Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Gary,

Please read ***Commentary on the NT Use of the OT***, editors: G.K. Beale and
D.A. Carson, published by Baker Academic, 2007. The pertinent sections is the
commentary by George H. Guthrie, Hebrews, pp. 919-923. Guthrie specifically
speaks of Hebrews 1:6 on pp. 930-933.

Quoting at length!!!

Guthrie says:

"A.    The Immediate NT Context.
        "Contributing to the chain quotation of 1:5-14 in this way, the
quotation of Deut. 32:43 LXX in 1:6 comes as the first in a pair of passages
focusing on the unique role of angels, as that role is set over against the
superior status of the Son. It is joined by verbal analogy to the quotation of
Ps. 104:4 (103:4 LXX), which follows, by virtue of their common reference to 
the
'angels' (angelos)."

B.    The Original OT Context.
        Traditionally, Deut. 32:1-43 is referred to as the Song of Moses. The
passage, called "hauntingly beautiful" by on scholar (Christiansen 2002: 785),
has received more attention by both ancient scribes and modern researchers 
than
any other passage in Deuteronomy and more than most other passages of the OT.
The song was used for liturgical purposes in the temple, synagogue, and early
church, and its popularity among Greek-speaking Jews is evidenced by its
presence in the Odes at the end of the Greek version of Psalms (Lane 
1991:1:28).
In the Talmud, rules are given that require two hymns from the Pentateuch, 
Exod.
15 and Deut. 32, to be written in a specific way (b. Meg. 16b). Thus, Deut. 32
was a very important text to the Jews of the ancient world. The Song of Moses
occurs near the end of the book of Deuteronomy, in a final movement (Deut.
31:1-34:12) in which Moses anticipates the Israelites' entrance into the
promised land."

"...our quotation from 32:43 occurs in the final movement of the LXX version 
of
the song, indeed, its last verse. In this final movement Moses proclaims the
downfall of God's enemies (32:30-35) and his ultimate deliverance of his 
people
(32:36-43). This final verse of the song constitutes a climactic celebration 
of
God's victory over the enemies and just treatment of his people. The 
exhortation
to worship is in parallel to the exhortation to find strength, but the subject
of the verbs depends on the textual tradition with which one is dealing (see
para. D below). Therefore, the theme of "defeat of enemies," seen as in Ps. 2
and 2 Sam. 7, is continued and serves as basis for exhorting to worship."

D.    The Textual Background.
        "Here we encounter one of the most interesting and most difficult
histories of the quotations in Hebrews. In 1:6 the quotation reads,
            'And let all the angels of God worship him' (KAI PROSKYNHSATWSAN
AUTWi PANTES ANGELOI THEOU). First, the part of Deut. 32:43 that finds
expression in 1:6 is not found in the MT at all (Tg. Onq. Deut. 32:43 is very
similar to the MT). Additionally, at the beginning of Deut. 32:43 the MT 
reads,
"Rejoice, O nations" (goy), whereas the LXX reads, "Rejoice, O heavens"
(ounanoi); and where the MT says that the Lord will avenge the blood of his
"servants" (`ebed), the LXX     says "sons" (TWN hOIWN). With reference to 
these
elements, the LXX parallels a reading from Qumran (4Q44) rather than the MT or
the Samaritan Pentateuch. Yet, neither does the LXX form of our quotation
matches Hebrews' form of the text, but rather reads as follows:
            'O heavens, rejoice together with him,
                and let all the songs of God worship him.
            Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people,
                and let all the angels of God regain their strength.'

Note that in this form of the text "sons of God" (hUIOI QEOU) are those 
exhorted
to worship. Of course, it is possible that Hebrews has conflated the second 
and
fourth lines, so that "angels" in the fourth line replaces "sons" in the 
second,
especially since the designation "sons of God" at times is interpreted as
referring to angels (e.g., Gen. 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). Yet, there are
other possibilities to be considered.

It has been pointed out that the wording of the Hebrews quotation also 
resembles
Ps. 97:7 (96:7 LXX), which reads, "Worship him, all his angels" (PROSHYNHSATE
AUTWi, PANTES hOI ANGELOI AUTOU). In this reading, and unlike a conflated
reading from Deut. 32:43 LXX, no conjunction (KAI) is found before the verb, 
the
form of the verb is different, and the "of God" (QEOU) of the quotation is "of
him" (AUTOU) Motyer (199:18-19, while affirming that the Hebrews quotation is
influenced by Deut. 32:43, prefers the psalm reading, since, given the context
and the heading of Ps. 96 LXX, it moves "into the orbit of the David ideology 
of
Psalm 2." Other scholars have suggested that the quotation 1:5 results from 
the
conflation of this psalm with the Greek form of Deut. ((e.g, Thompson 
1976:356;
D. Guthrie 1983:74-75); yet, this solution, although possible, has no 
advantage
over a conflation within the Greek form of Deut. 32:43., and it has several
liabilities.

To complicate matters further, however, the reading from Qumran associated 
with
Deut 32:43 (4Q44), mentioned above, parallels the wording of Ps 97:7cMT: "and
bow down to him, all you gods" (Skehan 1954). Term here for "gods" ('elohim) 
at
times was interpreted b the LXX as referring to angels, as the Greek 
translation
of the psalm (96:7 LXX) demonstrates (cf. Ps. 137:1 LXX [138:1MT/ET]). Thus, 
it
may be that some scribes of ancient Judaism associated the passage from
Deuteronomy and Ps. 97c.

More promising still is the insight that the quotation in 1:6 matches very 
well
the representation of the Song of Moses found in Odes 2:43: "and let all the
angels of God worship him" (KAI PROSKYNHSATWN AUTWi PANTES hOI ANGELOI QEOU).
The only difference between the two is the article (hOI) prior to "angels"
(ANGELOS) in Odes. Thus, some hold this to be the source for Hebrews' 
quotation
(e.g. Kistemaker 1961:11; Spicq 1952-1953:1:336). It is, therefore, quite
possible that the author of Hebrews accessed this form of Deut. 32:43, which
would have been widely known among Greek-speaking Jews of the day, due to its
reference to the angels and its emphasis on worship. This form seems to have
been widely published in a liturgical tradition and, for instance, is 
reflected
in Justin, Dial. 130 (Lane 1991:1:28). Beyond this suggestion, it is also
possible that Hebrews is reading a variant form of the LXX in which "angels" 
are
the subject of the exhortation to worship."

Bryant:    Even I am more inclined to think that the quotation came of Odes
since the article is the only difference.


Rev. Bryant J. Williams III


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Hedrick" <garyh AT cjfm.org>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 3:50 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] 1Q287 and the Tanakh at Deut. 32:43


> I hope it’s still okay to ask questions about the Hebrew text of the Bible 
> on
this list.
>
>
>
> Hebrews 1:6 in the NT quotes the OT as saying, “And let all the angels of 
> GOD
worship him.” The problem is that there’s nothing like this in the Hebrew
Bible—at least, none that I’ve been able to find. Someone with a skeptical
mindset might wonder if the author of Hebrews simply made up the quotation
because it sounded “biblical” and buttressed his argument.
>
>
>
> But wait a minute, not so fast. The LXX adds the phrase in Deut. 32:43 about
the angels of GOD (lit., “sons of GOD”) worshiping him (apologies in advance 
if
the Greek font below doesn’t work in some browsers):
>
> εὐφράνθητε οὐρανοί ἅμα αὐτῷ καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες υἱοὶ θεοῦ
εὐφράνθητε ἔθνη μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ
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
>
>
>
> Also, I understand that 1Q287 (a DSS fragment) preserves the phrase in the
Hebrew text of the same passage (although I haven’t been able to find a copy
online).
>
>
>
> This presents an interesting situation. Is it possible that the NT actually
preserves an older reading of this passage in the Hebrew text than the MT? I
realize this also relates to TC, but I thought our b-hebrew listers might also
have some relevant insights.
>
>
>
> Gary Hedrick
>
> San Antonio, TX
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.16/1926 - Release Date: 01/30/09 
5:31
PM