[B-Greek] Problems with Psalm 82:1 in LXX

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Tue Oct 4 12:21:54 EDT 2005


Dear Octavio,
Rather than starting with the premise that the one text must be right 
and the other text must be wrong, it might be more productive to think 
in terms of one text being different from the other.
The item of difference here is, as you note, that whereas the Masoretic 
Text (MT) has EL, the Greek text has QEWN.
As the Hebrew text stands, it is slightly odd. Since both ELOHIM and EL 
commonly refer to "God"  in the Hebrew Bible, the line seems to say: 
"God stood/stands in the gathering/assembly of God."
Of course, MT  becomes less odd if either (1) one reads EL as a 
predication (therefore, "divine gathering") or (2) one makes EL into a 
plural (therefore, "gathering of gods"). Either the Hebrew parent text 
of the Greek or the Greek translator himself opted for  (2) "gathering  
of gods" thus contrasting "THE god" (= "God") with "gods" (= "other 
divine beings"). (Personally, I suspect the translator of having 
construed EL as a plural.)
Needless to say, one might further ask how the slightly odd text of MT 
arose, but that is another question.
Taking your evidence from Ireneus at face value, I would suggest that 
Ireneus RE-articulates or RE-configures the LXX text from a New 
Testament perspective, and in so doing interprets "gathering of gods" 
as referring to Christ.  Though it is not impossible that Ireneus had 
recourse to the Hebrew (EL), one would need more evidence that a 
singular opposed to a plural noun.
Al


On Oct 4, 2005, at 7:56 AM, Octavio Rodriguez wrote:

> I have a problem wtih Psalm 82:1. I am going to show you these 
> versions:
>  __________________________________________________
> Psalm 82:1 (Hebrew) :
>  "Elohiym natsab edah El shaphat qereb Elohiym"
>  "hO QEOS ESTH EN SUNAGWGH QEWN EN MESW DE QEOUS DIAKRINEI "
>  KJV : "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth 
> among the
> gods. "
>  Ireneus Against Heresies Book III ,VI :
>  "..."God stood in the congregation of the gods, He judges among the 
> gods."
> He [here] refers to the Father and the Son, and those who have 
> received the
> adoption...."
> _________________________________________________
>  It is clear that LXX mistranslate the Hebrew "El " with QEWN.
> I think it must be QEOU....because QEWN is agree with Elohyim in 
> genitive
> ...do you agree wtih me?.
> Other question is about Ireneus , He is quoting the LXX version of 
> Psalm
> 82:1 ,however , his explanation correspond to Hebrew , becasue 
> apparently he
> equated Father=Elohyim and Son=EL , because it is imposible equated
> "congregation of Son" with "congregation of gods".What happened with 
> this
> text??.
> I think, if the LXX is in the correct way then the original Hebrew said
> "Elohyim" instead "EL".
>  What do you think??.
>  Best Regards
> Octavio Rodriguez
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—
Albert Pietersma
Professor of Septuagint and Hellenistic Greek
Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
Home: 21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm




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