Notes on the Orthodox Study Bible

 (2008 Edition)

A Book Review – R. G. Jones

17 June 2009

I received my hardback copy of the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) in June 2008, having ordered it from Amazon.com in January.  Was it worth the wait? 

In a word, no.  I had hoped for a modern translation of the Greek Old Testament in English with the books in their proper order and all the parts in place.  In their “Introduction to the Orthodox Study Bible,” the editors note that “in Orthodoxy’s 200 year history in North America, no English translation of the LXX has ever been produced by the Church.”  From what I have seen to date, that statement may still be true:  this translation abounds with errors, at least in Genesis and Exodus, as the table near the bottom of this page will demonstrate.  When I began to compare the OSB Old Testament with the Greek, I suspected I would quibble about a few passages on the grounds that the patristic understanding had not been taken into account, but end up recommending the work.  I didn’t consider the possibility that the editors would permit so many plain mistakes to be published. 

What other options are there?  Charles Thomson’s translation (available from Shekinah Enterprises), though printed nicely in about 11.5 point font, uses archaic language and omits several books.  But my primary objection to it is that it is often too free.  Lancelot Brenton’s translation (Hendrickson Publications) is literal and includes the Greek text alongside the English, but the font is small (about 8 points), the books are out of order, the language is archaic, and there are a few errors.  (Personally, I don’t mind the archaic language.)  A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) is available in .pdf form online and in printed form from Oxford University Press.  I have yet to examine it in detail, but my initial impression is favorable.  The NETS is certainly much more accurate than the OSB in Genesis and Exodus.^…  The Eastern Orthodox Bible looks promising, but the Old Testament will not be published before the end of 2009 at the earliest.

Though far from perfect, the OSB has commendable features, and the prospective buyer will likely want to hear both pros and cons.  I searched the internet for reviews and found a few, but those I glanced at focused on theological issues.  (The OSB is bad because it was produced by converts.  The OSB is bad because the icons are too American.  The OSB is bad because it includes an article on justification, an Unorthodox topic – by which logic St. Cyril of Alexandria was Unorthodox as well:  see his Commentary on John, book 4, chapter 6.  And so on.)  I’m more interested in the readability of the book itself and the faithfulness of the translation to the patristic tradition. 

So, to get started, you should know a few things about the book.  It measures 24 x 16.3 x 4 cm.  The translation itself and material at the end (indices, essays, a glossary, etc.) take up 1822 pages.  In addition, there are 28 pages of introductory material.  Since this is a Thomas Nelson publication, eight of their color maps are appended.

I’m fairly confident that the OSB is bound with glue:  there’s no evidence of sewing.  So, if you decide to purchase this book, be sure to break it in.  Use the librarian-approved method of placing the book on its spine on a horizontal surface, holding the pages (the textblock) straight up with the boards flat, then progressively pressing down groups of about 10 pages on either side.  (If this isn’t clear, take a look at http://www.ioba.org/StepByStepBookRepair.pdf .)

By comparing heights of their respective “T’s,” I determined that the OSB font size is fairly close to 10.5 point Times New Roman.  The line density is 0.37 lines/cm, which is equivalent to 10.4 point.  To prevent lines from cramming together, the publisher employed a font that shrinks the dangling portions of characters like “p” and “y.”  There are two columns of text per page.  Each column is 6.5 cm wide and carries about 41 characters.  Personally, I find a Bible with narrower columns having 35 or so characters per line more readable, but this is not major issue for me. 

Text in these columns is broken into paragraphs as in normal English prose, not into individual indented verses as was typical for Bibles from the time of the Geneva Bible of 1560 until the English Revision of 1885.  Sections of paragraphs are divided using headings in bold print.  On each side of each heading is a gray image that looks something like a leaf.  Why these leaves are present is a mystery to me.  I try to ignore them.

The margins are narrow, about 1 cm all around, a challenge for those who like to write notes in their Bibles.  The text slips well down into the gutter in the middle, which is steep and narrow, even after the book has been broken in.  The remedy, of course, is to manipulate the book so the page being read is flat.

The paper is quite thin, and there is too much “show-through” for my taste.  The pages themselves are not particularly waxy or reflective, but the glossy ink does shine under bright light.  I haven’t found that to be a problem. 

As is usual in a study bible, the OSB includes notes at the bottoms of most pages.  They are printed in a sans serif font about 9 points in height.  Notes are displayed in a single, 13.5 cm wide column, which I find hard on the eyes.  Two columns would have been better.  I have yet to examine the notes in detail, but I am encouraged by the fact that, in the Psalms, “the End” is identified explicitly with Christ.  As is less usual in a study bible, there are no verse references in Old Testament.  Not between the columns, not alongside them, not in a little box to one side.  None.  The OSB is rather like the New Oxford Annotated Bible (first and second editions – I haven’t seen the third) in that regard.

You may be aware that the New Testament of the OSB was published in 1993.  That work essentially amounted to augmenting the New King James Version (NKJV) New Testament and Psalms with annotations from an Orthodox perspective.  But it also included the standard NKJV New Testament text notes as well as references to passages in the NKJV Old Testament where those were quoted.  Many passages in the Septuagint-based OSB Old Testament, unfortunately, have different chapter and verse data than their parallels in the Hebrew-based NKJV Old Testament.  For instance, the source reference at Acts 2.34-35 in the OSB New Testament is Psalm 110.1.  In fact, the pertinent OSB Old Testament passage is Psalm 109.1.  As a second example, the note at Luke 1.17 sends the reader to Malachi 4.5, 6.  But in the Septuagint, Malachi has only three chapters.  The correct reference is Malachi 3.22, 23.  When the 1993 New Testament was married to the new OSB Old Testament translation, no one corrected those references.

There is another type of disconnect, likely due to the fact that the OSB New and Old Testaments were prepared separately:  when the New Testament quotes the Old, and the underlying Greek is identical, the OSB English sometimes differs.  Psalm 109.1, quoted in Acts 2.34-35, is an example.  This point may seem petty to some (yes, I know the “hobgoblin of little minds” quote from Emerson), but one of the great joys in having a Septuagint-based translation is exploring its influence on the New Testament.  Using different English words to translate the same Greek words needlessly obscures that influence.  So such an informative consistency doesn’t seem at all “foolish” to me.  (The NKJV translators should be given credit for consistency.  Psalm 109.1 is also quoted verbatim in Luke 20.42-43 and the English translation there is identical to that at Acts 2.34-35.)  For another example, see the discussion of Genesis 47.31 in the table below.

Disconnects also occur where the OSB Old Testament introduces new terms for those already established in the NKJV New Testament.  For instance, in Zechariah 6.12 and Jeremiah 23.5, two prophecies of Christ, the OSB Old Testament uses “Orient” for the Greek ἀνατολὴ.  But the same Greek word is translated “Dayspring” in Luke 1.78.  Perhaps at some point the two testaments will be harmonized.  If that ever occurs, my vote is for “Dayspring.”  “And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Orient from on high has visited us” just doesn’t sound right.  (I would not urge that ἀνατολὴ be translated “Dayspring” in all cases – just where it refers to Christ.)  As a second example, St. Paul may rely on Tobit 13.7 and 11 for the title “King eternal” he uses of God in 1 Timothy 1.17.  The OSB’s use of “King of the ages,” though accurate, camouflages the (possible) dependence.

Consider also the Greek term ὁ ὤν, which appears in Exodus 3.14.  God commissions Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt, where they are enslaved.  Moses is concerned that his own people will not receive him, so he replies, “Behold, I shall go forth to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, ‘The God of our fathers has sent me to you’; and they will ask me,  ‘What is his name?’  What shall I say to them?”  The Septuagint gives the response:  “God spoke to Moses, saying, ‘I am THE BEING’ [ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν]; and he said, ‘Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING [ὁ ὤν] has sent me to you’ ” (Brenton, quotation marks added).  Now if one were translating the Old Testament in isolation, as Brenton did, any translation that brings across the sense of the Greek is acceptable.  But if the Old Testament and the New are presented together, the English words should, in my opinion, assist the reader in connecting allusions in the New Testament with their sources in the Old.  So how does the marriage of the OSB Old Testament and the NKJV New Testament do in this regard?  Happily, for the clause “I am” (ἐγώ εἰμι), the correspondence is good – perhaps because it would take some ingenuity to translate ἐγώ εἰμι any other way.  The OSB at Exodus 3.14 reads, “I AM the Existing One,” and corresponding New Testament references where the Lord implies his deity are given in the NKJV New Testament accordingly.  For instance, John 8.58 reads, in part, “Before Abraham was, I AM” (NKJV).  But the OSB Old Testament’s use of “the Existing One” for ὁ ὤν is problematic.  It appears in the New Testament in reference to God in several places.  One clear example is Revelation 1.4, which the NKJV translates with, “Grace to you and peace from Him who is [ὁ ὤν] and who was and who is to come …” (NKJV).  In principle, a translator or translation committee can adjust the English wording in either testament to highlight the association, but the OSB project was constrained (apparently) in that it could not modify the NKJV New Testament.  It seems to me, then, that it would have been preferable to translate the words in Exodus 3.14 with “I AM He Who is.”

The NKJV New Testament is based on the Received Text, though in many cases its footnotes provide alternate readings from the modern critical text (Nestle-Aland) and the Majority Text.  For those of you unfamiliar with these text families, the Received Text is the Greek basis for the old Authorized or King James Version.  It is the product of sixteenth century scholarship using a small set of Greek texts available in Western Europe at the time.  The Nestle-Aland text is a modern attempt to reconstruct the original New Testament; the approach gives more weight to older (often Egyptian) manuscripts.  The Majority Text (e.g., Hodges and Farstad), by contrast, follows readings that appear in the largest numbers in existing manuscripts.  In the Orthodox Study Bible, it might have been better to alter the English translation in favor of the Majority Text or some Church-sanctioned Greek text.  For me, this is a minor issue, since I examine the text notes and don’t mind a variety of readings.

Since this is an Orthodox study Bible, no one should be surprised by the presence of icons.  I count twelve, printed on both sides of six relatively thick inserts.  They are entitled, “The Hospitality of Abraham,” “The Prophet and King David,” “The Three Holy Youths in the Furnace,” “Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World,” “Mother of God,” “The Nativity of Our Lord,” “St. John the Forerunner,” “The Baptism of Christ,” “The Transfiguration of Christ,” “The Resurrection of Christ,” “Pentecost:  The Coming of the Holy Spirit,” and “John Dictating the Gospel.”  I am not qualified to judge the quality of icons, so I leave that to others.  I will say that, as a practical matter, these inserts do not make it more difficult to turn from one passage to another.  They do sometimes push upward on adjacent pages and keep them from lying flat.

In the “Introduction to the Orthodox Study Bible,” the editors and contributors note that their Old Testament translation is based on Alfred Rahlfs’ Greek text.  But they also used Brenton’s translation (which has a different textual basis) and the NKJV Old Testament “where the English translation of the LXX would match that of the Masoretic (Hebrew) text.”  I presume they sometimes simply modernized Brenton’s English, sometimes altered his translation to follow Rahlfs, sometimes adopted the NKJV’s language, and sometimes generated a fresh translation.  At one time, I thought this approach promised high quality, since Brenton and the NKJV are good, rather literal translations.  The more literal the translation, the easier it is to see connections to the New Testament and to find the same Christ-centric meaning in the text as the Church Fathers and ancient Christian writers did.  It appears, however, that the translators frequently failed to alter the NKJV in accordance with Rahlfs’ Greek text, at least in Genesis and Exodus.

The following table compares the OSB Old Testament with the Septuagint, focusing on mistranslations, which I have found to be common in Genesis and Exodus.  In the table, “the LXX” is sometimes used as an abbreviation for “the Septuagint.”  Where an entry simply notes a translation error, the book and verse reference is in black typeface.  A reference in red italics indicates the comment provides some material not related to translation errors, though translation errors may be discussed.

(Noting inconsistencies between Rahlfs’ Septuagint and the OSB Old Testament is tedious work.  I’ve done so for Genesis, and for Exodus through chapter 11, verse 2.  Henceforth, I plan to list only translations I deem worthy of special notice. -- 2 January 2009)

A Table of Orthodox Study Bible Old Testament Translations

Compared with the Greek

Greek

Orthodox Study Bible Translation

Genesis 2.2

καὶ συνετέλεσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἕκτῃ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἃ ἐποίησεν καὶ κατέπαυσεν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ ὧν ἐποίησεν

And on the seventh day God finished the works He made, and He rested on the seventh day from all the works He made. – SAAS*

The Greek reads “sixth,” not “seventh.”  The Hebrew has “seventh.”

Genesis 2.8

καὶ ἐφύτευσεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς παράδεισον ἐν εδεμ κατὰ ἀνατολὰς καὶ ἔθετο ἐκεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃν ἔπλασεν

Then the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man He formed. -- SAAS

The New Testament mentions paradise three times (quoting from the Authorized Version):  Luke 23.43 (“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”), 2 Corinthians 12.4 (“he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter”), and Revelation 2.7 (“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God”).  SAAS’s rendering is not inaccurate.  But, since the Greek word (paradeisos) is the same here and in the New Testament, and since the New Testament references apply to a place like the paradise of Genesis 2.8, translating it “garden” rather than “paradise” can only obscure the connection.  The footnote, at least, refers to it as Paradise.

Genesis 3.15

σου τηρήσει κεφαλήν καὶ σὺ τηρήσεις αὐτοῦ πτέρναν

He shall bruise your head, and you shall be on guard for His heel. -- SAAS

The Hebrew has bruise in both independent clauses:  “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (NKJV).  But the Greek clearly repeats “be on guard for.”  Consequently, Brenton translates, “he shall watch against thy head, and thou shalt watch against his heel.”  The SAAS first follows the Hebrew, then the Greek.

Genesis 4.7

οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς ἥμαρτες ἡσύχασον πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ

Did you not sin, even though you brought it rightly, but did not divide it rightly?  Be still; his recourse shall be to you; and you shall rule over him. -- SAAS

The SAAS’s use of “recourse” for ἀποστροφὴ is accurate, far better than Brenton’s “submission.”

Genesis 4.8

καὶ εἶπεν καιν πρὸς αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνέστη καιν ἐπὶ αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν

Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. -- SAAS

SAAS omits “Let us go out into the field.”  This statement is present in the Greek (immediately before “and it came to pass”), but absent from the Hebrew.

Genesis 5.25, 26

καὶ ἔζησεν μαθουσαλα ἑκατὸν καὶ ἑξήκοντα ἑπτὰ ἔτη καὶ ἐγέννησεν τὸν λαμεχ καὶ ἔζησεν μαθουσαλα μετὰ τὸ γεννῆσαι αὐτὸν τὸν λαμεχ ὀκτακόσια δύο ἔτη καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας

Now Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.  After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters. -- SAAS

Where the SAAS has 187, Rahlfs’ Septuagint (the Greek text from which the SAAS was made) has 167.  Where SAAS has 782, Rahlfs has 802.  The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew here.  (The Alexandrian LXX manuscript also agrees with the Hebrew.  If the SAAS translators consciously decided to follow the Alexandrian reading, a footnote would have been in order.)

Genesis 6.4

οἱ δὲ γίγαντες ἦσαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνο ὡς ἂν εἰσεπορεύοντο οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὰς θυγατέρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐγεννῶσαν ἑαυτοῖς ἐκεῖνοι ἦσαν οἱ γίγαντες οἱ ἀπ' αἰῶνος οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ὀνομαστοί

Now there were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.  Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown. -- SAAS

Here again the SAAS follows the Hebrew (“mighty men”), not the Greek (“giants”).  Translated from the Greek, the verse ends with, “Those were the giants of old, the men of renown.”

Genesis 6.13

καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς νωε καιρὸς παντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἥκει ἐναντίον μου

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me …” -- SAAS

Rather than “the end of all flesh,” which translates the Hebrew, the Greek reads, “The time of every man.”

Genesis 6.19

καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων καὶ ἀπὸ πάσης σαρκός δύο δύο ἀπὸ πάντων εἰσάξεις εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν ἵνα τρέφῃς μετὰ σεαυτοῦ ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἔσονται

From every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. -- SAAS

The SAAS replaces “And of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild beasts” with “from every living thing.”  It is interesting to compare Brenton’s translation of the Greek and the NKJV, a translation from the Hebrew, with the SAAS.  Brenton:  “And of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild beasts, even of all flesh, thou shalt bring by pairs of all, into the ark, that thou mayest feed them with thyself: male and female they shall be.”  From the Hebrew:  “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female” (NKJV, underlining added).

Genesis 7.3

καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῶν καθαρῶν ἑπτὰ ἑπτά ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πετεινῶν τῶν μὴ καθαρῶν δύο δύο ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ διαθρέψαι σπέρμα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν

and the clean birds of heaven by twos, male and female, to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth. -- SAAS

My translation of the Greek is, “And of clean fowl of the air by sevens, male and female; and of all unclean flying creatures by pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the earth.”  The NKJV, on the other hand, translates the Hebrew with, “also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.”  The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew in mentioning only one type of bird (clean), but disagrees with both the Greek and the Hebrew by omitting the numeral “seven.”

Genesis 7.11

ἐν τῷ ἑξακοσιοστῷ ἔτει ἐν τῇ ζωῇ τοῦ νωε τοῦ δευτέρου μηνός ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ μηνός τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ …

In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day … -- SAAS

Where the Greek has twenty-seventh, the SAAS has seventeenth, in agreement with the Hebrew.  So also in Genesis 8.4.  The flood is presented as being one year in duration in the LXX, and one year and ten days long in the Hebrew (comparing Genesis 7.11 with 8.14).

Genesis 11.28

καὶ ἀπέθανεν αρραν ἐνώπιον θαρα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ γῇ ᾗ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν χαλδαίων

So Haran died before his father Terah  in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. -- SAAS

“Ur” does not appear in the Greek, though it is present in the Hebrew.  The LXX states that Haran died in the country of the Chaldeans.

Genesis 12.2

καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ εὐλογήσω σε καὶ μεγαλυνῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ ἔσῃ εὐλογητός

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. -- SAAS

Translations from the Hebrew end this verse with “a blessing.”  The Greek word εὐλογητός , however, means “blessed.”  Hence, Brenton has, “And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.”

Genesis 12.6

καὶ διώδευσεν αβραμ τὴν γῆν εἰς τὸ μῆκος αὐτῆς ἕως τοῦ τόπου συχεμ ἐπὶ τὴν δρῦν τὴν ὑψηλήν

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. -- SAAS

The Greek reads “high oak” not “oak of Moreh.”  The SAAS also omits “lengthwise” -- εἰς τὸ μῆκος αὐτῆς.  Hence, with Brenton, this portion of verse 6 should state:  “And Abram traversed the land lengthwise as far as the place Sychem, to the high oak.”

Genesis 14.3

πάντες οὗτοι συνεφώνησαν ἐπὶ τὴν φάραγγα τὴν ἁλυκήν αὕτη ἡ θάλασσα τῶν ἁλῶν

All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). -- SAAS

The SAAS translators again rely on the Hebrew for a place name that is not in the Greek.  The Greek has “valley of salt” where the SAAS reads “Valley of Siddim.”

Genesis 15.1

μετὰ δὲ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα ἐγενήθη ῥῆμα κυρίου πρὸς αβραμ ἐν ὁράματι λέγων μὴ φοβοῦ αβραμ ἐγὼ ὑπερασπίζω σου ὁ μισθός σου πολὺς ἔσται σφόδρα

After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield and will be your exceedingly great reward.” -- SAAS

Where SAAS, following the Hebrew, has “will be your exceedingly great reward,” the Greek translates as “your reward shall be very great.”

Genesis 15.11

κατέβη δὲ ὄρνεα ἐπὶ τὰ σώματα τὰ διχοτομήματα αὐτῶν καὶ συνεκάθισεν αὐτοῖς αβραμ

And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. -- SAAS

The SAAS again translates the Hebrew, not the Greek.  The NKJV, a translation from the Hebrew, reads:  “And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away” (NKJV).  Brenton’s translation of the Greek has “And birds came down upon the bodies, even upon the divided parts of them, and Abram sat down by them.”  There are two obvious differences:  the Greek mentions the divided parts of the carcasses (τὰ διχοτομήματα αὐτῶν), and it has Abram sitting with the birds (συνεκάθισεν αὐτοῖς) rather than driving them away.  In addition, the Greek word ὄρνεα does not connote a special class of birds, while the Hebrew word does.

Genesis 19.16

καὶ ἐταράχθησαν καὶ ἐκράτησαν οἱ ἄγγελοι τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς χειρὸς τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν χειρῶν τῶν δύο θυγατέρων αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ φείσασθαι κύριον αὐτοῦ

But they were thrown into confusion, and the Lord being merciful to him, the angels seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and two daughters, and brought them outside the city. -- SAAS

The SAAS appends “and brought them outside the city,” which is not found in the Greek.  The footnote to 19.16 repeats the translation error.

Genesis 21.16

ἀπελθοῦσα δὲ ἐκάθητο ἀπέναντι αὐτοῦ μακρόθεν ὡσεὶ τόξου βολήν εἶπεν γάρ οὐ μὴ ἴδω τὸν θάνατον τοῦ παιδίου μου καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἀπέναντι αὐτοῦ ἀναβοῆσαν δὲ τὸ παιδίον ἔκλαυσεν

Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot;  for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.”  So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. -- SAAS

Where SAAS has “and lifted her voice and wept,” the Greek reads, “but the child cried aloud and wept.”  The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew-based NKJV:  “So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept” (NKJV).

Genesis 22.2

καὶ εἶπεν λαβὲ τὸν υἱόν σου τὸν ἀγαπητόν ὃν ἠγάπησας τὸν ισαακ καὶ πορεύθητι εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ὑψηλὴν καὶ ἀνένεγκον αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν ἐφ' ἓν τῶν ὀρέων ὧν ἄν σοι εἴπω

Then He said, “Take now your beloved son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I tell you.” -- SAAS

The SAAS rejects the Septuagint’s “high land” in favor of the Hebrew-based “land of Moriah.”

Genesis 22.13

καὶ ἀναβλέψας αβρααμ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ εἶδεν καὶ ἰδοὺ κριὸς εἷς κατεχόμενος ἐν φυτῷ σαβεκ τῶν κεράτων καὶ ἐπορεύθη αβρααμ καὶ ἔλαβεν τὸν κριὸν καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν αὐτὸν εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν ἀντὶ ισαακ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him a ram was caught in a thicket by its horns.  So he brought it for a whole burnt offering in the place of his son. -- SAAS

The SAAS follows the Hebrew in inserting “behind him,” which is not in the Greek, and in mentioning a “thicket” rather than a Sabek plant.  In the second sentence, the SAAS summarizes the Greek, which translates as “Abraam went and took the ram, and offered him up for a whole-burnt-offering in the place of Isaac his son.”  (The Hebrew also omits Isaac in the second sentence.)

Genesis 23.2

καὶ ἀπέθανεν σαρρα ἐν πόλει αρβοκ ἥ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κοιλώματι αὕτη ἐστὶν χεβρων ἐν γῇ χανααν …

Then Sarah died in the city of Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan … -- SAAS

The Hebrew says that Sarah died in Kirjatharba, which means “the city of Arba.”  The Greek reads, “city of Arbok.”  The SAAS inserts “Kirjath,” which isn’t present in the Greek; by doing so, it makes the text repeat itself:  “Then Sarah died in the city of the city of Arba.”  (See also Genesis 35.27.)

    The SAAS also omits “which is in the valley.”  This may simply be an oversight, or it may be that the SAAS translator assumed the Greek translators mistranslated the Hebrew “Kirjath” as “which is in the valley” and corrected the LXX.  Either way, the SAAS does not translate the Septuagint.  The LXX reads, “And Sarah died in the city of Arbok that is in the valley; this is Hebron in the land of Canaan.”

Genesis 23.9

καὶ δότω μοι τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ διπλοῦν ὅ ἐστιν αὐτῷ τὸ ὂν ἐν μέρει τοῦ ἀγροῦ αὐτοῦ …

That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has at the end of his field … -- SAAS

Here again the SAAS follows the Hebrew, not the Greek.  The Greek reads, “and let him give me the double cave, which he has, which is in a part of his field …”  The SAAS is nearly identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV, which reads, “that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field”  (NKJV, bold typeface added). 

    The SAAS replaces “the double cave” with “Machpelah” at Genesis 50.3 also.

Genesis 25.22

ἐσκίρτων δὲ τὰ παιδία ἐν αὐτῇ …

But the children struggled together within her … -- SAAS

The Greek reads, “And the children leaped within her.”  The Hebrew has “struggled” instead of “leaped.”  (Incidentally, the SAAS translation of the second half of this verse is rather free.)

Genesis 26.32

ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ παραγενόμενοι οἱ παῖδες ισαακ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ φρέατος οὗ ὤρυξαν καὶ εἶπαν οὐχ εὕρομεν ὕδωρ

It came to pass the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” -- SAAS

The LXX says that the servants reported to Isaac that they did NOT find water.  The SAAS follows the Hebrew.

Genesis 27.29

καὶ δουλευσάτωσάν σοι ἔθνη καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι ἄρχοντες καὶ γίνου κύριος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρός σου ὁ καταρώμενός σε ἐπικατάρατος ὁ δὲ εὐλογῶν σε εὐλογημένος

Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you.  Be lord over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you.  And cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you. -- SAAS

According to the LXX, Isaac’s blessing included rulers and his father’s sons (not nations and his mother’s sons) bowing down to Jacob.  The latter are found in the Hebrew.

Genesis 29.1

καὶ ἐξάρας ιακωβ τοὺς πόδας ἐπορεύθη εἰς γῆν ἀνατολῶν πρὸς λαβαν τὸν υἱὸν βαθουηλ τοῦ σύρου ἀδελφὸν δὲ ρεβεκκας μητρὸς ιακωβ καὶ ησαυ

Now Jacob sent on his journey and came to the land of the east, to Laban. -- SAAS

The Hebrew and the SAAS omit, “the son of Bethuel the Syrian, and the brother of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau.”

Genesis 30.18

καὶ εἶπεν λεια ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν μισθόν μου ἀνθ' οὗ ἔδωκα τὴν παιδίσκην μου τῷ ἀνδρί μου καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ισσαχαρ ὅ ἐστιν μισθός

Then Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my handmaiden to my husband.”  So she called his name Issachar. -- SAAS

The SAAS omits “which is, Wages” at the end of the verse.  The Hebrew also omits these words.

Genesis 31.7

ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ὑμῶν παρεκρούσατό με καὶ ἤλλαξεν τὸν μισθόν μου τῶν δέκα ἀμνῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς κακοποιῆσαί με

Yet your father deceived me and changed my wages ten times with respect to the male lambs, but God did not allow him to harm me. -- SAAS

The Greek reads, “But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him not to hurt me.”  The Hebrew-based NKJV reads, “Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him not to hurt me” (NKJV).  It seems that the SAAS conflates the two, concurring with the LXX that the wage change involved lambs, and with the Hebrew that Laban changed Jacob’s wages ten times.  (There is a similar curiosity at 31.41.)

Genesis 31.13

ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ἐν τόπῳ θεοῦ οὗ ἤλειψάς μοι ἐκεῖ στήλην καὶ ηὔξω μοι ἐκεῖ εὐχήν νῦν οὖν ἀνάστηθι καὶ ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς ταύτης καὶ ἄπελθε εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς γενέσεώς σου καὶ ἔσομαι μετὰ σοῦ

I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a vow to Me.  Now then, arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your nativity, and I will be with you. -- SAAS

“Bethel,” a Hebrew term meaning “house of God,” does not appear in the Greek.  It reads, “place of God.”  I prefer here a translation from the Greek in the text with a footnote to indicate that the phrase “place of God” translates the Hebrew “Bethel,” a place name.  (A similar criticism applies to the SAAS translation of Genesis 28.19, where “Bethel” is used in place of “house of God.”) 

    The third century Roman priest Novatian, in his Treatise Concerning the Trinity, cited this passage as evidence that the angel of God who appeared here to Jacob in a dream (31.11) was a different person than God, God the Father, at whose place he had earlier appeared (28.19):  “He does not say, in my place.”  SAAS’s translation prevents such a thought from entering the mind.  But “I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God” makes one wonder about the awkward construction, and brings Genesis 19.24 to mind:  “And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (Brenton).

Genesis 31.32

ἐπίγνωθι τί ἐστιν τῶν σῶν παρ' ἐμοί καὶ λαβέ καὶ οὐκ ἐπέγνω παρ' αὐτῷ οὐθέν καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ιακωβ παρ' ᾧ ἐὰν εὕρῃς τοὺς θεούς σου οὐ ζήσεται ἐναντίον τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν οὐκ ᾔδει δὲ ιακωβ ὅτι ραχηλ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἔκλεψεν αὐτούς

With whomever you find your gods, let him not live in the presence of our brethren.  Identify what I have of yours and take it with you.”  For Jacob did not know Rachel had stolen them. -- SAAS

The LXX reads, “ ‘Take notice of what I have of thy property, and take it’; and he observed nothing with him.  And Jacob said, ‘With whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, he shall not live in the presence of our brethren’; but Jacob knew not that his wife Rachel had stolen them.”  The SAAS rearranges some of this material, but omits “and he observed nothing with him,” as does the Hebrew. 

Genesis 31.33

εἰσελθὼν δὲ λαβαν ἠρεύνησεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον λειας καὶ οὐχ εὗρεν καὶ ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου λειας ἠρεύνησεν τὸν οἶκον ιακωβ καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τῶν δύο παιδισκῶν καὶ οὐχ εὗρεν εἰσῆλθεν δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον ραχηλ

Thus Laban went in and searched Leah’s tent, but found nothing.  Then he searched Jacob’s and those of the handmaidens, but found nothing.  Then he entered Rachel’s tent. -- SAAS

The SAAS omits “and he went out of Leah’s tent,” which should be inserted at the beginning of the second sentence. 

Genesis 31.48

εἶπεν δὲ λαβαν τῷ ιακωβ ἰδοὺ ὁ βουνὸς οὗτος καὶ ἡ στήλη αὕτη ἣν ἔστησα ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ μαρτυρεῖ ὁ βουνὸς οὗτος καὶ μαρτυρεῖ ἡ στήλη αὕτη διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ βουνὸς μαρτυρεῖ

Then Laban said, “This heap and this pillar are a witness between you and me this day.”  Therefore its name was called This-Heap-Witnesses.” -- SAAS

The LXX actually reads, “And Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap, and the pillar, which I have set between me and thee; this heap witnesseth, and this pillar witnesseth.’ Therefore its name was called, The Heap Witnesses.”

Genesis 31.50

εἰ ταπεινώσεις τὰς θυγατέρας μου εἰ λήμψῃ γυναῖκας ἐπὶ ταῖς θυγατράσιν μου ὅρα οὐθεὶς μεθ' ἡμῶν ἐστιν

If you humble my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us – see, God is witness between you and me.” -- SAAS

Rather than, “although no man is with us,” the LXX reads, “see, no one is with us.”  The Greek ends there.  The SAAS then adds, “see, God is witness between you and me,” in agreement with the Hebrew and with Brenton’s Greek text (which differs from Rahlfs, the underlying text of the SAAS).

Genesis 31.51

Absent.

The Laban said to Jacob, “Listen, this heap and pillar are a witness. -- SAAS

The SAAS is similar to the Hebrew at this point.  The NKJV reads, “Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me” (NKJV).  This verse is missing from the Rahlfs’ LXX, but something quite similar to the SAAS is also found in Brenton’s Greek.

Genesis 31.52

ἐάν τε γὰρ ἐγὼ μὴ διαβῶ πρὸς σὲ μηδὲ σὺ διαβῇς πρός με τὸν βουνὸν τοῦτον καὶ τὴν στήλην ταύτην ἐπὶ κακίᾳ

This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. -- SAAS

The LXX actually reads, “For if I should not cross over unto thee, neither shouldest thou cross over to me, beyond this heap and this pillar, for mischief.”  The SAAS comports well with the Hebrew:  “This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm” (NKJV).  The only significant difference is that the Hebrew mentions the pillar only twice.  (Incidentally, Brenton’s Greek text is almost identical to that given above in this verse.)

Genesis 32.2

καὶ ιακωβ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ὁδόν καὶ ἀναβλέψας εἶδεν παρεμβολὴν θεοῦ παρεμβεβληκυῖαν καὶ συνήντησαν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ

So Jacob went on his way, and saw the hosts of God encamped. -- SAAS

The SAAS omits “and the angels of God met him,” present in the Greek.  In this instance, the SAAS does not follow the Hebrew when it diverges from the LXX.  The Hebrew omits Jacob’s vision of the camp, but retains the encounter with the angels.  The SAAS also omits “looking up” just before “[he] saw the hosts of God encamped.”

Genesis 32.29

εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ οὐ κληθήσεται ἔτι τὸ ὄνομά σου ιακωβ ἀλλὰ ισραηλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου ὅτι ἐνίσχυσας μετὰ θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δυνατός

And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel:  for you have prevailed with God and with men.” -- SAAS

This is 32.28 in the SAAS.  The SAAS omits “shall be your name” immediately following “Israel”:  “but Israel shall be your name.”  Rather than “you have prevailed with God and with men,” the LXX reads, “you have prevailed with God, and shall be mighty with men.”  The SAAS is similar to the Hebrew:  “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel:  for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed,” though it fails to notice the “struggle.”

Genesis 33.17

καὶ ιακωβ ἀπαίρει εἰς σκηνάς καὶ ἐποίησεν ἑαυτῷ ἐκεῖ οἰκίας καὶ τοῖς κτήνεσιν αὐτοῦ ἐποίησεν σκηνάς διὰ τοῦτο ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου σκηναί

Then Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built houses, and made booths for his cattle.  Therefore, he called the name of that place, Succoth. -- SAAS

The Greek has “tents” where the SAAS has “Succoth.”  “Succoth” is not in the Greek, but it is present in the Hebrew.  The Greek reads, “And Jacob departs to Tents, and made there houses for himself, and for his cattle he made tents.  Therefore, he called the name of that place ‘Tents.’ ” 

Genesis 34.2

καὶ εἶδεν αὐτὴν συχεμ ὁ υἱὸς εμμωρ ὁ χορραῖος ὁ ἄρχων τῆς γῆς …

But when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, a ruler of the land, saw her … -- SAAS

According to Rahlfs’ LXX, Shechem was the son of a Chorrite, not of a Hivite.  Brenton’s text has “Hivite,” as does the Hebrew.

Genesis 35.11

εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ θεός ἐγὼ ὁ θεός σου αὐξάνου καὶ πληθύνου ἔθνη καὶ συναγωγαὶ ἐθνῶν ἔσονται ἐκ σοῦ …

God also said to him, “I am your God.  Increase and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you …” -- SAAS

The Greek has the plural “nations” where the SAAS has “a nation.”  In addition, the LXX says the gathering of nations shall be, not proceed, from Jacob.

Genesis 35.16, 21

16 ἀπάρας δὲ ιακωβ ἐκ βαιθηλ ἔπηξεν τὴν σκηνὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ πύργου γαδερ ἐγένετο δὲ ἡνίκα ἤγγισεν χαβραθα εἰς γῆν ἐλθεῖν εφραθα ἔτεκεν ραχηλ καὶ ἐδυστόκησεν ἐν τῷ τοκετῷ

16 Then Jacob departed from Bethel, and when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored with much difficulty in childbirth.  … 21 Now Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. -- SAAS

The LXX at verse 16 reads, “And after Jacob departed from Baethel, he pitched his tent beyond the tower of Gader.  And it came to pass when he drew nigh to Chabratha, to enter into the land of Ephratha, Rachel travailed; and in her travail she was in hard labor.”  Following the Hebrew, the SAAS removes the beginning of verse 16 to verse 21.  It also neglects to mention Chabratha or to include the words “the land” in reference to Ephratha.

Genesis 35.18

ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ ἀφιέναι αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχήν ἀπέθνῃσκεν γάρ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ υἱὸς ὀδύνης μου ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν βενιαμιν

So it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni:  but his father called him Benjamin. -- SAAS

Where the SAAS inserts the Hebrew name “Ben-Oni,” the Greek reads “Son of My Pain.”  (Ben-Oni means “Son of My Sorrow.”)

Genesis 35.27

ἦλθεν δὲ ιακωβ πρὸς ισαακ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ εἰς μαμβρη εἰς πόλιν τοῦ πεδίου αὕτη ἐστὶν χεβρων ἐν γῇ χανααν οὗ παρῴκησεν αβρααμ καὶ ισαακ

Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. -- SAAS

Instead of Kirjath Arba, the LXX reads, “a city of the plain.”  The Hebrew has Kiriath-arba.  (See Genesis 23.2.)

Genesis 36.2

ησαυ δὲ ἔλαβεν γυναῖκας ἑαυτῷ ἀπὸ τῶν θυγατέρων τῶν χαναναίων τὴν αδα θυγατέρα αιλων τοῦ χετταίου καὶ τὴν ελιβεμα θυγατέρα ανα τοῦ υἱοῦ σεβεγων τοῦ ευαίου

Esau took his wives from the daughters of the Canaanites:  Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite -- SAAS

The LXX says that Ana was the son of Sebegon the Evite.  The Hebrew has “daughter.” 

Genesis 36.21

καὶ δησων καὶ ασαρ καὶ ρισων οὗτοι ἡγεμόνες τοῦ χορραίου τοῦ υἱοῦ σηιρ ἐν τῇ γῇ εδωμ

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.  These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. -- SAAS

Where the SAAS has “Horites, the sons,” the LXX reads “the Horite, the son.”  The Hebrew has “Horites, the children.”

Genesis 36.24

καὶ οὗτοι υἱοὶ σεβεγων αιε καὶ ωναν οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ωνας ὃς εὗρεν τὸν ιαμιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὅτε ἔνεμεν τὰ ὑποζύγια σεβεγων τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ

These were the sons of Zibeon:  Ajah and Anah.  This was the Anah who found the hot springs in the desert, as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. -- SAAS

The LXX says that Onas [Anah] found Jamin, not “the hot springs.”  The Hebrew has “the hot springs.”

Genesis 37.10

καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ …

So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him … -- SAAS

The LXX omits “So he told it to his father and his brothers.”  But this clause is found in the Hebrew.

Genesis 39.17

καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα λέγουσα εἰσῆλθεν πρός με ὁ παῖς ὁ εβραῖος ὃν εἰσήγαγες πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐμπαῖξαί μοι καὶ εἶπέν μοι κοιμηθήσομαι μετὰ σοῦ

Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant you brought to us came in to mock me -- SAAS

Following the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “and said to me, ‘I will lie with you’ ” at the end of the verse.  In addition, earlier in the verse, rather than “with words like these,” the LXX has, “according to these words.”

Genesis 40.5

καὶ εἶδον ἀμφότεροι ἐνύπνιον ἑκάτερος ἐνύπνιον ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ ὅρασις τοῦ ἐνυπνίου αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀρχιοινοχόος καὶ ὁ ἀρχισιτοποιός οἳ ἦσαν τῷ βασιλεῖ αἰγύπτου οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ

Then the king of Egypt’s chief cupbearer and the chief baker, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. -- SAAS

The LXX formally translated reads, “And they both saw a dream, each one a dream; in one night was a vision of his dream, the chief cupbearer and chief baker, who belonged to the king of Egypt, who were in the prison.”  Where the LXX mentions a vision (ὅρασις), the Hebrew has “interpretation.”  The SAAS follows the Hebrew in bringing in the dream’s interpretation, a thought alien to the Greek.

Genesis 42.4

τὸν δὲ βενιαμιν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ιωσηφ οὐκ ἀπέστειλεν μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ εἶπεν γάρ μήποτε συμβῇ αὐτῷ μαλακία

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.” -- SAAS

The LXX depicts Jacob as concerned over sickness (μαλακία) overcoming Benjamin, not calamity, a more general term.  The same criticism applies to 42.38, where the SAAS again uses “calamity” for a similar Greek word.

Genesis 42.30

λελάληκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ κύριος τῆς γῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς σκληρὰ καὶ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς ἐν φυλακῇ ὡς κατασκοπεύοντας τὴν γῆν

The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. -- SAAS

As related in the LXX, the brothers told their father that the lord of Egypt put them in prison as spies of the land, not that he simply took them for such spies.  Hebrew-based translations such as the American Standard Version (ASV) have “took us for” rather than “put us in prison as.”

Genesis 43.24

καὶ ἤνεγκεν ὕδωρ νίψαι τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν καὶ ἔδωκεν χορτάσματα τοῖς ὄνοις αὐτῶν

So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. -- SAAS

The LXX simply says, “And he brought water to wash their feet; and gave provender to their donkeys.”  The NKJV reads, “So the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed” (NKJV).  The SAAS appears to be translating the Hebrew here, not the Greek.

Genesis 44.28

καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ εἷς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ καὶ εἴπατε ὅτι θηριόβρωτος γέγονεν καὶ οὐκ εἶδον αὐτὸν ἔτι καὶ νῦν

And the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he was eaten by a wild animal”; and I have not seen him since. -- SAAS

In the LXX, Jacob says that “ye” (that is, his sons) concluded that Joseph had been eaten by wild beasts.  The Hebrew, with the SAAS, attributes this reasoning to Jacob himself.

Genesis 45.10

καὶ κατοικήσεις ἐν γῇ γεσεμ ἀραβίας …

You shall dwell in the land of Goshen … -- SAAS

Following the Hebrew, the SAAS says the Israelites will dwell in the land of Goshen.  But the LXX states that they will dwell in the land of Gesem of Arabia.

Genesis 46.5

ἀνέστη δὲ ιακωβ ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου καὶ ἀνέλαβον οἱ υἱοὶ ισραηλ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἀποσκευὴν καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὰς ἁμάξας ἃς ἀπέστειλεν ιωσηφ ἆραι αὐτόν

Then Jacob arose from the Well of the Oath, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their baggage, and their wives in the carts Pharaoh had sent to carry him. -- SAAS

In the Greek, it is Joseph, not Pharoah, who is said to have sent the wagons to carry Jacob.  The Hebrew attributes this action to Pharaoh.

Genesis 46.20

ἐγένοντο δὲ υἱοὶ ιωσηφ ἐν γῇ αἰγύπτῳ οὓς ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ ασεννεθ θυγάτηρ πετεφρη ἱερέως ἡλίου πόλεως τὸν μανασση καὶ τὸν εφραιμ ἐγένοντο δὲ υἱοὶ μανασση οὓς ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ ἡ παλλακὴ ἡ σύρα τὸν μαχιρ μαχιρ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν γαλααδ υἱοὶ δὲ εφραιμ ἀδελφοῦ μανασση σουταλααμ καὶ τααμ υἱοὶ δὲ σουταλααμ εδεμ

Also, to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.  Sons were also born to Manasseh:  Machir, whom his Syrian concubine bore to him; and Machir begor Gilead.  Also, the sons of Ephraim, Manasseh’s brother, were Shuthelah and Tanah. -- SAAS

Where the LXX has “Heliopolis,” the SAAS has substituted “On,” in agreement with the Hebrew.  While the SAAS adds much of the material absent from the Hebrew (beginning with “Sons were also born …”), it omits “and the sons of Soutalaam:  Edem” at the end.

Genesis 46.28

τὸν δὲ ιουδαν ἀπέστειλεν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πρὸς ιωσηφ συναντῆσαι αὐτῷ καθ' ἡρώων πόλιν εἰς γῆν ραμεσση

Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, that he might meet him in Goshen in the land of Rameses. -- SAAS

Where the SAAS has “in Goshen” (with the Hebrew), the LXX has “opposite Heroonopolis” (which place Brenton rendered as “the city of Heroes”).  So also in verse 29.

Genesis 47.21

καὶ τὸν λαὸν κατεδουλώσατο αὐτῷ εἰς παῖδας ἀπ' ἄκρων ὁρίων αἰγύπτου ἕως τῶν ἄκρων

Now as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other. -- SAAS

The SAAS rejects the Septuagint’s “he brought them into bondage as slaves” in favor of the Hebrew-based “he moved them into the cities.”

Genesis 47.31

εἶπεν δέ ὄμοσόν μοι καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ καὶ προσεκύνησεν ισραηλ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς ῥάβδου αὐτοῦ

Then he said, “Swear to me.”  And he swore to him.  So Israel bowed himself on the top of his staff. -- SAAS

The Greek word προσεκύνησεν can imply the act of bowing, but it means more than that.  Liddell and Scott’s lexicon lists “to make obeisance,” “to fall down and worship,” and “to prostrate oneself before.”  The Hebrew apparently reads “bowed down,” with the SAAS.

    This verse is quoted in the New Testament.  The New King James Version at Hebrews 11.21 reads, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff” (NKJV, bold typeface added). 

Genesis 48.7

ἐγὼ δὲ ἡνίκα ἠρχόμην ἐκ μεσοποταμίας τῆς συρίας ἀπέθανεν ραχηλ ἡ μήτηρ σου ἐν γῇ χανααν ἐγγίζοντός μου κατὰ τὸν ἱππόδρομον χαβραθα τῆς γῆς τοῦ ἐλθεῖν εφραθα καὶ κατώρυξα αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου αὕτη ἐστὶν βαιθλεεμ

But as for me, when I came from Mesopotamia of Syria, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits the words “your mother” immediately after Rachel’s name.  The SAAS also diverges from the Septuagint in other particulars.  The Greek could be translated as follows:  “And as for me, when I came out of Mesopotamia of Syria, Rachel, thy mother, died in the land of Chanaan, as I drew nigh to the hippodrome of Chabratha of the land, so as to come to Ephratha; and I buried her in the way of the hippodrome (this is Bethlehem).”  The SAAS differs from the Hebrew only in replacing “Paddan” with “Mesopotamia of Syria.”

Genesis 48.14

ἐκτείνας δὲ ισραηλ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν ἐπέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν εφραιμ οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ νεώτερος καὶ τὴν ἀριστερὰν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν μανασση ἐναλλὰξ τὰς χεῖρας

Thus Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. -- SAAS

The SAAS follows the Hebrew here (as interpreted by the NKJV), not the Greek.  Instead of “guiding his hands knowingly” the LXX reads “the hands crosswise.”  The Hebrew adds “for Manasseh was the firstborn,” absent from the Greek. 

    Tertullian (On Baptism, chapter 8), whose Old Testament was a Latin translation of the Septuagint, wrote that Israel’s crossed hands delineated Christ; “they even portended the future benediction into Christ.” 

    Incidentally, I understand from textual notes in other versions that the Hebrew rendered “guiding his hands knowingly” can also be translated “crossing his hands.”  It appears that the SAAS translators simply followed the NKJV’s rendering of this verse, regardless of the underlying Greek.

Genesis 49.10

οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ ιουδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from his loins, until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the expectation of the nations. – SAAS

The term “Shiloh” does not appear in the Greek text, but is common in translations from the Hebrew.  The rest of the verse reflects the Greek, and not the Hebrew.  Where SAAS has “until Shiloh comes,” Brenton’s translation has “until there come the things stored up for him.”  An alternate translation is, “until he cometh for whom the things are reserved.”  (It is my understanding that the meaning of the Hebrew term “Shiloh” is debated.  One possible sense in this context is “he to whom it belongs,” but Shiloh may be the name of a geographical location.  It is not clear why SAAS chose to translate the Greek with an uncertain Hebrew term.)

Genesis 49.30

ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ διπλῷ τῷ ἀπέναντι μαμβρη ἐν τῇ γῇ χανααν ὃ ἐκτήσατο αβρααμ τὸ σπήλαιον παρὰ εφρων τοῦ χετταίου ἐν κτήσει μνημείου

opposite Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. -- SAAS

The LXX begins the verse with “in the double cave,” but the SAAS omits these words.  The LXX then mentions the cave again, “which cave Abraham bought …”  The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew in that second omission, but it diverges from the Hebrew at the beginning of the verse.  The NKJV translates the Hebrew with “in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah , which is before Mamre ...” (NKJV).

Genesis 50.2

καὶ προσέταξεν ιωσηφ τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἐνταφιασταῖς ἐνταφιάσαι τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνεταφίασαν οἱ ἐνταφιασταὶ τὸν ισραηλ

Then Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.  So the physicians embalmed Israel. -- SAAS

The SAAS rejects the LXX’s “embalmers” in favor of the Hebrew-based “physicians.”

Genesis 50.8

καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πανοικία ιωσηφ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκία ἡ πατρικὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν συγγένειαν καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας ὑπελίποντο ἐν γῇ γεσεμ

as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house.  Only their sheep and oxen they left in the land of Goshen. -- SAAS

The LXX mentions Joseph’s kindred after “his father’s house.”  The Hebrew takes note of “their little ones” in the same place.  The SAAS omits them both.

Genesis 50.14

καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν ιωσηφ εἰς αἴγυπτον αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ συναναβάντες θάψαι τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ

After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who went up with him to bury his father. -- SAAS

The Septuagint does not include the phrase, “After he buried his father.”  That phrase is found in the Hebrew.

Genesis 50.18

καὶ ἐλθόντες πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπαν οἵδε ἡμεῖς σοι οἰκέται

Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” -- SAAS

The SAAS translation parallels those made from the Hebrew.  The LXX reads, “And coming to him, they said, ‘We here are your servants.’ ”

Exodus 1.19

εἶπαν δὲ αἱ μαῖαι τῷ φαραω οὐχ ὡς γυναῖκες αἰγύπτου αἱ εβραῖαι τίκτουσιν γὰρ πρὶν ἢ εἰσελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὰς τὰς μαίας καὶ ἔτικτον

Thus the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the women of Egypt; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” -- SAAS

The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew against the LXX in describing the Hebrew women as lively and in omitting the closing remark, “and they were bearing children.”

Exodus 2.3

… καὶ ἔθηκεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ ἕλος παρὰ τὸν ποταμόν

… and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. -- SAAS

The LXX has “marsh” instead of “reeds” (here and in Exodus 2.5) and makes no mention of the river’s brink.  It reads, “and laid it in the marsh by the river.”  Earlier in the verse, the SAAS states that the ark was made of bulrushes, as in the Hebrew.  The corresponding Greek word is defined in Liddell and Scott as a basket plaited from papyrus.

Exodus 2.9

εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἡ θυγάτηρ φαραω διατήρησόν μοι τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο καὶ θήλασόν μοι αὐτό

Pharaoh’s daughter then said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me…” -- SAAS

In the LXX, Pharaoh’s daughter asks Moses’ mother to take care of him, not simply to take him.  The Hebrew seems to imply that Moses’ mother was to take him away.

Exodus 2.14

… μὴ ἀνελεῖν με σὺ θέλεις ὃν τρόπον ἀνεῖλες ἐχθὲς τὸν αἰγύπτιον …

… Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian… -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “yesterday,” present in the LXX.

Exodus 2.15

ἀνεχώρησεν δὲ μωυσῆς ἀπὸ προσώπου φαραω καὶ ᾤκησεν ἐν γῇ μαδιαμ ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς γῆν μαδιαμ ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ τοῦ φρέατος

But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits the words, “and he came to the land of Midian” immediately before “and he sat down …” 

Exodus 2.17

… ἀναστὰς δὲ μωυσῆς ἐρρύσατο αὐτὰς καὶ ἤντλησεν αὐταῖς καὶ ἐπότισεν τὰ πρόβατα αὐτῶν

… but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. -- SAAS

The LXX reads, “and Moses rose up and rescued them, and drew water for them, and watered their sheep” (Brenton). 

Exodis 2.21

… ἐξέδοτο σεπφωραν τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ μωυσῇ γυναῖκα

… he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. -- SAAS

The Greek appends “to wife” or “for a wife,” absent from the Hebrew and the SAAS.

Exodus 3.1

… καὶ ἤγαγεν τὰ πρόβατα ὑπὸ τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος χωρηβ

… Then he led them to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. -- SAAS

The SAAS substitutes “them” for “the sheep.”  Where the LXX has “toward the wilderness” (or “beyond the wilderness” (NETS), or “nigh to the wilderness” (Brenton), or “below the wilderness” (Thomson)), the SAAS has “to the back of the desert,” in agreement with the Hebrew.  In the LXX, the verse ends with “the mountain Choreb” rather than “Horeb, the mountain of God.”  The Hebrew-based NKJV reads, “And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God” (NKJV).

Exodus 3.7

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν …

Then the Lord said …-- SAAS

The SAAS, in agreement with the Hebrew, omits “to Moses.”

Exodus 3.10

καὶ νῦν δεῦρο ἀποστείλω σε πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου …

Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh … -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “king of Egypt” after “Pharaoh.”

Exodus 3.18

καὶ εἰσακούσονταί σου τῆς φωνῆς καὶ εἰσελεύσῃ σὺ καὶ ἡ γερουσία ισραηλ πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου …

Then they will heed your voice; and you shall go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt … -- SAAS

SAAS omits “Pharaoh,” with the Hebrew.  The LXX inserts it immediately before “the king of Egypt.”

Exodus 3.19

ἐγὼ δὲ οἶδα ὅτι οὐ προήσεται ὑμᾶς φαραω βασιλεὺς αἰγύπτου πορευθῆναι ἐὰν μὴ μετὰ χειρὸς κραταιᾶς

But I know Pharaoh king of Egypt will not let you go, not even by a mighty hand. -- SAAS

The LXX says that Pharaoh will not let the children of Israel go except by a might hand.  The SAAS follows the Hebrew here instead of the Greek.

Exodus 4.1

ἀπεκρίθη δὲ μωυσῆς καὶ εἶπεν ἐὰν οὖν μὴ πιστεύσωσίν μοι μηδὲ εἰσακούσωσιν τῆς φωνῆς μου ἐροῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ὦπταί σοι ὁ θεός τί ἐρῶ πρὸς αὐτούς

Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits Moses’ question at the end of the verse, “What shall I say to them?”  In addition, though this is a lesser point, the SAAS omits “me” immediately after believe.

Exodus 4.5

ἵνα πιστεύσωσίν σοι ὅτι ὦπταί σοι κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν θεὸς αβρααμ καὶ θεὸς ισαακ καὶ θεὸς ιακωβ

so that they may believe the Lord God of their fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – appeared to you.” -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “you” immediately after “believe.”  The LXX reads, “so that they may believe you, that the Lord, the God of their fathers … has appeared to you.”

Exodus 4.6

… καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ κόλπου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐγενήθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ χιών

and when he took it out, it was leprous like snow. -- SAAS

The LXX reads, “and brought his hand out of his bosom, and his hand became as snow.”  The NKJV reads, “and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow” (NKJV).  The SAAS is clearly closer to the Hebrew-based NKJV than it is to the Greek.  The SAAS twice replaces the LXX’s “his hand” with “it,” fails to mention “his bosom,” and inserts the adjective “leprous,” absent from the Greek.

Exodus 4.16

καὶ αὐτός σοι προσλαλήσει πρὸς τὸν λαόν καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται σου στόμα σὺ δὲ αὐτῷ ἔσῃ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν

So he shall be your spokesman to the people, and he himself shall be your mouth; and you shall be to him as God. -- SAAS

The SAAS ends this verse with words identical to those found in the Hebrew-based NKJV:  “and you shall be to him as God” (SAAS/NKJV).  The LXX reads, “and thou shalt be for him in things pertaining to God” (Brenton), or “but you shall be to him the things pertaining to God” (NETS).

Exodus 4.20

… καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς αἴγυπτον …

… and he returned to the land of Egypt … -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS inserts “the land of” before “Egypt.”

Exodus 5.2

καὶ εἶπεν φαραω τίς ἐστιν οὗ εἰσακούσομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ὥστε ἐξαποστεῖλαι τοὺς υἱοὺς ισραηλ …

Then Pharaoh said, “Who is He, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? … -- SAAS

The SAAS (and the Hebrew) omit “the sons of” before “Israel.”

Exodus 5.3

… πορευσόμεθα οὖν ὁδὸν τριῶν ἡμερῶν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον …

… Let us go three days’ journey into the desert … -- SAAS

The LXX reads, “We will go therefore a three days’ journey into the wilderness.”  The SAAS agrees with the Hebrew.

Exodus 5.5

καὶ εἶπεν φαραω ἰδοὺ νῦν πολυπληθεῖ ὁ λαός …

Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now …” -- SAAS

In accord with the Hebrew, the SAAS inserts “of the land,” absent from the Greek, after “people.”

Exodus 5.20

συνήντησαν δὲ μωυσῇ καὶ ααρων ἐρχομένοις εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἐκπορευομένων αὐτῶν ἀπὸ φαραω

Then as they departed from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who stood there to meet them. -- SAAS

In the LXX, the scribes (clerks) met Moses and Aaron, who came to meet them.  In the Hebrew, and in the SAAS, Moses and Aaron stood to meet them.

Exodus 6.5

… καὶ ἐμνήσθην τῆς διαθήκης ὑμῶν

… and I remembered My covenant. -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS reads “My covenant” rather than “your covenant,” as in the LXX.

Exodus 6.13

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν καὶ ααρων καὶ συνέταξεν αὐτοῖς πρὸς φαραω βασιλέα αἰγύπτου ὥστε ἐξαποστεῖλαι τοὺς υἱοὺς ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου

Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to send forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. -- SAAS

The SAAS follows the Hebrew in inserting the words “for the children of Israel and,” which do not appear in the Septuagint.

Exodus 6.15

… καὶ σαουλ ὁ ἐκ τῆς φοινίσσης …

… and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. … -- SAAS

The Septuagint has “Phoenician” rather than “Canaanite.”  The Hebrew has Canaanite.  (It is true, of course, that Phoenician was a Canaanite language.)

Exodus 6.20

… τὰ δὲ ἔτη τῆς ζωῆς αμβραμ ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα δύο ἔτη

… and Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. -- SAAS

Rahlfs’ Septuagint reads “one hundred and thirty-two” years.  The Hebrew has 137.  Codex Alexandrinus and the NETS have 136.  (It is curious that the SAAS follows the Hebrew for Amram’s age after successfully translating the Greek in two instances earlier in the same verse.  First, the SAAS ignores the statement in the Hebrew text that Amram married his aunt (his father’s sister).  Second, the SAAS includes “and Miriam their sister,” absent from the Hebrew.)

Exodus 7.7

… ἡνίκα ἐλάλησεν πρὸς φαραω

… when they spoke to Pharaoh. -- SAAS

Following the Hebrew, the SAAS has “they spoke.”  The LXX reads, “he spoke.”

Exodus 7.9

… λαβὲ τὴν ῥάβδον καὶ ῥῖψον αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐναντίον φαραω καὶ ἐναντίον τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔσται δράκων

… Take your rod and cast it on the ground before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. -- SAAS

The SAAS comports with the Hebrew but not with the Greek in omitting “and before his servants” immediately after “Pharaoh.” 

    Ignoring a minor discrepancy in 7.11, I proceed to 7.28:

Exodus 7.28 (8.3 in the Hebrew)

…καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς φυράμασίν σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς κλιβάνοις σου

… on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. -- SAAS

The LXX translates as “and of your people and in your dough and in your ovens.”  The SAAS here appears to be identical to the NKJV.

Exodus 7.29 (8.4)

καὶ ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς θεράποντάς σου καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν λαόν σου ἀναβήσονται οἱ βάτραχοι

The frogs shall come up on you, your people, and all your servants. -- SAAS

The SAAS follows the Hebrew order in placing “people” before “servants.” 

Exodus 8.2

(8.6)

καὶ ἐξέτεινεν ααρων τὴν χεῖρα ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα αἰγύπτου καὶ ἀνήγαγεν τοὺς βατράχους καὶ ἀνεβιβάσθη ὁ βάτραχος καὶ ἐκάλυψεν τὴν γῆν αἰγύπτου

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “and brought up the frogs,” present in the Greek immediately before “and the frogs came up.”  In addition, in the Greek, the second mention of “frogs” is singular – “the frog was brought up and covered the land of Egypt.”

    In this verse, the SAAS is identical to the NKJV.

Exodus 8.7 (8.11)

καὶ περιαιρεθήσονται οἱ βάτραχοι ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν ὑμῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπαύλεων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν θεραπόντων σου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ σου πλὴν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ ὑπολειφθήσονται

Now the frogs shall depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people.  They shall remain in the river only. -- SAAS

In agreement with the Hebrew, the SAAS omits “and from the villages,” present in the Greek immediately after “and from your houses.”

Exodus 8.8 (8.12)

ἐξῆλθεν δὲ μωυσῆς καὶ ααρων ἀπὸ φαραω καὶ ἐβόησεν μωυσῆς πρὸς κύριον περὶ τοῦ ὁρισμοῦ τῶν βατράχων ὡς ἐτάξατο φαραω

Then Moses and Aaron departed from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the time He had agreed to, concerning the frogs He had brought against Pharaoh. -- SAAS

The LXX translates as “And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao, and Moses cried unto the Lord concerning the restriction of the frogs, as Pharao appointed.”  The NETS has “Then Moyses and Aaron went out from Pharao, and Moyses cried to the Lord about the curtailing of the frogs, as he had arranged with Pharao” (NETS). 

    Apart from the insertion of “about the time He had agreed to,” the SAAS is very close to the NKJV:  “Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh.  And Moses cried out to the LORD concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh” (NKJV).

    The capitalization of “He” in “about the time He had agreed to” is questionable.  Do the translators mean that God had already agreed to Pharaoh’s request that the plague of frogs end “tomorrow” (verse 6)?  Or do they intend to deify Pharaoh?

Exodus 8.12 (8.16)

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν εἰπὸν ααρων ἔκτεινον τῇ χειρὶ τὴν ῥάβδον σου καὶ πάταξον τὸ χῶμα τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔσονται σκνῖφες ἔν τε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ ἐν τοῖς τετράποσιν καὶ ἐν πάσῃ γῇ αἰγύπτου

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land, that it may become lice on men, on four-footed animals, and thoughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” -- SAAS

Rather than simply “Stretch out your rod” the LXX has “Stretch out your rod with your hand.” 

    In the LXX, Moses is commanded to tell Aaron to strike the mounds – not the dust -- of the earth (or of the land).  “Then the Lord said to Moyses … strike the levees of earth …” (NETS).

    The differences between the LXX and the SAAS are in the direction of the NKJV, which reads, “So the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt’ ” (NKJV).  The SAAS diverges from the NKJV in mentioning lice on men and on quadrupeds.

[The Greek word σκνῖφες can be translated as gnat, flea, or louse.  NETS uses “gnat.”  The Hebrew word given here as “lice” is translated “gnats” in some versions.]

Exodus 9.4

καὶ παραδοξάσω ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν αἰγυπτίων καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ οὐ τελευτήσει ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν τοῦ ισραηλ υἱῶν ῥητόν

Then I will make a clear distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.  So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel. -- SAAS

The SAAS replaces “sons of Israel” with Israel and “Egyptians” with “Egypt.”  It also reverses their order.  The SAAS agrees with the NKJV in these points.

Exodus 9.5

καὶ ἔδωκεν ὁ θεὸς ὅρον λέγων ἐν τῇ αὔριον ποιήσει κύριος τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Then God appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” -- SAAS

While the Septuagint depicts God as setting a “limit,” the SAAS follows the Hebrew in introducing a “set time.”

Exodus 9.7

ἰδὼν δὲ φαραω ὅτι οὐκ ἐτελεύτησεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν υἱῶν ισραηλ οὐδέν …

Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one among the cattle of the Israelites was dead.  ... -- SAAS

In the LXX, this verse begins, “And when Pharao saw that of all the cattle of the children of Israel there died not one.”  In the Hebrew-based NKJV, this verse begins, “Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead” (NKJV).

Exodus 9.8

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν καὶ ααρων λέγων λάβετε ὑμεῖς πλήρεις τὰς χεῖρας αἰθάλης καμιναίας καὶ πασάτω μωυσῆς εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐναντίον φαραω καὶ ἐναντίον τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ

So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh; -- SAAS

The SAAS omits “and before his servants” at the end of the verse.  The Hebrew also omits these words.

Exodus 9.17

ἔτι οὖν σὺ ἐμποιῇ τοῦ λαοῦ μου τοῦ μὴ ἐξαποστεῖλαι αὐτούς

As yet, you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. -- SAAS

Brenton translates this verse as “Dost thou then yet exert thyself to hinder my people, so as not to let them go?”  NETS provides this translation:  “Still then you hold on to my people so as not to send them away” (NETS).  I prefer, “Dost thou then yet lay claim to my people, so as not to send them away?”  The notion of exaltation is not present in the Greek, but appears in the Hebrew.  Apart from a comma, the NKJV and the SAAS are identical.

    Incidentally, the footnote in the OSB Old Testament at 9.17 is based on the erroneous SAAS translation.

Exodus 9.21

ὃς δὲ μὴ προσέσχεν τῇ διανοίᾳ εἰς τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου ἀφῆκεν τὰ κτήνη ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις

But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and cattle in the field, -- SAAS

The Septuagint omits the words “servants and,” though they are present in the Hebrew.  (“Regard” as a translation of the Greek προσέσχεν τῇ διανοίᾳ, should perhaps be replaced with “attend in the mind to.”  True, the English is awkward, but it reflects the detail in the Greek.)

Exodus 9.22

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ ἔσται χάλαζα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν αἰγύπτου ἐπί τε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰ κτήνη καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν βοτάνην τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt – both on man and cattle, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” -- SAAS

The LXX ends the verse with “and on all herbage on the land.”  The Hebrew-based NKJV ends as follows:  “and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 9.23

ἐξέτεινεν δὲ μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν …

So Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven … -- SAAS

The SAAS opts for “rod,” found in the Hebrew, over “hand,” present in the Greek.

    Passing rapidly by a minor discrepancy in verse 24 (the SAAS has “land of Egypt” instead of “Egypt”), we proceed to Exodus 10.1.

Exodus 10.1

εἶπεν δὲ κύριος πρὸς μωυσῆν λέγων εἴσελθε πρὸς φαραω ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐσκλήρυνα αὐτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ ἵνα ἑξῆς ἐπέλθῃ τὰ σημεῖα ταῦτα ἐπ' αὐτούς

Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that these signs may come upon them. -- SAAS

The SAAS fails to translate the word ἑξῆς , “in succession,” or “in order.”

Exodus 10.4

ἐὰν δὲ μὴ θέλῃς σὺ ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν λαόν μου ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ταύτην τὴν ὥραν αὔριον ἀκρίδα πολλὴν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ὅριά σου

Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring an abundance of locusts into your territory. -- SAAS

Following the Hebrew, the SAAS omits the words “at this hour” immediately before “tomorrow.”

Exodus 10.5

… καὶ κατέδεται πᾶν ξύλον τὸ φυόμενον ὑμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

… and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. -- SAAS

Instead of ending the verse with “on the land” with the LXX, the SAAS follows the Hebrew reading, “out of the field.”

Exodus 10.6

καὶ πλησθήσονταί σου αἱ οἰκίαι καὶ αἱ οἰκίαι τῶν θεραπόντων σου καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ οἰκίαι ἐν πάσῃ γῇ τῶν αἰγυπτίων …

They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians … -- SAAS

Rahlfs’ Septuagint translates as, “And your houses shall be filled, and the houses of your servants, and all the houses in all the land of the Egyptians …”  In the portion of the verse quoted, the SAAS is identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV.  (The NETS is based on Wevers’ LXX text in Exodus.  As a consequence, their translation differs slightly from that given above.  Instead of “the land of the Egyptians,” the NETS has “the land of Egypt” (NETS), apparently following the Alexandrian manuscript.)

Exodus 10.7

… ἢ εἰδέναι βούλει ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν αἴγυπτος

… Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed? -- SAAS

The SAAS here is identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV.  The LXX translates as, “Or do you wish to know that Egypt is destroyed?” (NETS)

Exodus 10.8

καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν τόν τε μωυσῆν καὶ ααρων πρὸς φαραω …

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh … -- SAAS

The SAAS is in the passive voice, with the Hebrew.  But the LXX is active and translates as, “And they brought back both Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh …”

Exodus 10.9

… ἔστιν γὰρ ἑορτὴ κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν

… for we must hold a feast to the Lord. -- SAAS

The SAAS is identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV.  The LXX has, “for it is a feast of the Lord our God.”

Exodus 10.12

… καὶ κατέδεται πᾶσαν βοτάνην τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντα τὸν καρπὸν τῶν ξύλων ὃν ὑπελίπετο ἡ χάλαζα

… and eat every herb of the land – everything the hail left. -- SAAS

The LXX translates as, “and it shall devour every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees, which the hail left.”  The SAAS is close to the Hebrew-based NKJV, which reads, “and eat every herb of the land – all that the hail has left” (NKJV).

Exodus 10.22

ἐξέτεινεν δὲ μωυσῆς τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν καὶ ἐγένετο σκότος γνόφος θύελλα ἐπὶ πᾶσαν γῆν αἰγύπτου τρεῖς ἡμέρας

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. -- SAAS

The Septuagint translates as, “And Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was darkness, blackness, tempest over all the land of Egypt three days.”  The SAAS appears identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV.

Exodus 10.24

καὶ ἐκάλεσεν φαραω μωυσῆν καὶ ααρων λέγων …

Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said … -- SAAS

With the Hebrew, the SAAS fails to mention Aaron.  The LXX translates as, “And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, saying …”

    Passing by a minor discrepancy in 10.28, we proceed to 10.29.

Exodus 10.29

λέγει δὲ μωυσῆς εἴρηκας οὐκέτι ὀφθήσομαί σοι εἰς πρόσωπον

So Moses said, “You have spoken well.  I will never see your face again.” -- SAAS

The NETS translation of the Greek reads, “Then Moyses says, You have spoken!  I shall no longer appear to you in person” (NETS).  (The Greek verb is passive.)  The SAAS appears identical to the Hebrew-based NKJV.

Exodus 11.2

λάλησον οὖν κρυφῇ εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ αἰτησάτω ἕκαστος παρὰ τοῦ πλησίον καὶ γυνὴ παρὰ τῆς πλησίον σκεύη ἀργυρᾶ καὶ χρυσᾶ καὶ ἱματισμόν

Speak now secretly in the hearing of this people, and let everyone ask from his neighbor articles of silver and gold and clothing. -- SAAS

The SAAS omits “and a woman from her neighbor,” immediately before “articles.”  As these words aren’t in Codex Vaticanus, Brenton also omits them.  But they are present in Rahlfs’ text. 

Numbers 23.19

οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρωπος ὁ θεὸς διαρτηθῆναι οὐδὲ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀπειληθῆναι αὐτὸς εἴπας οὐχὶ ποιήσει λαλήσει καὶ οὐχὶ ἐμμενεῖ

God is not like a man, to be deceived, nor like a son of man, to be threatened.  Would He, having spoken, not act?  Or shall He speak, and not stand by it?-- SAAS

The SAAS translation is superior to Brenton’s, who has “to waver” for SAAS’s “to be deceived.”  The primary meaning of διαρτηθῆναι is “to be suspended.”  Lactantius (Divine Institutes 4.18) and Cyprian before him (Treatise 12.20) saw here a prophecy of Christ, who would be suspended (crucified), but not with impunity, as though he were a mere man.  Lactantius coupled this verse to the prediction of Israel’s destruction given in 3K 9.6-9: “But Solomon … prophesied that this very city [Jerusalem] would perish in revenge for the sacred cross.”

    Consequently, my translation is, “Not like a man is God suspended, nor like a son of man does he suffer threats.”

Deuteronomy 28.66

καὶ ἔσται ἡ ζωή σου κρεμαμένη ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου καὶ φοβηθήσῃ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς καὶ οὐ πιστεύσεις τῇ ζωῇ σου

Your Life shall hang before your eyes; and you shall fear day and night, and you will not believe in your Life. -- SAAS

This is an excellent, literal translation.  The prophetic message of the verse, obscure in Brenton and Thompson, is apparent here.  (The footnote is also praiseworthy.)

Deuteronomy 32.43

… ὅτι τὸ αἷμα τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκδικᾶται

καὶ ἐκδικήσει καὶ ἀνταποδώσει δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς

καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἀνταποδώσει

 καὶ ἐκκαθαριεῖ κύριος τὴν γῆν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ

… For He will avenge the blood of His sons

And render vengeance to His adversaries;

And the Lord will purify His people’s land. -- SAAS

Most significantly, the SAAS fails to translate καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἀνταποδώσει --“and will reward them that hate him” (Brenton), “to them that hate Him He will render retribution” (Thomson), “and he will repay those who hate” (NETS).  The NKJV also omits this line.

    In addition, the SAAS presents an abbreviated translation of the second line:  καὶ ἐκδικήσει καὶ ἀνταποδώσει δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς.  Here, Brenton has, “and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies.”  Thomson is similar, while NETS choses to render δίκην as “with a sentence”:  “and take revenge and repay the enemies with a sentence” (NETS).

    The SAAS is quite close to the NKJV here, except at the end.  It reads, “For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries:  He will provide atonement for His land and His people” (NKJV).

Joshua 12.16-22

16 βασιλέα μακηδα

17 βασιλέα ταφουγ βασιλέα οφερ

18 βασιλέα αφεκ τῆς σαρων

19 βασιλέα ασωρ

20 βασιλέα συμοων βασιλέα μαρρων βασιλέα αζιφ

21 βασιλέα καδης βασιλέα ταναχ

22 βασιλέα μαγεδων βασιλέα ιεκοναμ τοῦ χερμελ

16 the king of Makkedah, the king of Bethel,

17 the king of Tappuah, the king of Hepher,

18 the king of Aphek, the king of Lasharon,

19 the king of Madon, the king of Hazor,

20 the king of Shimron Meron, the king of Achshaph,

21 the king of Taanach, the king of Megiddo,

22 the king of Kadesh, the king of Jokneam in Carmel -- SAAS

The list of kings in the SAAS agrees with that given in the Hebrew-based NKJV.  The LXX list excludes the kings of Bethel, Lasharon, and Madon, but it inserts a new king, that of Marron.  In addition, the SAAS adopts the Hebrew rather than the Greek order for the kings listed in verses 21 and 22.

Joshua 12.24

βασιλέα θαρσα πάντες οὗτοι βασιλεῖς εἴκοσι ἐννέα

And the king of Tirzah – all these kings equaled thirty-one. -- SAAS

The LXX has “twenty-nine” kings, not “thirty-one.”  The Hebrew has thirty-one.  The SAAS presents the list of kings as it appears in the NKJV, but the list in Rahlfs’ Septuagint differs.  See the entry immediately above.

1 Kingdoms 21.14 (1 Sam 21.13)

καὶ ἠλλοίωσεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεποιήσατο ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἐτυμπάνιζεν ἐπὶ ταῖς θύραις τῆς πόλεως καὶ παρεφέρετο ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπιπτεν ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς πύλης καὶ τὰ σίελα αὐτοῦ κατέρρει ἐπὶ τὸν πώγωνα αὐτοῦ

So he changed his appearance before him and pretended to be mad on that day.  He pounded on the doors of the city and acted like a madman with his hands, falling down upon the door of the gate and letting his saliva drip down on his beard. – SAAS

The SAAS phrase “to be mad” is not in the Greek, but inserting it here clarifies the sense.  Similarly, and more significantly, the phrase SAAS translates with “acted like a madman with his hands” is, literally, “he carried in his hands” or “he was carried in his hands.”  Perhaps a footnote giving a formal translation would be appropriate here.  J.N.D. Kelly (Early Christian Doctrines, pg. 447) notes that Ambrose (Enarr. in ps. 33.1.10) related this passage to the Eucharist:  “Christ was carried in His hands when He offered His very body and said, ‘This is my body.’ ”

3 Kingdoms 22.38 (1 Kings 22.38)

καὶ ἀπένιψαν τὸ ἅρμα ἐπὶ τὴν κρήνην σαμαρείας καὶ ἐξέλειξαν αἱ ὕες καὶ οἱ κύνες τὸ αἷμα καὶ αἱ πόρναι ἐλούσαντο ἐν τῷ αἵματι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου ὃ ἐλάλησεν

They also bathed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs and the swine licked up his blood while the prostitutes bathed, according to the words the Lord spoke. -- SAAS

The SAAS fails to translate the words “in the blood.”  According to the Septuagint, the prostitutes didn’t simply bathe, they bathed “in the blood” of Ahab.  The Hebrew also omits “in the blood.” 

    The SAAS reverses the order of the dogs and the swine, for no apparent reason.

1 Maccabees 12.9

ἡμεῖς οὖν ἀπροσδεεῖς τούτων ὄντες παράκλησιν ἔχοντες τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια τὰ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἡμῶν

Therefore, although we do not need these things, since we have the holy books in our hands -- SAAS

The Authorized Version reads, “Therefore we also, albeit we need none of these things, that we have the holy books of scripture in our hands to comfort us.”  Similarly, the New Revised Standard Version has, “Therefore, although we have no need of these things, since we have as encouragement the holy books that are in our hands” (NRSV).  It appears that the SAAS failed to translate the Greek word παράκλησιν.  (A form of this word gives us the name Comforter (John 14.16 and elsewhere) for the Holy Spirit, translated Helper in the NKJV.) 

    Why is this omission important?  Apart from showing a lack of attention to detail, the absence of the idea of “comfort” in this verse removes all possibility that the reader would be reminded of Romans 15.4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

Ps 118.67 (119.67)

πρὸ τοῦ με ταπεινωθῆναι ἐγὼ ἐπλημμέλησα διὰ τοῦτο τὸ λόγιόν σου ἐφύλαξα

Before I was humbled, I transgressed; therefore I kept your teaching. -- SAAS

Brenton used “afflicted” for the verb SAAS renders “humbled.”  The same Greek verb is used in Philippians 2.8 to describe Christ’s submission to death on the cross (“He humbled himself”).  SAAS is thus consistent with the New Testament, and so permits the reader insight into the motive for Origen’s mistaken view (On First Principles, 2.8.3) that Ps 118.67 refers to each person’s transgression in heaven before being tied to a mortal body, and thus being humiliated. 

Job 14.4, 5

τίς γὰρ καθαρὸς ἔσται ἀπὸ ῥύπου ἀλλ' οὐθείς ἐὰν καὶ μία ἡμέρα ὁ βίος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀριθμητοὶ δὲ μῆνες αὐτοῦ παρὰ σοί εἰς χρόνον ἔθου καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπερβῇ

For who can be pure from uncleanness?  No one.  Even if his life is but one day upon the earth, his months are numbered by you.  You appointed a time for him, and he cannot exceed it. – SAAS

Those who opposed the Pelagian heresy quoted this passage against them in this sense:  “For who can be pure from uncleanness?  No one, even if his life is but one day upon the earth.”  It was taken as evidence that even newborn babies are afflicted by sin.  See, for instance, Blessed Augustine’s On Man’s Perfection in Righteousness, chapter 23.  Earlier, Origen used the verse to explain why the Israelites were commanded to make sacrifices for newborn children (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, book 5, quoted in Wall’s Infant Baptism, Volume 1).  The SAAS translation, though compatible with the historic interpretation, weakens the point by decoupling “no one” from “even if his life is but one day upon the earth.”  It also fails to translate explicitly the conjunction “δὲ,” meaning “but” or “and,” which the Greek places between “even if his life is but one day upon the earth” and “his months are numbered by you.”  A preferable translation might read:  “For who can be pure from uncleanness?  No one, even if his life is but one day upon the earth.  But his months are numbered by you:  You appointed a time for him, and he cannot exceed it.”  Clement paraphrased the first half of the passage in this sense in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 17 (dated to about 95 A.D.).  See also St. Cyprian’s Treatises, treatise 12, book 3, testimony 54; and the Apostolic Constitutions, book 2, section 3, paragraph 18.

Proverbs 8.35

αἱ γὰρ ἔξοδοί μου ἔξοδοι ζωῆς καὶ ἑτοιμάζεται θέλησις παρὰ κυρίου

For my issues are the issues of life, and grace is prepared from the Lord. – SAAS

This is 8.34 in SAAS.  The translation of ἔξοδοί is puzzling, given the connotations of “issues” in modern English.  Brenton’s “outgoings” is better.  But the more serious concern here is the SAAS’s use of “grace” for θέλησις.  The word commonly means “willing” or “will” (e.g., Heb 2.4), though it could mean goodwill or favor.  A more literal translation, then, reads:  “For my outgoings are the outgoings of life, and the will is prepared from the Lord.”  Blessed Augustine (Against Two Letters of the Pelagians, 4.12) quoted the verse to demonstrate that man’s good will does not merit grace  Instead, God “prepares even that good will itself of whom it is written, ‘The will is prepared by the Lord.’ ”  If, however, the SAAS translators were motivated by a desire to defend the freedom of the will, then “favor” is preferable to “grace.”  A different Greek word (χάρις) is translated “grace” in the Orthodox Study Bible New Testament.

Hosea 12.5

ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ων εὕροσάν με καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτόν

They found Me in Bethel, and there a word was spoken to them. -- SAAS

“Bethel” does not appear in the Greek, though it is present in the Hebrew.  The Greek seems to read “the house of On.”  (Personally, I would have followed the Alexandrian manuscript at this point:  “They found me in my house, and there a word was spoken to him.”  Tertullian’s Latin text read this way; he saw here a reference to Christ’s appearances in the temple (Against Marcion, 4.39).)

    The SAAS also diverts from Rahlfs’ text at the end of the verse, following Brenton and the Vatican manuscript with “spoken to them” rather than “spoken to him.”

Joel 2.25

καὶ ἀνταποδώσω ὑμῖν ἀντὶ τῶν ἐτῶν ὧν κατέφαγεν ἡ ἀκρὶς καὶ ὁ βροῦχος καὶ ἡ ἐρυσίβη καὶ ἡ κάμπη ἡ δύναμίς μου ἡ μεγάλη ἣν ἐξαπέστειλα εἰς ὑμᾶς

And I will restore to you the years the grasshopper and the locust have eaten, and for the blight, and the caterpillar, even for My great army, which I sent against you. -- SAAS

Unfortunately, SAAS followed Brenton in translating δύναμίς with “army.”  “Power” would have been better.  According to St. Athanasius (Defence of the Nicene Definition 20), the Arians at the council of Nicea (325 A.D.) deceitfully agreed to call the Son “the Power of God” (1 Corinthians 1.24) because creatures such as palmerworms were also called His power. 

Habakkuk 3.2

… ἐν μέσῳ δύο ζῴων γνωσθήσῃ …

… You shall be known between the two living creatures. … -- SAAS

The SAAS accurately translates Rahlfs’ text.  However, it is possible to accent ζῴων in another way, leading to a rather different interpretation:  “You shall be known between the two lives.”  St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who read the verse this second way, saw it as a prophecy of Christ:  “And what is the sign, O prophet, of the Lord’s coming?  And presently he saith, In the midst of two lives shalt thou be known, plainly saying this to the Lord:  ‘Having come in the flesh thou livest and diest, and after rising from the dead thou livest again.’ ” (Catechetical Lectures 12.20).  A footnote describing the alternate reading could have been provided.

    Eusebius read the verse as Cyril did, but viewed the two lives as Christ’s human and divine existence.  See his Demonstratio Evangelica 6.15.

Malachi 3.22, 23 (4.5, 6)

καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω ὑμῖν ηλιαν τὸν θεσβίτην πρὶν ἐλθεῖν ἡμέραν κυρίου τὴν μεγάλην καὶ ἐπιφανῆ ' ὃς ἀποκαταστήσει καρδίαν πατρὸς πρὸς υἱὸν καὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ μὴ ἔλθω καὶ πατάξω τὴν γῆν ἄρδην

Behold, I will send you Elijah before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And he will turn the heart of the father to his son, and a man’s heart to his neighbor, lest I come and strike the earth completely. -- SAAS

In Mark 9.12, the Lord is quoted as saying, “Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all things:  and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be set at nought?”  (See also Matthew 17.11.)  Why is Elijah associated with restoration?  The answer seems to be in Malachi 3.23.  The Greek verb ἀποκαταστήσει translated “turn” by SAAS is the same verb “restoreth” in the New Testament verses.  St. John Chrysostom, reading both passages in Greek, clearly made the connection, but one would be hard-pressed to accomplish this given SAAS’s translation.  (See the saint’s Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, homily 57.)  Incidentally, SAAS gets it right in Sirach 48.10.

    In addition, it isn’t clear why SAAS omits the words “the Thesbite” immediately following Elijah.  Neither Rahlfs nor the Cambridge Septuagint shows a textual variant omitting those words.

Isaiah 7.9

καὶ ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσητε οὐδὲ μὴ συνῆτε

and if you do not believe this, neither will you understand it. -- SAAS

“This” and “it” are not in the Greek.  By supplying these pronouns, SAAS restricts what could otherwise be taken as a general principle (understanding requires belief) into a statement about a specific prophecy regarding Samaria, how that kingdom would go out of existence in 75 years.  Blessed Augustine (e.g., On the Gospel of John 27.7) employed it as a general principle.

Isaiah 45.14, 15

οὕτως λέγει κύριος σαβαωθ ἐκοπίασεν αἴγυπτος … καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι καὶ ἐν σοὶ προσεύξονται ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ θεός ἐστιν καὶ ἐροῦσιν οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς πλὴν σοῦ σὺ γὰρ εἶ θεός καὶ οὐκ ᾔδειμεν ὁ θεὸς τοῦ ισραηλ σωτήρ

Thus says the Lord of hosts:  “Egypt labored for you … They shall bow down and make supplication to you, because God is with you; and they shall say, ‘There is no God besides You.  For You are God, the God of Israel, the Savior, yet we knew it not.’ …” -- SAAS

It is curious that the SAAS does not include a footnote remarking on the early Christian interpretation of these verses.  For Lactantius (Divine Institutes 4.13) the “you” in this passage is Christ, whom the Gentiles worship as God.  This proves “that the Father and the Son are but one God” (Divine Institutes 4.29).  In like manner, St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote: “Thou seest that the Son is God, having in Himself God the Father: saying almost the very same which He has said in the Gospels: ‘The Father is in Me, and I am in the Father’ (John 14.11).”  See also St. Athanasius, Discourse II Against the Arians, chapter 23, who quoted this passage to prove that Christ is to be worshiped, and must be God, because “to God alone appertains worship.”  Following St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. Athanasius, “you” should be capitalized throughout, and not just in the latter half of the passage.

    In addition, with its reading of “God is with you” rather than “God is in You,” (note the case of the letter y) the SAAS could encourage a Nestorian interpretation of the passage:  God is with the human Jesus (“you”), and the God who is with him is “You,” the “God, the God of Israel,” besides whom there is no other.  St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote (Commentary on John 1.9): “But he says not that the Word came into flesh but that It was made Flesh, that you may not suppose that He came to it as in the case of the Prophets or other of the Saints by participation, but did Himself become actual Flesh, that is man:  for so we just now said. Wherefore He is also God by Nature in Flesh and with Flesh, as having it His own, and conceived of as being Other than it, and worshipped in it and with it, according to what is written in the prophet Isaiah.”  He then quotes a portion of this passage from Isaiah, including “God is in You,” and continues:  “Lo they say that God is in Him, not severing the Flesh from the Word; and again they affirm that there is none other God save He, uniting to the Word that which He bears about Him, as His very own, that is the temple of the Virgin:  for He is One Christ of Both.”

Jeremiah 12.7

ἐγκαταλέλοιπα τὸν οἶκόν μου ἀφῆκα τὴν κληρονομίαν μου ἔδωκα τὴν ἠγαπημένην ψυχήν μου εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν αὐτῆς

I forsook My house and left My inheritance. I gave My beloved inheritance into the hands of its enemies. - SAAS

The Greek word translated “inheritance” in the second sentence is plainly ψυχήν, “soul” or “life.”  SAAS’s odd use of “inheritance” for “soul” requires the forsaken inheritance (first sentence) and the beloved given into the hands of the enemies (second sentence) to be the same entity, presumably Israel.  The Apostolic Constitutions (6.1.5), interpreted the first portion of the verse (the forsaken) as follows:  “For the wicked synagogue is now cast off by the Lord God, as his house is rejected by him.”  But St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his Commentary on John (4.5), applied the second portion of this verse (the beloved) to Christ.  He wrote, “For Christ’s being made an outcast because of the impiety of them that persecute Him, and going away among the Galileans, how is it not plainly the giving up of His Own Soul into the hands of her enemies?  For the Gentiles are Christ’s enemies, in that they do service to another and worship the creature instead of the Creator, because they had not yet received the faith in Him.”  (In this commentary, Cyril characterized Christ’s departures from Judea as a type of his forsaking of the Jews.  This fact implies that he concurred with the Apostolic Constitutions:  the Jews were the forsaken house.)  The SAAS translation thus requires the Apostolic Constitutions and St. Cyril to disagree, since the “inheritance” cannot be both “the wicked synagogue” and Christ.  In fact, the SAAS footnote on this verse implies that Christ is the inheritance, thus excluding the Apostolic Constitutions’ viewpoint.  [I realize that the Apostolic Constitutions were rejected by the second canon of the Council in Trullo, but that canon hardly rejects everything contained within them.]

Lamentations 4.20

πνεῦμα προσώπου ἡμῶν χριστὸς κυρίου

The breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord …-- SAAS

The SAAS translation is not inaccurate.  However, the same Greek word (πνεῦμα) can be translated spirit or wind or breath.  Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.10.2) and Ambrose (On the Holy Spirit 1.9) saw this verse as proof that Christ is a spirit.  A footnote providing the alternate meaning would be helpful.

Ezekiel 10.13

τοῖς δὲ τροχοῖς τούτοις ἐπεκλήθη γελγελ ἀκούοντός μου

As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “wheel.” -- SAAS

The OSB footnote to this verse acknowledges that the LXX transliterates the Hebrew word glgl as “Gelgel” and employs it as a proper noun.  But the footnote does not explain why the SAAS then proceeds to translate it.  Brenton’s translation reads, “And these wheels were called Gelgel in my hearing.”  Thomson’s translation is similar, and he provides a footnote stating that the Chaldean word “Galgal” means “wheel or rolling thing; whirlwind.”  In any revision of the SAAS, I would prefer to see Thomson’s approach followed (leaving “Gelgel” in the text and providing its meaning in a footnote).

    Apart from the fact that the NKJV capitalizes “wheel,” it and the SAAS are identical.

^… I am, however, puzzled by the omission of “in the wilderness” in the NETS at the end of Exodus 8.16 (8.20).  No textual variants deleting that phrase are listed in either Rahlfs or the Cambridge Septuagint.

* St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint

Scripture taken from the St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint^TM.  Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

For scripture passages followed by “(NKJV)” the following notice applies:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

For quotations from A New English Translation of the Septuagint:

Quotations marked NETS are taken from A New English Translation of the Septuagint, ©2007 by the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Inc.  Used by permission of Oxford University Press.  All rights reserved.

For the scripture passage followed by “(NRSV)” the following notice applies:

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.

This book review was first prepared 23 August 2008.