move forward till Miriam was cleansed. 16 And afterwards the people set forth from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

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Compare Numbers 12:8 and LXX Numbers 12:8

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Numbers 12 says God spoke to Moses face to face and that Moses saw God's form, emphasizing a direct encounter. The Greek Septuagint changes "form" to "glory," avoiding the anthropomorphic idea that God's physical appearance could be seen.

Passages

Numbers 12:8

Hebrew Bible
6 The Lord said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I will speak face to face, openly and not in riddles, and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. 10 After the cloud had departed from above the tent, there was Miriam, leprous like snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and realized that she was leprous.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

LXX Numbers 12:8

Septuagint
6 And he said to them, Hear my words: If there should be of you a prophet to the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision, and in sleep I will speak to him. 7 My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. 8 I will speak to him mouth to mouth in appearance, and not in riddles; and he has seen the glory of the Lord; and why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the great anger of the Lord was upon them, and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from the tabernacle; and, look, Miriam was leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, look, she was leprous.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Numbers

References

"... The translators generally felt free to literally render verses or words, in which God is portrayed anthropomorphically, but in the present instance, as in some others, anthropomorphic expressions were avoided. Rejecting the idea that God’s תמנה (‘humility’) can be seen, the translator introduced the idea of δόξα ('glory') ..."
Emanuel Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research, 3rd ed. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 53.

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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