Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Psalm 68:15 (LXX: 67:15) translating שַׁדַּ֓י as τον επουρανιον

  

LXX Psalm 67.15

 

evn tw/| diaste,llein to.n evpoura,nion basilei/j evpV auvth/j cionwqh,sontai evn Selmwn

 

When the heavenly One scatters kings upon it, they shall be made snow-white in Selmon. (LXE; Brenton)

 

In LXX Ps. 67.15, to.n evpoura,nion, as the translation of the Hebrew yD:¦v;, is a substantive describing God. The fact that evpoura,nioj is utilized here as a translation for yD:¦v; does not indicate that the term loses its basic meaning as a reference to that which is spatially distinct from the earth. Rather, it is likely that the translator of this psalm employed the idea of the ‘Heavenly One’ (to.n evpoura,nion) to communicate the Hebrew Bible’s description of God as the Almighty (yD:¦v;). Since LXX Ps. 67.15

 

is the only place where evpoura,nioj appears in the Greek Old Testament, this translation for yD:¦v; does not appear to be common; however, we do find that the expression tou/ qeou/ tou/ ouvranou/ is also employed as a translation for yD:ªv;÷ in LXX Ps. 90.1.59 The usage of to.n evpoura,nion in Ps. 67.15 and tou/ qeou/ tou/ ouvranou/ in Ps. 90.1 is highly significant since it strongly suggests that these two expressions are interchangeable and provides further evidence that it is mistaken to posit a major distinction in meaning between evpoura,nioj and ouvrano,j. (M. Jeff Brannon, The Heavenlies in Ephesians: A Lexical, Exegetical, and Conceptual Analysis [Library of New Testament Studies 447; London: T&T Clark, 2011], 59-60)