τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων προθήσεται ἔναντι Κυρίου διὰ παντὸς ἐνώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ διαθήκην αἰώνιον (Leviticus 24:8 LXX)
בְּיֹ֨ום הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת בְּיֹ֣ום הַשַּׁבָּ֗ת יַֽעַרְכֶ֛נּוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה תָּמִ֑יד מֵאֵ֥ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּרִ֥ית עֹולָֽם׃
Repetition and Rhythm in the Hebrew Sanctuary
The Hebrew text of Leviticus 24:8 contains a rare and emphatic doubling: בְּיֹום הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת בְּיֹ֣ום הַשַּׁבָּ֗ת, “On the day of the Sabbath, on the day of the Sabbath.” This repetition serves to underscore sacred time and its cyclical holiness. The Septuagint, however, smooths this poetic doubling into a singular but pluralized expression: τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων, “on the day of the Sabbaths.” This interpretive rendering offers a lens into how the LXX translated liturgical repetition and covenantal permanence for a Hellenistic audience.
Core Shift: Emphatic Repetition to Collective Liturgical Time
The Hebrew doubling emphasizes a specific moment, perhaps tied to cultic performance and ritual timing. The Greek instead presents the Sabbath as a category — a regular sacred institution — using a genitive plural construction that does not fully preserve the poetic force but captures the theological regularity.
Hebrew-Greek Morphological Comparison
| Hebrew Word | Greek Translation | Grammatical Notes | Translation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| בְּיֹום הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת בְּיֹ֣ום הַשַּׁבָּ֗ת | τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων | Hebrew repetition with definite article → Greek dative with plural genitive | Semantic compression of repetition |
| יַֽעַרְכֶ֛נּוּ | προθήσεται | Hiphil imperfect 3ms + suffix → Greek future middle indicative 3sg | Functional verb equivalence |
| לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה | ἔναντι Κυρίου | Prepositional phrase → prepositional Greek with genitive noun | Literal prepositional match |
| תָּמִ֑יד | διὰ παντός | Adverb (“continually”) → preposition + genitive (“through all time”) | Idiomatic rendering |
| מֵאֵ֥ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | ἐνώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ | Source phrase (“from”) → presence phrase (“before”) | Theological reframing of agency |
| בְּרִ֥ית עֹולָֽם | διαθήκην αἰώνιον | Construct noun + adjective → noun + attributive adjective | Direct equivalence |
Notable Theological and Syntactic Shifts
- Time and Emphasis: The Hebrew employs poetic doubling for liturgical gravity. The Greek omits the second phrase, rendering instead a timeless liturgical category via plural genitive (τῶν σαββάτων).
- Agency: Hebrew מֵאֵת (“from”) implies Israel brings or contributes to this offering. Greek ἐνώπιον (“before”) shifts focus toward divine observance — the act is seen by YHWH and Israel.
- Lexical Precision: The Greek προθήσεται (from προτίθημι) implies a deliberate placing-before, maintaining the sacred ritual’s intentionality parallel to יַֽעַרְכֶ֛נּוּ (from ערך).
- Covenant Language: Both Hebrew בְּרִ֥ית and Greek διαθήκη carry theological weight. The adjective עֹולָֽם becomes αἰώνιος, both connoting eternal duration, but with Greek emphasizing cosmic-temporal scale.
Echoes of the Text
This verse marks a liturgical heartbeat in the Torah’s priestly code — a rhythm of bread, day, and covenant. The Septuagint translator reverently reorients repetition into liturgical universality, compressing poetic redundancy into institutional language. In the process, Israel’s eternal obligation is cast not only as a human offering but as a perpetual display before the Lord. The LXX thus speaks to temple and time alike, preserving Hebrew holiness through Hellenistic clarity.
