0

I searched in the LXX, OT massoretic text but I didn't find one place where we have a such "only" equivalent in scripture, yet J.C seems to cite it as a scripture !

If you have any answer on that !

(I wonder what the targumim says about that?)

Thanks. Gustav.

gustav.b
  • 105
  • 1
  • 8
  • Who are "euthiopans"? Do you mean "Ethiopians"? – Dottard Mar 09 '23 at 09:29
  • If you summarize Deut. 6:13-15 then "only" is appropriate. What follows v13: You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. (Deut 6:14–15, ESV) – Perry Webb Mar 09 '23 at 11:00
  • The Shema is also in Deut. 6:4. Considering Deut. 6:16 and 8:3., Jesus quoted exclusively from Deuteronomy. – Perry Webb Mar 09 '23 at 11:07
  • @monitor - I was reprimanded for using more than one scripture verse in a question. Has that practice now changed, as is evident in this question? I'm trying to be "according to Hoyle." Help! – ray grant Mar 11 '23 at 00:25
  • @Dottard, yes I meant "Ethiopians", sorry for the error. – gustav.b Mar 14 '23 at 11:59

2 Answers2

3

Matt 4:10 says (BLB):

Then Jesus says to him, "Get you away, Satan! For it has been written: 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone [μόνος] shall you serve.'"

This appears to quote Deut 6:13 -

[Hebrew] You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. (NASB)

The LXX text varies at this point, for example we have:

[Swete] Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου φοβηθήσῃ καὶ αὐτῷ λατρεύσεις, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν κολληθήσῃ, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ὀμῇ. = Fear the Lord your God and serve Him; and you shall cleave to Him, and in His name shall you swear.

[Ellopos] Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου φοβηθήσῃ καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν κολληθήσῃ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ὀμῇ. = You shall fear the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve; and you shall cleave to Him, and by His name thou shall swear.

It appears that Jesus, in Matt 4:10, quoted the latter form of the LXX. [The LXX is far from uniform!]

I also note that the word "only" [μόνος] is absent from Deut 10:20 in the LXX.

Dottard
  • 104,076
  • 4
  • 44
  • 149
  • Thanks! thus does that mean that we should actually put our faith in the LXX instead of the massoretic text? – gustav.b Mar 08 '23 at 22:12
  • 2
    @gustav.b - we should put our trust in the Bible. The inspired NT writers sometimes paraphrased the OT and sometimes quoted the MT over the LXX and sometimes changed things completely. Just accept the Bible as it is. – Dottard Mar 08 '23 at 22:26
  • I see ... please, would you have information about this Ellopos LXX ? I struggled a bit to find some .. (and by the way would you know a fast way to do searches on [all] LXXs ?) – gustav.b Mar 08 '23 at 22:39
  • @gustav.b - see https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/ – Dottard Mar 08 '23 at 23:16
  • 1
    Use theword.net free bible software, and www.mybible.zone for phone. They have English LXX translations. https://biblewebapp.com/study/ also has LXX english. Focus on the MEANING not the text. The NT authors and Jesus focused on meaning. They did not use a software to quote or copy text. The NT authors relied not only on LXX but even created doctrines based on LXX such as the virgin birth narrative. Monos exists in mono-theism. – Michael16 Mar 09 '23 at 10:13
0

Ok, so I have some answers propositions :

  1. The LXX has exactly, word for word, what J.C said in Mt 4:10 (Greek text: Robinson & Pierpont 2018); but, apparently it's known only in two LXX manuscripts : the Alexandrinus, and a minuscule.

  2. The hebrew word for "to serve" is "עָבַד" which seems to be near to the hebrew word for "alone" which is "בַּד", maybe the problem is in connection with that, maybe it's about a translation problem? or a word definition problem ?

EDIT : I have found that the Washingtonanius LXX manuscript also have this "μονος"! (I manually found that variant, this variant is not mentionned in the Rahlf's apparatus of the LXX).

gustav.b
  • 105
  • 1
  • 8