Chapter 5 The second problem: a second god

 

Chapter 5

The second problem: a second god

 

We are facing a second problem. The first issue was with the lack of the words in the Masoretic Text: “All the angels of God worship him”.

 

If the author of the epistle to the Hebrews was a Jew, then we expect to have written to his brethren in their mother tongue and quoted from a Hebrew version, not from the Septuagint. But was the letter written in Hebrew? Yes! After reading the epistle we see that the author is very familiar with the Jewish environment in Judea and the Hebrew Scriptures, so the text itself is an asset, that the author was a Hebrew.

 

But who is the author?

The Epistle tells us that those in Italy greeted their Jewish brothers, and Timothy was released from prison by the authorities, so the author was someone who was in Italy at the time. From this we can conclude that both, the author of the epistle and his companion were imprisoned because of their faith (Hebrews 13:23,24).

 

Saint Pantaenus died c. 200, was a significant figure in the second century Christianity. Citing an old tradition inherited from Bishop Pantaneus, who collected the apostolic writings, this description fits best with the Paul-Timothy tandem, who have been together for a long time (Acts 16.1-3), according to Clement of Alexandria, although it was written by Paul, it was only translated into Greek byLuke.

 

In 1931, a scroll was found called Chester Beatty. Roll number two contains eighty sheets, a collection of Paul’s letters alone, including this one. All this together, can be a guarantee that the apostle Paul is the author of the epistle to the Jews, as the ancestral tradition of Christians maintains.

 

If apostle Paul is the author of the epistle and he was a Pharisees, he certainly had the Pharisee-approved version of the Hebrew Scriptures, the text on which the Masoretic Text was based. Thus in this text there were no mention of another, second god, as in the text of the Septuagint. What version would the apostle Paul have quoted to his Jewish brothers?

 

Let’s see the entire Psalm 45 in the Masoretic Text, according to the JPS Tanakh 1917:

1.For the Leader; upon Shoshannim; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A

Song of loves.

2.My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter;

I say: ‘My work is concerning a king’;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

3.Thou art fairer than the children of men;

Grace is poured upon thy lips;

Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

4.Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,

Thy glory and thy majesty.

5.And in thy majesty prosper, ride on,

In behalf of truth and meekness and righteousness;

And let thy right hand teach thee tremendous things.

6.Thine arrows are sharp—

The peoples fall under thee—

[They sink] into the heart of the king’s enemies.

7.Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever;

A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

8.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee

With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

9.Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.

10.Kings’ daughters are among thy favourites;

At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

11.‘Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;

Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

12.So shall the king desire thy beauty;

For he is thy lord; and do homage unto him.

13.And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of the people

Shall entreat thy favour with a gift.’

14.All glorious is the king’s daughter within the palace;

Her raiment is of chequer work inwrought with gold.

15.She shall be led unto the king on richly woven stuff;

The virgins her companions in her train being brought unto thee.

16.They shall be led with gladness and rejoicing;

They shall enter into the king’s palace.

17.Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons,

Whom thou shalt make princes in all the land.

18.I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore shall the peoples praise thee for ever and ever.

 

No mention of another, second god.

 

Let’s compare it with the Brenton version of the Septuagint, where a second god appears:

1.For the end, for alternate strains by the sons of Core; for instruction, a Song concerning the beloved. My heart has uttered a good matter: I declare my works to the king: my tongue is the pen of a quick writer.

2.Thou art more beautiful than the sons of men: grace has been shed forth on thy lips: therefore God has blessed thee for ever.

3.Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Mighty One, in thy comeliness, and in thy beauty;

4.and bend thy bow, and prosper, and reign, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall guide thee wonderfully.

5.Thy weapons are sharpened, Mighty One, (the nations shall fall under thee) they are in the heart of the king's enemies.

6.Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of righteousness.

7.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy fellows.

8.Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia are exhaled from thy garments, and out of the ivory palaces,

9.with which kings' daughters have gladdened thee for thine honour: the queen stood by on thy right hand, clothed in vesture wrought with gold, and arrayed in divers colours.

10.Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; forget also thy people, and thy father's house.

11.Because the king has desired thy beauty; for he is thy Lord.

12.And the daughter of Tyre shall adore him with gifts; the rich of the people of the land shall supplicate thy favour.

13.All her glory is that of the daughter of the king of Esebon, robed as she is in golden fringed garments,

14.in embroidered clothing: virgins shall be brought to the king after her: her fellows shall be brought to thee.

15.They shall be brought with gladness and exultation: they shall be led into the king's temple.

16.Instead of thy fathers children are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.

17.They shall make mention of thy name from generation to generation: therefore shall the nations give thanks to thee for ever, even for ever and ever.

As we see, the problem arises in verse 6, where a second god appears:

 

Masoretic Text 7.Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever;

A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

8.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

 

Brenton Septuagint 6.Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of righteousness.

7.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy fellows.

 

Why would a Jew write to other Jews in Greek? And especially, why would he quote – a learned Jew like Paul, with a Pharisee past, from the Septuagint, considered by the Jews a dubious translation?

 

The echo of the Septuagint translation left a bitter taste in Judea, we learn this from Jewish sources. After this translation was well received by some of the elite of the Jewish diaspora in Egypt, but not by all, this was not at all the case in the translators native country. The position of the Jewish tradition regarding this translation is one of disapproval. A passage from the Talmud, Mesechta Sofrim, echoes those times, when the Torah was translated into Greek for Emperor Ptolemy: “The day was as difficult for the Jewish people as the day they worshiped the golden calf".

 

Why was so hard that day of presentation of the translation made by those 72 scholars to the Jews in Judea? Because they saw what a great compromis were made? What was introduced in the text?

 

Megillat Taanit, lit. “The Fasting Scroll" is an ancient text, in the form of a chronicle, about the fasting days of the Jews. This ancient chronicle tells us that on the 8th day of Tevet the translation of the Torah into Greek was completed in the days of Emperor Ptolemy, and darkness descended upon the world for three days. In this heavenly sign, some saw the divine disapproval of this work, which is why it was decided to commemorate this day as a day of fasting and regret.

 

Aristeas' letter tells us that the 72 scholars brought with them a leather scroll on which the Hebrew text was written in gold letters. Given that the text was brought from the high priest Eleazar (c. 260–245 BC), and the priests usually joined the ancestors of the Sadducee sect, we can assume that the text was adapted to this ideology, as seen in the notes from Genesis 1:1,26 and Genesis 11:7.

 

A note from the Masorites states that in Genesis 18:22 there was a correction added to the text. So it is possible that before this correction the text sounded like this: “Those men went away and went to Sodom. But the angel of Yehowah still stood before Abraham.” The Sadducee priests, who did not believe in angels in the traditional sense, removed the word angel, as they removed the plural “let us” from Genesis 1:26 and 11:7 for a singular “let I”, to support their pantheistic ideology. It is possible that this Sadducee thesis of denying angels as distinct heavenly beings appeared in Judea after the Jews entered the sphere of Hellenistic influence. Pantheism is a monistic philosophical conception that identifies divinity with all matter and the universe, God being the Universe and Nature. The pantheists wanted to believe that all the gods are only one god, these gods being only the face of one god. So the pantheists believed in one god with many faces. This ideology was also embraced by the Sadducees, who saw in angels only the face of God, not distinct heavenly persons.

 

Did not know - a learned man like the apostle Paul -  the controversial history of this translation, the Septuagint?