In Psa
102:23-24 the LXX (101:23-24), unlike the MT, God addresses (not weakens) the
suppliant:
He answered him in the way of his strength,
"Tell me the paucity of my days. Do not take me away at the mid-point of
my days, while your years are in generation of generations!" (NETS)
This might
sound unusual, as one may naively think that the LXX imputes mortality to God
based on his having a "shortness/paucity" of days. Notwithstanding,
as B.W. Bacon, "Heb. 1:10-12 and the Septuagint Rendering of Ps.102:23," p. 285 argues, this refers to the period destined to elapse
before the consummation of God's purpose, as seen in the Old Testament
background to the following texts:
And except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened. (Matt 24:22)
And except that the Lord had shortened those
days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen,
he hath shortened the days. (Mark 13:20)
The final stumbling-block (or source of
danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For
for this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved
may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." (Epistle of Barnabas
4:3)
