THOUGHTS FROM THE SEPTUAGINT.
By F. D. Starr
Some Suggestive Readings.
In Deut. 8:2 is found this instruction: “And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.” In the LXX. the phrase “to know what was in thine heart,” is rendered “to diagnose (διαγνωσθῇ) what was in thine heart.” We are familiar with the terms “diagnose” and “diagnosis,” used in a medical sense. The physician examines the patient and then decides what is the trouble with him. If the malady be a difficulty in the heart, he tells the nature and seriousness of that difficulty. Startling revelations of physical weakness are thus oftentimes made known to the surprised and saddened invalid and his friends. The spiritual maladies of man are fully as insidious and surprising as are those of the body. But no one except the skilful Physician of the soul can give a correct diagnosis of the case. In describing in general terms our condition he has said: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Isa. 1:5, 6. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked [“sick,” R. V.]; who can know it?” Jer. 17:9. To get at the particular difficulties, specifically, in each individual case, it is necessary to seek unto Him who knows the hearts of all men, to read and study His Word and the testimonies of His Spirit; also, as in the case of Israel of old, temptations and trials will be necessary in order to a complete diagnosis of our spiritual condition. Rebellious against the Lord.
The words of Moses are given in Deut. 9:24 as follows: “Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.” The rendering of the Greek version is: “Ye have been disobedient toward the Lord from the day in which he became known unto you.” While either of these renderings would be correct, yet apparently the latter one is the more forcible and impressive. It was not the connection of Moses with that people that ought to make the strongest impression upon their minds, but their connection with God. The fact is that Moses was one of the Israelitish people himself, and had known something of their history from childhood. The Lord had always known all about them, of course. But there was a time when the Lord became known unto the house of Israel; that was particularly the time when he descended upon Mount Sinai and spoke the Ten Commandments in grandeur and solemnity, and the people heard his voice, and he was thus made known unto them. Immediately after that they rebelled against him and made the golden calf and worshiped it, and their subsequent history was marked by acts of disobedience. Their responsibility in this matter was much greater after the Lord had made himself known to them than it was previous to that grand display before their eyes. This seems to be the force of the reproof of Moses in the text in question. “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a forgiveness.” That is, the word here rendered release is the same as that used by our Lord in such instructions as that found in Matt. 6:12, there rendered forgive, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;” or Matt. 9:6, “The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,” etc. The word is also rendered “remission” in such passages as Matt. 26:28; Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38, “remission” and “forgiveness” being translated from the same word. “And that repentance and remission [or forgiveness] of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.” Luke 24:47. The same fact is true in reference to the word used in the Greek of Deut. 31:10. We there read again of the year of forgiveness: “At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of forgiveness, in the feast of tabernacles,” etc. What a grand occasion that must have been—the year of forgiveness! Well could the devout Israelite pray the prayer taught by the Master so many centuries later: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Is there not beauty in the way in which the heavenly Teacher states it? Had the pious Hebrew left the exaction of every debt owed him by his fellow-citizen? Then could he expect God would forgive him, but not otherwise. Another thing that made that season particularly interesting was the fact that it occurred at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, which feast was only a few days, less than a week, after the great day of atonement, when all were to be so deeply interested in having their own sins forgiven. Ah, the sweet “solemnity of the year of forgiveness”! What a good time to study the law, when knowing the forgiveness of the Gospel! See Deut. 31:10–13. F. D. STARR.