THOUGHTS FROM THE SEPTUAGINT.
By F. D. Starr
Laban’s Dream.—In Gen. 31:24–29 we find an account of a dream that the Lord gave to Laban, when he was pursuing his son-in-law, Jacob, and the statement is made that the Lord said to him, “Speak not to Jacob either good or bad.” This would seem to prohibit his having any conversation whatever with Jacob. The Septuagint reads, “Take heed to thyself that thou speak not at any time to Jacob evil things.” This rendering would seem to be entirely consistent, for we can not conceive that it would be in any manner improper for Laban to converse with Jacob. He was merely prohibited from saying anything bad to him. Use of the Greek Word εν (in).—There are numerous instances to be found in the Septuagint where the preposition “in” is used with the significance of “among” or “with.” We will give some of these instances. Gen. 34:9, 10: “Give us your daughters and take our daughters for your sons, and dwell in [among] us.” Ex. 25:8: “Thou shalt make me a sanctuary, and I will appear in you.” Ex. 31:13: “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for they are a sign with me and in you.” Lev. 9:6: “This is the thing which the Lord commanded that ye should do, and the glory of the Lord shall appear in you.” Num. 18:5: “Ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar that there be no wrath any more in the children of Israel.” Deut. 4:14: “In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that sojourneth in thee.” Deut. 26:11: “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite and the stranger that is in thee.” We think these instances will help to explain Luke 17:20, 21: “The kingdom of God is within (εντος) you.” It will be noticed that the Saviour was speaking to the Pharisees in this instance, and it could hardly be supposed that he would give them the assurance that the kingdom of God was literally within them, that they then had it in their persons. The marginal reading gives the rendering which is doubtless correct. “The kingdom of God is among you.” Another instance of this kind will be found in Deut. 28:43: “The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low.” One could not help understanding readily what the term “within” means in this case. It can simply mean “among,” and nothing else. Heliopolis.—This name occurs twice in the Septuagint. The meaning of the name is “the city of the sun.” In Gen. 41:45 it is stated that Pharaoh gave to Joseph the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, for his wife. The Septuagint has “priest of Heliopolis.” This city, named after the sun and dedicated to the sun, might, with its peculiar form of idolatry, be thus kept in constant remembrance by Joseph and his family if they would allow their minds to be led in that direction. The other instance mentioned of this name is in Ex. 1:11, where it is stated that Pharaoh caused the children of Israel to build treasure cities for him, Pithom and Rameses, and the Septuagint adds, On which is Heliopolis. Doubtless this would mean that these cities were greatly enlarged at this time to be fitted up as treasure cities. Sun-worship was of course the most ancient form of idolatry, and here we have traces of this kind of heathen worship plainly brought to view. The Marks of the Land.—We read in Gen. 42:9 that Joseph said to his brethren, “Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.” It seems strange that he should speak in that way when, as far as the nakedness of the land was concerned, there were other countries that were in a far more naked and destitute condition than was Egypt. The Septuagint reads, “Ye are spies; to observe the marks of the land ye are come,” or, as the German reads, “Ye are come to see where the land is open.” The proper work of spies would be to see where was the best place to enter the country, and to take observation of the situation in general, to locate some well-defined waymarks, that they might know the route to take in case they decided to make an inroad upon the country. The Location of Goshen.—It would seem from the reading of the Septuagint that the land of Goshen was really a territory distinct from Egypt proper. As stated in Gen. 46:34, Joseph’s brethren were thus instructed by him, to say to Pharaoh, “Thy servants’ trade has been about cattle from their youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen of Arabia; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” This would locate Goshen in Arabia, directly to the east of Egypt proper, and thus they could sojourn in the dominions of Pharaoh, although by their occupation they would be an abomination to the Egyptians. It is well known that the Arabians were possessors of flocks and herds like the Israelites. I Am God’s.—The affecting incident related in Gen. 50:15–21, concerning the conversation between Joseph’s brethren and himself, is made still more touching by an expression to be found in the Greek. According to the common version, Joseph said, “Am I in the place of God?” The Septuagint rendering is, “I am God’s.” That ought to be sufficient assurance to his brethren that he could do them no injustice. He belonged to God, and acknowledged that ownership. Beloved, that will be sufficient assurance to-day, if we belong to Christ, and his Spirit dwells in us (Rom. 8:9), we surely will do each other no harm. The God who directs the actions of his servants would lead them to do deeds of mercy and love.