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I have no special credentials to pursue this, except that I'm not on any religion's payroll. I have no formal religious training. I have no visions or dreams to speak of. I have a kind of compulsion to study the Bible. I blame it on my father. Over and over he quoted Proverbs 4:7 to me as I grew up: Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; Yea, with all thy getting get understanding. I didn't always listen to my father when I was young. But now that I am old I am apparently incapable of not running his programing.

Adultery in the Prophets, Part 2

Posted on June 1, 2012 by admin

If I look now at the word group from which πορνεία is derived the idea that Jesus, Paul and the New Testament writers had idolatrous worship with its drunken sexual practices in mind when they used it, is not as strange as it first sounded. Here are the words as they are listed and defined in Strong’s Concordance:

G4205 πόρνος pornos por’-nos From πέρνημι pernēmi (to sell; akin to the base of G4097); a (male) prostitute (as venal), that is, (by analogy) a debauchee (libertine):—fornicator, whoremonger.

From πόρνος comes the feminine πόρνη.

G4204 πόρνη pornē por’-nay Feminine of G4205; a strumpet; figuratively an idolater:—harlot, whore.

From πόρνη comes the verb πορνεύω.

G4203 πορνεύω porneuō porn-yoo’-o From G4204; to act the harlot, that is, (literally) indulge unlawful lust (of either sex), or (figuratively) practise idolatry:—commit (fornication).

And finally from the verb πορνεύω, the activity of πόρνος and πόρνη, comes the noun πορνεία.

G4202 πορνεία porneia por-ni’-ah From G4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively idolatry:—fornication.

I left the narrative of adultery in the Prophets with God’s warning to the southern kingdom of Judah not to follow in the footsteps of the northern kingdom of Israel. Although you, O Israel, commit adultery (zānâ, זנה), do not let Judah become guilty!¹ I pick up the thread again later in the southern kingdom of Judah with the prophet Jeremiah (3:6-11 NET):

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward (mᵊšûḇâ, משבה) Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute (zānâ, ותזני; Greek: ἐπόρνευσαν, a form of πορνεύω) to other gods [Table]. Yet even after she had done [Greek: πορνεῦσαι, another form of πορνεύω] all that, I thought that she might come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful (bāḡôḏ, בגודה) Judah, saw what she did [Table]. She also saw that I gave wayward (mᵊšûḇâ, משבה) Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous (nā’ap̄, נאפה) worship of other gods. Even after her unfaithful (bāḡaḏ, בגדה) sister Judah had seen this, she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute (zānâ, ותזן; Greek: ἐπόρνευσε[ν], another form of πορνεύω) to other gods [Table]. Because she took her prostitution (zᵊnûṯ, זנותה; Greek: πορνεία) so lightly, she defiled the land through her adulterous (nā’ap̄, ותנאף) worship of gods made of wood and stone [Table]. In spite of all this, Israel’s sister, unfaithful (bāḡôḏ, בגודה) Judah, has not turned back (šûḇ, שבה)² to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” says the Lord [Table]. Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward (mᵊšûḇâ, משבה) Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful (bāḡaḏ, מבגדה) Judah [Table].

Judah like Israel engaged in idolatrous worship, which was not merely figurative adultery but involved worshippers in actual sexual sacrifices with both professional cultic prostitutes and eager amateurs at festivals (Jeremiah 5:7-9 NET).

The Lord asked, “How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem [capital of the southern kingdom of Judah]? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife (nā’ap̄, וינאפו) to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes (zānâ, זונה; Greek: πορνῶν, a form of πόρνη). They are like lusty, well-fed stallions. Each of them lusts after his neighbor’s wife. I will surely punish (pāqaḏ, אפקד) them for doing such things!” says the Lord. “I will surely bring retribution (nāqam, תתנקם) on such a nation as this!”

This led to a false view of the world (Jeremiah 7:8-11 NET):

But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. You steal (gānaḇ, הגנב). You murder (rāṣaḥ, רצח). You commit adultery (nā’ap̄, ונאף). You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins (tôʿēḇâ, התועבות)! Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers (pārîṣ, פרצים)? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

There were prophets in Jerusalem who encouraged the people to continue in these hateful sins, or abominations³ (Jeremiah 23:13-18 NET).

The Lord says, “I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray. But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful (nā’ap̄, נאוף; Greek: μοιχωμένους, a form of μοιχάω) to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. So then I, the Lord who rules over all, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness (ḥănupâ, חנפה) has spread throughout the land.’” The Lord who rules over all says to the people of Jerusalem: “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say. They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said, ‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you [See Addendum below]!’ Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?”

People wanted to kill Jeremiah for the things he prophesied. Then the Lord told me about some men from Anathoth who were threatening to kill me. They had threatened, “Stop prophesying in the name of the Lord or we will kill you!”⁴ As a matter of fact, even your own brothers and the members of your own family have betrayed you too. Even they have plotted to do away with you. So do not trust them even when they say kind things to you.⁵ But I’m quoting from Jeremiah’s prophecies because they were preserved in Hebrew Scripture. Jeremiah’s prophecies of judgment and destruction came to pass. The prophecies of those who said, Things will go well for you, and, Nothing bad will happen to you, did not.

Addendum: January 7, 2022
There is a clause in the Septuagint not found in the Masoretic text of Jeremiah 23:17.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Jeremiah 23:17 (Tanakh/KJV)	Jeremiah 23:17 (NET)	Jeremiah 23:17 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:17 (Elpenor English)
They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination (בִּשְׁרִר֚וּת) of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.	They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said [note 56], ‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations (šᵊrîrûṯ, בשררות) of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’	They say to those who reject the word of the Lord, “There shall be peace for you,” and to all who walk by their own will (τοῗς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν), [to every one who walks by the error (πλάνῃ) of his own heart,] they said, “No evil shall come upon you”—	They say to them that reject the word of the Lord, There shall be peace to you; and to all that walk after their own lusts (τοῖς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν), and to everyone that walks in the error (πλάνῃ) of his heart, they have said, No evil shall come upon thee.

The Greek word translated will (NETS) and lusts (English Elpenor) above was the noun θελήμασιν, a form of θέλημα. In Jesus’ purpose statement recorded by John below will was θέλημα, and again in Luke’s account of what is arguably the essence of Jesus’ relationship to God his Father. The other Gospel writers chose the related verb θέλω for this same prayer.

John 6:38 (NET) Table	Luke 22:42 (NET) Table	Matthew 26:39 (NET) Table	Mark 14:36 (NET)
For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will (θέλημα) but the will (θέλημα) of the one who sent me.	“Father, if you are willing (βούλει), take this cup away from me. Yet not my will (θέλημα) but yours be done.”	Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass⁶ from me! Yet not what I will (θέλω), but what you will.”	He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will (θέλω), but what you will.”

It is interesting to note that the clause καὶ πᾶσι(ν) τοῗς πορευομένοις τοῗς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν (NETS: and to all who walk by their own will) was apparently in the Hebrew Scriptures when the rabbis translated them into Greek before Jesus was born, and absent from the Masoretes’ edit of the Scriptures after Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah.

Tables comparing Jeremiah 5:7; 5:8; 5:9; 7:8; 7:9; 7:10; 7:11; 23:13; 23:14; 23:15; 23:16; 23:17; 23:18; 11:21 and 12:6 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Jeremiah 5:7; 5:8; 5:9; 7:8; 7:9; 7:10; 7:11; 23:13; 23:14; 23:15; 23:16; 23:17; 23:18; 11:21 and 12:6 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Jeremiah 5:7 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 5:7 (KJV)	Jeremiah 5:7 (NET)
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.	How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.	The Lord asked, “How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.

Jeremiah 5:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 5:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ποίᾳ τούτων ἵλεως γένωμαί σοι οἱ υἱοί σου ἐγκατέλιπόν με καὶ ὤμνυον ἐν τοῗς οὐκ οὖσιν θεοῗς καὶ ἐχόρτασα αὐτούς καὶ ἐμοιχῶντο καὶ ἐν οἴκοις πορνῶν κατέλυον	ποίᾳ τούτων ἵλεως γένωμαί σοι; οἱ υἱοί σου ἐγκατέλιπόν με καὶ ὤμνυον ἐν τοῖς οὐκ οὖσι θεοῖς· καὶ ἐχόρτασα αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐμοιχῶντο καὶ ἐν οἴκοις πορνῶν κατέλυον
Jeremiah 5:7 (NETS)	Jeremiah 5:7 (English Elpenor)
For which of these should I be merciful to you? Your sons have forsaken me and would swear by those who are no gods. And I fed them, and they were committing adultery and would lodge in houses of prostitutes.	In what [way] shall I forgive thee for these things? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots’ houses.

Jeremiah 5:8 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 5:8 (KJV)	Jeremiah 5:8 (NET)
They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.	They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.	They are like lusty, well-fed stallions. Each of them lusts after his neighbor’s wife.

Jeremiah 5:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 5:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἵπποι θηλυμανεῗς ἐγενήθησαν ἕκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῗκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐχρεμέτιζον	ἵπποι θηλυμανεῖς ἐγενήθησαν, ἕκαστος ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἐχρεμέτιζον
Jeremiah 5:8 (NETS)	Jeremiah 5:8 (English Elpenor)
They were lusty stallions, each neighing for his fellow’s wife.	They became as wanton horses: they neighed each one after his neighbour’s wife.

Jeremiah 5:9 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 5:9 (KJV)	Jeremiah 5:9 (NET)
Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?	Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?	I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord. “I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”

Jeremiah 5:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 5:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ἐπισκέψομαι λέγει κύριος ἢ ἐν ἔθνει τοιούτῳ οὐκ ἐκδικήσει ἡ ψυχή μου	μὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ἐπισκέψομαι; λέγει Κύριος. ἢ ἐν ἔθνει τοιούτῳ οὐκ ἐκδικήσει ἡ ψυχή μου
Jeremiah 5:9 (NETS)	Jeremiah 5:9 (English Elpenor)
Surely I shall not fail to visit for these things? says the Lord, or shall my soul not take vengeance on such a nation?	Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this.

Jeremiah 7:8 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 7:8 (KJV)	Jeremiah 7:8 (NET)
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.	Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.	“‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you.

Jeremiah 7:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 7:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰ δὲ ὑμεῗς πεποίθατε ἐπὶ λόγοις ψευδέσιν ὅθεν οὐκ ὠφεληθήσεσθε	εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς πεποίθατε ἐπὶ λόγοις ψευδέσιν, ὅθεν οὐκ ὠφεληθήσεσθε
Jeremiah 7:9 (NETS)	Jeremiah 7:9 (English Elpenor)
But if you trust in deceptive words, whereby you will not benefit,	But whereas ye have trusted in lying words, whereby ye shall not be profited;

Jeremiah 7:9 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 7:9 (KJV)	Jeremiah 7:9 (NET)
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;	Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;	You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known.

Jeremiah 7:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 7:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ φονεύετε καὶ μοιχᾶσθε καὶ κλέπτετε καὶ ὀμνύετε ἐπ᾽ ἀδίκῳ καὶ ἐθυμιᾶτε τῇ Βααλ καὶ ἐπορεύεσθε ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων ὧν οὐκ οἴδατε τοῦ κακῶς εἶναι ὑμῗν	καὶ φονεύετε καὶ μοιχᾶσθε καὶ κλέπτετε καὶ ὀμνύετε ἐπ’ ἀδίκῳ καὶ θυμιᾶτε τῇ Βάαλ καὶ ἐπορεύεσθε ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων, ὧν οὐκ οἴδατε, τοῦ κακῶς εἶναι ὑμῖν
Jeremiah 7:9 (NETS)	Jeremiah 7:9 (English Elpenor)
and murder and commit adultery and steal and swear wrongly and offer incense to the goddess Baal and go after foreign gods that you do not know,	and ye murder, and commit adultery, and steal, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and are gone after strange gods whom ye know not,

Jeremiah 7:10 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 7:10 (KJV)	Jeremiah 7:10 (NET)
And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?	And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?	Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!

Jeremiah 7:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 7:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἤλθετε καὶ ἔστητε ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ οὗ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ εἴπατε ἀπεσχήμεθα τοῦ μὴ ποιεῗν πάντα τὰ βδελύγματα ταῦτα	καὶ ἤλθετε καὶ ἔστητε ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ, οὗ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ’ αὐτῷ, καὶ εἴπατε· ἀπεσχήμεθα τοῦ μὴ ποιεῖν πάντα τὰ βδελύγματα ταῦτα
Jeremiah 7:10 (NETS)	Jeremiah 7:10 (English Elpenor)
so that it be ill for you, and if you came and stood before me in the house, where my name has been called on it, and you said, “We have kept away from doing all these abominations”—	so that it is evil with you; yet have ye come, and stood before me in the house, whereon my name is called, and ye have said, We have refrained from doing all these abominations.

Jeremiah 7:11 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 7:11 (KJV)	Jeremiah 7:11 (NET)
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.	Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.	Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 7:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μὴ σπήλαιον λῃστῶν ὁ οἶκός μου οὗ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ἐκεῗ ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν καὶ ἐγὼ ἰδοὺ ἑώρακα λέγει κύριος	μὴ σπήλαιον λῃστῶν ὁ οἶκός μου, οὗ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἐκεῖ, ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν; καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἑώρακα, λέγει Κύριος
Jeremiah 7:11 (NETS)	Jeremiah 7:11 (English Elpenor)
surely my house, there where my name has been called on it, has not become a den of robbers before you? And I, behold, I have seen it, says the Lord,	Is my house, whereon my name is called, a den of robbers in your eyes? And, behold, I have seen [it], saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:13 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:13 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:13 (NET)
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.	And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.	The Lord says, “I saw the prophets of Samaria doing something that was disgusting. They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray.

Jeremiah 23:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐν τοῗς προφήταις Σαμαρείας εἶδον ἀνομήματα ἐπροφήτευσαν διὰ τῆς Βααλ καὶ ἐπλάνησαν τὸν λαόν μου Ισραηλ	καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Σαμαρείας εἶδον ἀνομήματα· ἐπροφήτευσαν διὰ τῆς Βάαλ καὶ ἐπλάνησαν τὸν λαόν μου ᾿Ισραήλ
Jeremiah 23:13 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:13 (English Elpenor)
And in the prophets of Samaria I saw lawless deeds: they prophesied by the goddess Baal and led my people Israel astray.	And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen lawless deeds; they prophesied by Baal, and led my people Israel astray.

Jeremiah 23:14 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:14 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:14 (NET)
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.	I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.	But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.

Jeremiah 23:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐν τοῗς προφήταις Ιερουσαλημ ἑώρακα φρικτά μοιχωμένους καὶ πορευομένους ἐν ψεύδεσι καὶ ἀντιλαμβανομένους χειρῶν πονηρῶν τοῦ μὴ ἀποστραφῆναι ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐγενήθησάν μοι πάντες ὡς Σοδομα καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτὴν ὥσπερ Γομορρα	καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ ἑώρακα φρικτά, μοιχωμένους καὶ πορευομένους ἐν ψεύδεσι καὶ ἀντιλαμβανομένους χειρῶν πονηρῶν τοῦ μὴ ἀποστραφῆναι ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς· ἐγενήθησάν μοι πάντες ὡς Σόδομα καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες αὐτὴν ὥσπερ Γόμορρα
Jeremiah 23:14 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:14 (English Elpenor)
And in the prophets of Ierousalem I have seen shocking things: people committing adultery and walking in lies and strengthening the hands of evildoers so that no one turns, each from his wicked way; all have become like Sodoma to me, and its inhabitants just like Gomorra.	Also in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things: as they committed adultery, and walked in lies, and strengthened the hands of many, that they should not return each from his evil way: they are all become to me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrha.

Jeremiah 23:15 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:15 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:15 (NET)
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.	So then I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’”

Jeremiah 23:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ψωμιῶ αὐτοὺς ὀδύνην καὶ ποτιῶ αὐτοὺς ὕδωρ πικρόν ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν Ιερουσαλημ ἐξῆλθεν μολυσμὸς πάσῃ τῇ γῇ	διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ψωμιῶ αὐτοὺς ὀδύνην καὶ ποτιῶ αὐτοὺς ὕδωρ πικρόν, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν προφητῶν ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ ἐξῆλθε μολυσμὸς πάσῃ τῇ γῇ
Jeremiah 23:15 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:15 (English Elpenor)
Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I will feed them pain and will give them bitter water to drink, because from the prophets of Ierousalem defilement went out to the whole land.”	Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will feed them with pain, and give them bitter water to drink: for from the prophets of Jerusalem has defilement gone forth [into] all the land.

Jeremiah 23:16 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:16 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:16 (NET)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.	The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the people of Jerusalem: “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say.

Jeremiah 23:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὕτως λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ μὴ ἀκούετε τοὺς λόγους τῶν προφητῶν ὅτι ματαιοῦσιν ἑαυτοῗς ὅρασιν ἀπὸ καρδίας αὐτῶν λαλοῦσιν καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ στόματος κυρίου	οὕτως λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ· μὴ ἀκούετε τοὺς λόγους τῶν προφητῶν, ὅτι ματαιοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς ὅρασιν, ἀπὸ καρδίας αὐτῶν λαλοῦσι καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ στόματος Κυρίου
Jeremiah 23:16 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:16 (English Elpenor)
Thus says the Lord Almighty: Do not hear the words of the prophets, because they are rendering a vision empty. They speak from their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord.	Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Hearken not to the words of the prophets: for they frame a vain vision for themselves; they speak from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:17 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:17 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:17 (NET)
They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.	They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.	They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said, ‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, ‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Jeremiah 23:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
λέγουσιν τοῗς ἀπωθουμένοις τὸν λόγον κυρίου εἰρήνη ἔσται ὑμῗν καὶ πᾶσιν τοῗς πορευομένοις τοῗς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν παντὶ τῷ πορευομένῳ πλάνῃ καρδίας αὐτοῦ εἶπαν οὐχ ἥξει ἐπὶ σὲ κακά	λέγουσι τοῖς ἀπωθουμένοις τὸν λόγον Κυρίου· εἰρήνη ἔσται ὑμῖν· καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πορευομένοις τοῖς θελήμασιν αὐτῶν, παντὶ τῷ πορευομένῳ πλάνῃ καρδίας αὐτοῦ εἶπαν· οὐχ ἥξει ἐπὶ σὲ κακά
Jeremiah 23:17 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:17 (English Elpenor)
They say to those who reject the word of the Lord, “There shall be peace for you,” and to all who walk by their own will, [to every one who walks by the error of his own heart,] they said, “No evil shall come upon you”—	They say to them that reject the word of the Lord, There shall be peace to you; and to all that walk after their own lusts, and to everyone that walks in the error of his heart, they have said, No evil shall come upon thee.

Jeremiah 23:18 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 23:18 (KJV)	Jeremiah 23:18 (NET)
For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?	For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?	Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

Jeremiah 23:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 23:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι τίς ἔστη ἐν ὑποστήματι κυρίου καὶ εἶδεν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ τίς ἐνωτίσατο καὶ ἤκουσεν	ὅτι τίς ἔστη ἐν ὑποστήματι Κυρίου καὶ εἶδε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ; τίς ἠνωτίσατο καὶ ἤκουσεν
Jeremiah 23:18 (NETS)	Jeremiah 23:18 (English Elpenor)
because who has stood in support of the Lord and seen his word? Who has given ear and obeyed?	For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and seen his word? who has hearkened, and heard?

Jeremiah 11:21 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 11:21 (KJV)	Jeremiah 11:21 (NET)
Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:	Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:	Then the Lord told me about some men from Anathoth who were threatening to kill me. They had threatened, “Stop prophesying in the name of the Lord or we will kill you!”

Jeremiah 11:21 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 11:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας Αναθωθ τοὺς ζητοῦντας τὴν ψυχήν μου τοὺς λέγοντας οὐ μὴ προφητεύσῃς ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου εἰ δὲ μή ἀποθανῇ ἐν ταῗς χερσὶν ἡμῶν	διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας ᾿Αναθὼθ τοὺς ζητοῦντας τὴν ψυχήν μου, τοὺς λέγοντας· οὐ μὴ προφητεύσεις ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου, εἰ δὲ μή, ἀποθάνῃ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἡμῶν
Jeremiah 11:21 (NETS)	Jeremiah 11:21 (English Elpenor)
Therefore this is what the Lord says in reference to the men of Anathoth, who seek my soul, who say, “You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord; otherwise you will die by our hands”—	Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek my life, that say, Thou shalt not prophesy at all in the name of the Lord, but if thou dost, thou shalt die by our hands:

Jeremiah 12:6 (Tanakh)	Jeremiah 12:6 (KJV)	Jeremiah 12:6 (NET)
For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.	For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.	As a matter of fact, even your own brothers and the members of your own family have betrayed you as well. Even they have plotted to do away with you. So do not trust them even when they say kind things to you.

Jeremiah 12:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Jeremiah 12:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ οὗτοι ἠθέτησάν σε καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐβόησαν ἐκ τῶν ὀπίσω σου ἐπισυνήχθησαν μὴ πιστεύσῃς ἐν αὐτοῗς ὅτι λαλήσουσιν πρὸς σὲ καλά	ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου, καὶ οὗτοι ἠθέτησάν σε, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐβόησαν, ἐκ τῶν ὀπίσω σου ἐπισυνήχθησαν· μὴ πιστεύσῃς ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι λαλήσουσι πρός σε καλά
Jeremiah 12:6 (NETS)	Jeremiah 12:6 (English Elpenor)
because even your kinsfolk and the household of your father, even they have dealt faithlessly with you; they too shouted; they were gathered behind you; do not believe them, because they will speak good things to you.	For even thy brethren and the house of thy father, even these have dealt treacherously with thee; and they have cried out, they are gathered together in pursuit of thee; trust not thou in them, though they shall speak fair [words] to thee.

Adultery in the Prophets, Part 3

Back to Solomon’s Wealth, Part 5

Back to Section One – Conclusion

Back to Who Am I? Part 5

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 7

Back to Hannah’s Prayer, Part 4

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 11

Back to Who Am I? Part 14

¹ Hosea 4:15a (NET) Table

² This is the same word Jephthah used when he said to his daughter, I made an oath to the Lord, and I cannot break (šûḇ, לשוב) it (Judges 11:35b NET). Or in the King James Version: …for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back (šûḇ, לשוב).

³ The Hebrew word translated hateful sins in Jeremiah 7:10 (NET) is the same as that translated abomination in Leviticus 20:13 (NET) [Table]: If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination (tôʿēḇâ, תועבה).

⁴ Jeremiah 11:21 (NET)

⁵ Jeremiah 12:6 (NET)

⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had παρελθάτω here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παρελθετω.

Jephthah

Posted on May 31, 2012 by admin

Jephthah led (šāp̄aṭ, וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט) Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his city in Gilead.¹ Samuel mentioned Jephthah, along with himself, as one the Lord sent as a deliverer from the hand of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely² when the people cried out to the Lord and admitted, “We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.”³ Though there are some differences in the list of Judges Samuel mentioned between the LXX (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the Targum and the Syriac Peshitta according to the footnote (19) in the NET, Jephthah made all three lists. Jephthah was remembered again as a man of faith in Hebrews 11:32 (NET):

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak,⁴ Samson,⁵ Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.

He is certainly worth my consideration. Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute (zānâ, זונה), but Gilead was his father.⁶ Gilead had other sons by his wife. When they grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth, because you are another woman’s son.” So Jephthah left his half-brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him [See Addendum below].⁷

Later, When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders (zāqēn, זקני) of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.⁸ They wanted him to be their commander (qāṣîn, לקצין) in battle. When Jephthah recounted how they had treated him previously they pledged their loyalty to him as their leader (rō’š, לראש) if he would lead them victoriously in battle against the Ammonites (Judges 11:9-11 NET).

Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader (rō’š, לראש).” The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say.” So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader (rō’š, לראש) and commander (qāṣîn, ולקצין). Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the Lord in Mizpah.

So while Barak was appointed to his judgeship by the prophetess Deborah,⁹ and the Lord himself called Gideon (also known as Jerub-Baal),¹⁰ Jephthah rose to prominence through a backroom deal sanctified after the fact as an oath, or contract, at a holy place. These circumstances in and of themselves don’t necessarily mean that Jephthah was not one the Lord…raised (qûm, ויקם) up as a deliverer (yāša, מושיע), like Othniel in Judges 3:7-11 (NET) or Ehud in Judges 3:12-30 (NET). The text does not relate the circumstances of Othniel’s calling, nor those under which Ehud was raised up. If it did I might find those circumstances as curious as the calling of Jephthah.

In the New Testament Paul described the calling of many in Corinth like this (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NET):

Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world,¹¹ what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his¹² presence.

In the book of Judges the Lord whittled Gideon’s army down from 32,000 to 300 warriors for exactly the same reason (Judges 7:2 NET Table):

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. Israel might brag, ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’”

What is worthy of mention about Jephthah’s calling however is that it comes after the Lord has become so tired of this Monotonous Cycle of apostasy and repentance in Israel that He said (Judges 10:11-14 NET):

Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian when they oppressed you? You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power. But since you abandoned me and worshiped other gods, I will not deliver you again. Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!

But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today!” They threw away the foreign gods they owned and worshiped the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.¹³

Before I get too carried away by the thought that a marauding leader of lawless men [See Addendum below], the exiled son of a professional (or eager amateur) devotee of one of the Baals or Ashtars¹⁴ was exactly the kind of deliverer these Israelites deserved, I had better check myself and understand exactly who this marauding leader of lawless men, the exiled son of a professional (or eager amateur) devotee of one of the Baals or Ashtars was.

Addendum: January 19, 2019
Tables comparing Hebrews 11:32 and 1 Corinthians 1:28, 29 in the NET and KJV follow.

Hebrews 11:32 (NET)	Hebrews 11:32 (KJV)
And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.	And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ τί ἔτι λέγω; ἐπιλείψει με γὰρ διηγούμενον ὁ χρόνος περὶ Γεδεών, Βαράκ, Σαμψών, Ἰεφθάε, Δαυίδ τε καὶ Σαμουὴλ καὶ τῶν προφητῶν	και τι ετι λεγω επιλειψει γαρ με διηγουμενον ο χρονος περι γεδεων βαρακ τε και σαμψων και ιεφθαε δαβιδ τε και σαμουηλ και των προφητων	και τι ετι λεγω επιλειψει γαρ με διηγουμενον ο χρονος περι γεδεων βαρακ τε και σαμψων και ιεφθαε δαυιδ τε και σαμουηλ και των προφητων

1 Corinthians 1:28, 29 (NET)	1 Corinthians 1:28, 29 (KJV)
God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something,	And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ τὰ ἀγενῆ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τὰ ἐξουθενημένα ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεός, τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήσῃ	και τα αγενη του κοσμου και τα εξουθενημενα εξελεξατο ο θεος και τα μη οντα ινα τα οντα καταργηση	και τα αγενη του κοσμου και τα εξουθενημενα εξελεξατο ο θεος και τα μη οντα ινα τα οντα καταργηση

so that no one can boast in his presence.

That no flesh should glory in his presence.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅπως μὴ καυχήσηται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ	οπως μη καυχησηται πασα σαρξ ενωπιον αυτου	οπως μη καυχησηται πασα σαρξ ενωπιον του θεου

Addendum: July 20, 2021
I may have gotten the wrong idea about the “lawless” men [who] joined Jephthah’s “gang.”

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Judges 11:3 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:3 (NET)	Judges 11:3 (NETS)	Judges 11:3 (English Elpenor)
Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain (רֵיקִ֔ים) men to Jephthah, and went out with him.	So Jephthah left his half brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless (rêq, ריקים) men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.	And Iephthae fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. And petty (λιτοὶ) men were coming together to Iephthae and would go out together with him.	And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain (κενοὶ) men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.

Perhaps, like Jephthah, for whatever reason these men were not of the landed gentry, simply men without inherited wealth.

Tables comparing Judges 12:7; 1 Samuel 12:11; 12:10; Judges 11:1; 11:2; 11:3; 11:5; 11:9; 11:10; 11:11; 3:9; 3:15; 10:11; 10:12; 10:13; 10:14; 10:15 and 10:16 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Judges 12:7; 1 Samuel (1 Reigns, 1 Kings) 12:11; 12:10; Judges 11:1; 11:2; 11:3; 11:5 (11:4, 5); 11:9; 11:10; 11:11; 3:9; 3:15; 10:11; 10:12; 10:13; 10:14; 10:15 and 10:16 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Judges 12:7 (Tanakh)	Judges 12:7 (KJV)	Judges 12:7 (NET)
And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.	And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.	Jephthah led Israel for six years; then he died and was buried in his town in Gilead.

Judges 12:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 12:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔκρινεν Ιεφθαε τὸν Ισραηλ ἓξ ἔτη καὶ ἀπέθανεν Ιεφθαε ὁ Γαλααδίτης καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν τῇ πόλει αὐτοῦ Γαλααδ	καὶ ἔκρινεν ᾿Ιεφθάε τὸν ᾿Ισραὴλ ἓξ ἔτη. καὶ ἀπέθανεν ᾿Ιεφθάε ὁ Γαλααδίτης, καὶ ἐτάφη ἐν πόλει αὐτοῦ Γαλαάδ
Judges 12:7 (NETS)	Judges 12:7 (English Elpenor)
And Iephthae judged Israel six years. And Iephthae the Galaadite died and was buried in his city, Galaad.	And Jephthae judged Israel six years; and Jephthae the Galaadite died, and was buried in his city Galaad.

1 Samuel 12:11 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 12:11 (KJV)	1 Samuel 12:11 (NET)
And HaShem sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelt in safety.	And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.	So the Lord sent Jerub Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely.

1 Samuel 12:11 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 12:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν κύριος τὸν Ιεροβααλ καὶ τὸν Βαρακ καὶ τὸν Ιεφθαε καὶ τὸν Σαμουηλ καὶ ἐξείλατο ὑμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν τῶν κυκλόθεν καὶ κατῳκεῗτε πεποιθότες	καὶ ἀπέστειλε Κύριος τὸν ῾Ιεροβάαλ καὶ τὸν Βαρὰκ καὶ τὸν ᾿Ιεφθάε καὶ τὸν Σαμουὴλ καὶ ἐξείλατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν τῶν κυκλόθεν, καὶ κατῳκεῖτε πεποιθότες
1 Reigns 12:11 (NETS)	1 Kings 12:11 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord sent Ierobaal and Barak and Iephthae and Samouel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies who were round about, and you were living securely.	And he sent Jerobaal, and Barac, and Jephthae, and Samuel, and rescued us out of the hand of our enemies round about, and ye dwelt in security.

1 Samuel 12:10 (Tanakh)	1 Samuel 12:10 (KJV)	1 Samuel 12:10 (NET)
And they cried unto HaShem, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken HaShem, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee.	And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.	Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies so that we may serve you.’

1 Samuel 12:10 (Septuagint BLB)	1 Kings 12:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐβόησαν πρὸς κύριον καὶ ἔλεγον ἡμάρτομεν ὅτι ἐγκατελίπομεν τὸν κύριον καὶ ἐδουλεύσαμεν τοῗς Βααλιμ καὶ τοῗς ἄλσεσιν καὶ νῦν ἐξελοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν καὶ δουλεύσομέν σοι	καὶ ἐβόησαν πρὸς Κύριον καὶ ἔλεγον· ἡμάρτομεν, ὅτι ἐγκατελίπομεν τὸν Κύριον καὶ ἐδουλεύσαμεν τοῖς Βααλὶμ καὶ τοῖς ἄλσεσι· καὶ νῦν ἐξελοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ δουλεύσομέν σοι
1 Reigns 12:10 (NETS)	1 Kings 12:10 (English Elpenor)
And they cried out to the Lord and were saying, ‘We have sinned, because we forsook the Lord and were subject to the Baalim and the groves, and now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will be subject to you.’	And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and the groves: and now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

Judges 11:1 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:1 (KJV)	Judges 11:1 (NET)
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.	Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.	Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father.

Judges 11:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ Ιεφθαε ὁ Γαλααδίτης δυνατὸς ἐν ἰσχύι καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν υἱὸς γυναικὸς πόρνης καὶ ἔτεκεν τῷ Γαλααδ τὸν Ιεφθαε	ΚΑΙ ᾿Ιεφθάε ὁ Γαλααδίτης ἐπῃρμένος δυνάμει· καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς γυναικὸς πόρνης, ἣ ἐγέννησε τῷ Γαλαὰδ τὸν ᾿Ιεφθάε
Judges 11:1 (NETS)	Judges 11:1 (English Elpenor)
And Iephthae the Galaadite was powerful in strength, and he himself was a son of a woman who was a prostitute, and she bore Iephthae to Galaad.	And Jephthae the Galaadite [was] a mighty man; and he [was] the son of a harlot, who bore Jephthae to Galaad.

Judges 11:2 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:2 (KJV)	Judges 11:2 (NET)
And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.	And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.	Gilead’s wife also gave him sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they made Jephthah leave and said to him, “You are not going to inherit any of our father’s wealth because you are another woman’s son.”

Judges 11:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔτεκεν ἡ γυνὴ Γαλααδ αὐτῷ υἱούς καὶ ἡδρύνθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἐξέβαλον τὸν Ιεφθαε καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ οὐ κληρονομήσεις ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν ὅτι γυναικὸς υἱὸς ἑταίρας εἶ σύ	καὶ ἔτεκεν ἡ γυνὴ Γαλαὰδ αὐτῷ υἱούς· καὶ ἡδρύνθησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἐξέβαλον τὸν ᾿Ιεφθάε καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· οὐ κληρονομήσεις ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν, ὅτι υἱὸς γυναικὸς ἑταίρας σύ
Judges 11:2 (NETS)	Judges 11:2 (English Elpenor)
And Galaad’s wife bore him sons, and his wife’s sons came to maturity and drove Iephthae away and said to him, “You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house, for you are the son of woman who is a courtesan.”	And the wife of Galaad bore him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up, and they cast out Jephthae, and said to him, Thou shalt not inherit in the house of our father, for thou art the son of a concubine.

Judges 11:3 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:3 (KJV)	Judges 11:3 (NET)
Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.	Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.	So Jephthah left his half brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Lawless men joined Jephthah’s gang and traveled with him.

Judges 11:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀπέδρα Ιεφθαε ἐκ προσώπου τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατῴκησεν ἐν γῇ Τωβ καὶ συνελέγοντο πρὸς τὸν Ιεφθαε ἄνδρες λιτοὶ καὶ συνεξεπορεύοντο μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ	καὶ ἔφυγεν ᾿Ιεφθάε ἀπὸ προσώπου τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ᾤκησεν ἐν γῇ Τώβ, καὶ συνεστράφησαν πρὸς ᾿Ιεφθάε ἄνδρες κενοὶ καὶ ἐξῆλθον μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ
Judges 11:3 (NETS)	Judges 11:3 (English Elpenor)
And Iephthae fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. And petty men were coming together to Iephthae and would go out together with him.	And Jephthae fled from the face of his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men gathered to Jephthae, and went out with him.

Judges 11:5 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:5 (KJV)	Judges 11:5 (NET)
And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:	And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:	When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead asked Jephthah to come back from the land of Tob.

Judges 11:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:4, 5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγενήθη ἡνίκα ἐπολέμουν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων μετὰ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλααδ παραλαβεῗν τὸν Ιεφθαε ἐν γῇ Τωβ	καὶ ἐγένετο ἡνίκα παρετάξαντο οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Αμμὼν μετὰ ᾿Ισραήλ, (5) καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλαὰδ λαβεῖν τὸν ᾿Ιεφθάε ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς Τὼβ
Judges 11:5 (NETS)	Judges 11:4, 5 (English Elpenor)
And it happened, when the sons of Ammon were making war with Israel, that the elders of Galaad went to take along Iephthae in the land of Tob.	And it came to pass when the children of Ammon prepared to fight with Israel, (5) that the elders of Galaad went to fetch Jephthae from the land of Tob.

Judges 11:9 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:9 (KJV)	Judges 11:9 (NET)
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?	And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?	Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, “All right. If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader.”

Judges 11:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Ιεφθαε πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Γαλααδ εἰ ἐπιστρέφετέ με ὑμεῗς πολεμῆσαι ἐν τοῗς υἱοῗς Αμμων καὶ παραδῷ κύριος αὐτοὺς ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ ἐγὼ ὑμῗν ἔσομαι εἰς κεφαλήν	καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Ιεφθάε πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Γαλαάδ· εἰ ἐπιστρέφετέ με ὑμεῖς παρατάξασθαι ἐν υἱοῖς ᾿Αμμὼν καὶ παραδῷ αὐτοὺς Κύριος ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν ἔσομαι εἰς ἄρχοντα
Judges 11:9 (NETS)	Judges 11:9 (English Elpenor)
And Iephthae said to the elders of Galaad, “If you are returning me to fight against the sons of Ammon, then let the Lord give them over before me. I will be for a head to you.”	And Jephthae said to the elders of Galaad, If ye turn me back to fight with the children of Ammon, and the Lord should deliver them before me, then will I be your head.

Judges 11:10 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:10 (KJV)	Judges 11:10 (NET)
And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.	And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.	The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us if we do not do as you say.”

Judges 11:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλααδ πρὸς Ιεφθαε κύριος ἔσται ὁ ἀκούων ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου οὕτως ποιήσομεν	καὶ εἶπαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Γαλαὰδ πρὸς ᾿Ιεφθάε· Κύριος ἔστω ἀκούων ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν, εἰ μὴ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου οὕτω ποιήσομεν
Judges 11:10 (NETS)	Judges 11:10 (English Elpenor)
And the elders of Galaad said to Iephthae, “The Lord will be the one who hears between us, if we do not do so, according to your word.”	And the elders of Galaad said to Jephthae, The Lord be witness between us, if we shall not do according to thy word.

Judges 11:11 (Tanakh)	Judges 11:11 (KJV)	Judges 11:11 (NET)
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.	Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.	So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their leader and commander. Jephthah repeated the terms of the agreement before the Lord in Mizpah.

Judges 11:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 11:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπορεύθη Ιεφθαε μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων Γαλααδ καὶ κατέστησαν αὐτὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν εἰς κεφαλὴν εἰς ἡγούμενον καὶ ἐλάλησεν Ιεφθαε πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον κυρίου ἐν Μασσηφα	καὶ ἐπορεύθη ᾿Ιεφθάε μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων Γαλαάδ, καὶ ἔθηκαν αὐτὸν ὁ λαὸς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς εἰς κεφαλὴν καὶ εἰς ἀρχηγόν. καὶ ἐλάλησεν ᾿Ιεφθάε πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐν Μασσηφά
Judges 11:11 (NETS)	Judges 11:11 (English Elpenor)
And Iephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and they appointed him over them for a head, for a leader, and Iephthae spoke all his words before the Lord at Massepha.	And Jephthae went with the elders of Galaad, and the people made him head and ruler over them: and Jephthae spoke all his words before the Lord in Massepha.

Judges 3:9 (Tanakh)	Judges 3:9 (KJV)	Judges 3:9 (NET)
And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.	And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.	When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them. His name was Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

Judges 3:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 3:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκέκραξαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς κύριον καὶ ἤγειρεν κύριος σωτῆρα τῷ Ισραηλ καὶ ἔσωσεν αὐτούς τὸν Γοθονιηλ υἱὸν Κενεζ ἀδελφὸν Χαλεβ τὸν νεώτερον αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτοῦ	καὶ ἐκέκραξαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ πρὸς Κύριον· καί ἤγειρε Κύριος σωτῆρα τῷ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ ἔσωσεν αὐτούς, τὸν Γοθονιὴλ υἱὸν Κενέζ ἀδελφοῦ Χάλεβ τὸν νεώτερον ὑπὲρ αὐτόν
Judges 3:9 (NETS)	Judges 3:9 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a deliverer for Israel, and he delivered them, Gothoniel son of Kenaz, Chaleb’s younger brother, and he obeyed him.	And the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and the Lord raised up a saviour to Israel, and he saved them, Gothoniel the son of Kenez, the brother of Chaleb younger than himself.

Judges 3:15 (Tanakh)	Judges 3:15 (KJV)	Judges 3:15 (NET)
But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.	But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.	When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, he raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment.

Judges 3:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 3:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκέκραξαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς κύριον καὶ ἤγειρεν αὐτοῗς κύριος σωτῆρα τὸν Αωδ υἱὸν Γηρα υἱοῦ τοῦ Ιεμενι ἄνδρα ἀμφοτεροδέξιον καὶ ἀπέστειλαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ δῶρα ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τῷ Εγλωμ βασιλεῗ Μωαβ	καὶ ἐκέκραξαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ πρὸς Κύριον· καὶ ἤγειρεν αὐτοῖς σωτῆρα τὸν ᾿Αὼδ υἱὸν Γηρὰ υἱὸν τοῦ ᾿Ιεμενί, ἄνδρα ἀμφοτεροδέξιον. καὶ ἐξαπέστειλαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ δῶρα ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τῷ ᾿Εγλὼμ βασιλεῖ Μωάβ
Judges 3:15 (NETS)	Judges 3:15 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Aod son of Gera son of Iemeni, an ambidextrous man. And the sons of Israel sent gifts to King Eglom of Moab by his hand.	And the children of Israel cried to the Lord; and he raised up to them a saviour, Aod the son of Gera a son of Jemeni, a man who used both hands alike: and the children of Israel sent gifts by his hand to Eglom king of Moab.

Judges 10:11 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:11 (KJV)	Judges 10:11 (NET)
And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?	And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?	The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not deliver you from Egypt, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,

Judges 10:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ οὐχὶ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ οἱ Αμορραῗοι καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων καὶ Μωαβ καὶ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι	καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραήλ· μὴ οὐχὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ᾿Αμορραίου καὶ ἀπὸ υἱῶν ᾿Αμμὼν καὶ ἀπὸ Φυλιστιΐμ
Judges 10:11 (NETS)	Judges 10:11 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did not the Egyptians and the Amorites and the sons of Ammon and Moab and the allophyles	And the Lord said to the children of Israel, Did I not [save you] from Egypt and from the Amorite, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Phylistines,

Judges 10:12 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:12 (KJV)	Judges 10:12 (NET)
The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.	The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.	the Sidonians, Amalek, and Midian when they oppressed you? You cried out for help to me, and I delivered you from their power.

Judges 10:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ Σιδώνιοι καὶ Μαδιαμ καὶ Αμαληκ ἐξέθλιψαν ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐκεκράξατε πρός με καὶ ἔσωσα ὑμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτῶν	καὶ Σιδωνίων καὶ ᾿Αμαλὴκ καὶ Μαδιάμ, οἳ ἔθλιψαν ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἐβοήσατε πρός με, καὶ ἔσωσα ὑμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτῶν
Judges 10:12 (NETS)	Judges 10:12 (English Elpenor)
and Sidonians and Madiam and Amelek oppress you? And you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.	and from the Sidonians, and Amalec, and Madiam, who afflicted you? and ye cried to me, and I saved you out of their hand?

Judges 10:13 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:13 (KJV)	Judges 10:13 (NET)
Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.	Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.	But since you abandoned me and worshiped other gods, I will not deliver you again.

Judges 10:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὑμεῗς ἐγκατελίπετέ με καὶ ἐλατρεύσατε θεοῗς ἑτέροις διὰ τοῦτο οὐ προσθήσω τοῦ σῶσαι ὑμᾶς	καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐγκατελίπετέ με καὶ ἐδουλεύσατε θεοῖς ἑτέροις· διὰ τοῦτο οὐ προσθήσω τοῦ σῶσαι ὑμᾶς
Judges 10:13 (NETS)	Judges 10:13 (English Elpenor)
And you have abandoned me and served other gods; therefore I will not add to deliver you.	Yet ye forsook me and served other gods; therefore I will not save you any more.

Judges 10:14 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:14 (KJV)	Judges 10:14 (NET)
Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.	Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.	Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!”

Judges 10:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
βαδίζετε καὶ βοᾶτε πρὸς τοὺς θεούς οὓς ἐξελέξασθε ἑαυτοῗς καὶ αὐτοὶ σωσάτωσαν ὑμᾶς ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως ὑμῶν	πορεύεσθε καὶ βοήσατε πρὸς τοὺς θεούς, οὓς ἐξελέξασθε ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ αὐτοὶ σωσάτωσαν ὑμᾶς ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως ὑμῶν
Judges 10:14 (NETS)	Judges 10:14 (English Elpenor)
Go away, and cry aloud to the gods you have chosen for yourselves, and let them deliver you in the time of your distress.”	Go, and cry to the gods whom ye have chosen to yourselves, and let them save you in the time of your affliction.

Judges 10:15 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:15 (KJV)	Judges 10:15 (NET)
And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.	And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.	But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today!”

Judges 10:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς κύριον ἡμάρτομεν ποίησον σὺ ἡμῗν κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἂν ἀρέσκῃ ἐνώπιόν σου πλήν κύριε ἐξελοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ	καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ πρὸς Κύριον· ἡμάρτομεν, ποίησον σὺ ἡμῖν κατὰ πᾶν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου, πλὴν ἐξελοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ
Judges 10:15 (NETS)	Judges 10:15 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned; do to us according to everything that is pleasing before you; only, Lord, deliver us in this day!”	And the children of Israel said to the Lord, We have sinned: do thou to us according to all [that is] good in thine eyes; only deliver us this day.

Judges 10:16 (Tanakh)	Judges 10:16 (KJV)	Judges 10:16 (NET)
And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.	And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.	They threw away the foreign gods they owned and worshiped the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.

Judges 10:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Judges 10:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετέστησαν τοὺς θεοὺς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ οὐκ εὐηρέστησεν ἐν τῷ λαῷ καὶ ὠλιγοψύχησεν ἐν τῷ κόπῳ Ισραηλ	καὶ ἐξέκλιναν τοὺς θεοὺς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἐδούλευσαν τῷ Κυρίῳ μόνῳ, καὶ ὠλιγώθη ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν κόπῳ ᾿Ισραήλ
Judges 10:16 (NETS)	Judges 10:16 (English Elpenor)
And they put away the foreign gods from their midst and served the Lord, and he was not well pleased with the people, and he was worried about the suffering of Israel.	And they put away the strange gods from the midst of them, and served the Lord only, and his soul was pained for the trouble of Israel.

Jephthah and Moses

Back to Ezra and Divorce

Back to David’s Forgiveness, Part 3

Back to Fear – Exodus, Part 2

Back to Torture, Part 5

Back to Apostles and Prophets, Part 3

Back to Romans, Part 68

Back to David’s Forgiveness, Part 4

Back to Romans, Part 20

Back to Romans, Part 80

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 6

Back to Hannah’s Prayer, Part 3

Back to Romans, Part 65

¹ Judges 12:7 (NET)

² 1 Samuel 12:11 (NET)

³ 1 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

⁴ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τε και following Barak (KJV: and of). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

⁵ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και following Samson (KJV: and of). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

⁶ Judges 11:1 (NET)

⁷ Judges 11:2b, 3 (NET)

⁸ Judges 11:5 (NET)

⁹ Judges 4:4-9

¹⁰ Judges 6:14-32 (NET)

¹¹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the conjunction και (KJV: and) joining this clause to the next. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹² The Stephanus Textus Receptus had αυτου (KJV: his) here, where the NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had τοῦ θεοῦ, i.e., God’s presence.

¹³ Judges 10:15, 16 (NET)

¹⁴ Judges 10:6 (NET) Ashtars was from the first edition of the NET. Note 9: The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Ashtar (i.e., Astarte).

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 4

Posted on May 30, 2012 by admin

Now to get back to where I started: How does all this information about the DNA-RNA-protein complex expand the context of my biblical understanding and prohibit me from calling this narrative PREACHERS DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE BIBLE?

When a child is conceived, the beginning is one fertilized cell. That cell divides and becomes two, then four, then eight, and sixteen and so on. But there is no body there; all the cells are identical. At some point in this process of division, differentiation begins. Some cells become blood inside blood vessels, or muscle, or bone. Organs begin to form, like eyes or a liver. The differences in the cells in these different organs or structures are accounted for by the different proteins, which catalyze, or facilitate, different chemical reactions which do different things and make the cells, well, different.

With my admittedly small understanding of the DNA-RNA-protein complex it is exciting to consider that different proteins are produced by different sections of the DNA chain unzipping, being transcribed and translated into protein. Which section of DNA unzips? Well, part of the answer is related to which sections are free to unzip and which are held fast by a repressor molecule. Suddenly I can speculate—and it is still a guess, but an educated guess—that it is “possible to think of development—the process of growth from a single fertilized egg into a staggeringly complex adult human—as an enormous exercise in gene-switching: as tissues arise through development, so whole suites of genes must be switched on and off.”¹ And, I will add, at the right place or location in the forming body, and at the right time, or in the correct sequence.

Now, since I believe the DNA-RNA-protein complex is an artifact of Jesus’ creation, everything I just discovered and speculated on becomes an analogy for me about another body, the body of Christ. For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body² – though many – are one body, so too is Christ.³ The preacher, not unlike messenger RNA, seeks out a quiet inner sanctuary, like the nucleus of a cell, where he can spend time alone with a passage from the Bible, like a section of DNA. His sermon is not an exact copy of the Bible, but more like a mirror image reflecting the Bible and the times and circumstances of his own congregation. He preaches his sermon to the congregation along with an application: “in the light of these things this is what should be done.” Now, unlike the amino acids in the cell, individual members of the congregation have a choice whether or not to heed and act on the preacher’s admonition. Those who act, form the protein, if you will, which catalyzes this particular function of this particular cell of the body of Christ. And the different functions catalyzed by the different sermons are the very things that differentiate the congregations, or cells, from one another.

For in fact the body is not a single member, but many, Paul wrote the Corinthians. If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell? But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided. If they were all the same member, where would the body be?⁴ Remember that mass of identical, undifferentiated, cells we all start out as?

So the laundry list of Solomon’s wealth and power might unzip, as it were, for a particular preacher, who produces a timely sermon that touches the hearts of certain members of a specific congregation, who in turn catalyze a specific function in a specific cell of the body of Christ. All the while, it is completely possible that another preacher studying the laundry list of Solomon’s wealth and power and God’s promise to bless Solomon with the wisdom he asked for and the wealth he did not ask for might produce an entirely different sermon that results in the accomplishment of yet another function in another cell of the body of Christ. Still another preacher may study the laundry list of Solomon’s wealth and power and compare it to the list of things God forbade Israel’s kings, and produce an entirely different sermon with entirely different results.

Though it is highly unlikely that any preacher would hold all three passages before his congregation, plus an illustration from the DNA-RNA-protein complex, in the twenty minutes or so allotted to him before Sunday dinner burns, even this has become a meaningful sermon to me.

I will sooner understand where and when to switch-off gene suites in the developing human being than I will grasp even the vaguest outline of the body of Christ, let alone a specific need or function of a specific cell at an appropriate time. My criticism of preachers’ sermons, therefore, whether good or bad, is completely irrelevant, because it is not based on any knowledge of the needs and functions of any specific cell of the body of Christ, but on the preachers’ apparent affirmation or contradiction of the current state of my understanding of the Bible. And though the process through which I arrive at my abstract truth is very vibrant and alive to me, any written results are little better than an autopsy report. Future like-minded investigators may be able to study my autopsy report to point out where I went wrong. But neither they nor I will help a single preacher find a single timely sermon by writing autopsy reports or post-mortems on autopsy reports.

So then, application one of my would-be sermon is something like: “Hey, Dan! Lay off the preachers! Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Paul wrote the Romans rhetorically. The explicit context was in reference to relations between the strong and weak in faith, that they should not despise or judge each other. Before his own master he stands or falls, Paul continued. And he will stand, for the Lord⁵ is⁶ able⁷ to make him stand.⁸ Would I be stretching the context too far to offer this same courtesy to priests, pastors, preachers and Bible teachers all over the world?

Addendum: January 17, 2019
Tables comparing 1 Corinthians 12:12 and Romans 14:4 in the NET and KJV follow.

1 Corinthians 12:12 (NET)	1 Corinthians 12:12 (KJV)
For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body – though many – are one body, so too is Christ.	For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Καθάπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα ἕν ἐστιν καὶ μέλη πολλὰ ἔχει, πάντα δὲ τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος πολλὰ ὄντα ἕν ἐστιν σῶμα, οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστός	καθαπερ γαρ το σωμα εν εστιν και μελη εχει πολλα παντα δε τα μελη του σωματος του ενος πολλα οντα εν εστιν σωμα ουτως και ο χριστος	καθαπερ γαρ το σωμα εν εστιν και μελη εχει πολλα παντα δε τα μελη του σωματος του ενος πολλα οντα εν εστιν σωμα ουτως και ο χριστος

Romans 14:4 (NET)	Romans 14:4 (KJV)
Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.	Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει· σταθήσεται δέ, δυνατεῖ γὰρ ὁ κύριος στῆσαι αὐτόν	συ τις ει ο κρινων αλλοτριον οικετην τω ιδιω κυριω στηκει η πιπτει σταθησεται δε δυνατος γαρ εστιν ο θεος στησαι αυτον	συ τις ει ο κρινων αλλοτριον οικετην τω ιδιω κυριω στηκει η πιπτει σταθησεται δε δυνατος γαρ εστιν ο θεος στησαι αυτον

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 5

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7

Back to Romans, Part 13

Back to Romans, Part 40

Back to Romans, Part 80

Back to Christ-Centered Preaching, Chapter 3

Back to Exploration, Part 3

Back to 3 John, Part 6

² The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had του ενος (KJV: of that one) following body. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

³ 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NET)

⁴ 1 Corinthians 12:14-19 (NET)

⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had κύριος here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had θεος (KJV: God).

⁶ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εστιν. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δυνατεῖ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δυνατος.

⁸ Romans 14:4 (NET)

Adultery in the Prophets, Part 1

Posted on May 29, 2012 by admin

I want to track נָאַף (nā’ap̄) in the Old Testament prophets to see if I can find a better understanding of πορνεία as used by Jesus, Paul and the New Testament writers. Hosea was a prophet in the northern part of the divided kingdom of Israel during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah [the southern kingdom], and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash [Jeroboam II] ruled Israel.¹ God’s chosen mate for Hosea was not exactly appropriate according to my religious mind (Hosea 1:2-3a NET).

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים) who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים), because the nation continually commits (zānâ, זנה) spiritual prostitution (zānâ, תזנה) by turning away from the Lord [See Addendum below].” So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim.

Apparently, after giving birth to two sons and a daughter, Gomer wearied of her domestic life and returned to her former occupation (Hosea 3:1-5 NET).

The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery (nā’ap̄, ומנאפת). Likewise, the Lord loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.” So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her. Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery (zānâ, תזני) or have sexual intercourse (hāyâ, תהיי) with another man, and I also will wait for you” [See Addendum below]. For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings in the future.

Here I begin to perceive the meaning of committing adultery (nā’ap̄, תנאף), why it is unlawful, from the mind of God through the prophet Hosea. The Lord loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods. This turning to other gods was equated to adultery (nā’ap̄, ומנאפת). And the Lord commanded Hosea, Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery (nā’ap̄, ומנאפת) as a prostitute (zānâ, תזני). Adultery isn’t against God’s law because an adulterous wife hurts my feelings. An adulterous wife hurts my feelings so I may share in this experience of the mind of God, so that I may know Him.

The Lord had a lot to say to and about the Israelites through Hosea (Hosea 4:1-3 NET):

Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel. For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land, or do they acknowledge God. There is only cursing, lying, murder (rāṣaḥ, ורצח), stealing (gānaḇ, וגנב), and adultery (nā’ap̄, ונאף). They resort to violence and bloodshed [See Addendum below]. Therefore the land will mourn, and all its inhabitants will perish. The wild animals, the birds of the sky, and even the fish in the sea will perish.

None of this happened because the Israelites lacked religion or religious minds (Hosea 4:4-7 NET):

Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else: for my case is against you priests [See Addendum below]! You stumble day and night, and the false prophets stumble with you; You have destroyed your own people [See Addendum below]! You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests. Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject your descendants [See Addendum below]. The more the priests increased in numbers, the more they rebelled against me. They have turned their glorious calling into a shameful disgrace [See Addendum below]!

The Lord was very specific about the shameful disgrace the priests had made of their glorious calling. Apparently, while ignoring almost everything else about God’s law, the priests were very careful to extract their portion of the people’s offerings and sacrifices as specified by the law, and more besides (Hosea 4:8-10 NET):

They feed on the sin offerings of my people; their appetites long for their iniquity! I will deal with the people and priests together: I will punish them both for their ways, and I will repay them for their deeds. They will eat, but not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution (zānâ, הזנו), but not increase in numbers; because they have abandoned the Lord by pursuing other gods (zᵊnûṯ, הזנו) [See Addendum below].

Next the Lord outlined the explicit form this pursuit of other gods took and his reaction to it (Hosea 4:11-14 NET):

Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people [See Addendum below]. They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים) blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery (zānâ, ויזנו) against their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes (zānâ, תזנינה), and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (nā’ap̄, תנאפנה)! I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution (zānâ, תזנינה), nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery (nā’ap̄, תנאפנה). For the men consort with harlots (zānâ, הזנות), they sacrifice with temple prostitutes (qᵊḏēšâ, הקדשות). It is true: “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin [Table]!” [See Addendum below]

Drunken revelry and orgiastic sex were part of the worship, part of the sacrifice people made to other gods. Men could fulfill their religious obligations with the professionals who served the cult (both male and female) or amateurs at religious festivals eager to enhance their spiritual status as taught by their religion and compelled by their religious minds. Though the northern kingdom of Israel was thoroughly steeped in these religions at this time, the southern kingdom of Jerusalem apparently was not (Hosea 4:15-19 NET).

Although you, O Israel, commit adultery (zānâ, זנה), do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal! Do not go up to Beth Aven! Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!” [See Addendum below] Israel has rebelled like a stubborn heifer! Soon the Lord will put them out to pasture like a lamb in a broad field! Ephraim² has attached himself to idols; Do not go near him [Table]! They consume their alcohol, then engage (zānâ, הזנה) in cult prostitution (zānâ, הזנ); they dearly love their shameful behavior [See Addendum below]. A whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings; they will be brought to shame because of their idolatrous worship.

And I wonder if this idolatrous worship with its drunken sexual practices was more what Jesus, Paul and the New Testament writers had in mind when they used the word πορνεία.

Addendum: December 21, 2021
In the table below זְנוּנִים֙ (zᵊnûnîm) was translated with the noun πορνείας (a form of πορνεία) in the Septuagint to describe Gomer and her children. The activity of the land (the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, I assume) was זָנֹ֚ה and תִזְנֶה֙ (zānâ) translated with the verbs ἐκπορνεύουσα and ἐκπορνεύσει, present and future forms respectively of ἐκπορνεύω.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 1:2 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 1:2 (NET)	Hosea 1:2 (NETS)	Hosea 1:2 (Elpenor English)
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms (זְנוּנִים֙) and children of whoredoms (זְנוּנִ֔ים): for the land hath committed great (זָנֹ֚ה) whoredom (תִזְנֶה֙), departing from the LORD.	When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים) who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים) because the nation continually commits (zānâ, זנה) spiritual prostitution (zānâ, תזנה) by turning away from the Lord.”	The beginning of the word of the Lord in Hosee. And the Lord said to Hosee, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom (πορνείας) and children of whoredom (πορνείας), for the land in committing whoredom (ἐκπορνεύουσα) will commit whoredom (ἐκπορνεύσει) from behind the Lord.”	The beginning of the word of the Lord by Osee. And the Lord said to Osee, Go, take to thyself a wife of fornication (πορνείας), and children of fornication (πορνείας): for the land will surely go a-whoring (ἐκπορνεύσει) in departing (ἐκπορνεύουσα) from the Lord.

In the table below Hosea told Gomer not to ply her trade, the activity תִזְנִ֔ (zānâ) translated with the verb πορνεύσῃς (another form of πορνεύω) in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 3:3 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 3:3 (NET)	Hosea 3:3 (NETS)	Hosea 3:3 (Elpenor English)
And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot (תִזְנִ֔י), and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.	Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery (zānâ, תזני) or become joined to another man, and I also will wait for you.”	And I said to her, “For many days you will sit with me, and you will not play the whore (πορνεύσῃς), nor will you be with a man, and I will be with you.”	And I said unto her, Thou shalt wait for me many days; and thou shalt not commit fornication (πορνεύσῃς), neither shalt thou be for [another] man; and I [will be] for thee.

The following table compares the English translations of the Hebrew and Greek of Hosea 4:1, 2.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:1, 2 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:1, 2 (NET)	Hosea 4:1, 2 (NETS)	Hosea 4:1, 2 (Elpenor English)
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth (אֱמֶ֧ת), nor mercy (חֶ֛סֶד), nor knowledge (דַּ֥עַת) of God in the land.	Listen to the Lord’s message, you Israelites! For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel. For there is neither faithfulness (‘ĕmeṯ, אמת) nor loyalty (ḥeseḏ, חסד) in the land, nor do they acknowledge (daʿaṯ, דעת) God.	Hear a word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. For there is no truthfulness (ἀλήθεια) or mercy (ἔλεος) or knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) of God in the land.	Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth (ἀλήθεια), nor mercy (ἔλεος), nor knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) of God in the land.
By swearing, and lying, and killing (וְרָצֹ֥חַ), and stealing (וְגָנֹ֖ב), and committing adultery (וְנָאֹ֑ף), they break out, and blood toucheth blood.	There is only cursing, lying, murder (rāṣaḥ, ורצח), stealing (gānaḇ, וגנב), and adultery (nā’ap̄, ונאף). They resort to violence and bloodshed.	Imprecation and lying and murder (φόνος) and stealing (κλοπὴ) and adultery (μοιχεία) are poured out on the land, and they mix blood with blood.	Cursing, and lying, and murder (φόνος), and theft (κλοπὴ), and adultery (μοιχεία) bound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

In Hosea 4:4b (table below) the NET translators assumed that ועמך was a form of עִם (ʿim), for…against you. The translators of the Tanakh and KJV assumed that וְעַמְּךָ֖ was a form of עַם (ʿam), for thy people.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:4 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:4 (NET)	Hosea 4:4 (NETS)	Hosea 4:4 (Elpenor English)
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people (וְעַמְּךָ֖ H5971) are as they that strive with the priest.	Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else, for my case is against you (ʿim, ועמך) priests!	that no one either go to law or accuse. But my people (ὁ δὲ λαός) will be like a priest being contradicted.	that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my people (ὁ δὲ λαός) are as a priest spoken against.

Apparently both words share a common root: עָמַם (ʿāmam). Note 9 in the NET explained:

Several textual critics suggest emending the text to read וְעִמְּךָ רִיבִי כֹהֵן (v^eʿimm^ekha rivi khohen), “My contention is with/against you, O priest!” This involves (1) the revocalization of עַמְּךָ (“your people”) to עִמְּךָ (“with/against you”) and (2) positing dittography (a letter written twice instead of once) of כְּ (kaf) between original וְעַמְּךָ רִיבִי to create וְעַמְּךָ כִּרִיבִי (MT). The BHS editors suggest that the MT should be emended. However, the editors of the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project retain the MT reading with a “B” rating.

The rabbis who translated the Septuagint understood ועמך as a form of עַם (ʿam): ὁ δὲ λαός, but my people. So, this emendation is something beyond the scope of what I’m attempting to study here, and (for the moment) beyond any method I can imagine how to study.

In Hosea 4:5b the NET translators assumed that ודמיתי (and I will destroy) was ודמית (and you have destroyed). NET note 10 explained:

The MT reads וְדָמִיתִי אִמֶּךָ (v^edamiti ’immekha, “and I will destroy your mother”), and is followed by most English versions; however, the text should probably be emended to וְדָמִית עַמֶּךָ (v^edamit ’ammekha, “and you have destroyed your own people”). The second person masculine singular form וְדָמִית (v^edamit, “and you have destroyed”) is preserved in several medieval Hebrew mss and reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate.

The table follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:5 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:5 (NET)	Hosea 4:5 (NETS)	Hosea 4:5 (Elpenor English)
Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night (לָ֑יְלָה), and I will destroy (וְדָמִ֖יתִי) thy mother (אִמֶּֽךָ H517).	You stumble day and night (layil, לילה), and the false prophets stumble with you; you have destroyed (dāmâ, ודמית) your own people (ʿam, עמך ).	And you shall be weak by day, and the prophet also shall be weak with you. I have made (ὡμοίωσα) your mother (τὴν μητέρα σου) like night (νυκτὶ).	Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with thee shall fall: I have compared (ὡμοίωσα) thy mother (τὴν μητέρα σου) unto night (νυκτὶ).

The NET translation also required the assumption that אִמֶּֽךָ (‘ēm), thy mother (Tanakh, KJV), was עמך (ʿam), your own people (NET). The rabbis who translated the Septuagint rendered it τὴν μητέρα σου, your mother (NETS). So again, this emendation is beyond the scope of this study as well as my current ability to devise a method to study it.

The Hebrew words translated refuse or reject in Hosea 4:6 in the NET are displayed in the following table, along with their translations into Greek in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:6 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:6 (NET)	Hosea 4:6 (NETS)	Hosea 4:6 (Elpenor English)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected (מָאַ֗סְתָּ) knowledge, I will also reject (וְאֶמְאָֽסְךָ֙) thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten (וַתִּשְׁכַּח֙) the law of thy God, I will also forget (אֶשְׁכַּ֥ח) thy children.	You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse (mā’as, מאסת) to acknowledge me, I will reject (mā’as, ואמאסאך) you as my priests. Because you reject (šāḵaḥ, ותשכח) the law of your God, I will reject (šāḵaḥ, אשכח) your descendants.	My people have become like one who lacks knowledge; because you have rejected (ἀπώσω) knowledge, I also will reject (ἀπώσομαι) you from being a priest to me. And you forgot (ἐπελάθου) the law of your God; I also will forget (ἐπιλήσομαι) your children.	My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected (ἀπώσω) knowledge, I will also reject (ἀπώσομαί) thee, that thou shalt not minister as priest to me: and [as] thou has forgotten (ἐπελάθου) the law of thy God, I also will forget (ἐπιλήσομαι) thy children.

The NET translators assumed that אָמִֽיר in Hosea 4:7 in the Masoretic text, therefore will I change (Tanakh, KJV), should have been והמיר, They have turned. Note 15 explained:

The MT reads אָמִיר (ʾamir, “I will change, exchange”; Hiphil imperfect first person common singular from מוּר, mur, “to change, exchange”). However, an alternate scribal tradition (tiqquneh sopherim, that is, an intentional scribal change when the Masoretes believed that the received consonantal reading was defective) preserves the reading הֵמִירוּ (hemiru, “they have exchanged”; Hiphil perfect third person common plural from מוּר). This alternate scribal tradition is also found in the Targum and reflected in the Syriac Peshitta.

The table follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:7 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:7 (NET)	Hosea 4:7 (NETS)	Hosea 4:7 (Elpenor English)
As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change (אָמִֽיר) their glory into shame.	The more the priests increased in numbers, the more they rebelled against me. They have turned (mûr, והמיר) their glorious calling into a shameful disgrace!	According to their multitude, thus they sinned against me. I will turn (θήσομαι) their glory into dishonor.	According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn (θήσομαι) their glory into shame.

Since the Septuagint had θήσομαι (a form of τίθημι), I will turn, this emendation is beyond the scope of this study.

The translators of the NET assumed that זנות (zᵊnûṯ), translated other gods, at the beginning of verse 11 actually belonged at the end of verse 10 (note 17). The translator of the NETS assumed the same apparently of πορνείαν (a form of πορνεία), translated whoredom.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:10, 11 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:10, 11 (NET)	Hosea 4:10, 11 (NETS)	Hosea 4:10, 11 (Elpenor English)
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom (הִזְנ֖וּ), and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.	They will eat, but not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution (zānâ, הזנו), but not increase in numbers because they have abandoned the Lord by pursuing other gods (zᵊnûṯ, זנות).	And they shall eat and not be satisfied; they have played the whore (ἐπόρνευσαν) and shall not prosper, for they forsook the Lord to cherish	And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring (ἐπόρνευσαν), and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.
Whoredom (זְנ֛וּת) and wine and new wine take away the heart.	Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people.	whoredom (πορνείαν). And the heart of my people has received wine and intoxicating drink.	The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication (Πορνείαν) and wine and strong drink.

NET note 18 reads:

Heb “take away the heart of my people.” The present translation assumes that the first word of v. 12 in the Hebrew text is to be construed with the noun at the end of v. 11 (so also TEV, CEV, NLT).

Both versions of the Septuagint have λαοῦ μου (my people) at the end of verse 11, an apparent translation of עמי (ʿam) at the beginning of verse 12 in the Masoretic text.

The following table compares key words in Hebrew and Greek:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:12-14 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:12-14 (NET)	Hosea 4:12-14 (NETS)	Hosea 4:12-14 (Elpenor English)
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms (זְנוּנִים֙) hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring (וַיִּזְנ֖וּ) from under their God.	They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution (zᵊnûnîm, זנונים) blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery (zānâ, ויזנו) against their God.	They would consult counselors, and with his rods they would report to him. They were led astray by a spirit of whoredom (πορνείας), and they played the whore (ἐξεπόρνευσαν) from their God.	They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom (πορνείας), and gone grievously a-whoring (ἐξεπόρνευσαν) from their God.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom (תִּזְנֶ֙ינָה֙), and your spouses shall commit adultery (תְּנָאַֽפְנָה).	They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes (zānâ, תזנינה), and your daughters-in-law commit adultery (nā’ap̄, תנאפנה)!	They were offering sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and were sacrificing upon the hills, under an oak and a white poplar and a thickly shading tree, because shelter is a good thing. Therefore your daughters will play the whore (ἐκπορνεύσουσιν), and your daughters-in-law will commit adultery (μοιχεύσουσιν).	They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring (ἐκπορνεύσουσιν), and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery (μοιχεύσουσι).
I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom (תִזְנֶ֗ינָה), nor your spouses when they commit adultery (תְנָאַ֔פְנָה): for themselves are separated with whores (הַזֹּנ֣וֹת), and they sacrifice with harlots (הַקְּדֵשׁ֖וֹת): therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall (יִלָּבֵֽט) [Table].	I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution (zānâ, תזנינה), nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery (nā’ap̄, תנאפנה). For the men consort with harlots (zānâ, הזנות); they sacrifice with temple prostitutes (qᵊḏēšâ, הקדשות). It is true: “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin (lāḇaṭ, ילבט)!”	And I will not take an interest in your daughters when they play the whore (πορνεύωσιν) nor in your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery (μοιχεύωσιν), for the men themselves were associating with whores (πορνῶν) and were sacrificing with initiates (τετελεσμένων), and the people, not understanding embraced a whore (πόρνης) [Table].	And I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication (πορνεύσωσι), nor your daughters-in-law when they shall commit adultery (μοιχεύσωσιν): for they themselves mingled themselves with harlots (πορνῶν), and sacrificed with polluted ones (τετελεσμένων), and the people that understood not entangled itself with a harlot (πόρνης).

It is difficult to determine whether the rabbis who translated the Septuagint saw יִלָּבֵֽט, shall fall (Tanakh, KJV), will come to ruin (NET), in the text they translated, recognized it as an idiom or euphemism and rendered it more concretely: συνεπλέκετο μετὰ πόρνης, embraced a whore (NETS), entangled itself with a harlot (English Elpenor); or whether the Masoretes edited a clear factual statement in the Hebrew to make it more euphemistic, less pointed in a Christian era.

The rabbis didn’t understand the Hebrew they translated in the Septuagint quite the way the Masoretic text is translated today:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:15 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:15 (NET)	Hosea 4:15 (NETS)	Hosea 4:15 (Elpenor English)
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot (זֹנֶ֚ה), yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.	Although you, O Israel, commit adultery (zānâ, זנה), do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal. Do not go up to Beth Aven. Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”	But you, O Israel, stop being ignorant (ἀγνόει), and you, O Ioudas, stop going to to Galgala, and stop going up to the house of On, and stop swearing by the living Lord.	But thou, O Israel, be not ignorant (ἀγνόει), and go ye not, [men of] Juda, to Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.

Here again, the rabbis didn’t understand the Hebrew they translated in the Septuagint quite the way the Masoretic text is translated today:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Hosea 4:18 (Tanakh/KJV)	Hosea 4:18 (NET)	Hosea 4:18 (NETS)	Hosea 4:18 (Elpenor English)
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom (הַזְנֵ֣ה) continually (הִזְנ֔וּ): her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.	They consume their alcohol, then engage (zānâ, הזנה) in cult prostitution (zānâ, הזנו); they dearly love their shameful behavior.	He chose Chananites; fornicating (πορνεύοντες) they committed fornication (ἐξεπόρνευσαν). They loved dishonor because of its insolence.	He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously (πορνεύοντες) gone a-whoring (ἐξεπόρνευσαν): they have loved dishonour through her insolence.

Tables comparing Hosea 1:1; 1:2; 1:3; 3:1; 3:2; 3:3; 3:4; 3:5; 4:1; 4:2; 4:3; 4:4; 4:5; 4:6; 4:7; 4:8; 4:9; 4:10; 4:11; 4:12; 4:13; 4:15; 4:16; 4:18 and 4:19 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Hosea 1:1; 1:2; 1:3; 3:1; 3:2; 3:3; 3:4; 3:5; 4:1; 4:2; 4:3; 4:4; 4:5; 4:6; 4:7; 4:8; 4:9; 4:10; 4:11; 4:12; 4:13; 4:15; 4:16; 4:18 and 4:19 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Hosea 1:1 (Tanakh)	Hosea 1:1 (KJV)	Hosea 1:1 (NET)
The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.	The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.	This is the Lord’s message that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the time of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the time of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.

Hosea 1:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 1:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
λόγος κυρίου ὃς ἐγενήθη πρὸς Ωσηε τὸν τοῦ Βεηρι ἐν ἡμέραις Οζιου καὶ Ιωαθαμ καὶ Αχαζ καὶ Εζεκιου βασιλέων Ιουδα καὶ ἐν ἡμέραις Ιεροβοαμ υἱοῦ Ιωας βασιλέως Ισραηλ	ΛΟΓΟΣ Κυρίου, ὃς ἐγενήθη πρὸς ῾Ωσηὲ τὸν τοῦ Βεηρεὶ ἐν ἡμέραις ᾿Οζίου καὶ ᾿Ιωάθαμ καὶ ῎Αχαζ καὶ ᾿Εζεκίου βασιλέων ᾿Ιούδα καὶ ἐν ἡμέραις ῾Ιεροβοὰμ υἱοῦ ᾿Ιωὰς βασιλέως ᾿Ισραήλ
Hosea 1:1 (NETS)	Hosea 1:1 (English Elpenor)
A word of the Lord that came to Hosee the son of Beeri in the days of Kings Ozias and Ioatham and Achaz and Hezekias of Ioudas and in the days of King Ieroboam son of Ioas of Israel.	The word of the Lord which came to Osee the son of Beeri, in the days of Ozias, and Joatham, and Achaz, and Ezekias, kings of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joas, king of Israel.

Hosea 1:2 (Tanakh)	Hosea 1:2 (KJV)	Hosea 1:2 (NET)
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.	The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.	When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution because the nation continually commits spiritual prostitution by turning away from the Lord.”

Hosea 1:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 1:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀρχὴ λόγου κυρίου πρὸς Ωσηε καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Ωσηε βάδιζε λαβὲ σεαυτῷ γυναῗκα πορνείας καὶ τέκνα πορνείας διότι ἐκπορνεύουσα ἐκπορνεύσει ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν τοῦ κυρίου	᾿Αρχὴ λόγου Κυρίου εἰς ῾Ωσηέ. καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς ῾Ωσηέ· βάδιζε, λαβὲ σεαυτῷ γυναῖκα πορνείας καὶ τέκνα πορνείας, διότι ἐκπορνεύουσα ἐκπορνεύσει ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν τοῦ Κυρίου
Hosea 1:2 (NETS)	Hosea 1:2 (English Elpenor)
The beginning of the word of the Lord in Hosee. And the Lord said to Hosee, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, for the land in committing whoredom will commit whoredom from behind the Lord.”	The beginning of the word of the Lord by Osee. And the Lord said to Osee, Go, take to thyself a wife of fornication, and children of fornication: for the land will surely go a-whoring in departing from the Lord.

Hosea 1:3 (Tanakh)	Hosea 1:3 (KJV)	Hosea 1:3 (NET)
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.	So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.	So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

Hosea 1:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 1:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπορεύθη καὶ ἔλαβεν τὴν Γομερ θυγατέρα Δεβηλαιμ καὶ συνέλαβεν καὶ ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ υἱόν	καὶ ἐπορεύθη καί ἔλαβε τὴν Γόμερ θυγατέρα Δεβηλαΐμ, καὶ συνέλαβε καὶ ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ υἱόν
Hosea 1:3 (NETS)	Hosea 1:3 (English Elpenor)
And he went and took Gomer daughter of Debelaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.	So he went and took Gomer, daughter of Debelaim; and he conceived, and bore him a son.

Hosea 3:1 (Tanakh)	Hosea 3:1 (KJV)	Hosea 3:1 (NET)
Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.	Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.	The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery. Likewise, the Lord loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”

Hosea 3:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 3:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με ἔτι πορεύθητι καὶ ἀγάπησον γυναῗκα ἀγαπῶσαν πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίν καθὼς ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀποβλέπουσιν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ φιλοῦσιν πέμματα μετὰ σταφίδων	ΚΑΙ εἶπε Κύριος πρός με· ἔτι πορεύθητι καὶ ἀγάπησον γυναῖκα ἀγαπῶσαν πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίν, καθὼς ἀγαπᾷ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀποβλέπουσιν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ φιλοῦσι πέμματα μετὰ σταφίδων
Hosea 3:1 (NETS)	Hosea 3:1 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to me, “Go again, and love a woman who loves evil things and is an adulteress, just as God loves the sons of Israel, but they turn their attention to foreign gods, and they like cakes with raisins.”	And the Lord said to me, Go yet, and love a woman that loves evil things, an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, and they have respect to strange gods, and love cakes of dried grapes.

Hosea 3:2 (Tanakh)	Hosea 3:2 (KJV)	Hosea 3:2 (NET)
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:	So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:	So I paid 15 shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her.

Hosea 3:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 3:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐμισθωσάμην ἐμαυτῷ πεντεκαίδεκα ἀργυρίου καὶ γομορ κριθῶν καὶ νεβελ οἴνου	καὶ ἐμισθωσάμην ἐμαυτῷ πεντεκαίδεκα ἀργυρίου καὶ γομὸρ κριθῶν καὶ νέβελ οἴνου
Hosea 3:2 (NETS)	Hosea 3:2 (English Elpenor)
So I hired her to myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a gomor of barley and a nebel of wine.	So I hired [her] to myself for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and a homer of barley, and a flagon of wine.

Hosea 3:3 (Tanakh)	Hosea 3:3 (KJV)	Hosea 3:3 (NET)
And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.	And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.	Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or become joined to another man, and I also will wait for you.”

Hosea 3:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 3:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτήν ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσῃ ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ καὶ οὐ μὴ πορνεύσῃς οὐδὲ μὴ γένῃ ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί	καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτήν· ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ καὶ οὐ μὴ πορνεύσῃς, οὐδὲ μὴ γένῃ ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί
Hosea 3:3 (NETS)	Hosea 3:3 (English Elpenor)
And I said to her, “For many days you will sit with me, and you will not play the whore, nor will you be with a man, and I will be with you.”	And I said unto her, Thou shalt wait for me many days; and thou shalt not commit fornication, neither shalt thou be for [another] man; and I [will be] for thee.

Hosea 3:4 (Tanakh)	Hosea 3:4 (KJV)	Hosea 3:4 (NET)
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:	For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:	For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Hosea 3:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 3:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος οὐδὲ οὔσης θυσίας οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερατείας οὐδὲ δήλων	διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος οὐδὲ οὔσης θυσίας οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερατείας οὐδὲ δήλων
Hosea 3:4 (NETS)	Hosea 3:4 (English Elpenor)
For the sons of Israel shall sit many days without king and without ruler and without sacrifice and without altar and without priestly office and without clear ones.	For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without manifestations.

Hosea 3:5 (Tanakh)	Hosea 3:5 (KJV)	Hosea 3:5 (NET)
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.	Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.	Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings in future days.

Hosea 3:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 3:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσιν κύριον τὸν θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ Δαυιδ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῗς ἀγαθοῗς αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν	καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσι Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ Δαυὶδ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν· καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν
Hosea 3:5 (NETS)	Hosea 3:5 (English Elpenor)
And after these things, the sons of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and Dauid their king, and they shall stand in awe at the Lord and his good things in the last days.	And afterward shall the children of Israel return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall be amazed at the Lord and at his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea 4:1 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:1 (KJV)	Hosea 4:1 (NET)
Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.	Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.	Listen to the Lord’s message, you Israelites! For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel. For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land, nor do they acknowledge God.

Hosea 4:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀκούσατε λόγον κυρίου υἱοὶ Ισραηλ διότι κρίσις τῷ κυρίῳ πρὸς τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν διότι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια οὐδὲ ἔλεος οὐδὲ ἐπίγνωσις θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς	ΑΚΟΥΣΑΤΕ λόγον Κυρίου, υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, ὅτι κρίσις τῷ Κυρίῳ πρὸς τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν, διότι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια οὐδὲ ἔλεος οὐδὲ ἐπίγνωσις Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Hosea 4:1 (NETS)	Hosea 4:1 (English Elpenor)
Hear a word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. For there is no truthfulness or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.	Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Hosea 4:2 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:2 (KJV)	Hosea 4:2 (NET)
By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.	By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.	There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.

Hosea 4:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀρὰ καὶ ψεῦδος καὶ φόνος καὶ κλοπὴ καὶ μοιχεία κέχυται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ αἵματα ἐφ᾽ αἵμασιν μίσγουσιν	ἀρὰ καὶ ψεῦδος καὶ φόνος καὶ κλοπὴ καὶ μοιχεία κέχυται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ αἵματα ἀφ᾿ αἵμασι μίσγουσι
Hosea 4:2 (NETS)	Hosea 4:2 (English Elpenor)
Imprecation and lying and murder and stealing and adultery are poured out on the land, and they mix blood with blood.	Cursing, and lying, and murder, and theft, and adultery bound in the land, and they mingle blood with blood.

Hosea 4:3 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:3 (KJV)	Hosea 4:3 (NET)
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.	Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.	Therefore the land will mourn, and all its inhabitants will perish. The wild animals, the birds of the sky, and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Hosea 4:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο πενθήσει ἡ γῆ καὶ σμικρυνθήσεται σὺν πᾶσιν τοῗς κατοικοῦσιν αὐτήν σὺν τοῗς θηρίοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ σὺν τοῗς ἑρπετοῗς τῆς γῆς καὶ σὺν τοῗς πετεινοῗς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκλείψουσιν	διὰ τοῦτο πενθήσει ἡ γῆ καὶ σμικρυνθήσεται σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν αὐτήν, σὺν τοῖς θηρίοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἑρπετοῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ σὺν τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκλείψουσιν,
Hosea 4:3 (NETS)	Hosea 4:3 (English Elpenor)
Therefore the land shall mourn with all those who inhabit it, with the animals of the field and with the reptiles of the earth and with the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea shall fail,	Therefore shall the land mourn, and shall be diminished with all that dwell in it, with the wild beasts of the field, and the reptiles of the earth, and with the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea shall fail:

Hosea 4:4 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:4 (KJV)	Hosea 4:4 (NET)
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.	Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.	Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else, for my case is against you priests!

Hosea 4:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅπως μηδεὶς μήτε δικάζηται μήτε ἐλέγχῃ μηδείς ὁ δὲ λαός μου ὡς ἀντιλεγόμενος ἱερεύς	ὅπως μηδεὶς μήτε δικάζηται μήτε ἐλέγχῃ μηδείς· ὁ δὲ λαός μου ὡς ἀντιλεγόμενος ἱερεύς.
Hosea 4:4 (NETS)	Hosea 4:4 (English Elpenor)
that no one either go to law or accuse. But my people will be like a priest being contradicted.	that neither any one may plead, nor any one reprove [another]; but my people are as a priest spoken against.

Hosea 4:5 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:5 (KJV)	Hosea 4:5 (NET)
Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.	Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.	You stumble day and night, and the false prophets stumble with you; you have destroyed your own people.

Hosea 4:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀσθενήσεις ἡμέρας καὶ ἀσθενήσει καὶ προφήτης μετὰ σοῦ νυκτὶ ὡμοίωσα τὴν μητέρα σου	καὶ ἀσθενήσεις ἡμέρας, καὶ ἀσθενήσει ὁ προφήτης μετὰ σοῦ· νυκτὶ ὡμοίωσα τὴν μητέρα σου
Hosea 4:5 (NETS)	Hosea 4:5 (English Elpenor)
And you shall be weak by day, and the prophet also shall be weak with you. I have made your mother like night.	Therefore they shall fall by day, and the prophet with thee shall fall: I have compared thy mother unto night.

Hosea 4:6 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:6 (KJV)	Hosea 4:6 (NET)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.	My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.	You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests. Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject your descendants.

Hosea 4:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὡμοιώθη ὁ λαός μου ὡς οὐκ ἔχων γνῶσιν ὅτι σὺ ἐπίγνωσιν ἀπώσω κἀγὼ ἀπώσομαι σὲ τοῦ μὴ ἱερατεύειν μοι καὶ ἐπελάθου νόμον θεοῦ σου κἀγὼ ἐπιλήσομαι τέκνων σου	ὡμοιώθη ὁ λαός μου ὡς οὐκ ἔχων γνῶσιν· ὅτι σὺ ἐπίγνωσιν ἀπώσω, κἀγὼ ἀπώσομαί σε τοῦ μὴ ἱερατεύειν μοι· καὶ ἐπελάθου νόμον Θεοῦ σου, κἀγὼ ἐπιλήσομαι τέκνων σου
Hosea 4:6 (NETS)	Hosea 4:6 (English Elpenor)
My people have become like one who lacks knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being a priest to me. And you forgot the law of your God; I also will forget your children.	My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not minister as priest to me: and [as] thou has forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

Hosea 4:7 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:7 (KJV)	Hosea 4:7 (NET)
As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.	As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.	The more the priests increased in numbers, the more they rebelled against me. They have turned their glorious calling into a shameful disgrace!

Hosea 4:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν οὕτως ἥμαρτόν μοι τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀτιμίαν θήσομαι	κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν οὕτως ἥμαρτόν μοι· τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀτιμίαν θήσομαι
Hosea 4:7 (NETS)	Hosea 4:7 (English Elpenor)
According to their multitude, thus they sinned against me. I will turn their glory into dishonor.	According to their multitude, so they sinned against me: I will turn their glory into shame.

Hosea 4:8 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:8 (KJV)	Hosea 4:8 (NET)
They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.	They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.	They feed on the sin offerings of my people; their appetites long for their iniquity!

Hosea 4:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἁμαρτίας λαοῦ μου φάγονται καὶ ἐν ταῗς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν λήμψονται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν	ἁμαρτίας λαοῦ μου φάγονται καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν λήψονται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν
Hosea 4:8 (NETS)	Hosea 4:8 (English Elpenor)
They will feed on the sins of my people, and they will receive their souls with their injustices.	They will devour the sins of my people, and will set their hearts on their iniquities.

Hosea 4:9 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:9 (KJV)	Hosea 4:9 (NET)
And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.	And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.	I will deal with the people and priests together: I will punish them both for their ways, and I will repay them for their deeds.

Hosea 4:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔσται καθὼς ὁ λαὸς οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἱερεύς καὶ ἐκδικήσω ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ διαβούλια αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσω αὐτῷ	καὶ ἔσται καθὼς ὁ λαὸς οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἱερεύς· καὶ ἐκδικήσω ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ διαβούλια αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσω αὐτῷ
Hosea 4:9 (NETS)	Hosea 4:9 (English Elpenor)
And it shall be as the people, so also the priest, and I will avenge on him his ways and repay him for his designs.	And the priest shall be as the people: and I will avenge on them their ways, and I will recompense to them their counsels.

Hosea 4:10 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:10 (KJV)	Hosea 4:10 (NET)
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.	For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.	They will eat, but not be satisfied; they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers because they have abandoned the Lord by pursuing other gods.

Hosea 4:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ φάγονται καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῶσιν ἐπόρνευσαν καὶ οὐ μὴ κατευθύνωσιν διότι τὸν κύριον ἐγκατέλιπον τοῦ φυλάξαι	καὶ φάγονται καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῶσιν, ἐπόρνευσαν καὶ οὐ μὴ κατευθύνωσι, διότι τὸν Κύριον ἐγκατέλιπον τοῦ φυλάξαι
Hosea 4:10 (NETS)	Hosea 4:10 (English Elpenor)
And they shall eat and not be satisfied; they have played the whore and shall not prosper, for they forsook the Lord to cherish	And they shall eat, and shall not be satisfied: they have gone a-whoring, and shall by no means prosper: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord.

Hosea 4:11 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:11 (KJV)	Hosea 4:11 (NET)
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.	Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.	Old and new wine take away the understanding of my people.

Hosea 4:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
πορνείαν καὶ οἶνον καὶ μέθυσμα ἐδέξατο καρδία λαοῦ μου	Πορνείαν καὶ οἶνον καὶ μέθυσμα ἐδέξατο καρδία λαοῦ μου
Hosea 4:11 (NETS)	Hosea 4:11 (English Elpenor)
whoredom. And the heart of my people has received wine and intoxicating drink.	The heart of my people has gladly engaged in fornication and wine and strong drink.

Hosea 4:12 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:12 (KJV)	Hosea 4:12 (NET)
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.	My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.	They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery against their God.

Hosea 4:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐν συμβόλοις ἐπηρώτων καὶ ἐν ῥάβδοις αὐτοῦ ἀπήγγελλον αὐτῷ πνεύματι πορνείας ἐπλανήθησαν καὶ ἐξεπόρνευσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτῶν	ἐν συμβόλοις ἐπηρώτων, καὶ ἐν ῥάβδοις αὐτοῦ ἀπήγγελλον αὐτῷ· πνεύματι πορνείας ἐπλανήθησαν καὶ ἐξεπόρνευσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτῶν
Hosea 4:12 (NETS)	Hosea 4:12 (English Elpenor)
They would consult counselors, and with his rods they would report to him. They were led astray by a spirit of whoredom, and they played the whore from their God.	They asked counsel by [means of] signs, and they reported answer to them by their staves: they have gone astray in a spirit of whoredom, and gone grievously a-whoring from their God.

Hosea 4:13 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:13 (KJV)	Hosea 4:13 (NET)
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.	They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.	They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

Hosea 4:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπὶ τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων ἐθυσίαζον καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς βουνοὺς ἔθυον ὑποκάτω δρυὸς καὶ λεύκης καὶ δένδρου συσκιάζοντος ὅτι καλὸν σκέπη διὰ τοῦτο ἐκπορνεύσουσιν αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ νύμφαι ὑμῶν μοιχεύσουσιν	ἐπὶ τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων ἐθυσίαζον καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς βουνοὺς ἔθυον, ὑποκάτω δρυὸς καὶ λεύκης καὶ δένδρου συσκιάζοντος, ὅτι καλὸν σκέπη. διὰ τοῦτο ἐκπορνεύσουσιν αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν, καὶ αἱ νύμφαι ὑμῶν μοιχεύσουσι
Hosea 4:13 (NETS)	Hosea 4:13 (English Elpenor)
They were offering sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and were sacrificing upon the hills, under an oak and a white poplar and a thickly shading tree, because shelter is a good thing. Therefore your daughters will play the whore, and your daughters-in-law will commit adultery.	They have sacrificed on the tops of the mountains, and on the hills they have sacrificed under the oak and poplar, and under the shady tree, because the shade was good: therefore your daughters shall go a-whoring, and your daughters-in-law shall commit adultery.

Hosea 4:15 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:15 (KJV)	Hosea 4:15 (NET)
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.	Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.	Although you, O Israel, commit adultery, do not let Judah become guilty! Do not journey to Gilgal. Do not go up to Beth Aven. Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

Hosea 4:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σὺ δέ Ισραηλ μὴ ἀγνόει καὶ Ιουδα μὴ εἰσπορεύεσθε εἰς Γαλγαλα καὶ μὴ ἀναβαίνετε εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ων καὶ μὴ ὀμνύετε ζῶντα κύριον	Σὺ δέ, ᾿Ισραήλ, μὴ ἀγνόει, καὶ ᾿Ιούδα, μὴ εἰσπορεύεσθε εἰς Γάλγαλα καὶ μὴ ἀναβαίνετε εἰς τὸν Οἶκον ῏Ων καὶ μὴ ὀμνύετε ζῶντα Κύριον
Hosea 4:15 (NETS)	Hosea 4:15 (English Elpenor)
But you, O Israel, stop being ignorant, and you, O Ioudas, stop going to to Galgala, and stop going up to the house of On, and stop swearing by the living Lord.	But thou, O Israel, be not ignorant, and go ye not, [men of] Juda, to Galgala; and go not up to the house of On, and swear not by the living Lord.

Hosea 4:16 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:16 (KJV)	Hosea 4:16 (NET)
For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.	For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.	Israel has rebelled like a stubborn heifer! Soon the Lord will put them out to pasture like a lamb in a broad field.

Hosea 4:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι ὡς δάμαλις παροιστρῶσα παροίστρησεν Ισραηλ νῦν νεμήσει αὐτοὺς κύριος ὡς ἀμνὸν ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ	διότι ὡς δάμαλις παροιστρῶσα παροίστρησεν ᾿Ισραήλ· νῦν νεμήσει αὐτοὺς Κύριος ὡς ἀμνὸν ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ
Hosea 4:16 (NETS)	Hosea 4:16 (English Elpenor)
For like a frenzied heifer, Israel went into a frenzy. Now the Lord will feed them like a lamb in a broad place.	For Israel was maddened like a mad heifer: now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a wide place.

Hosea 4:18 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:18 (KJV)	Hosea 4:18 (NET)
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.	Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.	They consume their alcohol, then engage in cult prostitution; they dearly love their shameful behavior.

Hosea 4:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ᾑρέτισεν Χαναναίους πορνεύοντες ἐξεπόρνευσαν ἠγάπησαν ἀτιμίαν ἐκ φρυάγματος αὐτῶν	ἡρέτισε Χαναναίους· πορνεύοντες ἐξεπόρνευσαν, ἠγάπησαν ἀτιμίαν ἐκ φρυάγματος αὐτῶν
Hosea 4:18 (NETS)	Hosea 4:18 (English Elpenor)
He chose Chananites; fornicating they committed fornication. They loved dishonor because of its insolence.	He has chosen the Chananites: they have grievously gone a-whoring: they have loved dishonour through her insolence.

Hosea 4:19 (Tanakh)	Hosea 4:19 (KJV)	Hosea 4:19 (NET)
The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.	The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.	A whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings; they will be brought to shame because of their idolatrous worship.

Hosea 4:19 (Septuagint BLB)	Hosea 4:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
συστροφὴ πνεύματος σὺ εἶ ἐν ταῗς πτέρυξιν αὐτῆς καὶ καταισχυνθήσονται ἐκ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων αὐτῶν	συστροφὴ πνεύματος σὺ εἶ ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτῆς, καὶ καταισχυνθήσονται ἐκ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων αὐτῶν
Hosea 4:19 (NETS)	Hosea 4:19 (English Elpenor)
You are a gust of wind in its wings, and they will be ashamed because of their altars.	Thou art a blast of wind in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.

Adultery in the Prophets, Part 2

Back to Adultery in the Prophets, Part 3

Back to What is Sexual Immorality?

Back to Paul’s OT Quotes – Romans 9:25-33

Back to Who Am I? Part 5

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 7

¹ Hosea 1:1 (NET)

² Another name for the northern kingdom of Israel.

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 3

Posted on May 28, 2012 by admin

I came to computer programming later in life. The first time I did some programming on my own it occurred to me that this DNA to RNA to protein process was a lot like a subroutine. Now any user input I was trying to program for, passed through a whole lot of repetitive computer code before the appropriate subroutine could be identified and activated. Was it possible, I wondered, that junk DNA was like that repetitive code, analyzing inputs to determine the appropriate subroutine to activate? Repressor molecules, at least part of the answer, proved to be far more efficient and intelligent than my meager programming skills.

In E. coli bacteria lactose is broken down into two simpler sugars by an enzyme called beta-galactosidase. A repressor molecule binds to the DNA near where the recipe for this enzyme, a protein, is coded. The DNA can’t unzip; transcription can’t take place. Lactose also binds to the repressor molecule whenever it is present in the cell. So when lactose is present the repressor molecule binds preferentially to lactose rather than to the DNA strand. The DNA recipe is free to unzip. The recipe for beta-galactosidase is transcribed into messenger RNA, exported from the nucleus, translated into an amino acid chain that folds into a three dimensional shape, becomes an active enzyme and breaks lactose down into two simpler sugars. The repressor molecule is itself a protein—an object, I thought?—coded somewhere presumably in E. coli DNA.

Suddenly, object oriented programming made a lot more sense to me. There was a whole chapter on it in the book I read to learn programming. I understood the basics of how to do it. I didn’t grasp why. My point here is simply that had I known about repressor molecules before I started writing code, I might have understood why I should use object oriented programming more than I did. (And the cost bidding software I wrote to do my job better might have run more efficiently.)

“While E. coli is a relatively simple system in which to investigate gene-switching,” Watson wrote, “subsequent work on more complicated organisms, including humans, has revealed that the same basic principles apply across the board.”¹

Perhaps my larger point is that my faith that Jesus is the creator of the DNA-RNA-protein complex makes it easy for me to learn something about computer programming from DNA. I respond to the mind behind the artifact, and can freely acknowledge that He is a cleverer software engineer than I am. Now to some it might seem that my faith and its consequent bias against the theory of evolution blinds me to the fact of evolution. I want to set this matter straight.

I am persuaded that the fact of evolution is, for all practical purposes, beyond the realm of serious debate. But those facts make the theory of evolution very difficult to swallow. One fact of evolution is simple, straightforward and right before our eyes, sickle cell anemia. This genetic disease is selected for in certain environments because it so disfigures the red blood cells they are not healthy enough to be infected by another fatal disease; namely, malaria.

While the horror of that sinks in, I will go on to say that every genetic disorder and disease is a fact of evolution. Sickle cell anemia at least gives one some protection from malaria. But it is difficult to see any selective advantage in genetic diseases like Huntington’s or cystic fibrosis. We—as a people—spend the lives of our most brilliant researchers and millions of hard-earned dollars searching for cures and palliations to the ravages of evolution against our genome.

So the fact of evolution—that time, chance, cosmic rays and copying errors make alterations to a complex information storage and retrieval system like the DNA-RNA-protein complex—is, I think, well beyond dispute.² But the theory that these same or similar random processes are also responsible for the creation of this complex information storage and retrieval system in the first place, not to mention the information stored in that system, information which is being destroyed by evolution at a rather alarming rate, is a leap of faith I can’t make. I will admit to being a pessimist by nature, but this is optimism to the point of absurdity in my opinion.

Addendum: December 9, 2021
Tables comparing Ecclesiastes 9:11 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Ecclesiastes 9:11 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Tanakh)	Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV)	Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NET)
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.	I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.	Again, I observed this on the earth: The race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest; wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge—for time and chance may overcome them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Ecclesiastes 9:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐπέστρεψα καὶ εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὅτι οὐ τοῗς κούφοις ὁ δρόμος καὶ οὐ τοῗς δυνατοῗς ὁ πόλεμος καί γε οὐ τοῗς σοφοῗς ἄρτος καί γε οὐ τοῗς συνετοῗς πλοῦτος καί γε οὐ τοῗς γινώσκουσιν χάρις ὅτι καιρὸς καὶ ἀπάντημα συναντήσεται τοῗς πᾶσιν αὐτοῗς	Επέστρεψα καὶ εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ὅτι οὐ τοῖς κούφοις ὁ δρόμος καὶ οὐ τοῖς δυνατοῖς ὁ πόλεμος καί γε οὐ τῷ σοφῷ ἄρτος καί γε οὐ τοῖς συνετοῖς πλοῦτος καί γε οὐ τοῖς γινώσκουσι χάρις, ὅτι καιρὸς καὶ ἀπάντημα συναντήσεται τοῖς πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς
Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NETS)	Ecclesiastes 9:11 (English Elpenor)
I turned, and I saw under the sun that the race is not to the nimble, nor the battle to the strong, nor, indeed, bread to the wise, nor, indeed, riches to the intelligent, nor, indeed, favor to those who are perceptive, because time and chance will happen to them all.	I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor yet wealth to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; for time and chance will happen to them all.

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 4

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7

Back to David’s Forgiveness, Part 5

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 6

² Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge – for time and chance may overcome them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NET)

Ezra and Divorce

Posted on May 28, 2012 by admin

I have gone through similar changes in my response to Paul as those I mentioned in response to Jesus. There was a time when I thought Paul had written extraordinary claims, statements so exaggerated that they should never be taken literally or at face value. Not the least of these was Romans 3:20 (NET), For no one is declared righteous before [God] by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

The story at the end of Ezra was one of my proof texts, how wrong Paul had gotten it, for the men who had married foreign wives among the exiles who returned to Israel were certainly declared righteous before [God] by the works of the law (Ezra 10:2-4, 7, 8, 12-17 NET):

Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law (Table). Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”… A proclamation was circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles were to be assembled in Jerusalem. Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles…. All the assembly replied in a loud voice: “We will do just as you have said! However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter. Let our leaders take steps on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”

Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah were against this, assisted by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite. So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out by name men who were leaders in their family groups. They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month, and on the first day of the first month they finished considering all the men who had married foreign wives.

In time, though, I had to change my mind about the meaning of this story in Ezra, about Paul and about the reliability of Romans 3:20. I had my facts more or less correct. What I had forgotten to consider was God’s response to those facts. I found that response eventually in the book of the prophet Malachi. Here are the two passages side by side:

The Facts

God’s Response to Those Facts

…the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites [Table]. Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this [Table]!” When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated. Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering. At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

Ezra 9:1-5 (NET)

Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god (literally, has married the daughter of a foreign god) [See Addendum below]! May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

Malachi 2:11, 12 (NET)

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law [Table]. Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”

Ezra 10:1-4 (NET)

You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Malachi 2:13-16 (NET)

It is difficult, to say the least, for me to accept that Jesus proposed divorce as a remedy for even unlawful marriage in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9. It was, in fact, this new understanding of Ezra (and Jephthah in Judges 10:6-12:7) that first led me to consider what I now call the religious mind. (I am too pharisaical myself to have ever seen it initially in the Pharisees in the New Testament.) They were good (relatively speaking) well-intentioned men led astray by their misunderstanding of God. Whether that misunderstanding was stubborn willfulness or honest mistake I’m in no position to judge. Given my own propensity for making the same kind of mistakes, I’m more than willing to be generous and give them the benefit of the doubt.

The enigma of Ezra and Malachi which ends the Old Testament thematically—that God was angered by intermarriage between Israelites and the idolatrous women around them, and equally angered by the self-righteous strategy to send those women and their children away, calling it violence—is unraveled in the New Testament for those with ears to hear (John 3:3, 5-7 NET):

I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God [Table]….unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God [Table]. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must all be born from above.”

Addendum: December 6, 2021
The rabbis who translated the Septuagint did not translate וּבָעַ֖ל and בַּת (Tanakh/KJV: and hath married the daughter) literally in Malachi 2:11. If these words occurred in the Hebrew from which they translated, they were treated idiomatically or extremely euphemistically as ἐπετήδευσεν (a form of ἐπιτηδεύω), busied (NETS), has gone after (English Elpenor). The translators of the NET adopted a similar approach to the current Hebrew text, has turned to.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Malachi 2:11 (Tanakh/KJV)	Malachi 2:11 (NET)	Malachi 2:11 (NETS)	Malachi 2:11 (English Elpenor)
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married (וּבָעַ֖ל) the daughter (בַּת) of a strange god.	Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! [Note 15: Heb “has married (bāʿal, ובעל) the daughter (baṯ, בת) of a foreign god.”]	Ioudas was forsaken, and an abomination occurred in Israel and in Ierousalem, for Ioudas profaned the sacred things of the Lord with which he loved and busied (ἐπετήδευσεν) himself with foreign gods.	Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after (ἐπετήδευσεν) other gods.

Ezra 9:2 follows for comparison:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Ezra 9:2 (Tanakh) Table	Ezra 9:2 (NET)	Ezra 9:2 (NETS) Table	Ezra 9:2 (English Elpenor)
For they have taken (נָשְׂא֣וּ) of their daughters (מִבְּנֹֽתֵיהֶ֗ם) for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands; yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been first in this faithlessness.’	Indeed, they have taken (nāśā’, נשׁאו) some of their daughters (baṯ, מבנתיהם) as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all this unfaithfulness!”	because they have taken (ἐλάβοσαν) from their daughters (ἀπὸ θυγατέρων αὐτῶν) for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed was influenced by the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the rulers was in this faithlessness in the beginning.”	For they have taken (ἐλάβοσαν) of their daughters (ἀπὸ θυγατέρων αὐτῶν) for themselves and their sons; and the holy seed has passed among the nations of the lands, and the hand of the rulers [has been] first in this transgression.

Tables comparing Ezra 10:2; 10:4; 10:7; 10:8; 10:12; 10:13; 10:14; 10:15; 10:16; 10:17; 9:3; 9:4; 9:5; Malachi 2:11; 2:12; Ezra 10:1; Malachi 2:13; 2:14; 2:15 and 2:16 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Ezra (2 Esdras) 10:2; 10:4; 10:7; 10:8; 10:12; 10:13; 10:14; 10:15; 10:16; 10:17; 9:3; 9:4; 9:5; Malachi 2:11; 2:12; Ezra (2 Esdras) 10:1; Malachi 2:13; 2:14; 2:15 and 2:16 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Ezra 10:2 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:2 (KJV)	Ezra 10:2 (NET)
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra: ‘We have broken faith with our G-d, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.	And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.	Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard.

Ezra 10:2 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Σεχενιας υἱὸς Ιιηλ ἀπὸ υἱῶν Ηλαμ καὶ εἶπεν τῷ Εσδρα ἡμεῗς ἠσυνθετήσαμεν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐκαθίσαμεν γυναῗκας ἀλλοτρίας ἀπὸ λαῶν τῆς γῆς καὶ νῦν ἔστιν ὑπομονὴ τῷ Ισραηλ ἐπὶ τούτῳ	καὶ ἀπεκρίθη Σεχενίας υἱὸς ᾿Ιεὴλ ἀπὸ υἱῶν ᾿Ηλάμ, καὶ εἶπε τῷ ῎Εσδρᾳ· ἡμεῖς ἠσυνθετήσαμεν τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐκαθίσαμεν γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας ἀπὸ τῶν λαῶν τῆς γῆς· καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ὑπομονὴ τῷ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐπὶ τούτῳ
2 Esdras 10:2 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:2 (English Elpenor)
And Sechenias son of Ieiel, of Elam’s sons, answered and said to Esdras, “We were faithless with our God and set up foreign women from the peoples of the land, and now there is endurance for Israel in this.	And Sechenias the son of Jeel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Esdras, We have broken covenant with our God, and have taken strange wives of the nations of the land: yet now there is patience [of hope] to Israel concerning this thing.

Ezra 10:4 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:4 (KJV)	Ezra 10:4 (NET)
Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee; be of good courage, and do it.’	Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.	Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”

Ezra 10:4 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀνάστα ὅτι ἐπὶ σὲ τὸ ῥῆμα καὶ ἡμεῗς μετὰ σοῦ κραταιοῦ καὶ ποίησον	ἀνάστα, ὅτι ἐπὶ σὲ τὸ ῥῆμα, καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ σοῦ· κραταιοῦ καὶ ποίησον
2 Esdras 10:4 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:4 (English Elpenor)
Arise! The word is upon you, and we are with you; be strong, and act.”	Rise up, for the matter [is] upon thee; and we [are] with thee: be strong and do.

Ezra 10:7 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:7 (KJV)	Ezra 10:7 (NET)
And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;	And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;	A proclamation was circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles were to be assembled in Jerusalem.

Ezra 10:7 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ παρήνεγκαν φωνὴν ἐν Ιουδα καὶ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ πᾶσιν τοῗς υἱοῗς τῆς ἀποικίας τοῦ συναθροισθῆναι εἰς Ιερουσαλημ	καὶ παρήνεγκαν φωνὴν ἐν ᾿Ιούδᾳ καὶ ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ πᾶσι τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀποικίας τοῦ συναθροισθῆναι εἰς ῾Ιερουαλήμ
2 Esdras 10:7 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:7 (English Elpenor)
And they presented an utterance in Iouda and in Ierousalem to all the sons of the exile that they should assemble in Ierousalem:	And they made proclamation throughout Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, [saying],

Ezra 10:8 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:8 (KJV)	Ezra 10:8 (NET)
and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of the captivity.	And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.	Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

Ezra 10:8 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πᾶς ὃς ἂν μὴ ἔλθῃ εἰς τρεῗς ἡμέρας ὡς ἡ βουλὴ τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀναθεματισθήσεται πᾶσα ἡ ὕπαρξις αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς διασταλήσεται ἀπὸ ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἀποικίας	πᾶς, ὃς ἂν μὴ ἔλθῃ εἰς τρεῖς ἡμέρας, ὡς ἡ βουλὴ τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ἀναθεματισθήσεται πᾶσα ἡ ὕπαρξις αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς διασταλήσεται ἀπὸ ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἀποικίας
2 Esdras 10:8 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:8 (English Elpenor)
“Anyone who does not come within three days, as the council of the rulers and the eldeers demands–all his property will be anathematized, and he himself banned from the assembly of the exile.”	Every one who shall not arrive within three days, as [is] the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and he shall be separated from the congregation of the captivity.

Ezra 10:12 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:12 (KJV)	Ezra 10:12 (NET)
Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice: ‘As thou hast said, so it is for us to do.	Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.	All the assembly replied in a loud voice: “We will do just as you have said!

Ezra 10:12 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν πᾶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία καὶ εἶπαν μέγα τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ποιῆσαι	καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν πᾶσα ἡ ἐκκλησία καὶ εἶπαν· μέγα τοῦτο τὸ ρῆμά σου ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς ποιῆσαι
2 Esdras 10:12 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:12 (English Elpenor)
And all the assembly answered and said, “This word of yours is a big thing for us to do.	Then all the congregation answered and said, This thy word [is] powerful upon us to do it.

Ezra 10:13 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:13 (KJV)	Ezra 10:13 (NET)
But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.	But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.	However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter.

Ezra 10:13 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλὰ ὁ λαὸς πολύς καὶ ὁ καιρὸς χειμερινός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν δύναμις στῆναι ἔξω καὶ τὸ ἔργον οὐκ εἰς ἡμέραν μίαν καὶ οὐκ εἰς δύο ὅτι ἐπληθύναμεν τοῦ ἀδικῆσαι ἐν τῷ ῥήματι τούτῳ	ἀλλὰ ὁ λαὸς πολύς, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς χειμερινός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι δύναμις στῆναι ἔξω· καὶ τὸ ἔργον οὐκ εἰς ἡμέραν μίαν καὶ οὐκ εἰς δύο, ὅτι ἐπληθύναμεν τοῦ ἀδικῆσαι ἐν τῷ ρήματι τούτῳ
2 Esdras 10:13 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:13 (English Elpenor)
But the people are many, and it is the winter season, and their is no ability to stand outside, and the task is not for one day and not for two, because we have multiplied in doing wrong in this matter.	But the people [is] numerous, and the season [is] stormy, and there is no power to stand without, and the work is more than enough for one day or for two; for we have greatly sinned in this matter.

Ezra 10:14 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:14 (KJV)	Ezra 10:14 (NET)
Let now our princes of all the congregation stand, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our G-d be turned from us, as touching this matter.’	Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.	Let our leaders take steps on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”

Ezra 10:14 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
στήτωσαν δὴ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν τῇ πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν πόλεσιν ἡμῶν ὃς ἐκάθισεν γυναῗκας ἀλλοτρίας ἐλθέτωσαν εἰς καιροὺς ἀπὸ συνταγῶν καὶ μετ᾽ αὐτῶν πρεσβύτεροι πόλεως καὶ πόλεως καὶ κριταὶ τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι ὀργὴν θυμοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐξ ἡμῶν περὶ τοῦ ῥήματος τούτου	στήτωσαν δὴ ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν πάσῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν πόλεσιν ἡμῶν, ὃς ἐκάθισε γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας, ἐλθέτωσαν εἰς καιροὺς ἀπὸ συνταγῶν καὶ μετ᾿ αὐτῶν πρεσβύτεροι πόλεως καὶ πόλεως καὶ κριταὶ τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι ὀργὴν θυμοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐξ ἡμῶν περὶ τοῦ ρήματος τούτου
2 Esdras 10:14 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:14 (English Elpenor)
Let now our rulers stand fast for the whole assembly and for all those in our cities. As for him who has set up foreign women—let them come at appropriate times as instructed, and with them elders of city by city and judges, in order to turn away from us the anger of the wrath of our God concerning this matter.”	Let now our rulers stand, and for all those in our cities who have taken strange wives, let them come at appointed times, and with them elders from every several city, and judges, to turn away the fierce wrath of our God from us concerning this matter.

Ezra 10:15 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:15 (KJV)	Ezra 10:15 (NET)
Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.	Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.	Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah were against this, assisted by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite.

Ezra 10:15 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
πλὴν Ιωναθαν υἱὸς Ασαηλ καὶ Ιαζια υἱὸς Θεκουε μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ περὶ τούτου καὶ Μεσουλαμ καὶ Σαβαθαι ὁ Λευίτης βοηθῶν αὐτοῗς	πλὴν ᾿Ιωνάθαν υἱὸς ᾿Ασαὴλ καὶ ᾿Ιαζίας υἱὸς Θεκωὲ μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ περὶ τούτου, καὶ Μεσολλὰμ καὶ Σαββαθαΐ ὁ Λευίτης βοηθῶν αὐτοῖς
2 Esdras 10:15 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:15 (English Elpenor)
Only Ionathan son of Asael and Iazias son of Thekoue are with me in this, and Mesoulam and Sabbathai the Leuite supporting them.	Only Jonathan the son of Asael, and Jazias the son of Thecoe [were] with me concerning this; and Mesollam, and Sabbathai the Levite helped them.

Ezra 10:16 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:16 (KJV)	Ezra 10:16 (NET)
And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers’ houses, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were separated; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.	And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.	So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out by name men who were leaders in their family groups. They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

Ezra 10:16 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως υἱοὶ τῆς ἀποικίας καὶ διεστάλησαν Εσδρας ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἄνδρες ἄρχοντες πατριῶν τῷ οἴκῳ καὶ πάντες ἐν ὀνόμασιν ὅτι ἐπέστρεψαν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ δεκάτου ἐκζητῆσαι τὸ ῥῆμα	καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως υἱοὶ τῆς ἀποικίας. καὶ διεστάλησαν ῎Εσδρας ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἄνδρες ἄρχοντες πατριῶν τῷ οἴκῳ καὶ πάντες ἐν ὀνόμασιν, ὅτι ἐπέστρεψαν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ δεκάτου ἐκζητῆσαι τὸ ρῆμα
2 Esdras 10:16 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:16 (English Elpenor)
And the sons of the exile did so. And Esdras the priest and men ruling the paternal houses were set apart, and all by name, because of the first day of the tenth month they turned to investigate the matter.	And the children of the captivity did thus: and Esdras the priest, and heads of families according to [their] house were separated, and all by their names, for they returned in the first day of the tenth month to search out the matter.

Ezra 10:17 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:17 (KJV)	Ezra 10:17 (NET)
And they were finished with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.	And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.	and on the first day of the first month they finished considering all the men who had married foreign wives.

Ezra 10:17 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐτέλεσαν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀνδράσιν οἳ ἐκάθισαν γυναῗκας ἀλλοτρίας ἕως ἡμέρας μιᾶς τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ πρώτου	καὶ ἐτέλεσαν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀνδράσιν, οἳ ἐκάθισαν γυναῖκας ἀλλοτρίας, ἕως ἡμέρας μιᾶς τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ πρώτου
2 Esdras 10:17 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:17 (English Elpenor)
And they finished with all the men who had set up foreign women by the first day of the first month.	And they made an end with all the men who had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.

Ezra 9:3 (Tanakh)	Ezra 9:3 (KJV)	Ezra 9:3 (NET)
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down appalled.	And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.	When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

Ezra 9:3 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 9:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὡς ἤκουσα τὸν λόγον τοῦτον διέρρηξα τὰ ἱμάτιά μου καὶ ἐπαλλόμην καὶ ἔτιλλον ἀπὸ τῶν τριχῶν τῆς κεφαλῆς μου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πώγωνός μου καὶ ἐκαθήμην ἠρεμάζων	καὶ ὡς ἤκουσα τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, διέρρηξα τὰ ἱμάτιά μου καὶ ἐπαλλόμην καὶ ἔτιλλον ἀπὸ τῶν τριχῶν τῆς κεφαλῆς μου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πώγωνός μου καὶ ἐκαθήμην ἠρεμάζων
2 Esdras 9:3 (NETS)	2 Esdras 9:3 (English Elpenor)
And when I heard this word, I tore my garments and was quivering and was pulling out some of the hair of my head and some of my beard and was sitting in silence.	And when I heard this thing, I rent my garments, and trembled, and plucked [some] of the hairs of my head and of my beard, and sat down mourning.

Ezra 9:4 (Tanakh)	Ezra 9:4 (KJV)	Ezra 9:4 (NET)
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the G-d of Israel, because of the faithlessness of them of the captivity; and I sat appalled until the evening offering.	Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.	Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

Ezra 9:4 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 9:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ συνήχθησαν πρός με πᾶς ὁ διώκων λόγον θεοῦ Ισραηλ ἐπὶ ἀσυνθεσίᾳ τῆς ἀποικίας καὶ ἐγὼ καθήμενος ἠρεμάζων ἕως τῆς θυσίας τῆς ἑσπερινῆς	καὶ συνήχθησαν πρός με πᾶς ὁ διώκων λόγον Θεοῦ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐπὶ ἀσυνθεσίᾳ τῆς ἀποικίας, κἀγὼ καθήμενος ἠρεμάζων ἕως τῆς θυσίας τῆς ἑσπερινῆς
2 Esdras 9:4 (NETS)	2 Esdras 9:4 (English Elpenor)
And everyone who pursued the word of Israel’s God, because of the faithlessness of the exiles—they gathered to me, and I kept sitting in silence until the evening sacrifice.	Then there assembled to me all that followed the word of the God of Israel, on account of the transgression of the captivity; and I remained mourning until the evening sacrifice.

Ezra 9:5 (Tanakh)	Ezra 9:5 (KJV)	Ezra 9:5 (NET)
And at the evening offering I arose up from my fasting, even with my garment and my mantle rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto HaShem my G-d;	And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,	At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

Ezra 9:5 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 9:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐν θυσίᾳ τῇ ἑσπερινῇ ἀνέστην ἀπὸ ταπεινώσεώς μου καὶ ἐν τῷ διαρρῆξαί με τὰ ἱμάτιά μου καὶ ἐπαλλόμην καὶ κλίνω ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατά μου καὶ ἐκπετάζω τὰς χεῗράς μου πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν	καὶ ἐν θυσίᾳ τῇ ἑσπερινῇ ἀνέστην ἀπὸ ταπεινώσεώς μου· καὶ ἐν τῷ διαρρῆξαί με τὰ ἱμάτιά μου καὶ ἐπαλλόμην καὶ κλίνω ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατά μου καὶ ἐκπετάζω τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν
2 Esdras 9:5 (NETS)	2 Esdras 9:5 (English Elpenor)
And at the evening sacrifice I got up from my humiliation. And when I had torn my garments, and I was quivering and was getting down on my knees and spreading out my hands to the Lord God	And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my humiliation; and when I had rent my garments, then I trembled, and I bow myself on my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord God,

Malachi 2:11 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:11 (KJV)	Malachi 2:11 (NET)
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.	Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.	Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god!

Malachi 2:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγκατελείφθη Ιουδας καὶ βδέλυγμα ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐν Ιερουσαλημ διότι ἐβεβήλωσεν Ιουδας τὰ ἅγια κυρίου ἐν οἷς ἠγάπησεν καὶ ἐπετήδευσεν εἰς θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους	ἐγκατελείφθη ᾿Ιούδας, καὶ βδέλυγμα ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐν ῾Ιερουσαλήμ, διότι ἐβεβήλωσεν ᾿Ιούδας τὰ ἅγια Κυρίου, ἐν οἷς ἠγάπησε, καὶ ἐπετήδευσεν εἰς θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους
Malachi 2:11 (NETS)	Malachi 2:11 (English Elpenor)
Ioudas was forsaken, and an abomination occurred in Israel and in Ierousalem, for Ioudas profaned the sacred things of the Lord with which he loved and busied himself with foreign gods.	Juda has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Juda has profaned the holy things of the Lord, which he delighted in, and has gone after other gods.

Malachi 2:12 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:12 (KJV)	Malachi 2:12 (NET)
The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.	The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.	May the Lord cut off from the community of Jacob every last person who does this, as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!

Malachi 2:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐξολεθρεύσει κύριος τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ποιοῦντα ταῦτα ἕως καὶ ταπεινωθῇ ἐκ σκηνωμάτων Ιακωβ καὶ ἐκ προσαγόντων θυσίαν τῷ κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι	ἐξολοθρεύσει Κύριος τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ποιοῦντα ταῦτα, ἕως καὶ ταπεινωθῇ ἐκ σκηνωμάτων ᾿Ιακὼβ καὶ ἐκ προσαγόντων θυσίαν τῷ Κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι
Malachi 2:12 (NETS)	Malachi 2:12 (English Elpenor)
The Lord will utterly destroy the person who does this until he has even been humiliated from the tents of Iakob and from those who bring sacrifice to the Lord Almighty.	The Lord will utterly destroy the man that does these things, until he be even cast down from out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and from among them that offer sacrifice to the Lord Almighty.

Ezra 10:1 (Tanakh)	Ezra 10:1 (KJV)	Ezra 10:1 (NET)
Now while Ezra prayed, and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of G-d, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.	Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.	While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites—men, women, and children alike—gathered around him. The people wept loudly.

Ezra 10:1 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 10:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὡς προσηύξατο Εσδρας καὶ ὡς ἐξηγόρευσεν κλαίων καὶ προσευχόμενος ἐνώπιον οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ συνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ Ισραηλ ἐκκλησία πολλὴ σφόδρα ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῗκες καὶ νεανίσκοι ὅτι ἔκλαυσεν ὁ λαὸς καὶ ὕψωσεν κλαίων	ΚΑΙ ὡς προσηύξατο ῎Εσδρας καὶ ὡς ἐξηγόρευσε κλαίων καὶ προσευχόμενος ἐνώπιον οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, συνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ ᾿Ισραὴλ ἐκκλησία πολλὴ σφόδρα, ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες καὶ νεανίσκοι, ὅτι ἔκλαυσαν ὁ λαὸς καὶ ὕψωσε κλαίων
2 Esdras 10:1 (NETS)	2 Esdras 10:1 (English Elpenor)
And as Esdras prayed and as he declared, weeping and praying before the house of God, a very great assembly—men and women and young men—gathered to him from Israel, because the people wept and lifted up while weeping.	So when Esdras [had] prayed, and when he [had] confessed, weeping and praying before the house of God, a very great assembly of Israel came together to him, men and women and youths; for the people wept, and wept aloud.

Malachi 2:13 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:13 (KJV)	Malachi 2:13 (NET)
And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.	And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.	You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

Malachi 2:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ταῦτα ἃ ἐμίσουν ἐποιεῗτε ἐκαλύπτετε δάκρυσιν τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου καὶ κλαυθμῷ καὶ στεναγμῷ ἐκ κόπων ἔτι ἄξιον ἐπιβλέψαι εἰς θυσίαν ἢ λαβεῗν δεκτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν	καὶ ταῦτα, ἃ ἐμίσουν, ἐποιεῖτε· ἐκαλύπτετε δάκρυσι τὸ θυσιαστήριον Κυρίου καὶ κλαυθμῷ καὶ στεναγμῷ ἐκ κόπων. ἔτι ἄξιον ἐπιβλέψαι εἰς θυσίαν ἢ λαβεῖν δεκτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν
Malachi 2:13 (NETS)	Malachi 2:13 (English Elpenor)
And these things, which I hated, you kept doing: you would cover the altar of the Lord with tears and weeping and laborious groaning. Is it still appropriate to look at sacrifice or to receive as something acceptable from your hands?	And these things which I hated, ye did: ye covered with tears the altar of the Lord, and with weeping and groaning because of troubles: [is it] meet [for me] to have respect to your sacrifice, or to receive [anything] from your hands [as] welcome?

Malachi 2:14 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:14 (KJV)	Malachi 2:14 (NET)
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.	Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.	Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.

Malachi 2:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἴπατε ἕνεκεν τίνος ὅτι κύριος διεμαρτύρατο ἀνὰ μέσον σοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον γυναικὸς νεότητός σου ἣν ἐγκατέλιπες καὶ αὐτὴ κοινωνός σου καὶ γυνὴ διαθήκης σου	καὶ εἴπατε· ἕνεκεν τίνος; ὅτι Κύριος διεμαρτύρατο ἀναμέσον σοῦ καὶ ἀναμέσον γυναικὸς νεότητός σου, ἣν ἐγκατέλιπες, καὶ αὕτη κοινωνός σου καὶ γυνὴ διαθήκης σου
Malachi 2:14 (NETS)	Malachi 2:14 (English Elpenor)
And you said, “Why?” Because the Lord was a witness between you and between the wife of your youth, whom you abandoned, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.	Yet ye said, Wherefore? Because the Lord has borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou has forsaken, and [yet] she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.

Malachi 2:15 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:15 (KJV)	Malachi 2:15 (NET)
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.	And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.	No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.

Malachi 2:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος ἐποίησεν καὶ ὑπόλειμμα πνεύματος αὐτοῦ καὶ εἴπατε τί ἄλλο ἀλλ᾽ ἢ σπέρμα ζητεῗ ὁ θεός καὶ φυλάξασθε ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν καὶ γυναῗκα νεότητός σου μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς	καὶ οὐκ ἄλλος ἐποίησε, καὶ ὑπόλειμμα πνεύματος αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἴπατε· τί ἄλλο ἀλλ᾿ ἢ σπέρμα ζητεῖ ὁ Θεός; καὶ φυλάξασθε ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν, καὶ γυναῖκα νεότητός σου μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς
Malachi 2:15 (NETS)	Malachi 2:15 (English Elpenor)
And no one else did it and the remnant of his spirit. And you said, “What else does God seek but offspring?” And be vigilant in your spirit, and do not forsake the wife of your youth.	And did he not do well? and [there was] the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth.

Malachi 2:16 (Tanakh)	Malachi 2:16 (KJV)	Malachi 2:16 (NET)
For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.	For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.	“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Malachi 2:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Malachi 2:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλὰ ἐὰν μισήσας ἐξαποστείλῃς λέγει κύριος ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ισραηλ καὶ καλύψει ἀσέβεια ἐπὶ τὰ ἐνθυμήματά σου λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ καὶ φυλάξασθε ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλίπητε	ἀλλὰ ἐὰν μισήσας ἐξαποστείλῃς, λέγει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ καλύψει ἀσέβεια ἐπὶ τὰ ἐνθυμήματά σου, λέγει Κύριος παντοκράτωρ. καὶ φυλάξασθε ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλίπητε
Malachi 2:16 (NETS)	Malachi 2:16 (English Elpenor)
But if, since you hate her, you should send her away, says the Lord, the God of Israel, then impiety will cover over his garments, says the Lord Almighty. And be vigilant in your spirit, and do not abandon her.	But if thou shouldest hate [thy wife] and put her away, saith the Lord God of Israel, then ungodliness shall cover thy thoughts, saith the Lord Almighty: therefore take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake [them] not,

Adultery in the Prophets, Part 1

Back to Jephthah and Moses

Back to Jedidiah, Part 3

Back to Romans, Part 52

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited – Part 1

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 2

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 3

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 13

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to Adultery in the Prophets, Part 3

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 1

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 2

Posted on May 27, 2012 by admin

I’m not fooling anyone. There is probably a strong suspicion that I’m going to shape things in such a way that I can come to the conclusion that Jesus is a pretty good carpenter. A typical approach would be for me to establish the criteria—a good carpenter does A, B, C—and then examine some samples of Jesus’ carpentry, and say, look, Jesus’ carpentry shows A, B, C, and so I conclude that Jesus is a good carpenter. Few would believe that I had actually established the criteria before I looked at the samples. And, frankly, I don’t want to put myself in the position of being the judge of Jesus’ carpentry. But the real rub is, and this was a little bit of a surprise, I searched the internet and didn’t find even one disputed artifact that anyone claimed was the handiwork of Jesus.

In the second century Justin Martyr claimed that Jesus made plows and yokes. If He specialized in working tools for working people, it might not be so surprising that these necessary items were used for their intended purposes rather than preserved for posterity. And it occurred to me that my surprise may be little more than an illusion created by looking back through the lens of Roman veneration of holy relics. Jesus’ customers were descendants of Israel, with many centuries of cultural training in the evils of idolatry. The owners of Jesus’ artifacts, whether they were his followers or not, may not have had the instinct for, in fact may have had a counter-instinct to, preserving those artifacts. At any rate piety and practicality embrace each other here and demand that I infer what kind of carpenter Jesus is from other things He has made. But where will I find these other things?

Here I have what scholars call an embarrassment of riches. The Apostle John described Jesus like this (John 1:1-3 NET): In the beginning was the Word (λόγος), and the Word (λόγος) was with God, and the Word (λόγος) was fully God. The Word (οὗτος) was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. This is the Word that became flesh and took up residence among us¹ as the Lord Jesus. So the whole world, the whole universe, the entire cosmos and everything in it is an artifact left by Jesus and fit material for my consideration. The real question was, what shall I choose?

I let Matt Ridley, the author of GENOME, choose for me. “In the beginning was the word,” he wrote. “The word proselytized the sea with its message, copying itself unceasingly and forever. The word discovered how to rearrange chemicals so as to capture little eddies in the stream of entropy and make them live. The word transformed the land surface of the planet from a dusty hell to a verdant paradise. The word blossomed and became sufficiently ingenious to build a porridgy contraption called a human brain that could discover and be aware of the word itself.”²

The word for Matt Ridley is not Jesus in this quote, but RNA, specifically the “chemical substance that links the two worlds of DNA and protein.” So, I want to consider the interactions of RNA, DNA and proteins as an artifact of Jesus’ creation.

Now with my porridgy brain I only grasp the function of a very small percentage of the DNA molecule. And so, obviously, I will be considering that very small percentage of the whole. The level of detail present in that portion of DNA is such that it only allows one to distinguish between human beings and chimpanzees by a very small percentage of difference. The far larger mass of the DNA molecule—called junk DNA, presumably because no one yet has a clue how it works or what it does—is where the level of detail that will convict a man of a crime in a court of law (while at the same time exonerating his father, his brother and his son) is found.

I assume most of us are familiar with the spiral staircase shape of the DNA molecule, its double helix structure deduced by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. The business end of the molecule, as far as we know, the stairs, are constructed of pairs of four chemicals: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C). And these chemicals comprise the four letter alphabet of the genetic code.

In his book DNA³ James Watson described how RNA makes the link from the code stored in bone marrow DNA to the production of the protein hemoglobin. First, the hemoglobin gene, a segment of bone marrow DNA, unzips as it were. The chemical pairs making up the stairs separate from each other. One strand, one half of the stairs, is copied with the help of an enzyme called RNA polymerase.

Well, the process is actually called transcription. And you don’t really get an exact copy, it’s more like a mirror image. You see, adenine (A) and thymine (T) always pair up together, and guanine (G) and cytosine (C) always pair up together. So in the process of transcription wherever the strand of DNA contains cytosine (C), for example, the RNA polymerase strand will contain guanine (G); wherever the DNA contains thymine (T) the RNA will have adenine (A) and so forth. When transcription is complete the resulting messenger RNA is an exact copy, not of the strand of DNA it was paired up with, but of the other strand, the one that had unzipped from that strand where all the action seemed to take place.

And I must apologize, it’s not an exact copy of that strand either. RNA is not entirely the same language as DNA. In the language of RNA uracil (U) is substituted for thymine (T). So, where adenine (A) occurs in the DNA strand, uracil (U) rather than thymine (T) occurs in the messenger RNA. Then the messenger RNA is exported from the nucleus into the cell, and the DNA in the nucleus zips itself up again.

In the cell outside the nucleus the process of translation begins. The recipe encoded in the messenger RNA is literally translated into an actual string of amino acids called a protein. Now, this is not chemistry in the sense that the chemicals adenine, uracil, guanine and cytosine transported as messenger RNA combine in various ways to produce the twenty amino acids that make up proteins. It is language. The translator, if you will, is a molecular machine called a ribosome, which is itself composed of RNA and protein.

“Amino acids are delivered to the scene,” Watson wrote, “attached to transfer RNA” (pg. 78). The amino acid is attached to one end of yet another kind of RNA, and three letters of the genetic code (some triplet of adenine, uracil, guanine and cytosine) are attached to the other end. If the messenger RNA triplet inside the ribosome reads GUU, for instance, a transfer RNA molecule with CAA at one end and the amino acid valine at the other will lock in place. Why? Because guanine (G) is always paired with cytosine (C) and uracil (U) is always paired with adenine (A). If the messenger RNA reads AAG then a transfer RNA molecule with UUC at one end and the amino acid lysine at the other will lock in place. Remember, adenine (A) is always paired with uracil (U) and guanine (G) is always paired with cytosine (C).

The two amino acids (valine and lysine) are glued together to begin a chain. The ribosome continues down the length of the messenger RNA, reading coded triplets. The appropriate transfer RNA with the appropriate amino acid attached at one end is locked in place. The new amino acid is glued to the growing amino acid chain. This process continues 141 or 146 times and the end result is one of the four chains of protein that fold together into a complex three dimensional shape with an iron atom in the center of each twisted chain to make hemoglobin.

Pretty cool, huh? The thing that caught my attention when I first heard about it was that the protein, hemoglobin in this particular case, was predetermined by the segment of DNA that unzipped. So what made that particular segment of DNA unzip?

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 3

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 4

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7

¹ John 1:14 (NET)

Adultery in the Law, Part 3

Posted on May 27, 2012 by admin

The translators of the New American Bible¹ chose the marriage is unlawful for πορνεία in Matthew 5:32 [Table]. So I will substitute that translation in the NET:

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the marriage is unlawful, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The footnote in the New American Bible references Leviticus 18:6-18 rather than Leviticus 20:11-21. A comparison of the two passages follows.

Leviticus 18:6-18 (NET)

Leviticus 20:11-21 (NET)

No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the Lord. You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness [Table].

Leviticus 18:6-8 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

Leviticus 20:11 (NET) Table

You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them.

Leviticus 18:9 (NET) Table

If a man has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.

Leviticus 20:17 (NET) Table

You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness.

Leviticus 18:10 (NET)

You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her.

Leviticus 18:11 (NET)

You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her. She is your aunt.

Leviticus 18:12-14 (NET)

You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless [Table].

Leviticus 20:19, 20 (NET)

You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her.

Leviticus 18:15 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves.

Leviticus 20:12 (NET) Table

You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.

Leviticus 18:16 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless.

Leviticus 20:21 (NET) Table

You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. They are closely related to her – it is lewdness.

Leviticus 18:17 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst.

Leviticus 20:14 (NET) Table

You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual intercourse with her.

Leviticus 18:18 (NET)

There are offenses listed in Leviticus 18:6-18 that don’t have a corresponding punishment in Leviticus 20:11-21. Also there are punishments for offenses in Leviticus 20:11-21 that are not mentioned in Leviticus 18:6-18. They do appear just outside that arbitrary limit:

You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act.

Leviticus 18:22 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

Leviticus 20:13 (NET) Table

You must not have sexual intercourse with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; it is a perversion.

Leviticus 18:23 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal [Table]. If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves [Table].

Leviticus 20:15, 16 (NET)

You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her.

Leviticus 18:19 (NET)

If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them must be cut off from the midst of their people.

Leviticus 20:18 (NET) Table

Both lists combined still comprise a finite set of twelve dimensions. That addresses my primary discomfort relative to the open-ended translation of πορνεία as immorality in the NET. One would think I would be happier than I feel about it. I want to revisit Matthew 5:32 (NET) and 19:9 (NET) with X = porneia (πορνεία).

Matthew 5:32 (NET)	Matthew 19:9 (NET)
I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for X, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.	Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for X, and marries another commits adultery.

The structure seems to imply that 1) divorce is forbidden, 2) remarriage is adultery, 3) except for πορνεία. I took Matthew 5:32 to be saying that if the husband who divorced his wife was guilty of πορνεία, Jesus would not consider the divorced wife an adulteress when she remarried, nor hold her new husband guilty of committing adultery. In Matthew 19:9 I assumed that the divorced wife was guilty of πορνεία and that Jesus would not hold the divorced husband liable for adultery if he remarried.

Is there an implicit permission to divorce a wife guilty of πορνεία in Matthew 19:9? It may appear so out of context. But if I bear in mind that Jesus’ original answer to the Pharisees’ question—Is it lawful (ἔξεστιν, a form of ἔξεστι) to divorce a wife for any cause?—was an emphatic no, that apparent permissiveness recedes into the background. But here’s what happens if I substitute the marriage is unlawful (where the marriage is unlawful = the sets Leviticus 20:11-21 and Leviticus 18:6-18, 19, 22, 23) for X = porneia (πορνεία).

Matthew 5:32 (NET)	Matthew 19:9 (NET)
I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the marriage is unlawful, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.	Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for the marriage is unlawful, and marries another commits adultery.

Now both the divorced husband and his wife are guilty of πορνεία [e.g., their marriage was unlawful], and both are free of the charge of adultery if remarried. And divorce in these cases, rather than being forbidden, is obligatory? And I was entertaining the idea that this was a better translation of πορνεία than immorality?

Though the New American Bible translators were consistent in their translation of Matthew 5:32, 19:9; Acts 15:20, 29, and 21:25, they reverted to immorality in 1 Corinthians 5:1 as opposed to unlawful marriage for πορνεία. This is the one place where Paul may actually have referred to the law in Leviticus 18:8 and 20:11, and called it πορνεία.

It is widely reported that there is immorality (πορνεία) among you, and immorality (πορνεία) of a kind not found² even among pagans – a man living with his father’s wife.

Still, there is an incident in the Old Testament (Ezra 9, 10) where divorce was utilized as the remedy for another kind of unlawful marriage (Ezra 9:1, 2 NET):

The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!

Addendum: January 16, 2019
A table comparing 1 Corinthians 5:1 in the NET and KJV follows.

1 Corinthians 5:1 (NET)	1 Corinthians 5:1 (KJV)
It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s wife.	It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία ἥτις οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὥστε γυναῖκα τινα τοῦ πατρὸς ἔχειν	ολως ακουεται εν υμιν πορνεια και τοιαυτη πορνεια ητις ουδε εν τοις εθνεσιν ονομαζεται ωστε γυναικα τινα του πατρος εχειν	ολως ακουεται εν υμιν πορνεια και τοιαυτη πορνεια ητις ουδε εν τοις εθνεσιν ονομαζεται ωστε γυναικα τινα του πατρος εχειν

Addendum: October 5, 2021
Tables comparing Leviticus 18:6; 18:7; 18:10; 18:11; 18:12, 18:13; 18:14; 18:15; 18:16; 18:17; 18:18; 18:22; 18:23; 18:19; Ezra 9:1 and 9:2 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Leviticus 18:6; 18:7; 18:10; 18:11; 18:12; 18:13; 18:14; 18:15; 18:16; 18:17; 18:18; 18:22; 18:23; 18:19; Ezra (2 Esdras) 9:1 and 9:2 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Leviticus 18:6 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:6 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:6 (NET)
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am HaShem.	None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.	“‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations with her. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 18:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πάντα οἰκεῗα σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ οὐ προσελεύσεται ἀποκαλύψαι ἀσχημοσύνην ἐγὼ κύριος	Ανθρωπος ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πάντα οἰκεῖα σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ οὐ προσελεύσεται ἀποκαλύψαι ἀσχημοσύνην· ἐγὼ Κύριος
Leviticus 18:6 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:6 (English Elpenor)
Person by person shall not approach any of the household of his flesh to uncover shame; I am the Lord.	No man shall draw nigh to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I [am] the Lord.

Leviticus 18:7 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:7 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:7 (NET)
The nakedness of thy father, and the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

Leviticus 18:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην πατρός σου καὶ ἀσχημοσύνην μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις μήτηρ γάρ σού ἐστιν καὶ οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς	ἀσχημοσύνην πατρός σου καὶ ἀσχημοσύνην μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, μήτηρ γάρ σού ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς
Leviticus 18:7 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:7 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your father and the shame of your mother, for she is your mother; you shall not uncover her shame.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, for she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

Leviticus 18:10 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:10 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:10 (NET)
The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; for theirs is thine own nakedness.	The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.	You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.

Leviticus 18:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς υἱοῦ σου ἢ θυγατρὸς θυγατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν ὅτι σὴ ἀσχημοσύνη ἐστίν	ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς υἱοῦ σου ἢ θυγατρὸς θυγατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν, ὅτι σὴ ἀσχημοσύνη ἐστίν
Leviticus 18:10 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:10 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover their shame—the shame of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for it is your own shame.	The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or thy daughter’s daughter, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; because it is thy nakedness.

Leviticus 18:11 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:11 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:11 (NET)
The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.

Leviticus 18:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς γυναικὸς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις ὁμοπατρία ἀδελφή σού ἐστιν οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς	ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς γυναικὸς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, ὁμοπατρία ἀδελφή σού ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς
Leviticus 18:11 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:11 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your father’s wife’s daughter; she is your sister by the same father. You shall not uncover her shame.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of thy father’s wife; she is thy sister by the same father: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

Leviticus 18:12 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:12 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:12 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.	You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.

Leviticus 18:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις οἰκεία γὰρ πατρός σού ἐστιν	ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, οἰκεία γὰρ πατρός σού ἐστιν
Leviticus 18:12 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:12 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your father’s sister, for she is your father’s own household.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister, for she is near akin to thy father.

Leviticus 18:13 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:13 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:13 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister; for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.	You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh.

Leviticus 18:13 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις οἰκεία γὰρ μητρός σού ἐστιν	ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, οἰκεία γὰρ μητρός σού ἐστιν
Leviticus 18:13 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:13 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your mother’s sister, for she is of your mother’s own household.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, for she is near akin to thy mother.

Leviticus 18:14 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:14 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:14 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy fathers brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.	You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have marital relations with her. She is your aunt.

Leviticus 18:14 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις καὶ πρὸς τὴν γυναῗκα αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ συγγενὴς γάρ σού ἐστιν	ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις καὶ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ, συγγενής γάρ σού ἐστιν
Leviticus 18:14 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:14 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your father’s brother, and you shall not approach his wife, for she is your relative.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, and thou shalt not go in to his wife; for she is thy relation.

Leviticus 18:15 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:15 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:15 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son'[s] wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have sexual relations with her.

Leviticus 18:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:15 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην νύμφης σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις γυνὴ γὰρ υἱοῦ σού ἐστιν οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς	ἀσχημοσύνην νύμφης σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, γυνὴ γὰρ υἱοῦ σού ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς
Leviticus 18:15 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:15 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your daughter-in-law, for she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her shame.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law, for she is thy son’s wife, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

Leviticus 18:16 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:16 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:16 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.	You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.

Leviticus 18:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς ἀδελφοῦ σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις ἀσχημοσύνη ἀδελφοῦ σού ἐστιν	ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς ἀδελφοῦ σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις, ἀσχημοσύνη ἀδελφοῦ σού ἐστιν.
Leviticus 18:16 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:16 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s shame.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.

Leviticus 18:17 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:17 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:17 (NET)
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; thou shalt not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness: they are near kinswomen; it is lewdness.	Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.	You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have sexual relations with them. They are closely related to her—it is lewdness.

Leviticus 18:17 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς καὶ θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐ λήμψῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν οἰκεῗαι γάρ σού εἰσιν ἀσέβημά ἐστιν	ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς καὶ θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐ λήψῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν, οἰκεῖαι γὰρ σού εἰσιν· ἀσέβημά ἐστι
Leviticus 18:17 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:17 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover the shame of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter and her daughter’s daughter to uncover their shame, for they are your own household; it is a profane act.	The nakedness of a woman and her daughter shalt thou not uncover; her son’s daughter, and her daughter’s daughter, shalt thou not take, to uncover their nakedness, for they are thy kinswomen: it is impiety.

Leviticus 18:18 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:18 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:18 (NET)
And thou shalt not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.	Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.	You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual relations with her.

Leviticus 18:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
γυναῗκα ἐπὶ ἀδελφῇ αὐτῆς οὐ λήμψῃ ἀντίζηλον ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ ἔτι ζώσης αὐτῆς	γυναῖκα ἐπ᾿ ἀδελφῇ αὐτῆς οὐ λήψῃ ἀντίζηλον ἀποκαλύψαι τήν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ, ἔτι ζώσης αὐτῆς
Leviticus 18:18 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:18 (English Elpenor)
You shall not take a woman as a rival in addition to her sister, to uncover her shame in addition to her while she is still alive.	Thou shalt not take a wife in addition to her sister, as a rival, to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her, while she is yet living.

Leviticus 18:22 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:22 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:22 (NET)
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.	Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.	You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman; it is a detestable act.

Leviticus 18:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικός βδέλυγμα γάρ ἐστιν	καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικείαν, βδέλυγμα γάρ ἐστι
Leviticus 18:22 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:22 (English Elpenor)
And you shall not sleep with a male as in a bed of a woman, for it is an abomination.	And thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination.

Leviticus 18:23 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:23 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:23 (NET)
And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto; it is perversion.	Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.	You must not have sexual relations with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is a perversion.

Leviticus 18:23 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:23 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν οὐ δώσεις τὴν κοίτην σου εἰς σπερματισμὸν ἐκμιανθῆναι πρὸς αὐτό καὶ γυνὴ οὐ στήσεται πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν βιβασθῆναι μυσερὸν γάρ ἐστιν	καὶ πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν οὐ δώσεις τὴν κοίτην σου εἰς σπερματισμόν, ἐκμιανθῆναι πρὸς αὐτό. καὶ γυνὴ οὐ στήσεται πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν βιβασθῆναι, μυσαρὸν γάρ ἐστι
Leviticus 18:23 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:23 (English Elpenor)
And you shall not give your bed to any quadruped for sowing to bring defilement on it, nor shall any woman stand before any quadruped so as to be mounted, for it is loathsome.	Neither shalt thou lie with any quadruped for copulation, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connexion with it; for it is an abomination.

Leviticus 18:19 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 18:19 (KJV)	Leviticus 18:19 (NET)
And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.	Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.	“‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual relations with her.

Leviticus 18:19 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 18:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ πρὸς γυναῗκα ἐν χωρισμῷ ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῆς οὐ προσελεύσῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς	Καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκα ἐν χωρισμῷ ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῆς οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς
Leviticus 18:19 (NETS)	Leviticus 18:19 (English Elpenor)
And you shall not approach a woman to uncover her shame in the separation of her uncleanness.	And thou shalt not go in to a woman under separation for her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness.

Ezra 9:1 (Tanakh)	Ezra 9:1 (KJV)	Ezra 9:1 (NET)
Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying: ‘The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.	Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.	Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Ezra 9:1 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 9:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὡς ἐτελέσθη ταῦτα ἤγγισαν πρός με οἱ ἄρχοντες λέγοντες οὐκ ἐχωρίσθη ὁ λαὸς Ισραηλ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῗς καὶ οἱ Λευῗται ἀπὸ λαῶν τῶν γαιῶν ἐν μακρύμμασιν αὐτῶν τῷ Χανανι ὁ Εθι ὁ Φερεζι ὁ Ιεβουσι ὁ Αμμωνι ὁ Μωαβι ὁ Μοσερι καὶ ὁ Αμορι	ΚΑΙ ὡς ἐτελέσθη ταῦτα, ἤγγισαν πρός με οἱ ἄρχοντες λέγοντες· οὐκ ἐχωρίσθη ὁ λαὸς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται ἀπὸ λαῶν τῶν γαιῶν ἐν μακρύμμασιν αὐτῶν, τῷ Χανανί, ὁ ᾿Εθί, ὁ Φερεζί, ὁ ᾿Ιεβουσί, ὁ ᾿Αμμωνί, ὁ Μωαβὶ καὶ ὁ Μοσερὶ καὶ ὁ ᾿Αμορί,
2 Esdras 9:1 (NETS)	2 Esdras 9:1 (English Elpenor)
And after these things had been done, the rulers approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and Leuites were not separated from the peoples of the lands with their things put far away, in reference to the Chanani—the Heththi, the Pherezi, the Iebousi, the Ammoni, the Moab, the Mosri and the Amori—	And when these things were finished, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands in their abominations, [even] the Chananite, the Ethite, the Pherezite, the Jebusite, the Ammonite, the Moabite, and the Moserite and the Amorite.

Ezra 9:2 (Tanakh)	Ezra 9:2 (KJV)	Ezra 9:2 (NET)
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons; so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands; yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been first in this faithlessness.’	For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.	Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all this unfaithfulness!”

Ezra 9:2 (Septuagint BLB)	2 Esdras 9:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι ἐλάβοσαν ἀπὸ θυγατέρων αὐτῶν ἑαυτοῗς καὶ τοῗς υἱοῗς αὐτῶν καὶ παρήχθη σπέρμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν λαοῗς τῶν γαιῶν καὶ χεὶρ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐν τῇ ἀσυνθεσίᾳ ταύτῃ ἐν ἀρχῇ	ὅτι ἐλάβοσαν ἀπὸ θυγατέρων αὐτῶν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ παρήχθη σπέρμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν λαοῖς τῶν γαιῶν, καὶ χεὶρ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐν τῇ ἀσυνθεσίᾳ ταύτῃ ἐν ἀρχῇ
2 Esdras 9:2 (NETS)	2 Esdras 9:2 (English Elpenor)
because they have taken from their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and the holy seed was influenced by the peoples of the lands, and the hand of the rulers was in this faithlessness in the beginning.”	For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and their sons; and the holy seed has passed among the nations of the lands, and the hand of the rulers [has been] first in this transgression.

Ezra and Divorce

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 2

Back to Who Am I? Part 5

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind

Back to What is Sexual Immorality?

Back to Is Sin Less Than Sin? Part 3

Back to Is Sin Less Than Sin? Part 4

Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 7

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 1

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 3

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 7

Back to Is Sin Less Than Sin? Part 1

Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 2

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 11

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 2

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 6

² The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ονομαζεται (KJV: so much as named) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not (NET: permitted).

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 1

Posted on May 26, 2012 by admin

While I am asking—“What is truth? What is faith? Who is God? What is He trying to say to us?”—trying to come to some understanding of Bible passages in their complete contexts, millions of priests, pastors, preachers and Bible teachers all over the world open their Bibles on their own and construct sermons and homilies and Bible lessons, complete with life applications, every week without even consulting me. The vast majority of them don’t know who I am or what I’m trying to do here. While I, with my philosophical bent of mind, endeavor to construct an abstract truth of the Bible, real people are doing real things with the Bible, in real space and real time. They come to real conclusions about Bible passages—if this is so then we should do thus and such—and they are having real success gathering others around them who think and act in accordance with their teachings.

Now I’ve heard, admittedly, a very small fraction of the sermons, homilies and Bible lessons presented by a handful of the millions of priests, pastors, preachers and Bible teachers who prepare these things every week. And when I’ve done so I’ve been a bit like the dinner guest who, as the hostess serves a succulent pork roast, all he can think about and speak about is cholesterol, hardening of the arteries, heart attack and stroke. No matter what portion of scripture the preacher chose to expound upon, that same kind of expansion of context that I’ve been following here, went on in my head. Sometimes, it’s true, the expansion only served to reinforce the preacher’s point. That was a good day, a Sunday I didn’t need a week to recover from. But far too often the expansion of context that ballooned uncontrollably in my mind severely limited, if not completely refuted, the preacher’s point.

On those days, I didn’t want to sit and listen to a sermon. I wanted to stand and make a dialogue of it, and not some postmodern-happy-go-lucky-all-points-of-view-are-equal dialogue. I mean a good old-fashioned Socratic brawl of a dialogue where I played Socrates and the preacher played the bumbling Sophist, and at the end of it, it would be clear to everyone present—including the preacher—that he doesn’t really know what he was talking about.

So why call this WHAT KIND OF CARPENTER IS JESUS? Why not call it PREACHERS DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE BIBLE? or something like that? I won’t say I haven’t thought that or even said it before. It’s just that whenever I thought or said it, I couldn’t get away with it. The same expansion of context that created the problem for me also solved it. To consider that solution I’ll need to take my first direct look at the question, what kind of carpenter is Jesus?

Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 2

Back to What Kind of Carpenter is Jesus? Introduction

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 4

Back to Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7

Back to Torture, Part 4

Back to Apostles and Prophets, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 73

Back to Romans, Part 82

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 3

Back to Who Am I? Part 8

Back to Christianity, Part 3

Back to Exploration, Part 15

Adultery in the Law, Part 2

Posted on May 26, 2012 by admin

I first entertained the idea that πορνεία in the New Testament might be defined by Leviticus 20:11-21 because of the similarity in word order between Matthew 15:19 (NET) and the Law in Exodus 20:2-17 (NET)

Exodus 20:2-17 (NET)	Matthew 15:19 (NET)
“I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me [Table], and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy [Table]. For six days you may labor and do all your work [Table], but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates [Table]. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy [Table]. “Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you. Exodus 20:2-12 (NET)	For out of the heart come evil (πονηροί, a form of πονηρός) ideas (διαλογισμοὶ, a form of διαλογισμός)…
“You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13 (NET) Table	murder (φόνοι, a form of φόνος)…
“You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 (NET) Table	adultery (μοιχεῖαι, a form of μοιχεία)…
	sexual immorality (πορνεῖαι, a form of πορνεῖον)…
“You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15 (NET)	theft (κλοπαί, a form of κλοπή)…
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16 (NET)	false testimony (ψευδομαρτυρίαι, a form of ψευδομαρτυρία)…
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17 (NET) Table
	slander (βλασφημίαι, a form of βλασφημία).

If I allowed that evil ideas covered idolatrous worship of other gods, taking the Lord’s name in vain, not keeping the Sabbath and not honoring father and mother, then only sexual immorality (πορνεία) [See Addendum below] and slander (βλασφημία) lacked a direct correspondent in the law. Leviticus 20:11-21 (NET) seemed to fill in that gap for πορνεία.

Exodus 20:14 (NET) Table

Matthew 15:19 (NET)

Leviticus 20:10-21 (NET)

“You shall not commit adultery.

…adultery (μοιχεῖαι, a form of μοιχεία)…

If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Leviticus 20:10 (NET) Table

sexual immorality (πορνεῖαι, a form of πορνεία)…

If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal [Table]. If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them must be cut off from the midst of their people [Table]. You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless [Table]. If a man has sexual intercourse with his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless [Table].

Leviticus 20:11-21 (NET)

The advantage of this interpretation is that Leviticus 20:11-21 is a finite list as opposed to the open-ended translation of πορνεία as immorality. It does not pander to men who want to divorce their wives, remarry, and justify themselves by law. And it is not without precedent in Bible translation. The translators of the New American Bible¹ understood πορνεία this way in Matthew 5:32, 19:9; Acts 15:20, 29, and 21:25. The disadvantages will follow.

Addendum: September 24, 2021
I thought πορνεῖαι was a form of πορνεία, but according to the Koine Greek Lexicon online it is a form of πορνεῖον: “brothel, a house of prostitution.” There is only one occurrence of πορνεῖαι in the Septuagint.

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
2 Kings 9:22 (Tanakh) Table	2 Kings 9:22 (NET)	4 Reigns 9:22 (NETS)	4 Kings 9:22 (Elpenor English)
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said: ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered: ‘What peace, so long as the harlotries (זְנוּנֵ֞י) of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’	When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry (zᵊnûnîm, זנוני) and pagan practices?”	And it happened, when Ioram saw Iou, that he said, “Is it peace, Iou?” And Iou said, “What peace? The whoredoms (πορνεῗαι) of Iezabel your mother and her sorceries are still many.”	And it came to pass when Joram saw Ju, that he said, [Is it] peace, Ju? And Ju said, How [can it be] peace? as yet [there are] the whoredoms (πορνεῖαι) of thy mother Jezabel, and her abundant witchcrafts.

Tables comparing Exodus 20:2; 20:3; 20:4; 20:6; 20:7; 20:12; 20:15 (20:13); 20:16 (20:13) and 2 Kings 9:22 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Exodus 20:2; 20:3; 20:4; 20:6; 20:7; 20:12; 20:15 (20:14); 20:16 and 2 Kings (4 Reigns, 4 Kings) 9:22 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 20:2 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:2 (KJV)	Exodus 20:2 (NET)
I am HaShem thy G-d , who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.	I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.	“I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:2 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου ὅστις ἐξήγαγόν σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐξ οἴκου δουλείας	ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, ὅστις ἐξήγαγόν σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐξ οἴκου δουλείας
Exodus 20:2 (NETS)	Exodus 20:2 (English Elpenor)
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.	I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:3 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:3 (KJV)	Exodus 20:3 (NET)
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.	Thou shalt have no other gods before me.	“You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ	οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ
Exodus 20:3 (NETS)	Exodus 20:3 (English Elpenor)
You shall have no other gods besides me.	Thou shalt have no other gods beside me.

Exodus 20:4 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:4 (KJV)	Exodus 20:4 (NET)
Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;	Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:	“You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.

Exodus 20:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῗς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς	οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον, οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς
Exodus 20:4 (NETS)	Exodus 20:4 (English Elpenor)
You shall not make for yourself an idol or likeness of anything whatever is in heaven above and whatever is in the earth beneath and whatever is in the waters beneath the earth.	Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor likeness of anything, whatever things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth.

Exodus 20:6 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:6 (KJV)	Exodus 20:6 (NET)
and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.	And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.	and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ποιῶν ἔλεος εἰς χιλιάδας τοῗς ἀγαπῶσίν με καὶ τοῗς φυλάσσουσιν τὰ προστάγματά μου	καὶ ποιῶν ἔλεος εἰς χιλιάδας τοῖς ἀγαπῶσί με καὶ τοῖς φυλάσσουσι τὰ προστάγματά μου
Exodus 20:6 (NETS)	Exodus 20:6 (English Elpenor)
and doing mercy unto thousands, for those who love me and keep my ordinances.	and bestowing mercy on them that love me to thousands [of them], and on them that keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:7 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:7 (KJV)	Exodus 20:7 (NET)
Thou shalt not take the name of HaShem thy G-d in vain; for HaShem will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain .	Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.	“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 20:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ λήμψῃ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου ἐπὶ ματαίῳ οὐ γὰρ μὴ καθαρίσῃ κύριος τὸν λαμβάνοντα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ ματαίῳ	οὐ λήψει τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου ἐπί ματαίῳ· οὐ γὰρ μὴ καθαρίσῃ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου τὸν λαμβάνοντα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ ματαίῳ
Exodus 20:7 (NETS)	Exodus 20:7 (English Elpenor)
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will never acquit the one who takes his name in vain.	Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain.

Exodus 20:12 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:12 (KJV)	Exodus 20:12 (NET)
Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which HaShem thy G-d giveth thee.	Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.	“Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you.

Exodus 20:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται καὶ ἵνα μακροχρόνιος γένῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἧς κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοι	τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται, καὶ ἵνα μακροχρόνιος γένῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τῆς ἀγαθῆς, ἧς Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσί σοι
Exodus 20:12 (NETS)	Exodus 20:12 (English Elpenor)
Honor your father and your mother so that it may be well with you and so that you may be long-lived on the good land that the Lord your God is giving you.	Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the good land, which the Lord thy God gives to thee.

Exodus 20:13 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:15 (KJV)	Exodus 20:15 (NET)
Thou shalt not murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.	Thou shalt not steal.	“You shall not steal.

Exodus 20:15 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ κλέψεις	οὐ κλέψεις
Exodus 20:14 (NETS)	Exodus 20:14 (English Elpenor)
You shall not steal.	Thou shalt not steal.

Exodus 20:13 (Tanakh)	Exodus 20:16 (KJV)	Exodus 20:16 (NET)
Thou shalt not murder; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.	“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 20:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ	οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ
Exodus 20:16 (NETS)	Exodus 20:16 (English Elpenor)
You shall not testify falsely against your neighbor with false witness.	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

2 Kings 9:22 (Tanakh)	2 Kings 9:22 (KJV)	2 Kings 9:22 (NET)
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said: ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered: ‘What peace, so long as the harlotries of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’	And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?	When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?”

2 Kings 9:22 (Septuagint BLB)	4 Kings 9:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς εἶδεν Ιωραμ τὸν Ιου καὶ εἶπεν εἰ εἰρήνη Ιου καὶ εἶπεν Ιου τί εἰρήνη ἔτι αἱ πορνεῗαι Ιεζαβελ τῆς μητρός σου καὶ τὰ φάρμακα αὐτῆς τὰ πολλά	καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς εἶδεν ᾿Ιωρὰμ τὸν ᾿Ιού, καὶ εἶπεν· εἰ εἰρήνη ᾿Ιού; καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Ιού· τί εἰρήνη; ἔτι αἱ πορνεῖαι ᾿Ιεζάβελ τῆς μητρός σου καὶ τὰ φάρμακα αὐτῆς τὰ πολλά
4 Reigns 9:22 (NETS)	4 Kings 9:22 (English Elpenor)
And it happened, when Ioram saw Iou, that he said, “Is it peace, Iou?” And Iou said, “What peace? The whoredoms of Iezabel your mother and her sorceries are still many.”	And it came to pass when Joram saw Ju, that he said, [Is it] peace, Ju? And Ju said, How [can it be] peace? as yet [there are] the whoredoms of thy mother Jezabel, and her abundant witchcrafts.