Origen thinks that the Seventy have changed (εναλλασσω; Sel. Ps. 42:3; PG 12.1420d)
the grammatical tense from future to past in several messianic prophecies in
the Psalms. He observes that the LXX and Theodotion put everything in the past,
whereas Aquila makes some things past and some future, and Symmachus makes
everything future. ‘Εθος γαρ τοις ‘Εβδομηκοντα πολλακις τας περι Χριστου προφητειας
ως
ηδη
γενομενας απαγγελλειν (“For it is the custom of the Seventy often to
announce the prophecies concerning Christ as if they had already happened”).
Origen goes on to ascribe this custom to the Seventy’s desire to depict God as
omniscient (Sel. Ps. 2:1; PG 12.1104c). The other translators speak σαφεστερον (“more clearly”)
because they render these verbs with future tenses (Sel. Ps. 42:3; PG
12.1420d). The change Origen envisions is rather small and, by his own admission,
not universal, for he notes that the Seventy translate some messianic
prophecies with the future tense (e.g. Isa. 52:13; cf. Sel. Ps. 2:1; PG 12.1104d).
Yet, if readers of the LXX interpret the tenses as Origen does (i.e., as
displaying God’s omniscience), it is a change that would edify their faith.
. . .
The changes that Origen attributes to the Seventy translators
constitute providentially guided alterations that point toward a sense beyond
the literal. At the same time, they are very limited in scale, consisting of
the substitution of a single word, or merely a tense, or at the most omitting a
few words. Nevertheless, the only change that Origen confidently attributes to the
Seventy is that of the tense of some prophecies, whereas the other proposed changes
are only possibilities that could have other explanations. Origen allows that
the Seventy translators did not always adhere strictly to the text before them,
but he actually invokes this option rather infrequently. (Edmon L. Gallagher, Hebrew
Scripture in Patristic Biblical Theology: Canon, Language, Text
[Supplements to Vigilae Christianae 114; Leiden: Brill, 2012], 183-84, 185)
The MT of Ps. 3:8 (Eng.: 3:7) contains the phrase כי הכית את כל איבי
לחי (“for you have struck all my enemies on the cheek”), for which the LXX has οτι συ επαταξας
παντας τους εχθραινοντας μοι ματαιως (“for you struck all those hostile to me
without cause”). Origen wonders about the difference between “cheek” (לחי) in
the Hebrew text, as reflected in the
newer Greek translations, and “without cause” (ματαιως) in the LXX (Sel. Ps. 3:8; PG
12.1129b–c). Some ‘Εβραιοι have suggested to him that the Hebrew text
itself may have changed, but he also considers the possibility that the Seventy
intentionally altered the text: η [sc. εικος εστι] το ευτελες περιισταμενους
τους
‘Εβδομηκοντα της λαξεως,
τετολμηκεναι αντι του ‘σιαγονα’ ποιησαι ‘ματαιως’ (“or [it is
possible] that the Seventy, avoiding the poverty of the letter, have dared to
put ‘without cause’ instead of ‘cheek’”). In any case, he accepts the LXX
reading and proceeds to interpret it. His suggestion that the Seventy ‘dared’
to replace ‘cheek’ with ‘without cause’ attributes to the translators the
motive of ‘avoiding the poverty of the letter’ (το ευτελες περιισταμενοι [. . .] της λαξεως). Here, λαξεις does not refer
only to the words ‘cheek’ and ‘without cause’ but to literalism as opposed to
the more spiritual ways of reading texts. The Seventy have produced a good
interpretation of the OT not because they found fault with the Hebrew text but
because they eschewed rendering it literalistically (at least, in this case).
For this reason, their translation is rich (not ευτελης) in meaning. (Ibid., 184)
