וְֽאֶת־חַטַּאתְכֶ֞ם אֲשֶׁר־עֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם אֶת־הָעֵ֗גֶל לָקַחְתִּי֮ וָאֶשְׂרֹ֣ף אֹתֹ֣ו בָּאֵשׁ֒ וָאֶכֹּ֨ת אֹתֹ֤ו טָחֹון֙ הֵיטֵ֔ב עַ֥ד אֲשֶׁר־דַּ֖ק לְעָפָ֑ר וָֽאַשְׁלִךְ֙ אֶת־עֲפָרֹ֔ו אֶל־הַנַּ֖חַל הַיֹּרֵ֥ד מִן־הָהָֽר׃
(Deuteronomy 9:21)
Καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν ἣν ἐποιήσατε τὸν μόσχον ἔλαβον αὐτὸν καὶ κατέκαυσα αὐτὸν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ συνέκοψα αὐτὸν καταλέσας σφόδρα ἕως οὗ ἐγένετο λεπτόν καὶ ἐγενήθη ὡσεὶ κονιορτός καὶ ἔρριψα τὸν κονιορτὸν εἰς τὸν χειμάρρουν τὸν καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους (Deuteronomy 9:21 LXX)
Historical and Literary Context
This verse is part of Moshe’s recounting of Israel’s rebellion with the golden calf. It describes the dramatic destruction of the idol: taken, burned, crushed, and cast into the torrent that flows down from the mountain. The Masoretic Hebrew and the Septuagint Greek present the same core narrative, yet their choices of verbs, tenses, and metaphors create distinct emphases. Hebrew dramatizes the reduction of the calf into powder-like dust, while Greek elaborates on the process with its own descriptive flourishes, expanding the imagery of total annihilation.
Grammatical and Lexical Nuances
The Hebrew sequence is marked by consecutive verbs: לָקַחְתִּי (“I took”), וָאֶשְׂרֹף (“and I burned”), וָאֶכֹּת (“and I beat”), וָאַשְׁלִךְ (“and I threw”). This wayyiqtol chain creates a staccato rhythm of relentless action. The LXX mirrors these steps but uses a wider Greek vocabulary: ἔλαβον (“I took”), κατέκαυσα (“I burned down”), συνέκοψα (“I cut in pieces”), καταλέσας σφόδρα (“grinding exceedingly”), and finally ἔρριψα (“I cast”). The Hebrew is terse, the Greek expansive, with doubling of destruction imagery to ensure the reader visualizes complete pulverization.
The Hebrew עַד אֲשֶׁר־דַּק לְעָפָר (“until it was ground fine to dust”) becomes in Greek ἕως οὗ ἐγένετο λεπτόν καὶ ἐγενήθη ὡσεὶ κονιορτός (“until it became fine and became as dust”). The Greek translators have expanded the imagery: not only finely ground, but explicitly likened to dust, reinforcing the utter obliteration.
Word Order and Emphasis
The Hebrew highlights “your sin which you made, the calf” (וְאֶת־חַטַּאתְכֶם אֲשֶׁר־עֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת־הָעֵגֶל), putting the people’s culpability front and center. The Greek follows with τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν ἣν ἐποιήσατε τὸν μόσχον, literally “your sin which you made, the calf.” The structure preserves the accusatory tone but foregrounds the noun ἁμαρτίαν (“sin”), emphasizing the transgression itself as the object of judgment.
Morphological Comparison Table
| Hebrew Word | Greek Translation | Grammatical Notes | Translation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| חַטַּאתְכֶם | τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν | Hebrew noun + 2mp suffix; Greek noun with genitive pronoun. | Direct equivalence: sin of yours. |
| וָאֶשְׂרֹף | κατέκαυσα | Hebrew Qal wayyiqtol 1cs; Greek aorist active indicative 1sg. | Literal rendering with intensification — Greek adds sense of total burning. |
| וָאֶכֹּת אֹתוֹ | συνέκοψα αὐτὸν | Hebrew Qal wayyiqtol 1cs “I beat it”; Greek aorist active “I cut it to pieces.” | Interpretive expansion: crushing vs. chopping imagery. |
| טָחֹון הֵיטֵב | καταλέσας σφόδρα | Hebrew infinitive absolute for emphasis “well ground”; Greek participle “grinding exceedingly.” | Both stress thoroughness; Greek strengthens with adverb σφόδρα (“exceedingly”). |
| עַד אֲשֶׁר־דַּק לְעָפָר | ἕως οὗ ἐγένετο λεπτόν καὶ ἐγενήθη ὡσεὶ κονιορτός | Hebrew “until fine as dust”; Greek “until it became fine and became as dust.” | Double phrasing in Greek for intensification. |
| וָאַשְׁלִךְ | ἔρριψα | Hebrew Hiphil wayyiqtol 1cs; Greek aorist active indicative 1sg. | Literal rendering of the act of casting into the torrent. |
Theological Implications
The Hebrew presents Moshe as eradicating the calf with furious thoroughness — burning, grinding, reducing to dust. The LXX intensifies this by layering imagery of cutting, grinding exceedingly, and reducing to fine powder. In both cases, the destruction is not merely physical but symbolic: idolatry is not tolerated, it is utterly obliterated. Hebrew stresses judgment in action; Greek stresses judgment in image, turning the destruction into a vivid picture of divine wrath.
The final act — casting the dust into the stream descending from the mountain — links the destruction back to Sinai. The water flowing from the holy mountain becomes the channel carrying away the remains of idolatry. In Greek, χειμάρρουν evokes a torrent, a rushing stream, suggesting power in the removal. Thus, both traditions highlight that the sin is not only destroyed but carried away, removed from the camp, a symbol of cleansing.
Reflections at the Threshold
Here, Hebrew and Greek work in harmony yet with different textures: Hebrew is brisk and judicial, Greek is layered and descriptive. The idol’s destruction is not simply narrated; it is dramatized in both languages. Where Hebrew emphasizes the completeness of Moshe’s action, Greek ensures that readers envision the grinding and dust. Together they teach that sin, once exposed, must not be merely set aside but ground to nothing and washed away. The grammar itself becomes theology: the verbs of destruction mirror the seriousness of transgression, and the torrent at Sinai carries both dust and memory away.
