Here is a direct side-by-side comparison of the Masoretic Text with the LXX. I have concluded that the LXX is much to be preferred over the Masoretic Text, a position from which the Eastern Orthodox Church never deviated. Perhaps, if you take the time to read my comparisons and other articles, you will arrive at the same conclusion.
The Septuagint version I am using is the Lexham English Septuagint 2nd Edition, which is available in print or as part of Logos Bible Software. Occasionally I also use the Brenton translation of the LXX for insight into difficult passages.
If you want to know more, click on the following links.
- Why Christians Should Prefer the Septuagint over the Masoretic Text.
- Some Insights Gained through Comparing the Masoretic Text to the Septuagint
- More side by side comparisons of the Masoretic Text (MT) to the Septuagint (LXX).
| Masoretic Text | Septuagint | Significance |
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20 Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD. Jeremiah 31:20 (NKJV) |
20 Ephraim is a beloved son to me, a child to revel in. For because my words are in him, I will remember him with remembrance. Therefore I hurried for him; in showing mercy I will show mercy to him,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 38:20 (LES2) |
I decided to return to Jeremiah 31 to look at a few additional verses that caught my eye. Wow, am I glad I did! The MT asks a question. The LXX makes a statement. The MT says God spoke against Ephraim, but the LXX says that God’s word is in him. Both agree that God’s heart yearns for Ephraim to show mercy to him. |
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21 “Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities. Jeremiah 31:21 (NKJV) |
21 Set yourself up, O Zion; make retaliation. Give your heart to the shoulders. Return on the road that you had gone, O virgin Israel. Return to your cities, mourning. Jeremiah 38:21 (LES2) |
Brenton’s translation of the LXX is preferable in this case, in my opinion. 21 Prepare thyself, O Sion; execute vengeance; look to thy ways: return, O virgin of Israel, by the way by which thou wentest, return mourning to thy cities. [Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L.. English Translation of the Greek Septuagint, Including the Apocrypha . E.C. Marsh. Kindle Edition.] It must have been a difficult passage to render into Hebrew, Greek, and English. |
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22 How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.” Jeremiah 31:22 (NKJV) |
22 How long will you turn back, dishonored daughter? For the Lord has created salvation for a fresh planting; people will go about in deliverance. Jeremiah 38:22 (LES2) |
The MT calls Israel a “backsliding daughter,” but the LXX says she is “disgraced.” The rest of this verse is intriguing. The reason I chose this passage to compare is because of the strange wording of the MT. It turns out that the time I spent trying to make sense of the verse in time past may have been wasted, since it does not say anything close in the LXX. Instead of God’s doing a new thing in the earth, the LXX says that God has created salvation for a fresh planting. Instead of a woman encompassing a man, the LXX says that “people will go about in salvation, deliverance, or safety! It seems to me that this could easily been understood by the early church as the New Covenant, which God announced later in the chapter, which is likely the reason the MT changed the wording to obscure the meaning. |
