Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>]

>===== Original Message From phil-eng AT ighmail.com =====
>Why does elohim occur in MT Psalm 8:6[5], whereas aggelous occurs in LXX
>Psalm 8:6[5]?

I suppose the best person to ask would be the translator who came up with the 
Greek rendering. Since I don't think that person is on this list, I'll take a 
stab at an answer. The translator probably felt that elohim has a wider range 
of meaning than can be captured in any one Greek word (as is often the case 
when translating from any language to any other). A judgment had to be made 
as 
to the meaning of elohim in this context, and angelous seemed like the best 
rendering to go with. I suspect that the translator had in mind the sense of 
superhuman beings here, rather than human messengers. I'm assuming, of 
course, 
that elohim was in the Vorlage.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics