LXX / MT at Psalm 102:23-27
Danny Andre' Dixon
bereandad at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 4 15:14:00 EDT 2002
Much thanks for correcting my faux pas regarding the
numbering of Psalm 101/102 (Polycarp66 6/3/2002). As
to the suggestion that It is likely the NT author was
in reference to another version of the Septuagint than
the standard used today (D. Bass 6/4/2002), I was
relying for my text upon the text in column two of the
NIV Triglot Old Testament (Zondervan, 1981). Regarding
this editor John R. Kohlenberger III says this:
"The second column of the NIVTOT contains the LXX
according to the fourth edition of Tischendorf (1869).
. .[T]his LXX followed the Sixtine tradition by
reproducing as its basic text Codex Vaticanus (B),
supplying missing parts from A and later manuscripts.
As was the case with the van der Hooght MT,
Tischendorfs LXX was the most popular portable
edition of the ninetheenth century. At the turn of the
century it was replaced by Swete and in this century
by Rahlfs. As far as the actual text of the LXX is
concerned, however, all of these editions in the
Sixtine tradition are virtually identical; only the
critical apparatus is different. Thus, in the
noncritical NIVTOT, Tischendorfs text provides an
excellent edition of the LXX according to B. (xiii).
The text in question reads as follows:
"[23] ApekrithH autw en hodw ischuos autou THn
oligotHta twn Hmerwn mou anangeleilon moi. [24] MH
anagagHs me en Hmisei Hmerwn mou, en genea genewn ta
etN sou. [25] Kat archas tHn gNn su Kyrie
ethemeliwsas, kai erga twn cheirwn sou eisin hoi
ouranoi. [26] Autoi apolountai, su de diameneis, kai
pantes ws imation palaiwthesontai, kai wsei
periBolaion elixeis autous kai allagHsontai.[27] Su de
ho autos ei, kai ta etH sou ouk ikleipsousin."
My translation:
[23] "He [Kyrie, Yahweh] answered him [Kyrie, the
petitioner] in the way of his strength, Proclaim the
eminence [lit. "fewness"] of my days. [24] Do not lead
me up before I have finished [lit. "in the midst of my
days"]. Your years go on perpetually [lit."in
generation of generations"] [25] From the beginning,
Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the
works of your hands. [26] These will be destroyed, but
you remain; and all, as a garment, will grow old, and
they will be rolled up as a wrap-around cloak. [27]
But you are the same, and your years will not cease.""
The interesting thing about this passage is the fact
that the Hebrews writer chooses it over the Masoretic
Text to establish Jesus preeminence in Sonship over
the angels. Ive recently found it extremely
thought-provoking to reflect on how the OT period
Jews would consider passages granting divine activity
or privileges to the human king of Israel. For
instance, Psalm 45:1, 9 seems to refer to one of
Israels monarchs (Solomon perhaps?) at one of his
weddings (cf. 1 Kings 11:1-8), yet he is called God in
possession of an eternal throne (45:6). Or consider
Psalm 110:1 where the LXX has, Eipen ho Kyrios tw
Kyriw where the Lord [YHWH in the MT] spoke to my
Lord [Adoni], and invites the king to a seat next to
him in heaven. There is no textual problem discrepancy
between the LXX and the MT there (or in Psalm 45), and
one would think that a Jewish scribe or reader would
have had no difficulty with the text as it stood, even
though it did ascribe divine activity to the king.
Naturally this opens the door for consideration of how
the fullest Messiah Jesus should have been considered
by the contemporary leaders. If he was claiming to be
Messiah as a rightful heir and the final son of God as
were the rest of the kings in the Davidic line (2
Samuel 7:12-14), they should have been able to accept
as non-blasphemous even his statements that implied
pre-existence. If the king of Israel, Kyrie, could be
said to have laid the foundations of the earth so
could this have been accepted of Kyrie IHsous
Christos, unless, of course, they had some political
reason to want to reject him (See Mark 14:61-62; Luke
23:1-3; John 11:45-53), considering that if he were
Messiah, even in the human-kingly sense, they should
have had no problem with Jesus as God statements.
Exalted as he is, Jesus the man stands as the mediator
between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
All comments, private or public, are welcome!
Danny A. Dixon
--- Dennis Bass <dbass at psusd.k12.ca.us> wrote:
Danny,
"Not one, but many". There are several Septuagints,
the Alexandrian, the Babylonian, the Syrian. Not to
mention the targums. It is likely the NT author was
in reference to another version of the Septugint
than the standard used today. For a more complete
discussion, you can go to the ISOSCS.com website.
This is a discussion group much like B-Greek, only
concerned with Septuagintal translation.
Have fun.
Dennis Bass
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