Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Habakkuk taunts the drunken oppressor, telling him to drink and expose himself in shame. The Greek Septuagint reads the letters in a different order, so the exposure becomes staggering, matching the picture of a stumbling drunkard.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Habakkuk 2:16
Hebrew Bible
15 “Woe to you who force your neighbor to drink wine—you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger so you can look at their naked bodies. 16 But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty. Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup of wine in the Lord’s right hand is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory! 17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
LXX Habakkuk 2:16
Septuagint
15 Oh, the one who gives drink to his neighbor with a turbid upset, and intoxicates him in order that he might look upon their caves. 16 Drink, you also, an excess of dishonor from glory; shake in the heart and stagger; a cup in the right hand of the Lord has encircled against you, and dishonor has been gathered against your glory. 17 Because the impiety of Lebanon will cover you, and the misery of wild animals will terrify you, on account of the bloodshed of humans and impieties of the earth, and of the city and of all the ones who dwell in it.
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Notes and References
... This is a well-known example. The citation of Habakkuk 2:16 in the Habakkuk Pesher (1QpHab) 11.9 reads והרעל ('and stagger'). This reading is supported by the double reading of Habakkuk 2:16 in the Old Greek, καὶ διασαλεύθητι καὶ σείσθητι ('shudder and tremble') against the Masoretic Text והערל ('be uncircumcised') (niphal imperative of ערל). The pesher following the citation continues: כיא לוא מל את עורלת לבו ('for he did not circumcise the foreskin of his heart'). The pesherist was apparently aware that two sense contours characterize this passage, one referring to 'staggering' and another to 'being uncircumcised'. In this case, as in others, distinct sense contours derive from the same semantic unit (ערל – רעל). ...
Norton, Jonathan D. H.
Contours in the Text: Textual Variation in the Writings of Paul, Josephus, and the Yaḥad
(p. 83) T&T Clark, 2011
* 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.
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