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Micah describes nations coming to learn from God, saying he will teach them his ways. The Greek Septuagint changes the subject so that the Jewish people, not God, will show the nations his way, avoiding the idea of God teaching foreigners.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Micah 4:2
Hebrew Bible
1 And in future days the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come, saying,“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his ways and we can live by his laws.” For instruction will proceed from Zion, the Lord’s message from Jerusalem. 3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
LXX Micah 4:2
Septuagint
1 And it will be at the last of days, that the mountain of the Lord will be visible, prepared on the tops of the mountains, and it will be raised above the hills, and people will hasten toward it. 2 And many nations will go and say, “Come! Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and into the house of the God of Jacob, and they will show us his way, and we will walk in his paths.” Because from Zion the law will come out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 And he will judge between many peoples, and he will convict strong nations even far away, and they will cut up their swords into plows and their spears into sickles, and a nation will no longer raise a sword against a nation, and they will no longer learn to make war.
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Notes and References
"… In Micah 4.2 the Masoretic Text has ‘so that he (God) may teach us (the peoples) his ways’, but the Septuagint renders ‘and they (the Jews) will show us (the peoples) his ways’. There may be a touch of ‘theological correctness’ here, avoiding the possibility that God will teach pagans directly, but perhaps also a celebration of the exalted role promised to Jews, in line with Zechariah 2.11; 8.20-23; 14.16. …"
Dines, Jennifer
"The Minor Prophets" in Aitken, James K. (ed.) T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint
(p. 446) T&T Clark, 2015
* 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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