Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Exodus counts seventy descendants of Jacob who entered Egypt, while the Greek version counts seventy-five. The Septuagint follows an interpretive tradition that adds the sons born to Joseph in Egypt.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 1:5
Hebrew Bible
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt—each man with his household entered with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered 70. But Joseph was already in Egypt, 6 and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died.
LXX Exodus 1:5
Septuagint
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt together with Jacob, their father; each one entered with their whole household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 Joseph was already in Egypt. And all the souls from Jacob were seventy-five. 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and that whole generation died. 7 But the sons of Israel increased and multiplied and became numerous and grew very strong, and the land was filled with them. 8 Then a different king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his nation, “Look, the offspring of the sons of Israel are a great multitude, and they are mightier than we.
Search:
Notes and References
... Importantly, 4Q13 (= fragments of Exodus 1–5) resembles the Septuagint of Exodus. Davila (2000, 278) observes that this text has readings that suggest a variant Hebrew Vorlage for the Septuagint of Exodus (at 1.1, 1.5, 1.19, 2.11, 2.14, 3.16, 3.19). Similarly, 2Q2 has variants in common with the Septuagint (compare 1.12). Of these, Exodus 1.5 is the most interesting. As noted in the Commentary, the Masoretic Text reports there that Iakōb’s offspring number seventy, whereas the Septuagint of Exodus reads seventy-five. The Septuagint reading is supported in 4Q1, 4Q13, which Davila takes to suggest a Hebrew Vorlage for the Septuagint with that reading. Of course this need not be the case, as both traditions could have followed the same reasoning in arriving at seventy five (see Comment at 1.5). Yet even the Qumran manuscripts differ slightly in their reading: 4Q1 reads ‘[seventy] and five,’ whereas 4Q13 has ‘five and seventy.’ This suggests a slight lack of uniformity even among these Hebrew editions. ...
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.