Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Malachi has God threaten to violently rebuke the priests' offering. The Greek Septuagint mistranslates one of the obscure words, instead having God strip away the shoulder, the priests' portion of the sacrifice.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Malachi 2:3
Hebrew Bible
2 If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 3 I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
LXX Malachi 2:3
Septuagint
2 “And now, this is the commandment to you, O priests. 2 If you do not obey, and if you do not set in your heart to give honor to my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “then I will send upon you the curse, and I will bring curses upon your blessing, indeed I will curse it. And I will scatter abroad your blessing; and it will not be among you, because you did not set it in your heart. 3 Look, I am separating your shoulder, and I will scatter cattle innards on your face, cattle innards of feasts, and I will take you into it.
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Notes and References
"... then the idea is that of the priest losing his office. 'It is with the arm that a man performs his business or the duties of his calling; and rebuking the arm, therefore, signifies the neutralizing of the official duties performed at the altar and in the sanctuary.' A severed limb would also render the priest unfit for service at the sanctuary (Leviticus 21.16-23; especially verse 19). ..."
Gibson, Jonathan
Covenant Continuity and Fidelity: A Study of Inner-Biblical Allusion and Exegesis in Malachi
(p. 97) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016
* 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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