EXODUS IN THE SEPTUAGINT.
By F. D. Starr
The name “Exodus,” as well as “Genesis,” is distinctly a Greek word. Several of the books of the Old Testament are named in English according to the names given them by the Greek translators. The meaning of the word “Genesis,” as is well understood, is the generating, beginning, or creating of things. “Exodus” signifies a going out, a departure, or the way out. The word itself is found in the sixteenth verse of the twenty-third chapter of this book. In speaking of the feast of ingathering, in the end of the year, the Septuagint says, “in the ἐξόδου (exodus, or going out) of the year.” This word is also found in Lev. 23:36. Mention is there made of a solemn assembly. The term used for “solemn assembly” in the Greek is ἐξόδιον (exodion). This would signify that this solemn feast was a feast of the exodus, and certainly the feast of tabernacles, celebrated at this time, would bring the exodus, following which the children of Israel dwelt in tabernacles or tents so many years, vividly to mind. Pharaoh Preserved.—Ex. 9:16 presents something that, to many minds, is quite a problem. That verse reads, “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.” The idea which many get is that God had raised Pharaoh up for the special purpose of destroying him. A little different view is presented in reference to this matter by reading the Greek version. Verses 16 and 17 of this chapter read thus: “And for this purpose hast thou been preserved, that I might display in thee my strength, and that my name might be published in all the earth. Dost thou then yet exert thyself to hinder my people, so as not to let them go?” God had mercifully preserved the life of Pharaoh, as he has that of every other human being, that in him his strength might be made manifest. This thought ought to call forth the gratitude of the monarch. God might have displayed his strength in Pharaoh in the same way that he displayed his strength in Paul, who stated that he would glory because the power of God was manifested in him; for God’s strength is made perfect in man’s weakness. Pharaoh lived at a very important epoch in this world’s history. He had come to the throne for a divine purpose, the same as Esther had, and indeed the matter was presented to her in a very similar manner by her uncle: “Who knoweth whether thou hast come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14. Esther acted the part which God would have her act, that she might be an instrument in his great plan of delivering his people. Had she not done so, God’s power would have been manifest the same, but she, like Pharaoh, would have been destroyed; for it is further stated of her, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed.” The statement to Pharaoh, “Dost thou then exert thyself to hinder my people so as not to let them go?” would seem quite plainly to imply that the meaning of the reasoning of the Lord and his servant to Pharaoh was to this very point. As he was living at the important time when God was about to deliver Israel, it was his privilege to be an instrument in helping to accomplish that deliverance and assisting in freeing the bondmen; but if he chose not to have the power of God manifest through him in a manner beneficial to the race, the power of God would be manifest in him in a manner very humiliating to himself and his nation. There is certainly a lesson in this for us. We have come to a very important epoch in this world’s history. It is the design of God to manifest his power in or through us. His design will be carried out. Shall we gladly consent to have that power manifest in us to his glory and the good of our fellow beings? If not, it will be manifest in us in the opposite manner. Dipping the Hyssop.—Ex. 12:22 mentions the ceremony of dipping a bunch of hyssop into the blood, preparatory to sprinkling it on the lintel and side posts of the house. As is well understood by those whose attention has been called to this fact, the word for “dip” is here, as in numerous other places in the Old Testament, the same word from which the word “baptize” of the New Testament comes. This, with all other like expressions, shows that it was well understood that to baptize meant to dip, to plunge, to submerge. Wherever the word “sprinkle” occurs, there is an entirely different expression, as, for instance, Ex. 24:8, etc. The Sojourning of Israel.—Ex. 12:40 reads: “Now the sojourning of the children of7Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” This has been a puzzle to many minds, as Scripture chronology does not seem to show that they were in Egypt so long. It appears evident that the period of four hundred and thirty years covers not only the time which Israel was in Egypt, but also the previous period of sojourning in Canaan. The Septuagint comes to our relief. We will give its rendering of this verse: “And the sojourning of the children of Israel which they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was four hundred and thirty years.” The addition of the expression “and the land of Canaan” makes all clear and satisfactory. [The Samaritan gives the same.—Ed.] Go Forward.—At the border of the Red Sea Moses was to give to the children of Israel the command that they should go forward, as stated in Ex. 14:15. The command to go forward seems to have been rather more comprehensive than we would understand it to be from the English term. The Greek renders it, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they harness (or yoke up) again.” This would signify that there was some work of preparation to do to get their teams and wagons ready, that they were to prepare for a march, as they had previously made a temporary halt. It would seem from the statement of verse 21 that a few hours’ time was necessary before they could actually accomplish this march. We there read: “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” Often in a command for a forward march is implied the necessary preparation for that march. Axletrees Bound.—Verse 25 of this chapter states that the Lord “took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily.” While this may have been the correct rendering, we would here state that the reading of the Septuagint is this: “And bound the axletrees of their chariots, and caused them to go with difficulty.” This is certainly a far more common occurrence, for it is not an unusual experience to have a wheel become bound to an overheated axle, so it will not move. This would certainly make the chariots move very heavily. The Order of the Commandments.—Perhaps the reader has noticed that quite frequently in New Testament quotations of the Ten Commandments, what in the usual enumeration is the seventh commandment is quoted before the sixth and other commandments. This will be noticed in Mark 10:19; Luke 18:18; Rom. 13:9. This would seem to indicate that the Septuagint arrangement was followed in this respect. As in the giving of the Decalogue, as recorded in Ex. 20:13–15, the order of the commandments in that translation is, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill.” Of course this is very immaterial, although the fact here stated will help to show us why the exact order that we observe in the enumeration of the commandments was not always used in the New Testament quotations. The Peace Offering.—A kind of sacrifice called peace offerings is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures. Ex. 20:24 mentions this species of offerings, with burnt offerings, etc. Just what was signified by these peace offerings we doubtless do not fully comprehend. It is worthy of notice that the word used for “peace offerings” in the Greek version, σωτήρια (sōtēria, from sōtēr, Saviour), is the same word elsewhere used for “salvation.” Among many other places, the expression “peace offerings” occurs in Ex. 24:5; 29:28; 32:6. We would be glad if the reader would examine these Scriptures, and then remember the fact that in the New Testament this same word occurs in many instances, as we have stated, where it is rendered “salvation.” As instances we give Luke 1:77; 19:9; Acts 4:12; Rev. 7:16; John 4:22. These scriptures have plain reference to the salvation wrought by the Saviour of the world. With this view of the subject, the sacrifices might perhaps be more properly called “salvation offerings,” and the believer, who understood the signification of those sacrifices, would clearly see in this type Him in whom alone is salvation, and who came as the Saviour of the race, to fulfill all these types and shadows.