καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς Ααρων περιέλεσθε τὰ ἐνώτια τὰ χρυσᾶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν τῶν γυναικῶν ὑμῶν καὶ θυγατέρων καὶ ἐνέγκατε πρός με (Exodus 32:2 LXX)
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶם֙ אַהֲרֹ֔ן פָּֽרְקוּ֙ נִזְמֵ֣י הַזָּהָ֔ב אֲשֶׁר֙ בְּאָזְנֵ֣י נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם וּבְנֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהָבִ֖יאוּ אֵלָֽי׃
Commanding in Crisis
When the people clamor for visible leadership, Aharon responds with a precise directive: bring the gold. This verse is not only pivotal in the narrative of the golden calf, but also rich in grammatical structures that the Septuagint translates with notable syntactic clarity. While the Hebrew relies on appositional and prepositional layering, the Greek breaks the instruction into logical, visual components, emphasizing actionable clarity, especially around gender and possession.
Primary Grammatical Focus: Distributive Syntax and Determination
The Hebrew string of prepositional phrases—“in the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters”—flows with rhythmic listing. The Greek reorganizes these relationships, introducing determiners and positional clarity through participial and adjectival embedding. The Septuagint’s use of repeated articles (e.g., τὰ χρυσᾶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν) reflects its attempt to unpack the relational structure between the items and their wearers.
Hebrew-Greek Morphological Comparison
| Hebrew Word | Greek Translation | Grammatical Notes | Translation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמֶר | καὶ λέγει | Wayyiqtol imperfect → Greek present indicative | Historic present substitution |
| אֲלֵהֶם | αὐτοῖς | Preposition + pronominal suffix → dative plural pronoun | Literal pronominal match |
| פָּרְקוּ | περιέλεσθε | Qal imperative 2mp → aorist middle imperative 2pl | Functional imperative match |
| נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב | τὰ ἐνώτια τὰ χρυσᾶ | Noun + construct chain → article + noun + attributive adjective | Expansion with adjectival clarity |
| אֲשֶׁר בְּאָזְנֵי… | τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν… | Relative clause + prepositional phrase → attributive participial structure | Relative → attributive substitution |
| נְשֵׁיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְנֹתֵיכֶם | τῶν γυναικῶν ὑμῶν καὶ θυγατέρων | Three coordinated phrases → two coordinated genitives (sons omitted) | Selective abbreviation |
| וְהָבִיאוּ אֵלַי | καὶ ἐνέγκατε πρός με | Hiphil imperative 2mp → aorist imperative | Direct verbal match |
Interpretive and Syntactic Observations
- Present vs. Past: The Greek uses the historic present (λέγει) instead of the Hebrew wayyiqtol, giving a vivid immediacy to Aharon’s command.
- Adjectival Disambiguation: Greek inserts τὰ χρυσᾶ (“the golden”) for clarification. The Hebrew simply has נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב, a construct phrase, while the LXX breaks it into article-adjective-noun.
- Selective Omission: The Greek omits “your sons” (בְּנֵיכֶם), possibly for simplification or because it perceived the phrase as repetitive. This alters the inclusive tone of the original Hebrew command.
- Relative Clause vs. Prepositional Modifier: Hebrew uses a relative clause אֲשֶׁר בְּאָזְנֵי… (“which are in the ears of…”), while the Greek uses an attributive structure τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν (“those in the ears of…”), tightening the syntax.
Reflections at the Threshold
This pivotal command from Aharon reveals how the Septuagint prioritizes clarity, precision, and hierarchy in moments of narrative tension. The Greek translators restructure the rhythm of the Hebrew for a Hellenistic audience, favoring concise categories over poetic accumulation. And yet, even in minor omissions—like the absence of “sons”—we see theological and communal shifts emerge. Translation is never merely lexical; it is relational, tonal, and at times, silently interpretive.
