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Is the Septuagint Accurate?

The Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint is not the inspired, infallible, inerrant, preserved word of God. It has errors and is inaccurate. It should not be used as a source.


Hebrew Cannot Be Preserved in Greek

We do have God's preserved word today. The Bible tells us that God would preserve his word. If you can't trust that, what can you trust? God's word is inerrant and preserved. If it's not, then there is no reason or hope to study it. Psalms 12:6-7 says, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." Psalms 119:89 says, "LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. " Isaiah 40:8 tells us, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." Matthew 5:18 says, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." If we do not have the preserved word of God today, then Jesus was wrong. Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." If Jesus was wrong about what he said, then the word cannot be trusted. 1 Peter 1:23 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Deuteronomy 8:3 we are told that man shall live by "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." How can we live by every word if we don't have the preserved word of God? The Hebrew of the Old Testament cannot be preserved in another language. Psalm 119, for example, has twenty two sections of eight verses that begin with a word that starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first begins with Aleph, the next Beth, the third uses Gimel, then Daleth, and so on. No other language shows this relationship and the information is not seen in a translation. Another issue to note is that the meaning of words used in prophecy can have multiple meanings. The meaning will not necessarily be known until the prophecy is fulfilled. When the words are translated into another language, the translators may use words that do not contain all the Hebrew meanings and may add some not in the original words. God's word in Hebrew cannot be perfectly translated into Greek.


Ethiopia Is Not Cush

Genesis 2:10-14 describes four rivers at the Garden of Eden; the Hiddekel which is the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Pison and the Gihon. The Gihon went around the land of Cush. The KJV incorrectly translates this as Ethiopia but the Hebrew actually says Cush. The two are not the same. The Septuagint in Genesis 2:13 says, "And the name of the second river is Geon, this it is which encircles the whole land of Ethiopia." The Greek says Aethiopia. The land cannot be Ethiopia. If it were Ethiopia then that would mean when Moses wrote this down, the river would have to flow around Ethiopia, cross the Great Rift Valley, cross over the Blue Nile, flow northward along the Nile without joining it, cross the Sinai Peninsula, cross the Arabian Peninsula and meet up with the Euphrates in Iraq at the north end of the Persian Gulf. It would have to go uphill and downhill. It would have to cross other bodies of water. It would have to flow farther than the Nile which is more than 4,000 miles long. Such a theory is not well thought out. It is just plain and simply wrong. So is the Septuagint when it uses Aethiopia instead of Cush. See, "Where Is the Land of Cush". The failure to translate Cush accurately is a failure of significant consequence as it confuses readers as to the identity of America's attackers found in Isaiah. See, Isaiah 18 and The Future of America.


Methuselah Did Not Survive the Flood

Genesis 5:26-31 records, "And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died." According to the Bible Methuselah lived 782 years after Lamech was born and 600 years after Noah was born. Genesis 7:6 lets us know Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came. Methuselah was not on the ark. He died within a year of the flood. What does the Septuagint say? "And Mathusala lived an hundred and sixty and seven years, and begot Lamech. And Mathusala lived after his begetting Lamech eight hundred and two years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Mathusala which he lived, were nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred and eighty and eight years, and begot a son. And he called his name Noe, saying, This one will cause us to cease from our works, and from the toils of our hands, and from the earth, which the Lord God has cursed. And Lamech lived after his begetting Noe, five hundred and sixty and five years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and fifty-three years, and he died." The Septuagint has Methuselah living 802 years after Lamech was born and Lamech having a son Noah at 188. That means that that Methuselah lived 614 years after Noah was born. The flood came in the 600th year of Noah's life. Eight people survived. Methuselah if he was alive, was not one of them. He died shortly before or during the flood. The numbers in the Septuagint have Methuselah living 14 yeas after the flood. The Septuagint has a different length of years in Genesis chapter five for the time between the father and son for Adam to Seth, Seth to Enos, Enos to Cainan, Cainan to Mahalalel, Mahalalel to Jared, Enoch to Methuselah, Methuselah to Lamech and Lamech to Noah. The time each one of these patriarchs lived after their son was born is also different between the Septuagint and the Bible. The Septuagint is wrong about Methuselah's length of life after Lamech. It disagrees with itself. Therefore, we know it is wrong about the rest of the years. The Hebrew is correct. The Greek is wrong.


Judith Has Nebuchadnezzar as King of Nineveh

If the Septuagint were correct the Book of Judith would not have been translated with it. Judith 1:7 refers to "Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive the great city," Nabuchodonosor is thought to be another name for Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabopolassar who was king of Babylon and destroyed Nineveh. Judith 4:1-2 says, "Now the children of Israel, that dwelt in Judea, heard all that Holofernes the chief captain of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians had done to the nations, and after what manner he had spoiled all their temples, and brought them to nought. Therefore they were exceedingly afraid of him, and were troubled for Jerusalem, and for the temple of the Lord their God:" This refers to the time when Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon shortly before the first temple was destroyed. This lets us know the Nabuchodonosor of Judith is the Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Judith is wrong because Nebuchadnezzar was not king of Assyria. Judith is wrong because he did not rule from the Nineveh which had been destroyed but instead Babylon.


Bel and the Dragon Claims Daniel Was in the Lions Den Seven Days

Bel and the Dragon is found in the extended book of Daniel in chapter 14. Verses 30-42 of this book claims, "So they came to the king, and said, Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thine house. Now when the king saw that they pressed him sore, being constrained, he delivered Daniel unto them: Who cast him into the lions' den: where he was six days. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given them every day two carcases, and two sheep: which then were not given to them, to the intent they might devour Daniel. Now there was in Jewry a prophet, called Habbacuc, who had made pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field, for to bring it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said unto Habbacuc, Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den. And Habbacuc said, Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is. Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his head, and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den. And Habbacuc cried, saying, O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God hath sent thee. And Daniel said, Thou hast remembered me, O God: neither hast thou forsaken them that seek thee and love thee. So Daniel arose, and did eat: and the angel of the Lord set Habbacuc in his own place again immediately. Upon the seventh day the king went to bewail Daniel: and when he came to the den, he looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting. Then cried the king with a loud voice, saying, Great art Lord God of Daniel, and there is none other beside thee. And he drew him out, and cast those that were the cause of his destruction into the den: and they were devoured in a moment before his face." What does the Bible say in Daniel 6:16-23? "Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." Daniel was in only one night. Bel and The Dragon incorrectly has him being released on the seventh day. The Bible says the den was sealed. Bel and Dragon wrongfully has Habbacuc feeding Daniel. The Septuagint is wrong and should have never included this.


Alms Do not Wash Away Sin

Tobit 12:9 says, "For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life:" See the English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible. On the other hand Ephesians 2:8 makes it clear, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Romans 4:3 explains that "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Abraham was justified by faith and not by works. Works did not save people before Jesus died on the cross for our sins and they do not save you now.


Prayers for the Dead and Money Will Not Bring Forgiveness

Maccabees 12:39-45 says,
39And the day following Judas came with his company, to take away the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen, in the sepulchres of their fathers.
40And they found under the coats of the slain some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews: so that all plainly saw, that for this cause they were slain.
41Then they all blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had discovered the things that were hidden.
42And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.
43And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,
44(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)
45And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.
46It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.



Once You Know the Septuagint is Not the Word of God You Will Understand the Differences are Errors in the Septuagint

# Reference What the Septuagint Says What the Bible Says
1 Genesis 2:13 Ethiopia Cush
2 Genesis 2:15 delight Eden
3 Genesis 3:8 afternoon cool of the day
4 Genesis 4:26 he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God then men began to call upon the name of Lord
5 Genesis 5:3 Adam was 230 years old when Seth was born The Bible says 130 years.
6 Genesis 5:4 700 years 800 years
7 Genesis 5:6 205 years 105 years
8 Genesis 5:7 707 years 807 years
9 Genesis 5:9 190 years 90 years
10 Genesis 5:10 715 years 815 years
11 Genesis 5:12 170 years 70 years
12 Genesis 5:13 740 years 840 years
13 Genesis 5:15 165 years 65 years
14 Genesis 5:16 730 years 830 years
15 Genesis 5:21 165 years 65 years
16 Genesis 5:22 200 years 300 years
17 Genesis 5:25 167 years 187 years
18 Genesis 5:26 802 years 782 years
19 Genesis 5:28 188 years 182 years
20 Genesis 5:30 565 years 595 years
21 Genesis 5:31 753 years 777 years
22 Genesis 6:7-8 cattle beasts
23 Genesis 6:14-15 square wood gopher wood
24 Genesis 7:11 the flood came in the twenty seventh day of the second month of Noah's life the flood came in the seventeenth day of the second month of Noah's life
25 Genesis 8:3 twenty seventh day seventeenth day
26 Genesis 10:2 adds a son named Elisa to of Japeth's children
27 Genesis 10:10 Babylon Babel
28 Genesis 10:22 adds a son named Cainan to Shem's children
29 Genesis 10:24 adds a son between Arphaxad and Selah named Cainan
30 Genesis 10:32 Gentiles nations
31 Genesis 11:12 135 years 35 years
32 Genesis 11:12 Arphaxad had a son named Cainan Arphaxad had a son named Selah
33 Genesis 11:13 400 years 403 years
34 Genesis 11:13 Adds 130 years to the chronology with Cainan having a son named Seth instead of Arphaxad being the father of Selah
35 Genesis 11:14 130 years 30 years
36 Genesis 11:15 330 years 403 years
37 Genesis 11:16 134 years 34 years
38 Genesis 11:17 270 years 430 years
39 Genesis 11:18 130 years 30 years
40 Genesis 11:20 232 years 32 years
41 Genesis 11:22 130 years 30 years
42 Genesis 11:24 179 years 29 years
43 Genesis 11:25 125 years 119 years
44 Genesis 12:20 Lot was with Abraham in Egypt The Bible does not say that
45 Genesis 13:12 Lot pitched his tent in Sodom Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom
46 Genesis 14:5 Omits the Zuzim in Ham Includes Zuzim in Ham
47 Genesis 14:6 Adds a reference to the turpentine tree
48 Genesis 14:7 They cut in pieces all the princes of Amalec They smote all the country of the Amalekites
49 Genesis 14:11 cavalry goods
50 Genesis 14:14 nephew brother
51 Genesis 14:16 cavalry goods
52 Genesis 14:16 nephew brother
53 Genesis 15:2 Adds that Eliezer was the son of Masek Abraham's home-born female slave
54 Genesis 15:11 Abraham sat down by them (sacrifices or the birds) Abraham drove away the birds
55 Genesis 15:21 Adds the Evites
56 Genesis 17:14 Adds on the eighth day
57 Genesis 17:20 Ishmael would have 12 nations Ishmael would have 12 princes
58 Genesis 20:14 Adds a thousand pieces of silver
59 Genesis 21:22 Adds Ochozath his friend
60 Genesis 21:32 Adds Ochozath his friend
61 Genesis 22:2 high land the land of Moriah
62 Genesis 22:13 a plant of Sabec a thicket
63 Genesis 22:21 Syrians Aram
64 Genesis 23:15 didrachms shekels
65 Genesis 23:16 didrachms shekels
66 Genesis 23:17 double cave Machpelah [Machpelah means double or portion but is cannot be shown whether this applies to the field, the cave or something else.]
67 Genesis 23:19 double cave cave of the field of Machpelah
68 Genesis 24:21 drachm half a shekel weight
69 Genesis 24:55 And her brethren and her mother said, Let the virgin remain with us about ten days, and after that she shall depart. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. Brethren is plural. Brother is singular. About ten days is different than at least ten days.
70 Genesis 25:9 double cave cave of Machpelah
71 Genesis 26:14 many tilled lands great store of servants
72 Genesis 27:43 Adds into Mesopotamia
73 Genesis 28:2 Mesopotamia Padanaram
74 Genesis 28:5 Mesopotamia Padanaram
75 Genesis 28:19 Ulam-luz Luz
76 Genesis 29:1 went to the land of the east to Laban, the son of Bathuel the Syrian, and the brother of Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau came into the land of the people of the east
77 Genesis 30:14 barley-harvest wheat harvest
78 Genesis 30:14 apples of mandrakes mandrakes
79 Genesis 30:35 grey brown
80 Genesis 30:37 storax tree and walnut and plane-tree green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree
81 Genesis 30:39 Adds ash-colored
82 Genesis 30:40 speckled and variegated ringstraked and brown
83 Genesis 31:8 white ringstraked
84 Genesis 31:10 speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots ringstraked, speckled, and grisled
85 Genesis 31:12 speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots ringstraked, speckled, and grisled
86 Genesis 31:18 Mesopotamia Padanaram
87 Genesis 31:41 thou didst falsely rate my wages for ten lambs thou hast changed my wages ten times
88 Genesis 31:42 yesterday yesternight
89 Genesis 33:18 Mesopotamia of Syria Padanaram
90 Genesis 33:19 lambs pieces of money
91 Genesis 35:4 turpentine tree oak tree
92 Genesis 35:9 Mesopotamia of Syria Padanaram
93 Genesis 35:21 Omits this phrase and brings the first part of verse 22 into verse 21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar
94 Genesis 35:26 Mesopotamia of Syria Padanaram
95 Genesis 36:21 Rison Dishon
96 Genesis 36:23 Golam Alvan
97 Genesis 36:24 Ana who found Jamin in the wilderness Anah that found the mules in the wilderness
98 Genesis 36:28 Rison Dishan
99 Genesis 36:30 Rison Dishan
100 Genesis 36:35 Getthaim Avith
101 Genesis 36:39 Arad the son of Barad Hadar
102 Genesis 36:39 Phogor Pau
103 Genesis 36:40 Gola Alvah
104 Genesis 36:43 Zaphoin Iram
105 Genesis 37:28 gold money (silver)
106 Genesis 38:14 gates of Aenan open place
107 Genesis 38:21 Aenan by the way-side openly by the way side
108 Genesis 39:1 officer of Pharaoh eunuch of Pharaoh
109 Genesis 40:2 eunuchs officers
110 Genesis 43:11 gum and honey, and frankincense, and stacte, and turpentine, and walnuts a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds
111 Genesis 45:10 Gesem of Arabia Goshen
112 Genesis 45:22 gold money (silver)
113 Genesis 45:23 mules female donkeys
114 Genesis 45:23 bread corn and bread
115 Genesis 46:13 Asum Job
116 Genesis 46:15 Mesopotamia of Syria Padanaram
117 Genesis 46:16 Angis Haggi
118 Genesis 46:16 Aedis Eri
119 Genesis 46:17 Jeul Isui
120 Genesis 46:20 adds "And there were sons born to Manasses, which the Syrian concubine bore to him, even Machir And Machir begot Galaad And the sons of Ephraim, the brother of Manasses; Sutalaam, and Taam And the sons of Sutalaam; Edom"
121 Genesis 46:21 deletes "Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard as sons of Benjamin and gives Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim to his sons Belah" and adds "And Gera begot Arad"
122 Genesis 46:22 eighteen fourteen
123 Genesis 46:27 nine two
124 Genesis 46:27 seventy-five seventy
125 Genesis 46:34 Gesem of Arabia Goshen
126 Genesis 47:12 corn bread
127 Genesis 47:13 corn bread
128 Genesis 48:7 Mesopotamia of Syria Padanaram
129 Genesis 48:8 as I drew night to the horse-course of Chabratha of the land [of Chanaan], so as to come to Ephratha when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath
130 Genesis 48:22 And I give to thee Sicima, a select portion above thy brethren Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren
131 Genesis 49:6 in their passion they houghed a bull in their selfwill they digged down a wall
132 Genesis 49:14 Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances Issachar is a strong [donkey] couching down between two burdens
133 Genesis 49:15 husbandman a servant unto tribute
134 Genesis 49:21 Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words
135 Genesis 49:22 Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall
136 Genesis 49:24 he that strengthened Israel from the God of thy father thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel
137 Genesis 49:27 gives food divide the spoil
138 Genesis 49:30 double cave cave that is in the field of Machpelah
139 Genesis 50:13 double cave cave of the field of Machpelah
140 Exodus 1:5 seventy-five seventy
141 Exodus 6:20 132 137
142 Exodus 13:18 and in the fifth generation the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt
143 Exodus 14:21 south wind east wind
144 Exodus 14:25 axle-trees of their chariots were bound the LORD took off the Egyptians' chariot wheels
145 Exodus 15:27 stems of palm trees palm trees
146 Exodus 22:18 sorcerers witch
147 Exodus 30:13 didrachm shekel
148 Exodus 30:13 oboli gerah



The Septuagint Changes Names From the Hebrew

1 Genesis 2:10 Edem Eden
2 Genesis 4:16 Edem Eden
3 Genesis 4:18 Gaidad Irad
4 Genesis 4:22 Thobel Tubalcain
5 Genesis 10:4 Rhodians Dodanim
6 Genesis 10:8 Nebrod Nimrod
7 Genesis 10:12 Dase Resen
8 Genesis 14:5 Ommaeans in the city Save Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim
9 Genesis 23:2 Arboc Kirjatharba
10 Genesis 41:45 Psonthomphanech Zaphnathpaaneah



The Septuagint Is Not God's Word

God said he would preserve his word which cannot be done in Greek. The Septuagint has outright errors in it. It has many others differences in it from the Masoretic text. Once we know the Septuagint is not God's word we will understand the differences are a result of errors in the Greek which are many. By itself there is no way of knowing when it is correct or when it is wrong. It cannot be used as God's word.



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