THOUGHTS FROM THE SEPTUAGINT.
By F. D. Starr
In Exodus 24 is an account of the calling of Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, into the mount to meet with the Lord. The statement is made in the Authorized Version that they saw the God of Israel. This text is thought by many to be at least an apparent contradiction to such passages as John 1:18. That it is a mistake to consider this a contradiction is made more evident by reading the Septuagint. The rendering of Ex. 24:10 in that version is, “And they saw the place where the God of Israel stood.” It would be entirely possible for them to see the place where the Lord stood, and not see his person, as indicated by this rendering. In the directions given to build the tabernacle, as found in Exodus 25, the kind of wood is designated that should be used in the construction of this edifice. In the Authorized Version it is called “shittim wood.” The scientific name given for this wood is acacia. The name given in the Septuagint indicates very clearly the character of this wood. The meaning of the word here used, asēpton (ἀσήπτον), is incorruptible; thus we find the rendering of this passage, “Thou shalt make the ark of the testimony of incorruptible wood.” There seems to be a very important truth connected with the matter of the Urim and Thummim, the precious stones that were put in the breastplate of judgment that should be upon Aaron’s heart when he should go in before the Lord. Ex. 28:30. The words used in the Septuagint in this case are dēlōsin and alētheian (δήλωσιν and ἀλήθειαν), the meaning of which is the manifestation and the truth. Concerning the first word, “manifestation,” we notice that the same is found in Joshua 4:7. The word there rendered “answer” is the same word, “manifestation,” used in the text in question. When the children should ask their fathers concerning the stones that were to be erected as a monument of the passage of the Jordan, their fathers were instructed to answer them, or to explain to them, that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan. This same word rendered “manifestation” is also found in 2 Chron. 6:27, and is there rendered “taught.” The verse reads as follows:— “Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.” The meaning of the word, wherever found, is that of manifestation, explanation, or teaching. The two stones upon the breastplate of judgment were properly termed “the manifestation and the truth.” These were to be worn by the high priest, who stood to represent the people. The reader can scarcely refrain from thinking of Him who is now our great High Priest, and who, when he was here, said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and of whom it was said, “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Under the former dispensation God saw fit to deliver his law on tables of stone to his people through Moses. Moses, however never occupied the position of priest; that fell to Aaron. To him and his successors the Lord was to give explanation and manifestation of his truth. So when Christ appeared, through him was the antitypical Urim and Thummim manifested before the people. He was the manifestation of the truth, or, in other words, grace and truth came through him. The subject of the Urim and Thummim is indeed worthy of more extended investigation and study. It is evident that there is a very important typical signification in this, to which allusion must be made in such passages as John 1:17. In Ex. 29:14 and in many other passages reference is made to the sin offering. Concerning the bullock that was burned without the camp it is said, “It is a sin offering.” The Septuagint simply says, “It is sin.” While the ordinary rendering is correct, yet the significance of the offering may be more forcibly impressed upon our minds when we stop to consider that in type that offering became sin. We somehow have a vague idea of an offering being presented as a sacrifice for sin, without attaching the idea of sin itself to the offering, looking upon the offering as being merely a medium through which a reconciliation for sin was brought about. With the thought that the offering itself was called sin, we can perhaps more readily see the force of such passages as 2 Cor. 5:21: “For he hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Just as Christ not only took upon himself the sins of men, but also was made sin for us, just so the beasts in the typical sacrifices became sin, as stated in the Greek Version. In the account of the sad lapse of the children of Israel into idolatry, while Moses was absent in the mountain to receive the law of God, as stated in Exodus 32, it is said that when Moses and Joshua were coming down from the mountain, they heard the noise of the people. Joshua said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” Moses replied, “It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” Verse 18. The rendering of the Septuagint is, “And he said, It is not the voice of them that begin the battle, nor the voice of them that begin the cry of defeat, but the voice of them that begin the banquet of wine do I hear.” Their song was the song of drunken revelry. It would seem from this that intemperance had its share of the responsibility in this shameful departure from God, as it has had in nearly every instance of apostasy from him. In fact, this must have been the case, for intemperance is the cause that leads to carnal gratifications, such as the shameful demonstration recorded in this chapter. Not only in this case, but in many others, will the judgment reveal that the indulgence of appetite has led to the perpetrating of atrocious crimes in instances where we have not yet so associated it. As stated in Ex. 33:7, Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, and called it the “tabernacle of the congregation,” that the penitent ones might go to that place to seek the Lord. There has been some query8 (760)as to what tabernacle this was. The Greek version reads thus: “And Moses took his tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, and it was called the tabernacle of the testimony. And it came to pass that every one who sought the Lord went forth to the tabernacle which was without the camp.” It is very reasonable to suppose that Moses had quite an ample tent, or tabernacle, of his own, and his interest in the spiritual welfare of the people was so great that he took his own tent and pitched it far off from the camp, for the benefit of the penitent ones of the children of Israel who desired to be restored to the Lord’s favor. This is only another illustration of his readiness to forego all personal convenience, earthly comfort, and private enjoyment for the public good and personal benefit of his brethren. In Ex. 33:11 it is stated that “the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” This was of course while the Lord was surrounded with a pillar of cloud, in which he descended. The pillar of cloud could be seen by the people and by Moses, just as the place where the Lord stood was seen by a delegation of representatives upon the mount. Thus the Lord spake to Moses face to face, or before him, though it is not possible that his face was seen, for it is directly stated in verse 20 that no man could see his face and live. The point we wish to notice in this case is that the term here rendered “face to face” is enōpios enōpiō (ἐνώπιος ἐνωπίῳ). This is the same word as that found in Rev. 13:12, where it is stated of the two-horned beast that he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before (enōpion) him—in his presence, before his face. In the same manner that individuals stand face to face with each other in communication, so these two beasts are to stand face to face to each other, and doubtless it will be in this case as stated in Prov. 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” The influence and encouragement received by the two-horned beast from the ten-horned beast, before whose face the two-horned beast operates, will be an important factor in the closing drama of national events.