Another King James Bible Believer

Scatterbrained Septuagint Silliness - Judges 16:13; 1 Samuel 14:41; 1 Samuel 17:4; 2 Samuel 7:16; 2 Samuel 13:21, 34;  2 Samuel 14:30; 1 Kings 5:17-18; 6:1; 1 Kings 10:22; Jonah 3:4;  Ezekiel 8, 40, 45  examples  

And The so called Greek Septuagint messes up several Messianic Prophecies - Isaiah 9:6; Numbers 24:17; Genesis 3:15, Genesis 49:10; Hosea 11:1; Zechariah 12:10; Daniel 9:26

 

Many of the numbers recorded in the so called Greek Septuagint are completely off, and nobody follows them; Well, in a few cases some Looney Tunes Versions do, as we shall see.  Here are a few examples:

In the Genesis account of the age of men before the flood the LXX has completely different numbers.  The Hebrew Scriptures state in Genesis 5:25 that Methuselah lived 187 years and begat Lamech.  However the most common LXX (Brenton's) says that Methuselah was 167 years old and changes the rest of the numbers too.  However both the Hebrew and the LXX agree that the age of Methuselah was 969 when he died.  But by the LXX reckoning, Methuselah didn’t end up dying until 14 years AFTER the flood of Noah.  Since he was not on the ark with Noah and his family, that makes for a very long time  for Methuselah to have been treading water.

Genesis chapter 5 genealogy errors in the "Septuagint ". 

Age at sons birth

Name. KJB. - "Septuagint " 

Adam. 130. - 230

Seth. 105.  - 205

Enos. 90.  - 190

Cainan. 70.  - 170

Mahalaleel. 65.  - 165

Jared. 162.  - 162

Enoch. 65.  - 165

Methuselah. 187.  - 167 (Brenton's LXX based on Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, But the Alexandrinus copy says 187)

Lamech. 182.  - 182

Noah. 500.  - 500

To the flood. 100.  - 100

Creation to the flood

KJB. 1656

"Septuagint" 2236

The "Septuagint" puts Methuselah's age at the flood at 955 and has him dying at 969, thus having him live through the flood without being on the ark.  That's 14 years of treading water. Ya think that's how it happened?

 

The other numbers in the Alexandrinus copy of the so called LXX are WAY off and often disagree with both the Brenton’s LXX and the Hebrew text.  It is totally unreliable.

Many of the numbers in the Alexandrinus copy are way off.  We have things like Genesis 11:13 where the Hebrew text says: “And Arphaxad lived 403 years, and begat sons and daughters.”

But Brenton’s LXX (Vaticanus/Sinaiticus) says “lived 400 years” while Alexandrinus says “lived 430 years”

And in Genesis 11:17 where the Hebrew says “and Eber lived after he begat Peleg 430 years and begat sons and daughters.  The Brenton LXX says 270 years while Alexandrinus LXX has 370 years!!!

And in Genesis 11:24 the Hebrew text says “And Nahor lived 29 years and begat Terah” but the Vaticanus (Brenton) says 179 years while Alexandrinus has 79 years!!!

I could go on and on with this LXX mess.  There is NO way I would accept much of anything from these corrupt versions.

Borrowed from Floyd Jones’s Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics (2002):

 

The numbers throughout the book of Genesis regarding the genealogies from Adam to Joseph are radically different in the Greek Septuagint.  For instance in Genesis 11:16 we read that Eber was 34 years old when he begat Peleg.  Yet the LXX says Eber was ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR years old when he begat Peleg.  Looking at the generations from Adam to Joseph you will see that the Massoretic text indicates 2400 years. The Septuagint text depicts an astounding 3850 years, 1450 more years than the Massoretic text!

 

In the book of Joshua chapter 12 the Hebrew Scriptures as well as every Bible version I have looked at both in English as well as foreign languages gives us a list of THIRTY ONE kings in verses 9 through 24.  The Hebrew text ends verse 24 saying "The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings THIRTY AND ONE."  However the so called Greek Septuagint says: "the king of Thersa; all these were TWENTY NINE kings." Not even the Catholic versions nor Lamsa's translation of the Syriac go along with the LXX here, but they all say THIRTY ONE kings. 

 

The Modern Greek Bible follows the Hebrew text and not the LXX. It too says THIRTY ONE kings - Παντες οι βασιλεις, τριακοντα και εις.

 

Inn 1 Samuel 11:8 we read of Saul gathering the people to go against Nahash the Ammonite.  “And he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000.” So read the Hebrew texts. However the LXX reads 600,000 (instead of 300,000) and 70,000 (instead of 30,000) but nobody follows the LXX readings here.

 

How Tall Was the Giant Goliath?

 

In 1 Samuel 17:4 the Hebrew texts tell us that the height of Goliath was SIX cubits and a span, which would make him about 9 feet 6 inches tall.  That indeed is a giant.  However the LXX tells us that Goliath was a mere FOUR cubits and a span - "ὕψος αὐτοῦ τεσσάρων πήχεων καὶ σπιθαμῆς" - which would make him only 6 feet 6 inches tall, which would hardly be much among NBA players today.  

 

King Saul himself was head and shoulders taller than the other Israelites, and yet he was afraid of this giant. If he were only 6ft. 6 inches, this would not make much sense.

 

 

All Jewish translations, like the JPS 1917 or the Complete Tanach of 2004 or Hebrew Names Bible follow the Hebrew texts and say "six cubits and a span". A cubit was about 18 inches and a span was the length of an open hand between the tip of the thumb and the tip of the little finger, or about 6 inches. 

 

This means Goliath was around 10 feet tall.  Not even the Message or the NIV 2011 follow the LXX reading here. They agree with the Hebrew text and the KJB as do even the liberal RSV, the NRSV, ESV, 2001-2011, NASB, 1995, Common English Bible 2011, Holman Standard 2003 - "HE WAS NINE FEET, NINE INCHES TALL", The Voice 2012 and the NKJV. The Modern Greek Bible has now followed the Hebrew reading of "six cubits and a span" instead of the corrupt LXX reading. The Modern Greek Bible says: υψους εξ πηχων και σπιθαμης· = "height SIX cubits and a span"  

 

Dan Wallace's NET Version

 

However there are a few loonies out there like Daniel Wallace and gang's NET version that says: "His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was CLOSE TO SEVEN FEET TALL." 

 

Then in Daniel Wallace and company's goofy, faith destroying footnotes they tell us: "Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold."!!!  

   

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls

 

Actually, the so called 1 Samuel Qumran manuscript is more confusing that what Dan Wallace tells us.  I have a copy of 'The Dead Sea Scroll Bible' translated and with commentary by Martin Abegg Jr., Peter Flint & Eugene Ulrich, 1999.

 

When dealing with the passage of 1 Samuel 17:4 on page 229 they show the first part of the number placed in [brackets], meaning that part of the number was lost and not in this text.  It looks like this, meaning that all the words between the brackets were NOT found in the manuscript. [Then] a cha[mpion named Goliath, who was from Gath, ca]me out [of the Philistine camp. His height was f]our [cu]bits and a span."

 

So what they have actually written in this manuscript scrap is: "a cha me out our bits and a span."  Pretty conclusive, huh?! Then on top of all this, they footnote telling us that the number 'four' is from the 4QSam mss. and some LXX copies, but that other LXX copies read "FIVE" and other LXX copies read "SIX" along with the Hebrew Masoretic text!

 

There is very little of 1 Samuel chapter 17 that was found remaining in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  There are no verses 1 and 2. Then they have fragmentary readings for verses 3-6 and nothing from verses 7 to 58.

 

 

What utter confusion. Yet on the basis of this obviously false reading that would have the "giant" Goliath to be surely no taller than king Saul himself who was head and shoulders above most other men of Israel, into a man no more than 6 feet 6 inches tall.

 

There are also a few other perverted bible versions like the new ISV (International Standard Version) that says: "A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. HE WAS SIX AND A HALF FEET TALL." 

 

The Catholic Connection

 

 

Among the Catholic versions the Douay-Rheims 1610, the Douay 1950, and the newer New Jerusalem bible of 1985 say he was "SIX cubits and a span", but the previous St. Joseph New American bible of 1970 had "HE WAS SIX AND A HALF FEET TALL"  thus following the corrupt Greek Septuagint reading and rejecting the Hebrew text.

 

We also can see the newest Catholic version called The Catholic Public Domain Bible of 2009 and it also has gone back to the Hebrew reading and says: "whose height was six cubits and a palm." 

 

We should ask ourselves about the total inconsistency of people like Dan Wallace and company's NET version and the ISV. Why would they follow the corrupt reading of "FOUR cubits and a span" from ONE copy of the so called Greek Septuagint here in 1 Samuel 17:4 (remember, another copy says "five" and another one says "six"), and yet in the book of Jonah 3:4 where the Hebrew texts all have Jonah preaching: "Yet FORTY DAYS, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." the so called Greek Septuagint actually says: "Yet THREE DAYS, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." = "ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι καὶ νινευη καταστραφήσεται"

 

Do either Dan Wallace or the ISV follow the Septuagint reading here and have THREE DAYS instead of FORTY DAYS? Nope. Not even a footnote. They both say: "At the end of FORTY DAYS, Nineveh will be overthrown."  and so do the ESV, NIV, NASB and the Modern Greek Bible - "Ετι τεσσαρακοντα ημεραι και η Νινευη θελει καταστραφη." Such is the true nature of their so called "science" of textual criticism.

 

While here in 1 Samuel 17 let me point out another characteristic of this so called Greek Septuagint that is repeated scores of times over.  Right here in this and the next chapter the LXX omits all of 1 Samuel 17:12 through verse 31; then it picks up verses 32 to 54 but then omits verses 55 through 58 and the first 6 verses of chapter 18:1-5.  It then picks up verses 6, 7 and 8 but then omits verses 9, 10 and 11; then it shows verses 12 through 16 but omits verses 17, 18 and 19; it picks up the text again from verse 20 to verse 29 but then omits the last verse 30.  So, just in these two chapters of First Samuel 17 and 18 the LXX version omits 37 entire verses that are found in the Hebrew texts; and that's just in two chapters!  Then in other parts the LXX adds literally hundreds of words that are not found in any Hebrew text at all.  If this thing is the best we can hope for in a good Greek translation of the Old Testament, then we are in a world of hurt.

 

2 Samuel 7:16 Many modern versions reject the Hebrew text.

 

In 2 Samuel 7:16 God Himself speaks through the prophet Nathan to king David telling him: “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before THEE: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

 

King David then marvels at the grace of God and rehearses what He had promised him.  In v. 19 David says “Thou hast spoken of THY SERVANT’S HOUSE for a great while to come.” 

 

 

In 2 Samuel 7:16 the Hebrew Masoretic text says “thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before THEE: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

 

However such modern versions as the liberal RSV 1952 (the first major bible translation to do so), the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman, NET, ISV, Common English bible 2011 and The Voice 2012 changed the text based primarily on the so called Greek Septuagint and say “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before ME. Your throne shall be established forever.”  ESV 2011. 

 

Then the ESV 2011 footnotes “Septuagint;  Hebrew - you.  

 

The 2011 Common English bible (another Critical text version) footnotes that this reading comes from the LXX but that the Hebrew reads “YOU”.

 

The NIV also reads “before ME” and then footnotes: “Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts (read) YOU.”

 

Dan Wallace’s NET version also reads “your house and your kingdom will stand before ME” and then footnotes - Hebrew “before you”  

 

The Catholic Connection 

 

The previous Douay-Rheims 1610 and the 1950 Douay versions both read “And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever before THY FACE, and thy throne shall be firm for ever.”  

 

But the St. Joseph NAB 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 have now changed this to “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before ME; your throne shall stand firm forever.”

 

If these new versions want to follow the so called Greek Septuagint so badly, then why didn’t they also change verse 11 where God says to David “Also the LORD telleth thee that HE WILL MAKE THEE AN HOUSE.” ?

 

Here the LXX actually says “And the Lord will tell thee that THOU SHALT BUILD A HOUSE TO HIM.” - The exact opposite meaning.

 

Or in verse 15 where the Hebrew text says “But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I TOOK IT FROM SAUL, WHOM I PUT AWAY BEFORE THEE.”  

 

Here the LXX reads - “But my mercy I will not take from him, AS I TOOK IT FROM THOSE WHOM I REMOVED FROM MY PRESENCE.”

 

2 Samuel 7:16 itself!  Or why not follow this same LXX in the same verse 16 where instead of reading with the Hebrew text - “And THINE house and THY kingdom shall be established for ever before THEE; THY throne shall be established for ever.”? 

Here the LXX reads: “And HIS house shall be made sure, and HIS kingdom for ever before ME, and HIS throne shall be set up forever.”

Do you see what these bogus Vatican Versions did? There are FOUR pronouns changed in the LXX from what the Hebrew text says, and they chose to reject the other three LXX readings and picked just one of them to put into their “bibles”!  And they call this nonsense “the science of textual criticism”!

 

Or in Verse 18 where the Hebrew text has David asking God - “Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house THAT THOU HAST BROUGHT ME HITHERTO?”

 

 The LXX reads - “Who am I, O Lord, my Lord, and what is my house THAT THOU HAST LOVED ME hitherto?” 

 

 Or why didn’t they follow Benton’s LXX copy in verse 26 where it completely omits all these words  from the verse - “The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.”?

 

Benton’s LXX then footnotes that all these omitted words ARE found in the Alexandrian copy (Remember, there are different “Septuagint” versions out there) and in the Hebrew texts.

 

2 Samuel 7:16 “shall be established before THEE”

 

Agreeing with the King James Bible in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God says to David “And THINE house and THY kingdom shall be established for ever before THEE (Not “ME”); THY throne shall be established for ever.” are the following Bible translations - 

 

Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Revised Version 1881, the ASV 1901, Darby 1890, Young’s 1898, the 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society), the NKJV 1984, Third Millennium Bible 1998, the Judaica Press Complete Tanach 2004, Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011 and the Natural Israelite Bible 2014.

 

It is also the reading of the Modern Greek Bible - και θελει στερεωθη ο οικος σου και η βασιλεια σου εμπροσθεν σου εως αιωνος· ο θρονος σου θελει εισθαι εστερεωμενος εις τον αιωνα. = “your house and your kingdom shall be established before YOU for ever” and the Modern Hebrew Bible - ונאמן ביתך וממלכתך עד עולם לפניך כסאך יהיה נכון עד עולם

 

Don’t settle for one of the bogus Vatican Versions that nobody believes are the infallible words of God. Get yourself the King James Bible and stick with it.  It is God’s Book and it is always right.

 

All of grace, believing the Book.

 

 

 

 

2 Samuel 13:34 again the NIV adds 21 extra words to the text which come from the so called Greek LXX, and rejects some of the Hebrew text. These added words are not included in the Revised Version 1881, the ASV of 1901, the  2003 Holman,  the NASB, Dan Wallace’s NET version, nor even in the  RSV, NRSV or the ESV (English Standard Version 2001).

In the King James Bible and the Hebrew texts we read: “But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill side behind him. “
 
The NIV omits the Hebrew words “behind him” and then adds this sentence which is not found in any Hebrew manuscript. "THE WATCHMAN WENT AND TOLD THE KING, I SEE MEN IN THE DIRECTION OF HORONAIM, ON THE SIDE OF THE HILL.”

The NIV then informs us that this whole sentence is not found in the Hebrew text, but that it comes from the Septuagint.  At this point I would like to point out the totally fickle nature of this so called “science” of textual criticism.  If the NIV editors thought that the so called Greek Septuagint supplied a whole sentence of “inspired Scripture” that apparently has been LOST in ALL Hebrew manuscripts, then why did the NIV editors NOT include the whole sentence found in this same Greek Septuagint right here in this same chapter in verse 21?

The Hebrew text, as well as the NIV, NASB, ESV, RSV, NET, Holman Standard, NKJV, and all Jewish translations say: “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.”

However the so called Greek Septuagint ADDS the following words to this verse - “BUT HE DID NOT GRIEVE THE SPIRIT OF AMNON HIS SON, BECAUSE HE LOVED HIM, SINCE HE WAS HIS FIRSTBORN.”

Oh, but wait. Some versions DO add these extra 20 words to the inspired text. The RSV did NOT add these extra 20 words, but the New RSV did.  But then the revision of the revision of the revision - the ESV - took them out again!  Guess which other versions add these extra words too?  The Catholic versions like the Douay-Rheims, St. Joseph NAB and the New Jerusalem bible of 1985.  The Catholic Versions also add all those extra words to verse 34 just like the NIV does.

A really interesting case of the modern Bible Babble Buffet versions is found in one of the latest UBS critical text versions to come on the scene. It is called the Common English Bible of 2011. This latest “advancement in scholarly research” has ADDED all the extra words to verse 21 - “ When King David heard about all this he got very angry, BUT HE REFUSED TO PUNISH HIS SON AMNON BECAUSE HE LOVED HIM AS HIS OLDEST CHILD.” - BUT it DOESN’T add all the extra words to verse 34 like the NIV, NRSV do!  And they call this confusion the “science” of textual criticism! 

 

1 Kings 4:32 How many songs was that?  

 

In 1 Kings 4:32 the Hebrew texts as well as every Bible version I have looked at including the RV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV, NASB, NKJV, NET, ISV, Holman and all Jewish translations say of king Solomon - "And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were A THOUSAND AND FIVE." (1,005)

 

However the Greek Septuagint alone says: "And Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were FIVE THOUSAND." (5,000)  Nobody as far as I know followed the Septuagint reading here.

 

In 2 Chronicles 22:2 the Hebrew texts tell us that Ahaziah was FORTY TWO years old when he began to reign, yet the LXX says he was TWENTY years old. Nobody follows the LXX reading here. 

In Jonah 3:4 God speaks through the prophet Jonah to say that Yet within FORTY days and Nineveh will be destroyed, but the LXX version says within a mere THREE days and it would be destroyed.  Nobody follows the wacky LXX numbers in these instances.

 

Judges 16:13-14; 1 Samuel 9:25; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 14:41; 2 Samuel 13:21, 34 and 2 Samuel 14:30 

 

 

Judges 16:13 -14 NIV, NASB, RSV, ESV, NET add to the words of God.

 

“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you”  Deuteronomy 4:2

 

“Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. ADD THOU NOT unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”  Proverbs 30:5-6

 

The following examples could be repeated scores of times if you follow the various footnotes and textual differences found in such modern versions as the RSV, ESV, NIV, NASB, NET or Holman Standard.  These are just sampliings of the scatterbrained foolishness that calls itself the “Science” of Textual Criticism so popular today.

 

Judges 16:13-14 

 

In the King James Bible based on the inspired Hebrew texts we read in Judges 16:13-14 - “13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.  14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.”

 

So read all Hebew texts as well as Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Revised Version 1885, the American Standard Version 1901, the Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917, the Hebrew Publishing Company translation 1936, the Complete Jewish Bible, the Hebrew Names Version of 2008, the Complete Tanach 2004, the Torah Transliteration Scriptures of 2008, Darby, Youngs, the 1987 Amplified, the NKJV 1982 and the Holman Standard of 2003.

 

Among foreign language translations that follow the Hebrew texts and do not add the extra 30-35 words are Lamsa’s 1936 translation of the Syriac, the French Martin 1744, Louis Segond 1910, French Ostervald 1996, Luther’s German Bible, the Portuguese Almeida, the Spanish Reina Valera 1909, 1960, 1995 and even the Modern Greek Version.

 

However many modern versions add some 30 to 35 additional words to the Hebrew text taken from “Some” copies of the so called Greek Septuagint texts.

 

Among these modern versions that add words to the Hebrew texts are the NIV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, ESV, New English Bible 1970, the Message and the NET version by Daniel Wallace and company.

 

 

The NIV reads:  “Delilah then said to Samson, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”  He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom AND TIGHTEN IT WITH THE PIN, I’LL BECOME AS WEAK AS ANY OTHER MAN.”  SO WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, DELIALAH TOOK THE SEVEN BRAIDS OF HIS HEAD, WOVE THEM INTO THE FABRIC AND[a] tightened it with the pin.  Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.”

 

Then in a footnote the NIV and others tell us that these 30 some extra words come from “SOME” Septuagint manuscripts, but that the Hebrew does not contain these extra words.

 

The popular version among the bible agnostics is Daniel Wallace and company’s NET (NUT) version.  It also adds all these extra words but then has this silly footnote - The MT of vv. 13b-14a reads simply, “He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven braids of my head with the web.’ And she fastened with the pin and said to him.” (My note:This is exactly what is found in the King James Bible) The additional words in the translation, “and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.’ 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom,” which without doubt represent the original text, are supplied from the ancient Greek version. In both vv. 13b and 14a the Greek version has “to the wall” after “with the pin,” but this is an interpretive addition that reflects a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment. See G. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 353-54. The Hebrew textual tradition was accidentally shortened during the copying process. A scribe’s eye jumped from the first instance of “with the web” to the second, causing him to leave out inadvertently the intervening words.”

 

So, according to men like Daniel Wallace all these extra words “without doubt represent the original text” - (although numerous others disagree with him) - and that even though Wallace thinks they are part of the original text, they are STILL WRONG for adding words that “reflect a misunderstanding of ancient weaving equipment”!  So Bible critics like Daniel Wallace think that even the original text was wrong!!!

 

Can you believe it?  And people actually take these guys seriously!

 

1 Samuel 9:25 

 

1 Samuel 9:25-26 In the Hebrew texts as well as the King James Bible and many others as we shall soon see, we read a series of events that occurred when Saul went to see Samuel and he was anointed to be king of Israel.  V.25. “And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.” 

 

V. 26. “AND THEY AROSE EARLY: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away...”

 

So read the Geneva Bible, King James Bible, Revised Version 1885, ASV 1901, the NKJV 1982, NIV 1984, 2010, Darby, Douay, Youngs, the NASB 1995,  ALL Jewish translations like the JPS 1917 and Hebrew Tanach of 2004, the Complete Jewish Bible, the Syriac, the 2003 Holman Standard Version and even the NET version by Daniel Wallace and company.  I mention the NET version because of their blatant hypocricy for including the Septuagint readings in so many other parts of the NUT version.

 

 

However the Liberal RSV of 1952, the NRSV 1989 and the revised ESV of 2001 all ADD about 15 words to the Hebrew texts by adding a reading from the so called Septuagint and they omit some 9 words that ARE in the Hebrew text!  The ESV says in verse 25 - “And when they came down from the high place into the  city A BED WAS SPREAD FOR SAUL ON THE ROOF, AND HE LAY DOWN TO SLEEP. ** Then at the break of dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, Up, that I may send you on your way.”  

 

***  Footnotes.  All the capitalized words are not in the Hebrew text but are taken from the Septuagint, and the ESV omits the words “AND THEY AROSE EARLY” Which ARE found in the Hebrew texts! And they call this “scholarship”!!!

 

 1 Samuel 10:1

 

  Here again we see an amazing thing in the modern Bible Babble Buffet.  The Hebrew texts as well as the Geneva Bible, Bishops’s Bible, the Revised Version, ASV 1901, Darby, Youngs, NKJV, NIV, NASB, all Jewish translations, the Holman Standard.

 

Here we read: “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?”

 

But once again versions like the RSV, NRSV, the ESV and this time Daniel Wallace’s NET version all add about 40 words to the Hebrew texts taken from the so called Greek Septuagint. 

 

The ESV - English Standard Version of 2001 - “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head(B) and kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince OVER HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL? AND YOU SHALL REIGN OVER THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD AND YOU WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE HAND OF THE SURROUNDING ENEMIES. AND THIS SHALL BE THE SIGN TO YOU THAT THE LORD HAS ANOINTED YOU TO BE PRINCE over his heritage.”

 

Footnotes 1 Samuel 10:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince”

Likewise Daniel Wallace this time adds all these extra words taken from the Greek Septuagint and then footnotes: “The MT reads simply “Is it not that the Lord has anointed you over his inheritance for a leader?” The (NET) translation follows the LXX. The MT apparently suffers from parablepsis, whereby a scribe’s eye jumped from the first occurrence of the expression “the Lord has anointed you” to the second occurrence of this expression at the end of v. 1. This mistake caused the accidental omission of the intervening material in the LXX, which appears to preserve the original Hebrew text here.”

 

Sure Daniel.  Hundreds of different Jewish scribes painstakingly copying every letter by sight and not from memory, and if one error were made the page had to be written all over again, all somehow made the same blunder in hundreds of copies. Uh, huh.  And not even the NIV, NASB, Holman Standard guys agree with you on this one.  It’s every man for himself bible versionism gone to seed. 

 

More Septuagint Silliness

The alleged Septuagint readings are often like so many bothersome gnats that simply buzz around the sacred text with their annoyance.  The following examples can easily be multiplied a hundred times over.  

In 1 Samuel 11:8 we read of Saul gathering the people to go against Nahash the Ammonite.  “And he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000.” So read the Hebrew texts as well as the NKJV, NASB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, ESV, Holman and NET versions.    However the LXX reads 600,000 (instead of 300,000) and both the LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls read 70,000 (instead of 30,000) but nobody follows the LXX nor the DSS readings in either of these places.

Yet in 1 Samuel 12:3 the Hebrew texts read: “...or of whose hand have I received any bribe TO BLIND MINE EYES THEREWITH. and  I will restore it you.”

But the Septuagint actually reads: “or of whose hand have I received any bribe OR  A PAIR OF SHOES? TESTIFY AGAINST ME and I will restore it.”  (See the footnotes in the Holman Standard or the LXX itself)

Versions like the ESV 2001, RSV, NRSV, and the Message of 2002 adopt PART OF the LXX reading and not the other.  They omit “a pair of shoes” and stay with the Hebrew “to blind my eyes therewith” but then add the words “TESTIFY AGAINST ME”, which are taken from the same line of the LXX. (RSV, NRSV, ESV but not the NASB, NKJV, NIV nor the NET this time!). 

Then in 1 Samuel 12:8 we read: “When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron...”  So read the NASB, Holman, NIV, NET, NKJV etc.  BUT the RSV, NRSV, Message and ESV add words 5 more words - “When Jacob went into Egypt AND THE EGYPTIANS OPPRESSED THEM, then your fathers cried unto the LORD...” all taken from the so called Septuagint.

Then in 1 Samuel 12:15 the Hebrew texts as well as the NKJV, NASB, NIV and Holman say: “But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you AS IT WAS AGAINST YOUR FATHERS.”

So read the NKJV, NASB, NIV,  Holman Standard and even the Message.  But the RSV, NRSV, ESV and this time the NET version reject the clear Hebrew reading “AS IT WAS AGAINST YOUR FATHERS.” (“fathers” NIV 1984, “ancestors” NIV 2010) and instead replace it with a reading found in the Septuagint.  The ESV, RSV, NRSV and NET version now read: “the hand of the LORD will be against you AND YOUR KING.” - footnote: Hebrew ‘fathers’.

1 Samuel 14:41 -  The KJB, as well as the RV, ASV, Holman Standard 2009, NASB 1995, ISV 2014, NKJV, Lamsa's 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta, Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011, Tree of Life Version 2015 and the NIVs 1978 and 1984 editions, say: "Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, GIVE A PERFECT LOT. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped."

However the RSV, NRSV, ESV, NET, NEB, REB, The Message,  AND NOW THE NIV 2011 EDITION TOO read, adding all these words, "Therefore Saul said, O LORD God of Israel, WHY HAVE YOU NOT ANSWERED YOUR SERVANT THIS DAY? IF THIS GUILT IS IN ME OR IN JONATHAN MY SON, O LORD, GOD OF ISRAEL, GIVE URIM. BUT IF THIS GUILT IS IN YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL, GIVE THUMMIN. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped." 

Even though the English "new" New International Version added all these extra words (though it still didn't at the extra 42 words to 1 Samuel 10:1 like the ESV does) yet the NIV Spanish version 1999 and the NIV Portuguese version of 2000 still retain the Hebrew reading like the KJB has it.

Daniel Wallace's NET version also adds all these extra words and then footnotes: "Heb “to the Lord God of Israel: ‘Give what is perfect.’” The Hebrew textual tradition has accidentally omitted several words here. The present translation follows the LXX."  

The Catholic Connection

Well, guess what. So too do ALL the Catholic bible versions like the Douay-Rheims 1610, the Douay 1950, St. Joseph New American bible 1970 and New Jerusalem bible 1985 as well. Then the New Jerusalem bible footnotes that "the Hebrew is corrupt".

In a footnote the ESV says these additional words come from the Septuagint. However my copy of the Septuagint does not read like the ESV says it does. It says instead "Lord God of Israel, give clear manifestations; and if the lot should declare this, give, I pray thee, to thy people Israel, give, I pray, holiness. And Jonathan and Saul are taken..."  

If the ESV, NET and NIV folks are so fond of this so called Greek Septuagint, then why did they not follow it in this same chapter of 1 Samuel 14 where in verse 14 instead of reading "And this first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, WITHIN AS IT WERE AN HALF ACRE OF LAND, WHICH A YOKE OF OXEN MIGHT PLOW", the LXX says "...was twenty men, WITH DARTS AND SLINGS, AND PEBBLES OF THE FIELD."??

OR in 1 Samuel 14:18 instead of reading "And Saul said to Ahiah, BRING HITHER THE ARK OF GOD. FOR THE ARK OF GOD WAS AT THAT TIME WITH THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.", but the LXX says: "And Saul said to Achia, BRING THE EPHOD; FOR HE WORE THE EPHOD IN THAT DAY BEFORE ISRAEL."?  

OR in 1 Samuel 14:22 the LXX adds the words "AND ALL THE PEOPLE WITH SAUL WERE ABOUT TEN THOUSAND MEN." Yet neither the ESV, the NIV or Dan Wallace's NET version followed the LXX here?   

 

Folks, don't be deceived or taken in by the lies these bible agnostics refer to as their "science" of textual criticism. It has a lot more in common with witches brew than it does with any legitimate science known to God or man.

While here in 1 Samuel 14, let's take a look at 14:18. Here the Hebrew text reads: "And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ARK OF GOD. For the ARK OF GOD was at that time with the children of Israel."  

However the so called Greek Septuagint version has Saul saying: "Bring THE EPHOD." At that time HE WORE THE EPHOD BEFORE ISRAEL."  The NIV and ESV both mention this textual change in their footnotes telling us that the Hebrew reads as the KJB has it, but that the Septuagint reads "the ephod" and "he wore the ephod before Israel".  

The previous Catholic Douay-Rheims followed the Hebrew reading, but the latest Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the New Jerusalem bible of 1985 have rejected the Hebrew and now follow the LXX reading.

By now you should be getting a pretty clear picture of just how this Magical Mystery Tour the Bible Babble Buffet promoters like to call “scholarship” or the “science of textual criticism” really works.  It’s Every Man For Himself Bible Versionism gone wild and nobody is sure what is going to come down the pike in the next “new and improved” ver$ion to soon hit the Chri$tian book $tore$ in your neighborhood.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 11:15 

 

2 Samuel 13:34

 

In 2 Samuel 13:34 we read in the Hebrew texts as well as the King James Bible - “But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of the hill side behind him.”

 

So read all Jewish translations, the Geneva Bible, RV, ASV, NASB, NKJV, the Amplified, the Holman Standard and this time even the NET version.

 

However the NIV  1978, 1984 and 2010 editions add some 21 extra words taken from what is called the Greek Septuagint version.  The NIVs say: “Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.  Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. THE WATCHMAN WENT AND TOLD THE KING, “I SEE MEN IN THE DIRECTION OF HORONAIM, ON THE SIDE OF THE HILL.”  Footnotes: 2 Samuel 13:34 Septuagint; Hebrew does not have this sentence.

 

Other bible translations that add these extra words not found in any Hebrew text are the New English Bible 1970, the Contemporary English Version 1995, the New Living Translation 1996, and the Message 2002. 

 

The ESV of 2001 is weird in that it omits what the Septuagint says, but refers to only part of these extra words in a footnote.  The ESV reads: “But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him [a] by the side of the mountain.”Footnotes: 2 Samuel 13:34 Septuagint the Horonaim Road

The old RSV 1973 and the NRSV of 1989 (of which the ESV is the latest revision) did not add ALL the extra words found in the Septuagint like the NIVs do, but only a small part.  The NRSV, RSV read: “But Absalom fled. When the young man who kept watch looked up, he saw many people coming FROM THE HOROMAIN ROAD by the side of the mountain.”  Then they footnoted “Compare Greek”.  $cholar$hip is a wonderful thing, isn’t it.

 

So, the ESV omitted the Septuagint words which the NIVs add - “The watchman went and told the king, I see men in the direction of Horonaim on the side of the mountain.”  and omits from their text the partial added words found in the previous RSV, NRSVs, but then refers to these same previously included extra words in a footnote, just so you won’t get too comfortable thinking you might actually have the infallible words of God in front of you.  It just gets better and better, doesn’t it.

 

More scatterbrained uses of the so called Septuagint. 

 

2 Samuel 13:21

 

Here the Hebrew texts as well as the King James Bible and most bible translations throughout history read: “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.”

 

So read all Hebrew translations, the Geneva Bible, NKJV, NASB, NIV, RSV and the ESV.  However the ESV footnote informs us that the so called Greek Septuagint adds the extra words “BUT HE WOULD NOT PUNISH HIS SON AMMON, BECAUSE HE LOVED HIM, SINCE HE WAS HIS FIRSTBORN.” 

 

 These extra words ARE added in such versions as the Catholic Douay version 1950, the New English Bible 1970,  NRSV of 1989, the Revised English Version (Bruce Metzger) of 1989, the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970, the Contemporary English Version put out by the American Bible Society in 1995, God’s Word Translation 1995 and  the Catholic Public Domain Bible of 2009.  Notice that the RSV omitted the words, the NRSV put them in, and now the ESV once again takes them out but still retains them in their footnote.

 

Daniel Wallace and company’s NET version does not include the extra words in their text, but in their footnote they tell us: “The LXX and part of the Old Latin tradition include the following addition to v. 21, also included in some English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, CEV): “But he did not grieve the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn.” 

 

Then we have the case of 2 Samuel 14:30

 

Here we read in the Hebrew texts and the King James Bible: “Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire.”

 

So read the Geneva Bible, RV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, NIV and even the RSV, NRSV and ESV.  However many words are added by the LXX version and the ESV footnote informs us that it then goes on to add the following words - “SO JOAB’S SERVANTS CAME TO HIM WITH THEIR CLOTHES TORN, AND THEY SAID TO HIM, ‘THE SERVANTS OF ABSALOM HAVE SET YOUR FIELD ON FIRE.’”

 

Versions that DO add these extra words taken from the Greek Septuagint are the Catholic Douay version of 1950, the St. Joseph New American Bible 1970, New English Bible 1970, God’s Word Translation 1995 and the Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009.  This time the Contemporary English Version of 1995 does NOT add the extra words to 2 Samuel 14:30 though it DOES in Judges 16:13-14; 2 Samuel 13:21 and in 2 Samuel 13:34 - and all of this based on the same textual evidence!  Likewise among the Catholic versions we find the same willy nilly fickleness in that these extra words are IN the Douay version of 1950, THEN removed in the 1968 Jerusalem bible, then BACK IN the St. Joseph New American Bible of 1970, ONCE AGAIN removed in the 1985 New Jerusalem bible, and then PUT BACK IN ONCE AGAIN in the 2009 Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009! 

In 1 Kings 5:16-17 and 1 Kings 6:1 we have three examples in just a few verses where the so called Greek Septuagint completely changes and adds to the numbers found in the Hebrew texts and not even the liberal RSV or the NIV, or NET versions follow it. The number of the overseers Solomon set up over the work has often criticized as an error, but it isn't. 

http://brandplucked.webs.com/3300or3600.htm

 

The Hebrew text in 1 Kings 5:16 says that Solomon set up 3,300 overseers, but the LXX has 3,600 in a silly attempt to try to reconcile the apparent contradiction found in 2 Chronicles 2:18.  But the LXX also ADDS a number to verse 18 that is not found in any Hebrew text and radically changes all of verses 17-18, and the LXX is not followed by any Bible version, no matter how liberal it may be.  

The Hebrew text says in 1 Kings 5:17-18 "And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. V.18 - And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house."  

But the LXX omits ALL of verse 17 and for verse 18 says: "And THEY prepared the stones and the timber DURING THREE YEARS." But nobody followed the LXX reading here.  

Then in the very next verse - 1 Kings 6:1 the Hebrew text says: "And it cam to pass in the 480th year, after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt..." BUT the so called LXX says instead - "And it came to pass in the 440th year after the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt..."  Again, nobody followed this reading.

 

 

1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21 - Peacocks,  Monkeys , Baboons or Hewn Stones? 

1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21 both tell us of Solomon sending a navy of ships to bring gold, silver, ivory, apes and PEACOCKS. Peacocks is the reading of The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907, the Jewish translations 1917 Jewish Publication Society, 1936 Hebrew Publishing Company, The New Jewish Version 1985, The Judaica Press Tanach 2004, The Ancient Roots Translinear Bible 2008, the Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, the Hebrew Names Version 2014, Complete Jewish Bible 1998, Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540 - " apes and pecocks.", Matthew's Bible 1549, the Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Douay-Rheims 1610, the Lesser Bible 1853, Darby 1890, Youngs 1898, the Revised Version 1881, ASV 1901, Rotherham's Emphasized bible 1902, Douay Version 1950, NASB 1995,  Rotherham's Emphasized bible 1902, the Bible in Basic English 1960, the Living Bible 1961, the RSV, NRSV 1989, ESV 2001-2011, NET version, Amplified bible 1987, The Message 2002, Contemporary English Version 1995, Green's interlinear, Lamsa's translation of the Syriac 1936, Holman Standard 2009, The Sacred Scriptures Family of Yah 2001, International Standard Version 2014, the Jewish Orthodox Bible 2011, Jubilee Bible 2010, the Common English Bible 2011, the Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011, The Work of God's Children Illustrated Bible 2011, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, the Voice 2012, the Interlinear Hebrew-Greek Scriptures 2012 (Mebust), The World English Bible 2012, and  The Modern English Version 2014.

 

Many Foreign Language Bibles translate this Hebrew word as "PEACOCKS". These include the Spanish Reina Valera 1960, 1995 bibles "pavos reales", the French Martin 1744, Louis Segond 1910, Ostervald 1996 "paons", the Portuguese de Almeida 1681 and Bíblia Sagrada -"e pavões.",  the Italian Diodati 1649 and 1991 - "e pavoni.", Riveduta 1927 and the New Diodati 1991 "pavoni",  the Luther's German 1545 and the German Schlachter Bible of 2000 "Pfauen", the Africaans bible 1953 - "met goud en silwer, ivoor en ape en pour.", the Hungarian Karoli Bible - "és pávákat.",  the Russian Synodal translation 1876, the Swedish bible 1917 - " apor och påfåglar.", the Romanian Cornilescu Bible - "maimuţe şi păuni.", the Tagalog Ang Dating Biblia 1905 - "at mga pano real", the Albanian Bible - "dhe pallonj.", the Chinese Union Traditional Bible -  孔 雀 回 來 , the Norwegian Det Norsk Bibleselskap 1930 - " og påfugler." and The Modern Greek translation "pagoni". 

However the NKJV says MONKEYS, while the NIV tells us these were BABOONS.  I wasn't a Biology major in college, but I'm pretty sure there is a big difference between a peacock and a monkey!

By the way, the previous Catholic Douay-Rheims 1610 and Douay of 1950 both said "peacocks" but the Catholic St. Joseph NAB 1970 has "MONKEYS" while the Jerusalem bible 1968 and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 say "BABOONS."

Oh, but wait. They are not done yet.  Now the 2009 Catholic Public Domain Version has come out, and it goes back to (you got it) "PEACOCKS"!

 By the way, don't try going to the so called Greek Septuagint for any help on this verse. Instead of having 1 Kings 10:22 consist of about 33 words and ending with "the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, IVORY, AND APES, AND PEACOCKS." Benton's copy of the alleged LXX says: "ship out of Tarshish laden with gold and silver, AND WROUGHT STONES, AND HEWN STONES." 

 Then it adds some 170 to 180 more words in Greek that are not found in any Hebrew text or translation in any bible in any language for a total of some 210 words in just this one verse, making it the longest verse in this bible version.  

You can see the so called Greek Septuagint reading for yourself here -

http://biblehub.com/multi/1_kings/10-22.htm 

The LXX adds all these words to 1 Kings 10:22 - “οτι ναυς θαρσις τω βασιλει εν τη θαλασση μετα των νηων χιραμ μια δια τριων ετων ηρχετο τω βασιλει ναυς εκ θαρσις χρυσιου και αργυριου και λιθων τορευτων και πελεκητων [22α] αυτη ην η πραγματεια της προνομης ης ανηνεγκεν ο βασιλευς σαλωμων οικοδομησαι τον οικον κυριου και τον οικον του βασιλεως και το τειχος ιερουσαλημ και την ακραν του περιφραξαι τον φραγμον της πολεως δαυιδ και την ασσουρ και την μαγδαν και την γαζερ και την βαιθωρων την ανωτερω και την ιεθερμαθ και πασας τας πολεις των αρματων και πασας τας πολεις των ιππεων και την πραγματειαν σαλωμων ην επραγματευσατο οικοδομησαι εν ιερουσαλημ και εν παση τη γη του μη καταρξαι αυτου [22β] παντα τον λαον τον υπολελειμμενον απο του χετταιου και του αμορραιου και του φερεζαιου και του χαναναιου και του ευαιου και του ιεβουσαιου και του γεργεσαιου των μη εκ των υιων ισραηλ οντων τα τεκνα αυτων τα υπολελειμμενα μετ' αυτους εν τη γη ους ουκ εδυναντο οι υιοι ισραηλ εξολεθρευσαι αυτους και ανηγαγεν αυτους σαλωμων εις φορον εως της ημερας ταυτης [22χ] και εκ των υιων ισραηλ ουκ εδωκε σαλωμων εις πραγμα οτι αυτοι ησαν ανδρες οι πολεμισται και παιδες αυτου και αρχοντες των αρματων αυτου και ιππεις αυτου."

 

Then it picks up the Hebrew narrative again in verse 23 with Solomon exceeding all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom.  

But the Modern Greek Bible reads like the Hebrew text and the King James Bible with: "απαξ κατα τριετιαν ηρχετο ο στολος απο Θαρσεις, φερων χρυσον και αργυρον, οδοντας ελεφαντος και πιθηκους και παγωνια." = "gold, silver, ivory teeth, apes (monkeys) and PEACOCKS." 

 

 LXX, NET and NIV Lunacy in the book of Job.

 

 

Job 15:23 "He wandereth abroad FOR BREAD, SAYING WHERE IS IT? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand."

 

This verse reads the same in the Jewish translations 1917 JPS, 1936 Hebrew Publishing Company, the Judaica Press Tanach, the Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011, all based of course on the Hebrew texts.

 

It is also the reading of the RV, ASV, Darby, Youngs, the New Berkeley Version in Modern English 1969, the NASB 1995, NKJV 1982, New Living Translation 2007, Holman Standard 2009, RSV - "He wanders about for bread, saying 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.", NRSV 1989, ESV 2001 "He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’", the Voice of 2012, Lexham English Bible 2012, the International Standard Version of 2012- "He wanders about for food, saying, "Where is it?", The Voice 2012 and the Modern English Version 2014.

 

Barnes' Notes on the Bible says: "The meaning of the Hebrew is, simply, that he will be reduced to poverty, and will not know where to obtain a supply for his needs."

 

Adam Clarke's commentary, John Gill, Matthew Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and John Wesley all agree with the Hebrew reading and it's sense. Adam Clarke says: "He wandereth abroad for bread - He is reduced to a state of the utmost indigence, he who was once in affluence requires a morsel of bread, and can scarcely by begging procure enough to sustain life."  

 

NIV and NET Madness

 

The NIV and Dan Wallace and company's LOONY NET version however, go totally off the wall here and the NIV doesn't even tell you in their footnotes how they came up with their unique reading. The NIVs 1978 and 1984 editions say: "He wanders about - FOOD FOR VULTURES."  

 

Dan Wallace's NET version 2006 has: "he wanders about – FOOD FOR VULTURES;⁴⁸he knows that the day of darkness is at hand."  Wallace at least gives us a footnote.  He says - "The MT has “he wanders about for food – where is it?” The LXX has “he has been appointed for food for vultures”   So, he at least tells us that the Hebrew Text reads as does the KJB and SO many others. He just decided to change it.

 

But Doktor Dan didn't follow the whole LXX reading for this verse. He just picked out a part of it to give us his "late$t finding$ in P$eudo $cholar$hip"

 

Other English versions that do this too are the New English Bible 1970 and the Revised English Bible 1989.

 

Actually, the so called Greek Septuagint reads very differently than both the Hebrew text and the NIVs OR Dan Wallace's goofy NET version. It is much longer and very different in meaning.

 

Instead of reading ""He wandereth abroad FOR BREAD, SAYING WHERE IS IT? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand."

 

The so called Greek Septuagint reads: "AND HE HAS BEEN APPOINTED TO BE FOOD FOR VULTURES; AND HE KNOWS WITHIN HIMSELF THAT HE IS DOOMED TO BE A CARCASE; AND A DARK DAY SHALL CARRY HIM AWAY AS WITH A WHIRLWIND."

 

 "Doctor" Dan and his illustrious group of 21st century "scholars" just decided to rummage through and pick out a small part of the LXX and ignore the rest, while dumping the inspired Hebrew text that makes perfect sense and most bibles in history have followed.  And to think that young seminarians are learning from these Clowns and passing on this Goofiness to others.

 

But there is more.

 

The new NIV of 2011 has changed once again and it now reads: "HE WANDERS ABOUT FOR FOOD LIKE A VULTURE; he knows the day of darkness is at hand."

 

SO, is he "FOOD FOR VULTURES" or Does "he wander about for food LIKE A VULTURE?"

(Actually, it's neither one. Both NIVs are flat out wrong.)

 

The Modern Greek Bible has rejected the Septuagint reading and has gone back to the Hebrew text. It reads: "Περιπλαναται δια αρτον, και που;" = "HE WANDERS ABOUT FOR BREAT, and where is it?"

 

The Catholic Connection (Just a coincidence, right?)

 

Neither the Catholic Douay-Rheims 1610 nor the Douay of 1950 read the way the NIVs do.  The older Catholic versions basically followed the Hebrew text.  The Douay says: "When he moveth himself TO SEEK BREAD, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready as his hand."

 

BUT the Catholic St. Joseph New American Bible 1970 and the Catholic New Jerusalem of 1985 DO read like the NIV and Dan Wallace's NET version.

 

The St. Joseph New American bible 1970 reads: "A wanderer, FOOD FOR THE VULTURES, he knows that his destruction is imminent."  Just like Dan Wallace's NET and the earlier NIVs.

 

The Catholic New Jerusalem Bible has: "MARKED DOWN AS MEAT FOR THE VULTURE. He knows that his ruin is at hand." Then it tells us in a footnote that this reading comes from the LXX and that "the Hebrew is faulty".

 

However the latest Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009 has no longer gone with the so called LXX but now reads: "When he moves himself to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been prepared for his hand."

  

Questions for Dan Wallace Types

Well, Mr. Daniel Wallace and company, any reasonable person is left wondering at least three things. #1. WHY did you reject the Hebrew and follow the LXX here? #2. Why didn't you go all the way and put the rest of the verse in as it reads in the LXX?  And #3. Are we really supposed to take "bible scholars" like you seriously?

 

Get yourself the King James Holy Bible and stick with it. It is the only Bible that is really believed by thousands even today to be the complete and inerrant words of the living God.  

 

Jonah 3:4 How many days did Jonah preach before Nineveh would be overthrown - 40 days or only 3 days?

 

In the book of Jonah chapter 3 verse 4 we read: "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet FORTY days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."  

 

All Hebrew texts read this way and every bible version I have checked reads this way - FORTY DAYS.  Yet the so called Greek Septuagint has Jonah saying "Yet THREE DAYS and Nineveh shall be overthrown."  

 

The Catholic New Jerusalem bible still says "forty days more" but then has a footnote that informs us that "the Greek says 3 days".

 

  

 

Ezekiel Chapter 8 - The Selective Silliness of the "Science" of Textual Criticism in Action

Ezekiel 8:2 "Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance OF FIRE: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire."

So read Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew's Bible 1549, the Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Revised Version 1885, ASV 1901, the NKJV, t...he Jewish translations of 1917, 1936, Douay-Rheims, Darby, Young's and Lamsa's translation of the Syriac Peshitta. You can also cross reference this verse to Ezekiel 1:27 where the prophet sees a vision "as it were the appearance of fire".

However beginning with the liberal RSV, and now in the NASB, NIV, ESV, Holman Standard, and NET version, these modern versions reject the Hebrew reading and follow the Greek Septuagint saying: "Then I looked and behold, the likeness as the appearance OF A MAN."

The NASB and NIV don't give any footnotes, but the RSV, ESV and Holman and NET do list a footnote telling us the reading of "a man" comes from the LXX, but the Hebrew Masoretic text reads "of fire". Likewise among the Catholic bible versions, the older Douay-Rheims and the Douay of 1950 read "a likeness as the appearance of FIRE" but the more modern Catholic bibles like the Jerusalem bible 1968 and the New Jerusalem of 1985 read like the NASB, ESV, NIV and say "the appearance of a HUMAN BEING" (or MAN), and then footnote that this reading comes from the Greek but that the Hebrew reads "fire".

But How consistent are they? Let's take a closer look at this so called Greek Septuagint and other verses in this same chapter of Ezekiel 8.

In the very first verse the Hebrew text and the King James Bible says: "And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the SIXTH month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand the Lord GOD fell there upon me."

However the Greek LXX says "in the FIFTH month" instead of "in the SIXTH month". Even Dan Wallace's NET version follows the Hebrew reading here, but he footnotes: "The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the FIFTH month, on the fifth of the month.” Do any of these modern versions like the NASB, NIV, ESV or NET follow this reading here? No, they do not.

In Ezekiel 8:7 we read in the Hebrew text and the KJB: "And he brought me to the door of the court; AND WHEN I LOOKED, BEHOLD, A HOLE IN THE WALL." However the LXX OMITS all of the capitalized words "and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall." And again we see that all these modern versions followed the Hebrew text and NOT the so called Greek Septuagint here.

In Ezekiel 8:16 we read in the Hebrew and the KJB - "And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about FIVE AND TWENTY men, with their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east."

However the LXX actually says: "were about TWENTY men". Again, Dan Wallace's NET version notes: "The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash." But do any of these modern versions that rejected the Hebrew reading "of fire" in verse two and opted for the LXX reading "of a man" now chose to follow the LXX? Of course not. They all go with 25 men instead of 20 men.

Then again in Ezekiel 8:17 the last part of the verse reads: "...for they have filled the land with violence AND HAVE RETURNED TO PROVOKE ME TO ANGER; AND, LO, THEY PUT THE BRANCH TO THE NOSE." However the so called Greek Septuagint completely rejects the Hebrew reading here and instead reads: "...for they have filled the land with iniquity: AND, BEHOLD, THESE ARE AS SCORNERS."

Even Dan Wallace footnotes: "The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.” But do any of these modern versions adopt the LXX reading here? Of course not. They just pick out a word here and there from among the THOUSANDS of differences that are found in the various SeptuagintS (there are several of them, and they do not agree with each other) and put them in their "bibles". This is the true nature of what they like to refer to as their "science" of textual criticism.

Ezekiel 40:49 - "The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth ELEVEN CUBITS"

So read the Hebrew texts as well as Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale, Matthew's Bible 1549, the Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible, the Revised Version 1881, ASV 1901, NASB 1995, the NKJV 1982, the Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917, Darby, Youngs, World English Bible, Orthodox Jewish Bible 2011 and the Catholic Douay-Rheims 1610 and the Douay of 1950. The Modern Greek Bible has followed the Hebrew text and now says "ELEVEN cubits" - και το πλατος ενδεκα πηχων

However the RSV, NRSV, ESV, NIV along with the more modern Catholic St. Joseph NAB 1970 and New Jerusalem bible 1985 all reject the clear Hebrew reading of "ELEVEN cubits" and here follow the so called Greek Septuagint and say "the breadth TWELVE CUBITS."  Then they footnote that this reading comes from the LXX but that the Hebrew text reads "ELEVEN cubits."

The confusion is seen further in Ezekiel 40:49 in that the Holman Standard says: "21 feet deep" and then footnotes "Literally 12 cubits". But this means the Holman followed the Septuagint reading and not the Hebrew text. This is seen by comparing Dan Wallace's NET version which says "the width 19 1/4 feet", and he then footnotes "Hebrew - ELEVEN cubits."  So the Holman paraphrased the LXX and not the Hebrew while Dan Wallace paraphrased the Hebrew and not the LXX.  Then the Common English bible of 2011 says: "the porch was EIGHTEEN feet wide", not 191/4 or much less 21 feet wide.

One would have to ask that if the ESV and NIV liked the so called Septuagint so much here, why they didn't follow it in Ezekiel 40:7 where the Hebrew texts as well as the ESV, NIV, NASB, NKJV, NET, ISV etc. all say "and between the little chambers were FIVE cubits", but this same LXX says "SIX cubits".

Or perhaps we could look at this same chapter of Ezekiel 40:14 where the Hebrew text says: "He made also posts of THREESCORE (SIXTY)  cubits" but the LXX says "TWENTY cubits". Oh wait!  The Bishops' Bible, Geneva Bible, JPS 1917, RV, ASV, NASB, NKJV, NIV and the previous Douay-Rheims and Douay all follow the Hebrew texts and  read "THREESCORE (SIXTY) CUBITS" BUT the RSV, NRSV, ESV and the modern Catholic New Jerusalem DO follow the LXX reading here and have "TWENTY cubits", and the ESV doesn't even tell you in a footnote that they did this.

And again both the Holman Standard and Dan Wallaces NET version paraphrase the number and say "105 feet high" and then footnote that the Hebrew is literally "60 cubits", but at least this time the Holman and NET followed the same Hebrew texts whereas in Ezekiel 40:49 they both went their separate ways, with the Holman following the LXX and Wallace the Hebrew. And they like to call these shenanigans the "science" of textual criticism.

Ezekiel 42:4

Here we read: "And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, A WAY OF ONE CUBIT, and their doors toward the north."

So read all Hebrew texts and the Jewish translations, the Revised Version, American Standard Version, Geneva Bible, and the Spanish Reina Valera.

The walkway of 10 cubits was ONE cubit wide. The NKJV changes the meaning by saying: "a distance of one cubit".

The NASB says: "a way of 100 cubits", the NIV has "100 feet" and the Holman Standard says "175 feet long". The RSV and ESV say "100 cubits long", but then in a footnote tell us the reading of "100" comes from the Greek Septuagint, but that the Hebrew literally reads "a way of one cubit".  Here the Catholic Douay and even the St. Joseph follow the Hebrew text and say "one cubit" but the New Jerusalem goes with "a hundred cubits long", and then informs us in a footnote that the Hebrew reads "a cubit".

Wallaces's NET version says: "at a distance of one and three-quarter feet", then he footnotes "Heb “one cubit”. The Septuagint and the Syriac read “one hundred cubits.”

Ezekiel 45:1 "...the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be TEN thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about."

TEN thousand is the reading of all Hebrew texts and that of Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, Bishops' Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible, the RV, ASV, Jewish Publication Society (JPS) 1917, NKJV 1982, the Complete Jewish Bible, the Hebrew Names Version, Lamsa' translation of the Syriac, the NASB 1972, 1973 and 1977 editions. The Modern Greek Bible reads like the KJB and the Hebrew text with "10,000" - και το πλατος δεκα χιλιαδων

However the NIV, RSV, ESV and now the NASB 1995 edition all say "TWENTY thousand", then in a footnote tell us the 20,000 comes from the Septuagint, but that the Hebrew reads 10,000.  So the NASB has once again changed from a previous Hebrew text to the LXX text in this place. Likewise the earlier Catholic versions (Douay-Rheims, Douay) follow the Hebrew "10,000" but the newer St. Joseph NAB 1970 and the New Jerusalem 1985 both go with the Septuagint reading of  "20,000" and reject the Hebrew text.

The Daniel Wallace NET version says: "three and one-third miles". But wait! The Holman Standard says: "six and two-thirds miles." Now I'm really confused. No wonder the Muslims mock at the Christians' "inspired Bible"!  Dan Wallace is paraphrasing the Hebrew text, which he footnotes as reading 10,000 cubits and the Holman Standard is paraphrasing the Greek Septuagint.  But there is more to this story of the shifting shenanigans of the "science" of textual criticism.

 Not only does the so called Greek Septuagint change the Hebrew number of 10,000 cubits into 20,000 cubits in verse one, but it does the same thing in verses three and verse five! All three places have been changed in the LXX from 10,000 to 20,000.  But did the ESV, NIV, RSV and now the NASB 1995 edition follow the LXX in verses 3 and 5 and change the 10,000 to the LXX's 20,000 there? No, they did not; they still read 10,000 cubits in verse 3 and 5. How is that for being consistent?

Not only this, but this same Greek Septuagint also radically changes the number in verse 15. There we read in the Hebrew text - "And one lamb out of the flock, out of TWO HUNDRED". However the LXX reads "And one sheep out from the flock out of TEN", not 200.  So did any of these modern versions go with the Septuagint reading in that verse? No, they did not. They still read "out of 200".  Such is the fickle nature of the so called "science" of textual criticism.  They reject the Hebrew and pick out a LXX reading from verse 1 and do the same thing in part of verse five, but reject the LXX readings in verses 3, part of 5 and 15.

Ezekiel 45:5 "And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for TWENTY CHAMBERS."

"for a possession for twenty chambers" is the reading of the Hebrew texts and that of Wycliffe, Coverdale, Bishops' Bible, the Geneva Bible, the RV, ASV, NKJV, Complete Jewish Bible, Hebrew Names Version and Lamsa's translation of the Syriac. And once again, the Modern Greek Bible now agrees with the Hebrew text and says "TWENTY CHAMBERS" - μετα εικοσι θαλαμων.

However the NASB, RSV, ESV, NIV, NET and Holman Standard say: "as their possession CITIES TO DWELL IN." Then the RSV, ESV footnote that "cities to dwell in" comes from the Greek Septuagint, but that the Hebrew reads "twenty chambers." Again, the older Catholic Douay-Rheims and Douay stuck with the Hebrew and read "twenty chambers" but the newer Catholic versions (St. Joseph and New Jerusalem) go with "CITIES TO DWELL IN"

Daniel Wallace's NET version reads: "the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place FOR THE CITIES IN WHICH THEY LIVE." Then he mentions in his footnote: " The translation follows the Septuagint here. The MT reads “twenty.”

Folks, these are the modern perversions people are being deceived into using and that NOBODY seriously believes are the true and infallible words of the living God. Get yourself the King James Holy Bible and stick to it.

See many more examples of how the modern Vatican Versions like the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman, NET, and the modern Catholic Versions etc. selectively reject the Hebrew readings here in Part Two -

http://brandplucked.webs.com/nivnasbrejecthebrew2.htm

NIV, NASB, ESV, NET and other Vatican Versions Reject the Hebrew - Part Two

Proverbs through Malachi

 

 My advice - Get away from all this “science” of textual criticism foolishness and get yourselves a King James Holy Bible and let your soul find rest in the unchangeable and infallible words of the living God.

 

Will Kinney

 

For more information on the fictitious use of the so called Greek Septuagint in the New Testament see

 

No LXX    -     http://brandplucked.webs.com/nolxx.htm

 

 

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