The Proclamation In Greek
Exodus 34:6-7
We have now seen The Proclamation (Exodus 34:6-7) with structured numeric features in Hebrew, Chinese, and English following the description in Revelation 1:8. There remains the Septuagint's version in Greek.
A quick glance at the Greek shows it is not an accurate reflection of the Hebrew. Two vital elements of God’s character are missing: slow to anger
and love
.
και παρήλθε κύριος προ προσώπου αυτού και εκάλεσε κύριος And went-by LORD before face his and called[out] LORD, κύριος ο θεός οικτίρμων και ελεήμων μακρόθυμος και LORD the God, pitying and merciful, lenient and πολυέλεος και αληθινός και δικαιοσύνην διατηρών και ποιών full of mercy and true, and righteousness observing and doing έλεος εις χιλιάδας αφαιρών ανομίας και αδικίας mercy for thousands, removing lawlessnesses, and iniquities, και αμαρτίας και τον ένοχον ου καθαριεί επάγων and sins; and the[ones] liable he will not cleanse; bringing ανομίας πατέρων επί τέκνα και επί τέκνα lawlessnesses of fathers upon children, and upon children τέκνων επί τρίτην και τετάρτην γενεάν of children, unto third and fourth generation.1
Like the Chinese Bibles and the English versions, the Septuagint could have been better.
This will not be an experiment like the previous pages using Chinese and English.2 What was learned from those experiments will be used here.
When the early Christians wrote the word κύριος (Lord), almost half the time they used the definite article before it. As can be seen in Exodus 34:6-7 above, the Septuagint does not. In the Septuagint the definite article appears with κύριος only about a quarter of the time. Even with the word θεὸς (God), the definite article appears less than half the time. This is one of the main differences between the Septuagint, and the New Testament. Christian writers used the definite article extensively.
The Hebrews have a name for God: יהוה. The Chinese have their own too: 上帝. English and Greek do not have a specific dedicated term for the one supreme God. Something has to be done to set the words apart from regular usage. Adding the definite article to the two occurrences of κύριος distinguishes it from any other lord
just as changing lord to the lord in English sets it apart.
The second choice for change is in the eighth word εκάλεσε (called out). The numerics for the Hebrew text began with ויקרא and he proclaimed
not with the beginning of the verse. The numerics for the Chinese also began the same way. However, in beginning the Chinese with 宣告說 proclaim/and speak
the part and he
disappears. (However if read in context the meaning is retained from the beginning of the verse.) The numeric section turns it into a much wider statement and also a command for people to glorify God. The spectacular English numerics also begin simply with proclaim.
But is this reason enough to change εκάλεσε (he called out) to something else? Or do we leave it? The Greek is not set in stone like the original Hebrew. There is more than one version of the Septuagint. Henry Barclay Swete's version has quite a number of different spellings, and rather than two κύριος κύριος in the proclamation, there is only one.
καὶ παρῆλθεν Κύριος πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς οἰκτείρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ ἀληθινός, καὶ δικαιοσύνην διατηρῶν καὶ ἔλεος εἰς χιλιάδας, ἀφαιρῶν ἀνομίας καὶ ἀδικίας καὶ ἁμαρτίας, καὶ οὐ καθαριεῖ τὸν ἔνοχον, ἐπάγων ἀνομίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα καὶ ἐπὶ τέκνα τέκνων ἐπὶ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεάν.3
What should it be changed to? Matthew 10:27 tells us, What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops.
The Greek word for proclaim in Matthew 10:27 is κηρυξατε. It is in the imperative form, and is the second person plural: You proclaim.
These changes are all that are necessary to turn the Septuagint's version of Exodus 34:6-7 from a passage without numeric features into a passage with a few features. The amended verses are given below with the three changes highlighted.
και παρήλθε κύριος προ προσώπου αυτού και κηρυξατε ο κύριος ο κύριος ο θεός οικτίρμων και ελεήμων μακρόθυμος και πολυέλεος και αληθινός και δικαιοσύνην διατηρών και ποιών έλεος εις χιλιάδας αφαιρών ανομίας και αδικίας και αμαρτίας και τον ένοχον ου καθαριεί επάγων ανομίας πατέρων επί τέκνα και επί τέκνα τέκνων επί τρίτην και τετάρτην γενεάν
Numeric total: 17416 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 7 x 311. First and last letter of each word: 4802 = 2 x 7 x 7 x 7 x 7.
Following the Chinese and English experiments, the passage could have dropped the first seven words, and begun with the command κηρυξατε (you proclaim).
κηρυξατε ο κύριος ο κύριος ο θεός οικτίρμων και ελεήμων μακρόθυμος και πολυέλεος και αληθινός και δικαιοσύνην διατηρών και ποιών έλεος εις χιλιάδας αφαιρών ανομίας και αδικίας και αμαρτίας και τον ένοχον ου καθαριεί επάγων ανομίας πατέρων επί τέκνα και επί τέκνα τέκνων επί τρίτην και τετάρτην γενεάν
Numeric total: 14735 = 5 x 7 x 421.
Positions of the first letter of each word: 6027 = 3 x 7 x 7 x 41.
Positions of the first and last letter of each word:
12259 = 13 x 23 x 41. SF: 77 = 7 x 11.
Even Swete's version works with these changes. Drop the first six words, and add the definite article to κύριος.
καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ κύριος ὁ θεὸς οἰκτείρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ ἀληθινός, καὶ δικαιοσύνην διατηρῶν καὶ ἔλεος εἰς χιλιάδας, ἀφαιρῶν ἀνομίας καὶ ἀδικίας καὶ ἁμαρτίας, καὶ οὐ καθαριεῖ τὸν ἔνοχον, ἐπάγων ἀνομίας πατέρων ἐπὶ τέκνα καὶ ἐπὶ τέκνα τέκνων ἐπὶ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεάν
Total: 13195 = 5 x 7 x 13 x 29. First letter of each word: 1610 = 2 x 5 x 7 x 23. Positions of the last letter of each word: 5831 = 73 x 17. First and last letters of odd positioned words: 1176 = 23 x 3 x 72. Odd positioned segments of 7 letters: 5122 = 2 x 13 x 197. Even positioned segments of 7 letters: 8073 = 33 x 13 x 23. Odd valued letters: 507 = 3 x 132. Even valued letters: 12688 = 24 x 13 x 61.
Conclusion
The results pale in comparison with the Hebrew, and are nowhere near results from the Chinese and English experiments. But that is because even with these changes, the Greek translation still does not follow the Hebrew. Slow to anger
and love
are absent.
Now we have one passage from the Bible about God in four languages all having numeric features following the description given in Revelation 1:8. Two of the languages (Chinese and English) could produce numeric features for The Proclamation with the help of a computer. Was it chance that determined how numbers would be attached to Chinese characters? Was it coincidence that the English word and letters worked so well that they mirrored each other? Two of the languages (Hebrew and Greek) had numeric features all on their own. Unless we want to say they had computers back then, we can only conclude God inspired those languages to produce features for His words in Exodus 34:6-7.
The four languages form a unique parallel with the four Gospels and the four living creatures around God’s throne (Revelation 4:7).
The first living creature is the lion. Its regal nature links it to Jesus' kingship in the Gospel of Matthew. As lions and kings are rare, the Hebrew language is the language of Jewish people and not often used by others.
The second living creature is the ox. As the ox is more common than the lion, so the Greek language spread further than Hebrew. The Gospel of Mark is the gospel of Jesus as a common man.
The third living creature has the face of a man. This ties in with Jesus as the healer of humanity. The English language spread further than the Greek and is a truly international world spanning language.
The fourth living creature is the eagle, the only one capable of flight and therefore different from all the others. The power of flight links it to John's Gospel, the most spiritual of the gospels. The Chinese language is different from the other three because it has no alphabet.
Four languages testify to God’s wonderful character on earth through history, as four Gospels confirm His son, and just as four living creatures in heaven around His throne witness everything He says or does.
Let knowledge of God’s wonderful character sink in as you read the Bible.
There is a better version of The Proclamation from the Modern Greek Bible.
Notes
- The Old Testament by The Apostolic Bible Polyglot (Greek-English interlinear pdf downloaded July 29, 2013.)
- Biblical Greek is different from Chinese and English. It is a language I do not know. As a result, short of learning Greek, there is no way of setting up an experiment like the one for Chinese and English. As it is, the grammar for the finished result might not be correct.
- The Old Testament In Greek According To The Septuagint, edited By Henry Barclay Swete D.D., Cambridge University Press, Fourth Edition, 1912 - Reprinted 1930 (accessed through biblehub.com January 4, 2020)