On the Greek text. The Greek follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint (Rahlfs-Hanhart in its main wording, itself an ancient, public-domain text); the distinctively copyrighted critical apparatus is not reproduced. Versification follows the LXX.

The Book of Exodus (LXX) — Interlinear: Themes, Outlines & Translation Notes

A consolidated companion to the Exodus data set: every chapter of LXX Exodus (1-40) rendered as a six-tier Greek reverse-interlinear (Greek · gloss · parsing/case · syntax · semantic force · lexical note), with per-verse discourse analysis and a chapter argument-outline.

This document gathers the theme, the argument outline (the outline movements authored into each data file), and the translation / textual / exegetical notes (the text_note of each file, reproduced verbatim) — followed by a summary of the major translation and interpretive cruxes that were deliberately annotated rather than silently resolved. Exodus, the second volume of the Greek Bible, carries Israel from bondage to the built sanctuary — the oppression and the call of Moses, the plagues and the Passover, the sea and the song, Sinai and the covenant, and the long tabernacle account whose Greek construction-narrative (chs. 35–40) is shorter than and reordered from the Hebrew; its LXX form gave the church foundational vocabulary (πάσχα, διαθήκη, ἱλαστήριον, δόξα κυρίου, ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν) and the wording behind scores of New Testament citations, from Stephen's speech to Paul's reading of the hardened heart. The Greek follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint (Rahlfs–Hanhart in its main wording, itself an ancient public-domain text); the distinctively copyrighted apparatus is not reproduced, and versification follows the LXX.

Scope

Each annotated word carries Greek, a working gloss, color-coded grammatical case, parsing (Tense·Voice·Mood·Person·Number + lemma), a Wallace-style syntactic-function label, an aspectual semantic-force label (verbal forms), and a condensed lexical note. As translation Greek, the annotation additionally flags Hebraisms and the underlying Hebrew idiom where it illuminates the rendering.

The argument of the book

The macro-structure of the whole book — its major movements — under which the chapter-by-chapter detail below unfolds. LXX Exodus is a generally literal translation whose interpretive choices (the 75 souls of 1:5, ὁ ὤν at 3:14, the Decalogue's commandment order, ἱλαστήριον for the mercy seat, and the divergent tabernacle construction account) the annotation flags throughout. (Section divisions are interpretive; the more common analysis is generally followed.)

• I · 1–6 — Bondage and the call of Moses. Israel multiplied and enslaved, the midwives and the ark of bulrushes, the burning bush and the Name (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν), the reluctant prophet and his commission, the first refusal of Pharaoh and the genealogy of the deliverers.
• II · 7–13 — The plagues and the Passover. The signs and the hardening, the nine plagues mounting to the threatened death of the firstborn, the institution of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, the consecration of the firstborn, and the night of the going-out.
• III · 14–18 — The sea and the wilderness. The Red Sea and the Song of Moses and Miriam, the bitter water made sweet, the manna and the quail and the Sabbath, water from the rock, Amalek, and Jethro's counsel of judges.
• IV · 19–24 — Sinai and the covenant. The theophany and the offer of a royal priesthood, the Ten Words, the Book of the Covenant and its case-law, and the covenant ratified in blood with the elders' vision of the God of Israel.
• V · 25–40 — The tabernacle: pattern and construction. The pattern shown on the mountain — ark and mercy seat, table, lampstand, the dwelling, the altar, the priestly vestments, the anointing and the daily offering — then the golden calf and the renewed covenant, and finally the building of it all and the glory that fills the tent.

Chapter-by-chapter

Exodus 1 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Α′

Theme. The titular formula Ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα ('These are the names') opens the book here, giving it its Hebrew name שְׁמוֹת (Shemot); the LXX title ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ('departure') is a thematic rather than translational designation.

Outline.

• A · 1:1–7 — The register of Israel's entry and their prodigious multiplication in Egypt.
• B · 1:8–14 — A new king who did not know Joseph, and the onset of systematic oppression.
• C · 1:15–21 — The midwives' fear of God and their defiance of Pharaoh's edict.
• D · 1:22 — Pharaoh's public river-decree: every Hebrew male cast into the Nile.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 1 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The chapter opens with the titular formula Ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα ('These are the names'), which gives the book its Hebrew name שְׁמוֹת (Shemot); the LXX title ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ('departure') is a thematic rather than translational designation. At 1:5 the LXX numbers the souls who came down to Egypt with Jacob as πέντε καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ('seventy-five'), while the MT reads שִׁבְעִים ('seventy'); the LXX count, which includes Joseph's Egyptian-born grandsons Machir and Gilead (cf. Gen 46:20 LXX), is explicitly cited by Stephen in Acts 7:14 — a landmark textual divergence that the NT preserves on the LXX side against the MT. The enumeration of Israel's growth in 1:7 deploys a cascade of verbs — ηὐξήθησαν καὶ ἐπληθύνθησαν καὶ χυδαῖοι ἐγένοντο καὶ κατίσχυσαν σφόδρα σφόδρα — that deliberately echo the creation blessing of Gen 1:28 (αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε), framing Israel's proliferation as fulfillment of the creation mandate; the doubled adverb σφόδρα σφόδρα is an intensive Hebraism representing Hebrew מְאֹד מְאֹד. The new king of 1:8 who 'did not know Joseph' (ὃς οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν Ιωσηφ) is quoted verbatim in Acts 7:18, tying the Exodus narrative to Luke's Stephen speech. The oppression vocabulary is precise: κατεδυνάστευον (1:13, 'they tyrannized'), ἔργα σκληρά (1:14, 'harsh labors'), κατωδύνων τὴν ζωήν ('they afflicted their lives with pain'). A major LXX plus appears at 1:11: after Πιθωμ and Ραμεσση the LXX adds a third store-city, Ων ἥ ἐστιν Ἡλίου πόλις ('On, which is Heliopolis') — a celebrated expansion with no Hebrew counterpart, likely reflecting a later Egyptian scribal tradition identifying the building projects with known sites. The midwives (1:15) are named Σεπφωρα and Φουα; their fear of God (ἐφοβήθησαν τὸν θεόν, 1:17) is the moral pivot driving their civil disobedience, and God rewards them with 'houses' (ἐποίησεν αὐταῖς οἰκίας, 1:21), understood by the tradition as genealogical households. The chapter closes (1:22) with Pharaoh's public river-decree (εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥίψατε), the darkest escalation before the birth of Moses in chapter 2.

Exodus 2 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Β′

Theme. This chapter narrates the birth, exposure, rescue, and early career of Μωυσῆς (Moses), whose name the LXX explains by a Greek folk-etymology (2:10). Several lexical and translational features call for specific notice.

Outline.

• A · 2:1–10 — Birth, concealment, and rescue of the child Moses.
• B · 2:11–15 — Moses kills the Egyptian and flees to Midian.
• C · 2:16–22 — Moses at the well of Midian: the seven daughters and Zipporah.
• D · 2:23–25 — The groaning heard: God remembers the covenant.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 2 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. This chapter narrates the birth, exposure, rescue, and early career of Μωυσῆς (Moses), whose name the LXX explains by a Greek folk-etymology (2:10). Several lexical and translational features call for specific notice. (1) θῖβις (2:3, 5, 6): the LXX uses this rare Egyptian loanword (θῖβις / θείβη, transliterating Hebrew תֵּבָה tēbāh) for the papyrus basket/ark of the infant Moses, rather than κιβωτός (the standard word for Noah's ark or the covenant-box); the deliberate choice of the Egyptian loanword signals the translator's awareness of the Egyptian setting and implicitly forges a double resonance with the Noah tēbāh (Gen 6–8 LXX: κιβωτός there, but the same Hebrew word) — an intertextual irony the annotation flags. (2) ἀστεῖος (2:2): the infant is described as 'beautiful/fair'; this precise word recurs in Acts 7:20 (ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ, 'beautiful to God') and Heb 11:23 (ἀστεῖον τὸ παιδίον, 'the child was beautiful') — its prominence in the NT Mosaic midrash tradition makes it one of the chapter's most important lexical links, flagged in full below. (3) Μωυσῆς (2:10): Pharaoh's daughter names the child and the LXX provides its own Greek explanation — ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος αὐτὸν ἀνειλόμην ('from the water I drew him up/adopted him'); ἀναιρέω can mean both 'to take up' and 'to adopt,' a nuance exploited in NT Mosaic texts. The Hebrew מֹשֶׁה is from the root מָשָׁה ('to draw out'), so both texts work the same etymological idea, though through different linguistic media. (4) The flight narrative (2:11–15) is the background for Acts 7:23–29 and Heb 11:24–27; key echoes are flagged verse by verse. (5) Σεπφωρα (2:21, LXX: Σεπφωρα, Hebrew צִפֹּרָה Zipporah, 'bird') and Ιοθωρ / Ραγουηλ (2:18; Rahlfs reads Ραγουηλ, the Midianite priest, elsewhere Ιοθωρ; the chapter uses Ραγουηλ) — both are indeclinable transliterations. (6) Γηρσαμ (2:22): Moses names his son Gershom; the LXX preserves the sojourner-etymology — πάροικός εἰμι ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ ('I am a sojourner in a foreign land') — a phrase that enters the New Testament sojourner-theology. (7) ἐμνήσθη … τῆς διαθήκης (2:24): the covenant-remembrance formula, where ἐμιμνήσκομαι + genitive renders זָכַר ('remember'); the covenantal chain (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) is cited explicitly. (8) ἐγνώσθη αὐτοῖς (2:25): the LXX closes the chapter with a passive ('and he was made known to them') where the MT has וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים ('and God knew'); the LXX passive is likely a theological softening of the anthropomorphism, but may also reflect a variant Vorlage or a different parsing of the Hebrew niphal; the divergence is flagged below. The chapter belongs to the 'Old Greek' Exodus translation, which is on the whole more paraphrastic than the kaige sections of the LXX; Rahlfs–Hanhart's main wording is followed throughout.

Exodus 3 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Γ′

Theme. This chapter is the theophany at the heart of the Pentateuch: the angel of the LORD (ἄγγελος κυρίου, v.2) appears in a flame of fire out of the bush (ὁ βάτος), which burns without being consumed — a marvel that draws Moses near and occasions the divine commission.

Outline.

• A · 3:1–6 — The burning bush: Moses at Horeb and the holy ground.
• B · 3:7–10 — The divine soliloquy: God sees, descends, and sends.
• C · 3:11–12 — Moses' first objection and the prospective sign.
• D · 3:13–15 — The Name question and the eternal answer.
• E · 3:16–22 — Instructions for the elders, Pharaoh, and the spoiling of Egypt.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 3 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. This chapter is the theophany at the heart of the Pentateuch: the angel of the LORD (ἄγγελος κυρίου, v.2) appears in a flame of fire out of the bush (ὁ βάτος), which burns without being consumed — a marvel that draws Moses near and occasions the divine commission. The NT cites 'the passage about the Bush' (ἐπὶ τῆς βάτου) as proof of resurrection: Mark 12:26 and Luke 20:37 quote the tripartite patriarchal formula 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (v.6), which Jesus deploys against the Sadducees to establish that God is God of the living. At v.5 the command to remove one's sandal (Λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα) is quoted at Acts 7:33 in Stephen's speech. At v.7 the intensive Hebraism ἰδὼν εἶδον ('seeing I have seen') calques the Hebrew infinitive absolute יָרֹא רָאִיתִי by prefixing an aorist participle to the finite verb; it is quoted at Acts 7:34. The phrase γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι ('a land flowing with milk and honey') makes its first appearance in the Pentateuch at vv.8 and 17. The divine name is proclaimed as 'an eternal name and memorial to generations' (ὄνομα αἰώνιον καὶ μνημόσυνον γενεῶν γενεαῖς) at v.15. Above all, 3:14 is the theological and philosophical crux of the entire chapter: the LXX renders the Hebrew אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה with Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν ('I am the one who is'), deploying the present participial substantive ὁ ὤν to ground the divine self-disclosure in the Greek vocabulary of Being — a rendering that became the fountainhead of 'Being' theology from Philo through the Cappadocian fathers, the source of the ὁ ὤν inscribed in the halo of the Pantocrator in every Byzantine icon, and the exegetical backdrop of John's absolute ἐγώ εἰμι sayings. The compressed mission-title Ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέν με ('The One Who Is has sent me') is simultaneously the divine name and the credential of the envoy.

Exodus 4 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Δ′

Theme. Exodus belongs to the oldest stratum of the LXX translation (the Pentateuch, produced in Alexandria in the third century BC), and the Alexandrian codices (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Sinaiticus) agree broadly for this chapter; the translation technique is relatively idiomatic within the Pentateuchal corpus.

Outline.

• A · 4:1–9 — Three authenticating signs: rod, hand, and water.
• B · 4:10–17 — Moses' protest of inadequacy and the appointment of Aaron.
• C · 4:18–23 — Departure from Midian and the two founding oracles.
• D · 4:24–26 — The bridegroom-of-blood enigma at the inn.
• E · 4:27–31 — Aaron meets Moses, the elders assembled, the people believe and worship.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 4 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus belongs to the oldest stratum of the LXX translation (the Pentateuch, produced in Alexandria in the third century BC), and the Alexandrian codices (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, Sinaiticus) agree broadly for this chapter; the translation technique is relatively idiomatic within the Pentateuchal corpus. Chapter 4 turns on the question of credibility: can Moses be believed? Three escalating sign-credentials answer that question — the rod that becomes a serpent (ὄφις, v.3), the hand that turns leprous-white ὡσεὶ χιών ('as snow', v.6), and Nile water poured on dry land that becomes blood (v.9), anticipating the first plague. The divine name יהוה is rendered κύριος throughout. At v.10 Moses' self-description ἰσχνόφωνος καὶ βραδύγλωσσος ('weak-voiced and slow-tongued') is a distinctly LXX rendering — two rare compound adjectives convey the disability where the Hebrew is less specific. At v.11 God's rhetorical questions ('who made man's mouth? who made the deaf and the mute?') assert divine sovereignty over human capacity. At v.16 τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν ('the things toward God') is a Hebraism of לֵאלֹהִים, defining Moses' mediatorial role as the one who stands before God on Aaron's behalf. At v.21 the Hardening theme opens: ἐγὼ δὲ σκληρυνῶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ — the verb σκληρύνω ('harden') that Paul's argument in Rom 9:17–18 will cite in its dossier of divine sovereignty. At vv.22–23 God declares Ισραηλ υἱὸς πρωτότοκός μου ('Israel is my firstborn son'), the divine sonship-text that stands behind Hos 11:1 and its citation in Matt 2:15. At vv.24–26 the enigmatic bridegroom-of-blood scene is reformulated in the LXX: ἔστη τὸ αἷμα τῆς περιτομῆς τοῦ παιδίου μου ('the blood of my child's circumcision stood'), where the MT's חֲתַן דָּמִים ('bridegroom of blood') idiom is transformed into a statement of cultic efficacy — a significant LXX divergence from the MT. The chapter closes at vv.27–31 with Aaron's kiss at the mountain of God, the assembly of the elders, and the people's belief and prostration — answering the opening doubt of v.1 in an inclusio of faith.

Exodus 5 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Ε′

Theme. The confrontation between Moses and Aaron and the Egyptian court opens here, and the vocabulary of forced labour and bureaucratic coercion is among the most technically dense in the entire Exodus narrative.

Outline.

• A · 5:1–5 — The first demand: 'Send away my people' — and Pharaoh's defiant refusal.
• B · 5:6–9 — The brick-quota edict: straw withheld, output unchanged.
• C · 5:10–14 — The edict enforced: Israelite scribes flogged for the shortfall.
• D · 5:15–19 — The scribes' appeal to Pharaoh — dismissed.
• E · 5:20–23 — The scribes accuse Moses; Moses laments before God.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 5 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The chapter opens the confrontation between Moses and Aaron and the Egyptian court, and its vocabulary of forced labour and bureaucratic coercion is among the most technically dense in the entire Exodus narrative. The demand Ἐξαπόστειλον τὸν λαόν μου (5:1) is the first occurrence of the liberation refrain that will echo through the plague-cycle; ἐξαποστέλλω is a compound of heightened urgency ('send away completely / release'), rendering Hebrew שַׁלַּח. The Pharaoh's response (5:2) is framed by a double rhetorical question — 'Who is the LORD that I should obey his voice? … I do not know the LORD (οὐκ οἶδα τὸν κύριον)' — announcing the knowledge-deficit that the plague-sequence is designed to remedy (cf. ἵνα γνῷτε in the plague-formulas of chapters 7–11). The verb οἶδα is the same root used at 1:8 of the king who 'did not know Joseph': ignorance in Exodus is never merely cognitive but relational-covenantal. The brick-making vocabulary is precise and technical: πλινθεία (5:7, 8, 14, 'brick-making / brick-quota'), ἄχυρον (5:7, 10, 11, 12, 16, 'straw / chaff'), σύνταξις (5:8, 13, 14, 19, 'prescribed daily quota / ration'), and the pair ἐργοδιῶκται / γραμματεῖς (5:6, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19 / 5:6, 14, 15, 19) — 'taskmasters' and 'scribes / foremen' — translate a Hebraism-laden bureaucratic system; the LXX's choice of γραμματεύς (a respectable Greek civic term for a secretary or town-clerk) for the Israelite overseers carries an ironic dignity against the savagery of their treatment. The beating of the Israelite scribes by Egyptian taskmasters (5:14) is rendered with ἐμαστίγωσαν ('they flogged'), the same root used of judicial punishment. At 5:21 the scribes' accusation against Moses and Aaron uses the verb ἐβδελύξατε ('you have made our smell abhorrent / you have caused us to stink before Pharaoh'), the same root as ἐβδελύσσοντο at 1:12, forming a verbal bracket around the oppression material. The chapter closes with Moses' bitter prayer (5:22–23) introduced by the rare deliberative ἵνα τί ('why? / to what end?') and culminating in the charge that God has 'not delivered' (οὐκ ἐρρύσω) his people — the verb ῥύομαι ('rescue / deliver'), a word of covenantal salvation, here thrown back at God in lamentation. The entire chapter functions as a literary nadir before the divine self-disclosure of chapter 6 and the escalating plagues.

Exodus 6 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Ϛ′

Theme. Three theological centers govern the chapter: the name-disclosure (6:2–3), the seven divine 'I will' promises (6:6–8), and the Levitical genealogy (6:14–25) that roots Moses and Aaron in tribal memory before the narrative resumes.

Outline.

• A · 6:1–9 — Divine self-disclosure and the seven covenant promises.
• B · 6:10–13 — The renewed commission and Moses' second speech-objection.
• C · 6:14–25 — The Levitical genealogy: from Jacob's sons to Phinehas.
• D · 6:26–30 — Resumption and closing speech-objection: the chapter's inclusio.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 6 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The chapter turns on three theological centers: the name-disclosure (6:2–3), the seven divine 'I will' promises (6:6–8), and the Levitical genealogy (6:14–25) that roots Moses and Aaron in tribal memory before the narrative resumes. At 6:3 the LXX reads θεὸς ὢν αὐτῶν ('being their God') where the Hebrew has בְּאֵל שַׁדַּי ('as El Shaddai'), eliminating the patriarchal divine title entirely and replacing it with a participial phrase; the LXX thereby reframes the name-crux: the contrast is not between two divine names (El Shaddai and YHWH) but between covenant relationship ('being their God') and the name's full revelatory disclosure — the verb δηλόω ('make plain/manifest') rather than the MT's niphal of ידע ('be known'). The seven 'I will' promises of 6:6–8 — ἐξάξω, ῥύσομαι, λυτρώσομαι, λήμψομαι, ἔσομαι, εἰσάξω, δώσω — are the theological core of the chapter; λυτρώσομαι (6:6, 'I will redeem') carries the full weight of the Exodus-redemption vocabulary that enters NT soteriology through λυτρόω / λύτρωσις / λυτρωτής (Luke 1:68; 24:21; Acts 7:35; 1 Pet 1:18–19). The covenant-election formula λήμψομαι ὑμᾶς ἐμαυτῷ λαόν ('I will take you to myself as a people,' 6:7) is the classical expression of covenant-election, echoed at 2 Cor 6:16 and Rev 21:3. The people's failure to hear in 6:9 is ascribed to ὀλιγοψυχία ('faintheartedness / shortness of soul'), the LXX rendering of Hebrew קֹצֶר רוּחַ ('shortness of spirit'); the word externalizes the failure as a spiritual-psychological condition. Moses' speech-objection appears twice with different Greek vocabulary: at 6:12 ἄλογός εἰμι ('I am inarticulate / without logos') and at 6:30 ἰσχνόφωνός εἰμι ('I am weak-voiced / thin of voice') — two distinct Greek renderings of the same Hebrew עֲרַל שְׂפָתַיִם ('uncircumcised of lips'), a notable doublet within a single chapter. The genealogy names Jochebed (Ιωχαβεδ, 6:20) for the first time in Exodus as Amram's father's brother's daughter (a kinship detail clarified at Num 26:59); the line reaches Phinehas (Φινεες, 6:25), Aaron's grandson, the future zealot-priest of covenant fidelity (Num 25:7–13).

Exodus 7 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Ζ′

Theme. A critical versification note is essential: the LXX chapter contains twenty-nine verses, whereas standard English Bibles end chapter 7 at v.

Outline.

• A · 7:1–7 — Commission and credentials: Moses as God to Pharaoh.
• B · 7:8–13 — The rod-sign: Aaron's staff becomes a δράκων.
• C · 7:14–25 — The Nile to blood: the first plague.
• D · 7:26–29 — Announcement of the second plague: the frogs.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 7 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. A critical versification note is essential: the LXX chapter contains twenty-nine verses, whereas standard English Bibles end chapter 7 at v. 25 and number LXX 7:26–29 as English 8:1–4; the present data set follows LXX versification throughout. The chapter opens with a formal divine commissioning speech in which Moses is designated θεὸν Φαραω — 'a god to Pharaoh' (7:1) — a startling elevation that does not divinize Moses but frames him as the authoritative divine representative before a king who himself claimed divinity; Aaron is correspondingly titled προφήτης, 'prophet,' casting the entire Exodus confrontation in the register of the prophetic commission. When Pharaoh demands a sign, the LXX consistently uses δράκων ('dragon, sea-monster') rather than ὄφις ('snake') for the creature the rod becomes (7:9, 10, 12) — a lexical choice that invests the sign with cosmic-combat resonance and anticipates the δράκων of Revelation 12. The magicians who replicate the signs are identified as ἐπαοιδοί ('enchanters') and their method as φαρμακεία ('sorcery'); this tradition supplies the background for 2 Timothy 3:8's citation of Jannes and Jambres. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is expressed in both active (σκληρύνω, 7:3) and passive (ἐσκληρύνθη, 7:22) forms, a theological refrain threaded through the chapter. The first plague — the Nile turned to blood (αἷμα, 7:17–21) — kills the fish, fills the river with stench, and leaves Egypt without drinkable water; the magicians replicate even this. The LXX chapter closes (7:26–29 = English 8:1–4) with the divine announcement of the frog plague, suspended on the final phrase ἀναβήσονται οἱ βάτραχοι.

Exodus 8 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Η′

Theme. Versification: the four frog-plague verses English assigns to 8:1–4 are numbered 7:26–29 in the LXX and have been authored separately; LXX 8:1 = English 8:5, and the offset of four is constant throughout — LXX 8:28 = English 8:32.

Outline.

• A · 8:1–3 — Aaron's rod brings up the frogs; the magicians replicate the sign.
• B · 8:4–11 — Pharaoh's first bargain: prayer for frog-removal; relief granted; heart hardened.
• C · 8:12–15 — The third plague: gnats (σκνῖπες) and the magicians' capitulation.
• D · 8:16–20 — The fourth plague: dog-fly (κυνόμυια) announced, Goshen exempted, executed.
• E · 8:21–28 — Pharaoh's second bargain: compromise refused; κυνόμυια removed; heart weighted again.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 8 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Versification: the four frog-plague verses English assigns to 8:1–4 are numbered 7:26–29 in the LXX and have been authored separately; LXX 8:1 = English 8:5, and the offset of four is constant throughout — LXX 8:28 = English 8:32. The chapter covers three plague units: completion of the frog plague (vv.1–11), the gnat plague σκνῖπες (vv.12–15), and the dog-fly plague κυνόμυια (vv.16–28), together with two Pharaoh-bargaining scenes. At 8:5 τάξαι πρός με renders the unusual Hebrew הִתְפָּאֵר עָלַי ('take the glory over me / appoint for me a time'); the nuance is debated and some witnesses read δόξασαι. The theological apex of the chapter is at 8:15 LXX: the Egyptian magicians, having failed to replicate the gnats, confess δάκτυλος θεοῦ ἐστιν τοῦτο ('this is the finger of God'). This phrase is taken up verbatim at Luke 11:20, where Jesus interprets his exorcisms by the finger of God; Matthew's parallel (12:28) substitutes πνεύματι θεοῦ, making the Exodus phrase a Christological crux of first importance — what Exodus ascribes to the divine finger defeating Egypt's counter-magic, Luke ascribes to Jesus. At 8:18 παραδοξάσω marks the Goshen exemption: the Lord will 'do something marvellous / distinguish' the land where his people dwell, introducing the theological motif of divine discrimination between peoples. The fourth plague introduces κυνόμυια (8:17–27 LXX), the 'dog-fly' (κύων + μυῖα), the LXX's distinctive rendering of Hebrew עָרֹב; the precise species — gadfly, stable-fly, or biting gnat — is debated in antiquity and modernity. At 8:22 τὰ βδελύγματα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ('the abominations of the Egyptians') alludes to the ritual incompatibility of Israelite animal-sacrifice with Egyptian sacred-animal veneration. The chapter closes at 8:28 with ἐβάρυνεν (βαρύνω, 'weigh down') as the hardening verb, contrasting with the 'stiffening' ἐσκληρύνθη at vv.11 and 15; the field of heaviness reflects Hebrew כָּבֵד.

Exodus 9 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Θ′

Theme. The fifth through seventh of the ten plagues fill the chapter — the pestilence on livestock (vv.1–7), the plague of boils (vv.8–12), and the plague of hail (vv.13–35) — making it the theological and rhetorical climax of the plague cycle before the final three.

Outline.

• A · 9:1–7 — The fifth plague: pestilence on the livestock of Egypt.
• B · 9:8–12 — The sixth plague: boils on man and beast from furnace soot.
• C · 9:13–21 — Commission for the hail: warning, the verse 16 crux, and Egyptian believers.
• D · 9:22–26 — The hail falls: fire within the hail, Egypt devastated, Goshen spared.
• E · 9:27–35 — Pharaoh's confession, Moses' intercession, and renewed hardening.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 9 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Versification follows the LXX throughout; in Exodus 9 the LXX and MT chapter boundaries coincide exactly, running verses 1–35 in both traditions. The chapter contains the fifth through seventh of the ten plagues — the pestilence on livestock (vv.1–7), the plague of boils (vv.8–12), and the plague of hail (vv.13–35) — and is the theological and rhetorical climax of the plague cycle before the final three. The divine-name convention follows the standard LXX practice: יהוה is rendered κύριος throughout. The divine messenger formula εἰσελθὼν δὲ Μωυσῆς καὶ Ααρων … εἶπεν κύριος / λέγει κύριος marks each plague commission. Μωυσῆς is fully declinable; Ααρων and Φαραω are indeclinable proper nouns, as is Γοσομ (Goshen, the region of Israel's settlement). The crown of the chapter is verse 16. The LXX reads: καὶ ἕνεκεν τούτου διετηρήθης, ἵνα ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν ἰσχύν μου, καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ — 'and for this very reason you were PRESERVED, that I might display in you my strength, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' The Hebrew MT at this point reads הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ, hiphil of עמד, 'I caused you to stand / I raised you up / I established you' — a verb of active divine causation applied to Pharaoh, suggesting God set him on the throne or sustained him in it for this purpose. The LXX chose a completely different semantic register: διετηρήθης (aorist passive of διατηρέω, 'preserve, keep safe') — 'you were preserved.' This shifts the nuance from God actively raising Pharaoh up to God preserving him alive through the plagues long enough to demonstrate divine power. Paul at Romans 9:17 quotes this verse, but his form is ἐξήγειρά σε ('I raised you up'), which is far closer to the MT hiphil of עמד and diverges significantly from the LXX διετηρήθης. This creates a notable LXX/MT/NT triangle: the LXX translator went one direction ('preserved'), Paul's citation went another ('raised up' — perhaps from a different Greek recension, from the Hebrew directly, or from a mixed text), and the MT underlies Paul's form more closely than the LXX does. The theological stakes are high: Paul's argument in Rom 9:17 is about God's sovereign freedom in hardening (v.18), and the verb ἐξήγειρά ('raised up for this purpose') is stronger divine initiative language than the LXX's 'preserved.' The Romans 9 intertext thus requires the reader to hold the LXX form and Paul's citation in productive tension — neither is simply 'wrong,' but they represent different Greek textual traditions of the same Hebrew Vorlage. A second major image is the hail pericope (vv.13–35). The LXX of 9:24 describes ἡ χάλαζα καὶ τὸ πῦρ φλογίζον ἐν τῇ χαλάζῃ — 'the hail and the fire blazing within the hail' — a spectacular natural-supernatural image whose precise wording echoes in Revelation 8:7, where the first trumpet brings χάλαζα καὶ πῦρ μεμιγμένα ἐν αἵματι ('hail and fire mixed with blood'). The Revelation author clearly draws on the Exodus plague vocabulary, repurposing it for eschatological judgment. Verses 19–20 contain the remarkable note that those among Pharaoh's servants who feared the word of the LORD (οἱ φοβηθέντες τὸν λόγον κυρίου) brought their servants and livestock inside to shelter from the coming hail — the first mention of Egyptians who believed and acted on the divine word. These are, in effect, the first Egyptian believers named in the Exodus narrative, an exegetical detail the church fathers noted with interest. Pharaoh's first confession at verse 27 — ἡμάρτηκα τὸ νῦν, ὁ κύριος δίκαιος, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ὁ λαός μου ἀσεβεῖς — 'I have sinned this time; the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked' — is the most theologically significant speech Pharaoh makes in the entire plague narrative. The perfect ἡμάρτηκα ('I have sinned / stand guilty') signals acknowledgement; the predicate ὁ κύριος δίκαιος ('the LORD is righteous') is a remarkable doxological formula on a pagan king's lips. Its sincerity is immediately undercut by the hardening notice of vv.34–35. Verses 31–32 contain the agronomic note about the flax (λίνον) and barley (κριθή) being destroyed because they were in ear (ἐπὶ σπερματίσει / ἐν κάλαμι), while the wheat (πυρός) and spelt (ὄλυρα) were not damaged because they were late crops (ὄψιμα ἦν). This agricultural-calendar detail anchors the narrative chronologically and is a characteristic feature of the Exodus plague accounts' realism. The chapter closes (v.35) with the hardening formula: ἐσκληρύνθη ἡ καρδία Φαραω, καὶ οὐκ ἐξαπέστειλεν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, καθὰ ἐλάλησεν κύριος διὰ χειρὸς Μωυσῆ — 'and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send away the sons of Israel, as the LORD had spoken by the hand of Moses.' The phrase διὰ χειρὸς Μωυσῆ ('through the hand of Moses') is a Hebraism of בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה, the standard formula for mediated divine speech.

Exodus 10 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Ι′

Theme. Chapter 10 encompasses two plagues — the locust (ἀκρίς, vv.1–20) and the darkness (σκότος, vv.21–29) — and reaches its narrative climax in Moses' exit oath (v.29).

Outline.

• A · 10:1–6 — The divine commission and the locust threat announced.
• B · 10:7–11 — The servants' appeal and the failed negotiation over who may go.
• C · 10:12–15 — The locust plague: the land devoured.
• D · 10:16–20 — Pharaoh's confession, intercession, and the locusts removed; hardening renewed.
• E · 10:21–23 — The plague of palpable darkness: three days of unseeing.
• F · 10:24–29 — The final negotiation, rupture, and Moses' exit oath.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 10 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Chapter 10 encompasses two plagues — the locust (ἀκρίς, vv.1–20) and the darkness (σκότος, vv.21–29) — and reaches its narrative climax in Moses' exit oath (v.29). The LXX exhibits several significant divergences from the Masoretic Text. At v.13, most conspicuously, the LORD drives the locusts in on ἄνεμον νότον ('a south wind'), whereas the MT reads רוּחַ קָדִים, an 'east wind'; this LXX divergence is ancient and likely reflects either a distinct Vorlage or a harmonization with the climatological expectations of Greek readers familiar with Egypt. At v.2 the catechetical motive is explicit: ὅπως διηγήσησθε εἰς τὰ ὦτα τῶν τέκνων ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν τέκνων τῶν τέκνων ὑμῶν ('that you may recount into the ears of your children and your children's children'), paired with the self-revelation formula γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος; uniquely here that formula is addressed to Israel, giving the plagues an explicitly catechetical-doxological rationale. The verb ἐνέπαιξα at v.2 — 'I made sport of / mocked the Egyptians' — is stronger than the MT's neutral 'what I did,' foregrounding divine irony. The darkness plague (vv.21–23) is rendered with heightened phenomenological intensity: at v.21 the LORD commands ψηλαφητὸν σκότος, 'darkness that can be felt / groped,' a vivid adjective absent from the MT's simple חֹשֶׁךְ; at v.22 the LXX adds θύελλα ('storm/tempest') to create the triad σκότος γνόφος θύελλα. At v.7 Pharaoh's servants use the perfect ἀπόλωλεν — 'Egypt has been destroyed' — presenting devastation as an accomplished fact. The locusts are cast into the ἐρυθρὰν θάλασσαν ('the Red Sea,' v.19), the LXX's standard rendering of יַם סוּף. The chapter closes with an ironic echo: Pharaoh's death-threat in v.28 (ᾗ δ᾿ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ ὀφθῇς μοι, ἀποθανῇ) is met by Moses' calm counter-declaration in v.29 (εἴρηκας· οὐκέτι ὀφθήσομαί σοι εἰς πρόσωπον), 'you have spoken it — I will see your face no more,' in which the passive of ὁράω with σοι and εἰς πρόσωπον calques the Hebrew פָּנִים.

Exodus 11 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΑ′

Theme. Exodus 11 in the LXX is a compact, dramatically charged chapter: a divine soliloquy (vv. 1–3), Moses' firstborn-plague oracle (vv.

Outline.

• A · 11:1–3 — Divine commission: one plague more, and the spoiling command.
• B · 11:4–8 — Moses' plague oracle: the firstborn death and Israel's distinction.
• C · 11:9–10 — Divine confirmation and narrator's closure: hardening and non-release.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 11 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 11 in the LXX is a compact, dramatically charged chapter: a divine soliloquy (vv. 1–3), Moses' firstborn-plague oracle (vv. 4–8), a confirmatory divine word (v. 9), and a narrator's hardening summary (v. 10). The LXX renders the announcement ἔτι μίαν πληγήν (v. 1), a direct rendering of Hebrew עוֹד נֶגַע אֶחָד; the cognate-accusative construction ἐκβαλεῖ ὑμᾶς ἐκβολῇ in the same verse is a Hebraism calquing the emphatic infinitive absolute גָּרֵשׁ יְגָרֵשׁ ('he will surely drive you out'). At v. 2 the instruction to ask (αἰτησάτω) for silver and gold vessels from the Egyptians activates the 'spoiling of Egypt' motif (cf. Gen 15:14; Exod 3:22; 12:35–36). The narrator's parenthetical at v. 3 — καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος Μωυσῆς μέγας ἐγενήθη σφόδρα — is strikingly emphatic: Moses' greatness is acknowledged even by Pharaoh and his servants, functioning as an anticipatory vindication. The firstborn mortality at v. 5 maps the death from the throne to the mill-slave (θεραπαίνης παρὰ τὸν μύλον) and to every beast (κτήνους), signalling total social inversion. The κραυγὴ μεγάλη ('great cry', v. 6) receives narrative fulfilment at 12:30. At v. 7 the striking idiom οὐ γρύξει κύων τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ('not a dog shall growl with its tongue'), rendering לֹא יֶחֱרַץ כֶּלֶב לְשֹׁנוֹ, marks the divine παραδοξάσει ('do wonders of distinction between') Israel and Egypt. Moses' angry exit μετὰ θυμοῦ (v. 8) is explicit in the LXX where Hebrew implies it. The closing hardening formula at v. 10 — ἐσκλήρυνεν δὲ κύριος τὴν καρδίαν Φαραω — employs σκληρύνω, the standard LXX rendering of חִזֵּק / קִשָּׁה, to seal the theological logic of the plague cycle.

Exodus 12 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΒ′

Theme. This is the foundational Passover chapter of the Torah, and its LXX rendering carries several features of enormous theological consequence.

Outline.

• A · 12:1–14 — The Passover instituted: the lamb, the blood-sign, and the night of judgment.
• B · 12:15–20 — The feast of unleavened bread: seven days and the purge of leaven.
• C · 12:21–28 — Moses conveys the rite to the elders; the children's question; Israel obeys.
• D · 12:29–36 — Midnight: the plague of the firstborn; Pharaoh's expulsion; Egypt's plunder.
• E · 12:37–42 — Departure from Rameses to Succoth: the numbers, the mixed multitude, the 430-year night.
• F · 12:43–51 — The Passover statute: eligibility rules, the proselyte, and the mustering out.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 12 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. This is the foundational Passover chapter of the Torah, and its LXX rendering carries several features of enormous theological consequence. At 12:11 the transliteration Πασχα appears without Greek translation or gloss — the LXX simply lifts the Aramaic–Hebrew פֶּסַח as an indeclinable Greek noun, and it is from this LXX form that the New Testament Πάσχα and the liturgical word 'Pasch' descend. At 12:5 the requirement of a πρόβατον τέλειον ('a perfect/unblemished animal') is the LXX formulation that underlies 1 Peter 1:19's description of Christ as ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου ('without blemish and spot'). The blood-sign of 12:7 and 12:13 generates a critical lexical choice: where modern translations say 'pass over,' the LXX uses σκεπάσω ('I will shield/protect you'), a word of active sheltering that renders Hebrew וּפָסַחְתִּי and reframes the event as divine protection rather than mere avoidance. At 12:23 the agent of death is personified as ὁ ὀλεθρεύων ('the Destroyer'), the very form cited in Hebrews 11:28 (τὸν ὀλοθρεύοντα) and alluded to in 1 Corinthians 10:10. The ἄζυμα ('unleavened bread') legislation of 12:15–20 generates Paul's paschal metaphor in 1 Corinthians 5:7–8 ('purge out the old leaven'). A landmark chronological plus distinguishes the LXX at 12:40: where the MT reads only 'the sojourning of the sons of Israel in Egypt was 430 years,' the LXX adds καὶ ἐν γῇ Χανααν — extending the 430 years to cover also the patriarchal sojourn from Abraham onward; this expansion is the arithmetical datum presupposed by Paul's argument in Galatians 3:17 (the law came 430 years after the promise). The bone-prohibition of 12:46 (ὀστοῦν οὐ συντρίψετε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ) is applied directly to Christ in John 19:36, where the soldiers refrain from breaking his legs. The ἐπίμικτος ('mixed multitude') of 12:38 is a rare term for non-Israelite camp-followers. The girded-loins image (ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι, 12:11) and the phrase μετὰ σπουδῆς ('with haste') are hallmarks of the paschal urgency the NT inherits. The children's question of 12:26 and the προσήλυτος rule of 12:48 frame the rite as both catechetical and universally open to the circumcised foreigner.

Exodus 13 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΓ′

Theme. Two major movements divide the chapter: legislation on firstborn consecration and Passover memory (vv.1–16), and the opening of the wilderness journey under divine guidance (vv.17–22).

Outline.

• A · 13:1–2 — The divine mandate: sanctify every firstborn to the LORD.
• B · 13:3–10 — The Feast of Unleavened Bread as embodied memorial.
• C · 13:11–16 — The law of firstlings, donkey-redemption, and the tefillin signs repeated.
• D · 13:17–18 — God's counterintuitive route: the wilderness road to the Red Sea.
• E · 13:19 — The bones of Joseph: faith that keeps faith across generations.
• F · 13:20–22 — First camp and the unceasing pillar of cloud and fire.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 13 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The chapter divides into two major movements: legislation on firstborn consecration and Passover memory (vv.1–16), and the opening of the wilderness journey under divine guidance (vv.17–22). The consecration command of v.2 — ἁγίασόν μοι πᾶν πρωτότοκον πρωτογενές, διανοῖγον πᾶσαν μήτραν … ἐμοί ἐστιν — is the LXX text underlying Luke 2:23 at the presentation of Jesus in the temple ('every male opening a womb shall be called holy to the LORD'); this direct intertextual anchor makes Exod 13:2 one of the most theologically charged verses in the Pentateuch for NT Christology and is flagged here as a primary crux. The sign-language of vv.9 and 16 — σημεῖον ἐπὶ τῆς χειρός ('a sign on your hand') and ἀσάλευτον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν σου ('something immovable before your eyes') — became the scriptural foundation for the Jewish practice of tefillin (phylacteries); the LXX renders the Hebrew אוֹת and טוֹטָפֹת with σημεῖον and ἀσάλευτον, the latter meaning 'immovable, unshaken,' a distinctive and emphatic rendering found nowhere else in the Pentateuch. The donkey-firstling law of v.13 employs two verbs: ἀλλάξεις (ἀλλάσσω, 'exchange') for the sheep-substitution option, and λυτρώσῃ (λυτρόω, 'ransom, redeem') for human firstborn sons — the λυτρόω root connecting the Exodus to Israel's covenant-redemption theology and NT ἀπολύτρωσις. At v.18, the LXX renders the Hebrew חֲמֻשִׁים ('armed / in battle array') with the striking πέμπτη δὲ γενεά ('the fifth generation') — a significant divergence unique to the Greek tradition, possibly reflecting a different vocalization or a numerological reading, and flagged here as a crux. Verse 19 fulfils Gen 50:25 LXX: Moses carries the bones of Joseph (τὰ ὀστᾶ Ιωσηφ), an act of faith celebrated in Heb 11:22. The closing pillar of cloud and fire (στῦλος νεφέλης / στῦλος πυρός, vv.21–22) stands behind 1 Cor 10:1 and the NT's wilderness typology.

Exodus 14 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΔ′

Theme. The sea Israel crosses is named ἐρυθρὰ θάλασσα ('Red Sea') — the LXX's rendering of Hebrew yam sûph ('sea of reeds'), the name the NT inherits at Acts 7:36 and Heb 11:29.

Outline.

• A · 14:1–9 — Divine entrapment: the LORD commands a strategic encampment.
• B · 14:10–14 — Israel's terror; Moses' call: Stand and see the salvation.
• C · 14:15–20 — God commands the advance; the pillar relocates between the camps.
• D · 14:21–25 — The sea divides; Israel crosses on dry ground; Egypt is routed.
• E · 14:26–31 — The sea returns; Egypt destroyed; Israel fears the LORD and believes.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 14 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The sea Israel crosses is named ἐρυθρὰ θάλασσα ('Red Sea') — the LXX's rendering of Hebrew yam sûph ('sea of reeds'), the name the NT inherits at Acts 7:36 and Heb 11:29. Pharaoh's force includes six hundred chosen chariots (ἑξακόσια ἅρματα ἐκλεκτά, 14:7). At 14:13–14 Moses delivers the chapter's rhetorical peak: στῆτε καὶ ὁρᾶτε τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ('Stand and see the salvation from God'), followed by κύριος πολεμήσει περὶ ὑμῶν, ὑμεῖς δὲ σιγήσετε ('the LORD will fight for you, and you shall be silent'). At 14:19–20 the angel of God and the pillar of cloud relocate from Israel's van to their rear, creating darkness for Egypt and light for Israel throughout the night. At 14:21 the LXX specifies ἄνεμος νότος ('south wind') where the MT has east wind — a noteworthy LXX–MT divergence also attested at the locust plague (Exod 10:13 LXX). The waters stand as τεῖχος ('wall') on right and left (14:22, 29). At 14:25 the LXX reads συνέδησεν τοὺς ἄξονας ('he bound the axles') where the MT reads 'removed/clogged' — a different image of divine action on the chariot wheels. The sea returns ἐπὶ χώρας ('to its place', 14:27), and Israel walks διὰ ξηρᾶς ('through dry land', 14:29). The chapter closes at 14:31 with the faith-summary ἐπίστευσαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ Μωυσῇ τῷ θεράποντι αὐτοῦ, whose language of belief forged in the cloud and the sea stands behind 1 Cor 10:1–2 ('baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea') and Heb 11:29.

Exodus 15 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΕ′

Theme. Exodus 15 is the Song of the Sea (ᾠδή, v.

Outline.

• A · 15:1 — Superscription and incipit: 'Let us sing to the LORD'.
• B · 15:2–5 — The LORD my salvation and warrior; Pharaoh's host cast into the sea.
• C · 15:6–10 — The right hand of the LORD; the enemy's boast undone.
• D · 15:11–13 — Incomparability and redemptive guidance to the holy abode.
• E · 15:14–16 — The dread that falls on the nations.
• F · 15:17–18 — Planting on the mountain of inheritance; the LORD reigns forever.
• G · 15:19–21 — Narrative recapitulation and Miriam's refrain (inclusio).
• H · 15:22–27 — Marah and Elim: bitter water made sweet; the LORD the healer.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 15 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 15 is the Song of the Sea (ᾠδή, v. 1), the oldest poetry in the Pentateuch and one of the most archaic strata of the Hebrew Bible; the LXX renders it as triumphal hymn rather than reproducing the Hebrew's dense, often opaque archaic vocabulary, and the result is a smoother, more theologically explicit Greek poem. The song proper (vv. 1–18) is framed by an inclusio: Moses' incipit ᾄσωμεν τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐνδόξως γὰρ δεδόξασται· ἵππον καὶ ἀναβάτην ἔρριψεν εἰς θάλασσαν (v. 1) is echoed verbatim as Miriam's refrain (v. 21). The LXX shows several distinctive renderings of theological weight. At v. 2 βοηθὸς καὶ σκεπαστής ('helper and protector') abstracts the concrete Hebrew עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת ('my strength and song/might'), softening the metaphor into divine attributes. Most striking is v. 3: where MT reads יהוה אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה ('the LORD is a man of war'), the LXX renders κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους ('the LORD who shatters wars'), deliberately avoiding the anthropomorphism and recasting God as the one who crushes warfare itself (cf. Jdt 9:7; 16:2 for the same divine epithet). The incomparability formula τίς ὅμοιός σοι ἐν θεοῖς, κύριε (v. 11) is the rhetorical apex of the hymn. The sanctuary-and-land vocabulary of vv. 13 and 17 — κατάλυμα ἅγιον, ὄρος κληρονομίας, ἕτοιμον κατοικητήριον, ἁγίασμα — reads the song proleptically toward Zion and the temple. The kingship acclamation κύριος βασιλεύων τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ ἐπ᾽ αἰῶνα καὶ ἔτι (v. 18), with its threefold extension of eternity, supplies the diction echoed in the throne-acclamations of Revelation (11:15; 19:6). The chapter then turns from poetry to narrative with the Marah-and-Elim coda (vv. 22–27): the ξύλον ('wood / tree') cast into the bitter water to sweeten it (v. 25) became a fixed locus of patristic typology of the cross, and the self-revelation ἐγὼ … εἰμι κύριος ὁ ἰώμενός σε ('I am the LORD who heals you', v. 26) crowns the conditional covenant of obedience that closes the unit. Throughout, the LXX preserves the parallelistic couplets of Hebrew verse and frequently calques underlying Hebrew idiom (the cognate construction ἀκοῇ ἀκούσῃς at v. 26 renders an infinitive absolute).

Exodus 16 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙϚ′

Theme. Exodus 16 narrates the gift of manna and quail in the wilderness of Sin and is, lexically and theologically, one of the richest chapters in the Greek Pentateuch.

Outline.

• A · 16:1–3 — Murmuring in the wilderness of Sin.
• B · 16:4–12 — The LORD's promise: bread from heaven, the daily test, and the answer to the murmuring.
• C · 16:13–21 — The giving of quail and manna; gathering and the equal measure.
• D · 16:22–30 — The Sabbath: the double portion and the day of rest.
• E · 16:31–36 — The naming of manna and the memorial jar before the testimony.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 16 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 16 narrates the gift of manna and quail in the wilderness of Sin and is, lexically and theologically, one of the richest chapters in the Greek Pentateuch. Its signature vocabulary is the γογγυ- word-group: the narrator's διεγόγγυζεν ('was murmuring', v. 2) and the nominal γογγυσμός ('murmuring', vv. 7, 8, 9, 12) supply the very terms Paul will recall at 1 Cor 10:10 (μηδὲ γογγύζετε) and Phil 2:14 (χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν). At v. 4 YHWH promises to rain ἄρτους ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ('bread out of heaven'), the phrase taken up in John 6:31 (ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν) and reworked christologically throughout the Bread of Life discourse. The folk-etymology of the name is given at v. 15: seeing the flake the Israelites ask τί ἐστιν τοῦτο ('what is this?'), and at v. 31 they name it Μαν — the LXX transliterating Hebrew מָן rather than translating it. Verse 18, οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν ὁ τὸ πολύ, καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν ('the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not lack'), is quoted verbatim by Paul at 2 Cor 8:15 as the scriptural warrant for economic equality (ἰσότης) among the churches — one of the most important single-verse LXX citations in the Pauline corpus. The Sabbath is formalized for the first time in the Pentateuchal narrative at vv. 22–30: a double portion (διπλᾶ, δύο γομορ) is gathered on the sixth day, the seventh is σάββατα ἀνάπαυσις ἁγία τῷ κυρίῳ, and none is found in the field on the seventh day. The chapter closes with the manna's description (ὡς σπέρμα κορίου λευκόν, taste ὡς ἐγκρὶς ἐν μέλιτι, v. 31), the command to lay up a γομορ of manna 'before the testimony' for the generations (vv. 32–34; cf. Heb 9:4, where the χρυσοῦν στάμνον ἔχουσα τὸ μάννα is among the ark's contents), the forty years of eating (v. 35), and the editorial gloss on the γομορ measure as a tenth of three measures (an ephah; v. 36). The recurrent measure-word γομορ is itself a transliteration of Hebrew עֹמֶר, left untranslated like μαν.

Exodus 17 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΖ′

Theme. Exodus 17 falls into two narrative panels joined by a place-name etiology: the strife at Rephidim and the water from the rock (vv. 1–7), and the battle with Amalek with its memorial (vv.

Outline.

• A · 17:1–7 — Strife at Rephidim and the water from the rock (Massah and Meribah).
• B · 17:8–13 — The battle with Amalek and Moses' upheld hands.
• C · 17:14–16 — The memorial against Amalek and the altar 'The LORD my refuge'.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 17 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 17 falls into two narrative panels joined by a place-name etiology: the strife at Rephidim and the water from the rock (vv. 1–7), and the battle with Amalek with its memorial (vv. 8–16). At v. 1 the journey-formula κατὰ παρεμβολὰς αὐτῶν διὰ ῥήματος κυρίου ('according to their encampments by the word of the LORD') marks the staged, divinely-directed march; the Hellenistic aorist παρενεβάλοσαν (with the -οσαν third-plural ending characteristic of LXX Greek) renders the camping at Ραφιδιν. The people's ἐλοιδορεῖτο (v. 2) and ἐγόγγυζεν (v. 3) supply the chapter's lexical keynote: λοιδορ- ('revile / quarrel') and the testing verb πειράζω, which together generate the place-name. At v. 6 the LORD declares ὅδε ἐγὼ ἕστηκα … ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας ἐν Χωρηβ ('here I stand … on the rock in Horeb'): Moses strikes the πέτρα and water flows — the episode Paul reads typologically at 1 Cor 10:4 (ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός). At v. 7 the LXX renders the two Hebrew place-names by meaning rather than transliteration — πειρασμὸς καὶ λοιδόρησις ('Testing and Reviling', for Massah and Meribah) — and records the people's doubt εἰ ἔστιν κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν ἢ οὔ; this is the episode recalled in Ps 94(95):8 LXX and quoted at Heb 3:8 (μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας … ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ). In the second panel the commander is named Ἰησοῦς (v. 9) — Joshua son of Nun, whose LXX name is graphically and phonetically identical to 'Jesus'; this is his first appearance in the canon. Moses' upheld hands (ἐπῆρεν … τὰς χεῖρας, v. 11), supported by Ααρων and Ωρ (v. 12) until the sun's setting (ἕως δυσμῶν ἡλίου), were read by the Fathers as a figure of the cross. The chapter closes with the command to write the memorial against Amalek εἰς βιβλίον (v. 14), the altar named κύριός μου καταφυγή ('The LORD is my refuge', v. 15), and the difficult declaration ἐν χειρὶ κρυφαίᾳ πολεμεῖ κύριος ἐπὶ Αμαληκ (v. 16) — 'with a hidden hand the LORD wages war against Amalek' — where the LXX diverges sharply from the obscure Hebrew כֵס יָהּ ('a hand upon the throne of Yah').

Exodus 18 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΗ′

Theme. Exodus 18 is a narrative hinge between the Red Sea / wilderness cycle and the Sinai theophany: Ιοθορ (Jethro), priest of Madian and Moses' γαμβρός, hears of the Exodus, brings Moses' wife Σεπφωρα and two sons to the mountain of God (vv.

Outline.

• A · 18:1–4 — Jethro hears of the Exodus; Zipporah and the two named sons.
• B · 18:5–12 — Reunion at the mountain of God; Moses' report and Jethro's confession.
• C · 18:13–23 — Moses judging alone; Jethro's counsel to appoint graded judges.
• D · 18:24–27 — Moses implements the counsel; appointment of rulers; Jethro departs.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 18 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 18 is a narrative hinge between the Red Sea / wilderness cycle and the Sinai theophany: Ιοθορ (Jethro), priest of Madian and Moses' γαμβρός, hears of the Exodus, brings Moses' wife Σεπφωρα and two sons to the mountain of God (vv. 1–6), receives Moses' report and confesses YHWH's supremacy (vv. 7–12), then observes Moses judging the people alone and counsels the appointment of a tiered judiciary (vv. 13–27). The LXX deploys γαμβρός throughout for Moses' kinsman by marriage; the term is genuinely elastic in Greek (son-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law), and here renders Hebrew חֹתֵן ('father-in-law'). The two sons carry explanatory etymologies: Γηρσαμ is glossed πάροικος ἤμην ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ ('I was a sojourner in a foreign land', v. 3, on גֵּר שָׁם), and Ελιεζερ ὁ γὰρ θεὸς τοῦ πατρός μου βοηθός μου ('the God of my father is my helper', v. 4, on אֵל + עֵזֶר); both are folk-etymologies translated, not transliterated, into the explanatory clause. Jethro's confession νῦν ἔγνων ὅτι μέγας κύριος παρὰ πάντας τοὺς θεούς (v. 11) is a comparative recognition-formula (παρά + acc. = 'greater than'), the climax of a Gentile priest's acknowledgement of YHWH. The judicial counsel (vv. 13–26) is the foundational text for Israel's graded judiciary (cf. Deut 1:9–18): Moses is to seek out ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς θεοσεβεῖς … μισοῦντας ὑπερηφανίαν ('capable, God-fearing men … who hate arrogance', v. 21) and set them as χιλιάρχους καὶ ἑκατοντάρχους καὶ πεντηκοντάρχους καὶ δεκαδάρχους ('rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens'), a decimal military-administrative hierarchy. The chapter shows several distinctively LXX features: the Hebraising cognate construction φθορᾷ καταφθαρήσῃ ('you will utterly wear out', v. 18, on נָבֹל תִּבֹּל); the Koine/Hebraistic third-aorist plural endings ἐκρίνοσαν and ἀνεφέροσαν (v. 26) for the more usual ἔκριναν / ἀνέφερον; and the periphrasis γίνου σὺ τῷ λαῷ τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν (v. 19, 'be you for the people the things toward God', i.e. their representative before God). κύριος throughout renders the Tetragrammaton.

Exodus 19 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΙΘ′

Theme. Exodus 19 is the hinge of the book: it brings Israel from Egypt to Sinai (v. 1) and frames the covenant that the rest of the Pentateuch presupposes.

Outline.

• A · 19:1–2 — Arrival at Sinai: the third-month encampment before the mountain.
• B · 19:3–6 — The eagle's-wings prologue and the covenant proposal.
• C · 19:7–9 — The elders summoned, the people's assent, and the cloud-promise.
• D · 19:10–15 — Consecration, washing of garments, and the boundaries of death.
• E · 19:16–19 — The theophany: thunder, lightning, the dark cloud, trumpet, fire, and the divine voice.
• F · 19:20–25 — Moses summoned to the summit; the warnings repeated.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 19 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 19 is the hinge of the book: it brings Israel from Egypt to Sinai (v. 1) and frames the covenant that the rest of the Pentateuch presupposes. The chapter falls into a divine-speech prologue (vv. 3–6), the people's ratifying assent (vv. 7–8), the consecration and boundary-setting (vv. 10–15), the theophany proper (vv. 16–19), and a final cycle of summons and warning (vv. 20–25). The dating formula at v. 1 — τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ τρίτου τῆς ἐξόδου — anchors the arrival in the third new-moon since departure; the LXX ἤλθοσαν is a Hellenistic third-plural aorist (the so-called -οσαν ending) characteristic of the Greek Pentateuch. The eagle's-wings image of v. 4 (ὡσεὶ ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀετῶν … προσηγαγόμην ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν) renders Hebrew נָשָׂא עַל־כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים and frames election as rescue-and-bringing-near. The covenant proposal of vv. 5–6 contains two of the most consequential phrases in the Greek Old Testament: λαὸς περιούσιος ('a people for [God's own] possession', v. 5), a LXX coinage rendering עַם סְגֻלָּה and echoed at Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18 and decisively at Titus 2:14 (λαὸν περιούσιον); and βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα καὶ ἔθνος ἅγιον ('a royal priesthood and a holy nation', v. 6, rendering מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים וְגוֹי קָדוֹשׁ), quoted verbatim by 1 Pet 2:9. The conditional ἐὰν ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε (v. 5) is a cognate-dative Hebraism calquing the infinitive-absolute שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ ('if you indeed obey'). The people's twice-reported assent (πάντα ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ θεός, ποιήσομεν, v. 8) anticipates the formal covenant-cutting of ch. 24. The theophany vocabulary of vv. 16–19 — φωναὶ καὶ ἀστραπαί ('thunders and lightnings'), νεφέλη γνοφώδης ('a dark/gloomy cloud'), φωνὴ τῆς σάλπιγγος ('the sound of the trumpet') growing ἰσχυρότεραι σφόδρα, the mountain ἐκαπνίζετο … ὡς καπνὸς καμίνου ('smoking like the smoke of a furnace'), and God answering ἐν φωνῇ — is the scene Heb 12:18–21 recalls when contrasting Sinai with Zion. The repeated boundary-warnings (vv. 12–13, 21–24), enforced by death (θανάτῳ τελευτήσει) and stoning or shooting, stress the lethal holiness of the LORD's descent ἐν πυρί.

Exodus 20 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Κ′

Theme. Exodus 20 is the LXX Decalogue — the δέκα λόγοι (Exod 34:28; Deut 10:4) — and one of the most theologically consequential chapters in the Greek Bible, since it is the form of the Ten Commandments most frequently echoed in the New Testament.

Outline.

• A · 20:1–2 — Prologue: the LORD speaks; self-identification by the Exodus credential.
• B · 20:3–6 — First word: no other gods, no images; the jealous God.
• C · 20:7 — The Name not to be borne in vain.
• D · 20:8–11 — The Sabbath, grounded in creation.
• E · 20:12 — Honor father and mother — the command with a promise.
• F · 20:13–17 — The prohibitions: adultery, theft, murder, false witness, coveting (LXX order).
• G · 20:18–21 — Theophany and terror: the people stand off, Moses enters the darkness.
• H · 20:22–26 — The altar law: earth, unhewn stones, no steps.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 20 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 20 is the LXX Decalogue — the δέκα λόγοι (Exod 34:28; Deut 10:4) — and one of the most theologically consequential chapters in the Greek Bible, since it is the form of the Ten Commandments most frequently echoed in the New Testament. The chapter opens with a narrative frame (v. 1) and the self-presentation formula ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεός σου (v. 2), grounding the commands in the redemptive credential of the Exodus (ὅστις ἐξήγαγόν σε ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου). The 'words' then follow: no other gods (v. 3), no image and no worship of images, with the self-description θεὸς ζηλωτής (vv. 4–6); the Name not to be taken ἐπὶ ματαίῳ (v. 7); the Sabbath, grounded christologically in creation by the γάρ-clause of v. 11 (ἐν … ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν κύριος, echoing Gen 2:1–3); and the honoring of father and mother attached to a promise (v. 12), which Paul calls ἐντολὴ πρώτη ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ (Eph 6:2–3), quoting this verse with ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται. The single most distinctive feature of the LXX Decalogue is the SEQUENCE of the prohibitions in vv. 13–15: οὐ μοιχεύσεις (adultery) — οὐ κλέψεις (theft) — οὐ φονεύσεις (murder), an order differing from the Masoretic Text (murder, adultery, theft) but agreeing with Codex Vaticanus of Deuteronomy 5 and with the NT citations that list adultery before murder (Luke 18:20; Rom 13:9; Jas 2:11). The coveting command of v. 17, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις, is the very text Paul isolates in Rom 7:7 as the commandment that 'made sin known.' The theophany narrative (vv. 18–21) renders the people's synaesthetic terror — they 'saw the voice' (ἑώρα τὴν φωνήν) — and Moses' approach εἰς τὸν γνόφον ('into the thick darkness'), a scene reread in Heb 12:18–21. The chapter closes with the altar law (vv. 22–26): an altar of earth or of unhewn stones (no iron tool, lest it be profaned, μεμίανται), and no steps (ἀναβαθμίδες), guarding the sanctity of approach to YHWH. Lexically the chapter is rich in second-person singular future indicatives used with prohibitive force (οὐ + future = absolute prohibition, a Hebraism rendering לֹא + imperfect), and in the cultic vocabulary of the altar law (θυσιαστήριον, ὁλοκαυτώματα, σωτήρια, τμητοί).

Exodus 21 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΑ′

Theme. Exodus 21 opens the Covenant Code (Exod 20:22–23:33), the block of case law (Hebrew מִשְׁפָּטִים, rendered τὰ δικαιώματα at 21:1) that follows the Decalogue; v.

Outline.

• A · 21:1 — Heading: the ordinances set before Israel.
• B · 21:2–11 — The Hebrew slave and the daughter sold as maidservant.
• C · 21:12–17 — Capital offenses: homicide, the place of refuge, striking and cursing parents.
• D · 21:18–27 — Bodily injury: quarrels, the pregnant woman, and the lex talionis.
• E · 21:28–36 — The goring ox and the open pit.
• F · 21:37 — Restitution for the theft of livestock (English 22:1).

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 21 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 21 opens the Covenant Code (Exod 20:22–23:33), the block of case law (Hebrew מִשְׁפָּטִים, rendered τὰ δικαιώματα at 21:1) that follows the Decalogue; v. 1 is its programmatic heading (ἃ παραθήσεις ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν). The chapter is structured as a chain of casuistic 'if'-laws built almost entirely on ἐάν + subjunctive protasis answered by a future or imperatival apodosis, a calque of the Hebrew כִּי / אִם conditional sentence; the recurring ἐὰν δέ links the cases paratactically. Its subject matter falls into clear groups: the Hebrew slave (παῖς / οἰκέτης) and the daughter sold as maidservant (vv. 2–11), capital offenses with the seed of the cities-of-refuge legislation (vv. 12–17), bodily injury including the famous lex talionis (vv. 18–27), the goring ox (vv. 28–36), and finally the law of restitution for stolen livestock (v. 37). Note that κύριος in this chapter overwhelmingly denotes the human master or owner — of a slave (vv. 4, 6, 8) or of an ox, pit, or animal (vv. 28–36) — and not the Tetragrammaton; only ὁ θεός (v. 13) and τοῦ θεοῦ / τὸ κριτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ (v. 6) refer to God. Two formulae carry forward into the New Testament: the lex talionis ψυχὴν ἀντὶ ψυχῆς, ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ὀδόντα ἀντὶ ὀδόντος (vv. 23–25), cited and reframed by Jesus at Matt 5:38; the law against cursing parents ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα … θανάτῳ τελευτάτω (v. 16, with v. 15), quoted by Jesus at Matt 15:4 / Mark 7:10; and the τριάκοντα δίδραχμα ἀργυρίου paid for a gored slave (v. 32), the 'thirty pieces of silver' echoed at Zech 11:12–13 and Matt 26:15; 27:3–10. ⚠️ VERSIFICATION: Rahlfs runs this chapter to v. 37. The final verse, 21:37 (ἐὰν δέ τις κλέψῃ μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον … πέντε μόσχους ἀποτείσει), is the cattle-theft restitution law that English Bibles (following the Masoretic chapter division) renumber as 22:1; in the Greek tradition it is the last verse of chapter 21. Readers comparing an English Bible should add one chapter and reset the verse count from v. 37 onward.

Exodus 22 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΒ′

Theme. Exodus 22 belongs to the 'Book of the Covenant' (Exod 20:22–23:33), the casuistic and apodictic case-law that follows the Decalogue.

Outline.

• A · 22:1–5 — Property law I: the burglar and restitution for theft and damage.
• B · 22:6–14 — Property law II: deposits, bailment, and the exculpatory oath.
• C · 22:15–19 — Sexual, capital, and cultic prohibitions: seduction, sorcery, bestiality, idolatry.
• D · 22:20–23 — Protection of the vulnerable: sojourner, widow, and orphan.
• E · 22:24–27 — Economic mercy and respect for God and ruler.
• F · 22:28–30 — Sacred dues: firstfruits, firstborn, and the holy-men law.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 22 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 22 belongs to the 'Book of the Covenant' (Exod 20:22–23:33), the casuistic and apodictic case-law that follows the Decalogue. A versification caveat is essential for any cross-reference work: because the cattle-theft law that opens the unit fell at the end of chapter 21 in the Greek tradition (Rahlfs 21:37 = English 22:1), the whole of Rahlfs Exodus 22 sits one verse 'behind' the standard English (and Masoretic) numbering — thus Rahlfs 22:1 (ἐὰν δὲ ἐν τῷ διορύγματι εὑρεθῇ ὁ κλέπτης) corresponds to English 22:2, and the offset persists through the chapter's close at Rahlfs 22:30 (= English 22:31). The numbering of this edition follows Rahlfs–Hanhart exactly. The chapter's law is dominated by the verb ἀποτίνω ('pay back / make restitution'), which recurs as the technical refrain of the restitution statutes (vv. 3–14), and by the conditional protasis ἐὰν δέ + subjunctive, the standard Greek rendering of the Hebrew casuistic כִּי / אִם formula. Lexically distinctive items include the burglary term διόρυγμα ('the breaking-in / tunnelled breach', v. 1), the legal διπλοῦν / διπλᾶ ('double', vv. 3, 6, 8), the bailment vocabulary παρακαταθήκη ('deposit / trust', vv. 7, 10) and the oath-formula ἦ μήν (vv. 7, 10), θηριάλωτον ('torn by wild beasts', vv. 12, 30), the bride-price noun φερνή with its cognate-dative Hebraism φερνῇ φερνιεῖ (v. 15), the pledge-cognate ἐνεχύρασμα ἐνεχυράσῃς (v. 25), and the social-protection nouns προσήλυτος ('sojourner'), χήρα ('widow') and ὀρφανός ('orphan', vv. 20–23). The chapter twice invokes ὁ θεός in a forensic sense (vv. 7–8, the householder 'before God', i.e. at the sanctuary court) and reaches its theological apex at v. 19 (πλὴν κυρίῳ μόνῳ, sacrifice to the LORD alone) and vv. 22–26, where κύριος / the divine 'I' is the Lawgiver who personally hears the cry of the oppressed (εἰσακούσομαι … ἐλεήμων γάρ εἰμι). Note that κύριος fluctuates in reference: in the bailment laws (vv. 7, 10, 11, 13, 14) ὁ κύριος is the human owner/master of the property, whereas in v. 19 and vv. 30 it is YHWH the divine Lawgiver (ἔσεσθέ μοι). At v. 27 the plural θεούς is an interpretive crux (judges/rulers vs. deities), and the verse is famously quoted by Paul before the Sanhedrin at Acts 23:5.

Exodus 23 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΓ′

Theme. Exodus 23 concludes the so-called Book of the Covenant (Exod 20:22–23:33), moving from casuistic civil law into apodictic exhortation, cultic calendar, and a closing covenant-epilogue.

Outline.

• A · 23:1–9 — Integrity in justice: truthful witness, impartiality, and the sojourner.
• B · 23:10–12 — The sabbatical-year fallow and the weekly rest.
• C · 23:13–17 — No other gods named; the three pilgrim feasts.
• D · 23:18–19 — Sacrificial rules and firstfruits.
• E · 23:20–23 — The guardian Angel in whom the Name dwells.
• F · 23:24–33 — Dispossessing the nations: hornets, 'little by little', and the covenant warning.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 23 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 23 concludes the so-called Book of the Covenant (Exod 20:22–23:33), moving from casuistic civil law into apodictic exhortation, cultic calendar, and a closing covenant-epilogue. The chapter falls into clear blocks: integrity in justice (vv. 1–9), the sabbatical-year fallow and weekly rest (vv. 10–12), the prohibition of other gods and the three pilgrim feasts (vv. 13–17), sacrificial rules (vv. 18–19), and the great covenant-epilogue dominated by the guardian Angel and the promise to dispossess the nations (vv. 20–33). The LXX legislation is rendered overwhelmingly in the second-person future indicative used as a legal imperative (οὐ παραδέξῃ, οὐ συγκαταθήσῃ, σπερεῖς, ποιήσεις), the standard Septuagintal calque of the Hebrew weqatal/yiqtol of command; emphatic prohibitions employ the future with οὐ (a stronger 'thou shalt not' than μή + subjunctive). Several Hebraisms of intensity appear: the cognate constructions καθαιρέσει καθελεῖς and συντρίβων συντρίψεις (v. 24) render the infinitive-absolute of emphasis, as does ἀκοῇ ἀκούσητε (v. 22, 'if you listen attentively'). The chapter's ethical core is the impartial treatment of the πένης ('poor man', vv. 3, 6) and the προσήλυτος ('sojourner / resident alien', vv. 9, 12), grounded in Israel's own memory of Egyptian bondage (αὐτοὶ γὰρ προσήλυτοι ἦτε ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, v. 9). The seventh year is called ἄφεσις ('release', v. 11), the same word later used for the Jubilee and adopted in the NT for forgiveness/remission. The three feasts are named ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων (Unleavened Bread), ἑορτὴ θερισμοῦ (Harvest / firstfruits), and ἑορτὴ συντελείας (Ingathering, lit. 'of completion'); thrice yearly every male is to appear ἐνώπιον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου (v. 17). The famous food-law οὐχ ἑψήσεις ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ (v. 19) renders Hebrew גְּדִי ('kid') by ἄρνα ('lamb'). The theological summit is vv. 20–23: ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου … τὸ γὰρ ὄνομά μού ἐστιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ — the guardian Angel who must be obeyed because the divine Name resides in him, a crux that early Christian writers read as a theophanic or even pre-incarnational figure. The conquest is promised by σφηκίας ('hornets', v. 28) and proceeds κατὰ μικρὸν μικρόν ('little by little', v. 30) lest the land become desolate; the borders are set ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης … ἕως τοῦ μεγάλου ποταμοῦ Εὐφράτου (v. 31). The chapter ends with a stern warning against any διαθήκη ('covenant') with the nations or their gods, lest they become a πρόσκομμα ('stumbling-block', v. 33) to Israel.

Exodus 24 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΔ′

Theme. Exodus 24 is the LXX's covenant-ratification chapter, the narrative hinge that seals the Sinai theophany (chs. 19–23) before the Tabernacle instructions (chs.

Outline.

• A · 24:1–2 — Summons to the mountain: Moses alone draws near.
• B · 24:3–8 — The covenant ratified: word, altar, and blood.
• C · 24:9–11 — The vision of the God of Israel: the elders ascend, see, eat, and drink.
• D · 24:12–18 — Moses ascends for the tablets: the glory-cloud and forty days.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 24 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 24 is the LXX's covenant-ratification chapter, the narrative hinge that seals the Sinai theophany (chs. 19–23) before the Tabernacle instructions (chs. 25–31): a summons to the mountain (vv. 1–2), the blood-rite that ratifies the covenant (vv. 3–8), the elders' vision of the God of Israel (vv. 9–11), and Moses' ascent into the glory-cloud to receive the stone tablets (vv. 12–18). Two responses of the people frame the ceremony with the formula πάντα τὰ ῥήματα … ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα (vv. 3, 7), rendering the Hebrew נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע ('we will do and we will hear') in its arresting order — obedience announced before hearing. The headline crux is v. 8, ἰδοὺ τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης ἧς διέθετο κύριος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ('behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD made with you'), the verse quoted at Heb 9:20 and echoed in the words of institution at the Last Supper (Matt 26:28; Mark 14:24; 1 Cor 11:25); the LXX's διαθήκη (rendering בְּרִית) and the cognate verb διέθετο establish the lexical bridge that the New Testament's 'blood of the covenant' inherits. The book read aloud at v. 7, τὸ βιβλίον τῆς διαθήκης ('the book of the covenant'), is named again at Heb 9:19. A characteristic LXX reverential softening appears at v. 10: where the Hebrew reads 'they saw the God of Israel,' the Greek reads εἶδον τὸν τόπον οὗ εἱστήκει … ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ισραηλ ('they saw the place where the God of Israel stood'), interposing 'the place' to mitigate the bold claim of a direct vision of God; the same reverential instinct underlies v. 11, where God does not 'lay a hand' on the chosen ones who yet 'were seen in the place of God' and 'ate and drank.' The chapter closes with the glory descending τὸ Σινα like πῦρ φλέγον ('blazing fire', v. 17) and Moses entering the cloud for τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας ('forty days and forty nights', v. 18), the period that frames the giving of the Law and anticipates the apostasy of ch. 32. The Greek of the chapter is heavily paratactic (καί-strings rendering Hebrew waw-consecutive), with several aorist participles of attendant circumstance (λαβών, ὀρθρίσας, ἀναστάς) carrying the cultic action forward.

Exodus 25 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΕ′

Theme. Exodus 25 opens the great Tabernacle (σκηνή) prescription: YHWH commands the freewill offering (ἀπαρχή, vv. 1–7), the making of a sanctuary (ἁγίασμα) according to the heavenly pattern (παράδειγμα, vv.

Outline.

• A · 25:1–7 — The freewill offering (ἀπαρχή): the materials of the sanctuary.
• B · 25:8–9 — The sanctuary and the heavenly pattern.
• C · 25:10–16 — The ark of the testimony (κιβωτὸς μαρτυρίου).
• D · 25:17–22 — The mercy seat (ἱλαστήριον) and the cherubim.
• E · 25:23–30 — The table of the bread of the Presence.
• F · 25:31–40 — The lampstand (λυχνία) and the command to follow the pattern.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 25 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 25 opens the great Tabernacle (σκηνή) prescription: YHWH commands the freewill offering (ἀπαρχή, vv. 1–7), the making of a sanctuary (ἁγίασμα) according to the heavenly pattern (παράδειγμα, vv. 8–9), and then the three principal furnishings of the holy place — the ark of the testimony (κιβωτὸς μαρτυρίου) with its mercy seat (ἱλαστήριον) and cherubim (vv. 10–22), the table of the bread of the Presence (vv. 23–30), and the lampstand (λυχνία, vv. 31–40). A critical versification feature must be noted: in the Rahlfs LXX, Exodus 25 contains 39 verses, numbered 1–5 and then 7–40 — THERE IS NO VERSE 6. The numbering jumps directly from v. 5 (… καὶ ξύλα ἄσηπτα) to v. 7 (καὶ λίθους σαρδίου …); the LXX has no independent verse 6, and the clause that the Masoretic Text places at 25:6 (the oil for the light and the spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, שֶׁמֶן לַמָּאֹר בְּשָׂמִים … קְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים) is absent here / absorbed into the surrounding material, so that the LXX list runs from the textiles and skins (v. 5) straight to the onyx and setting-stones (v. 7). The chapter is freighted with terms of decisive theological afterlife: the ἱλαστήριον (vv. 17–22), the 'mercy seat' or 'propitiatory' that covers the ark, is the very word Paul applies to Christ at Rom 3:25 (ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεὸς ἱλαστήριον) and that Heb 9:5 invokes (Χερουβιν δόξης κατασκιάζοντα τὸ ἱλαστήριον); and the closing command at v. 40 — ὅρα ποιήσεις κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δεδειγμένον σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει — is quoted almost verbatim at Heb 8:5 (κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει) as proof that the earthly sanctuary is a copy and shadow of the heavenly. The vocabulary is dense with technical cult-craft terms (κυμάτια στρεπτά, ἀναφορεῖς, σφαιρωτῆρες, καρυίσκοι, κρατῆρες) and with transliterated Hebraisms (χερουβιμ / χερουβ), several of which are indeclinable. κύριος throughout renders the Tetragrammaton יהוה.

Exodus 26 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚϚ′

Theme. Exodus 26 is the second of the great tabernacle-construction discourses (chs.

Outline.

• A · 26:1–6 — The ten linen curtains: cherubim-work, loops, and golden clasps.
• B · 26:7–14 — The goats'-hair tent and the protective coverings.
• C · 26:15–30 — The acacia uprights, silver sockets, and bars — raised by the heavenly pattern.
• D · 26:31–35 — The veil: cherubim-wrought, dividing Holy from Holy of Holies.
• E · 26:36–37 — The screen for the tent door.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 26 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 26 is the second of the great tabernacle-construction discourses (chs. 25–31), a sustained sequence of second-person-singular future-indicative commands (ποιήσεις, συνάψεις, θήσεις, ἀναστήσεις) by which YHWH dictates to Moses the fabric of the σκηνή ('tent / tabernacle'). The LXX rendering of these chapters diverges from the Masoretic Text in order, numbering, and detail — the Greek translator of Exodus handled the technical building-vocabulary with a distinctive and not always consistent lexicon — and the present chapter is to be annotated exactly as transmitted in Rahlfs. The chapter unfolds in five movements: the ten linen curtains (αὐλαῖαι) embroidered with cherubim and joined by loops (ἀγκύλαι) and fifty golden clasps (κρίκοι, vv. 1–6); the eleven goats'-hair curtains forming the outer tent with its bronze clasps, and the coverings of reddened rams' skins and blue skins (vv. 7–14); the acacia uprights (στῦλοι) with their silver sockets (βάσεις), tenons (ἀγκωνίσκοι), and bars (μοχλοί), erected 'according to the pattern shown on the mountain' (κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τὸ δεδειγμένον σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει, v. 30); the veil (καταπέτασμα) of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen wrought with cherubim, which divides 'between the Holy Place and between the Holy of Holies' (ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ἁγίου τῶν ἁγίων, vv. 31–35); and the screen (ἐπίσπαστρον) for the tent door (vv. 36–37). The technical vocabulary is dense and often hapax or near-hapax within the LXX: αὐλαία ('curtain'), δέρρις ('skin/hair-curtain'), ἀγκύλη ('loop'), κρίκος ('ring/clasp'), στῦλος ('upright/pillar'), βάσις ('socket/base'), ἀγκωνίσκος ('tenon/little-elbow'), μοχλός ('bar'), κεφαλίς ('capital'), καταπέτασμα ('veil'), ἐπίσπαστρον ('screen/curtain-that-is-drawn'). For the MT 'boards' (קְרָשִׁים) the LXX reads στῦλοι ('pillars/uprights'), assimilating the frames to columns. The repeated participle κεκλωσμένος ('twined') and the materials βύσσος ('fine linen'), ὑάκινθος ('blue'), πορφύρα ('purple'), κόκκινον ('scarlet') recur as a fixed liturgical color-formula throughout the tabernacle account (cf. 25:4; 28:5–8; 36:8–38). The veil-section (vv. 31–35) is theologically the most freighted: the καταπέτασμα that screens the κιβωτὸς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ('ark of the testimony') in the ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων is the very curtain whose tearing the Synoptics record at the death of Jesus (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), and whose typology the Epistle to the Hebrews develops (Heb 9:3 names it δεύτερον καταπέτασμα; Heb 6:19; 10:20 read Christ's flesh as the veil through which believers now enter). The closing formula of v. 30 — that the whole is to be raised κατὰ τὸ εἶδος τὸ δεδειγμένον σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει — is taken up at Acts 7:44 and Heb 8:5 (κατὰ τὸν τύπον τὸν δειχθέντα σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει) as proof that the earthly sanctuary is a copy of a heavenly archetype.

Exodus 27 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΖ′

Theme. Exodus 27 belongs to the great Tabernacle-instruction block (chs.

Outline.

• A · 27:1–8 — The bronze altar of burnt offering.
• B · 27:9–19 — The court of the Tabernacle: hangings, pillars and sockets.
• C · 27:20–21 — The oil for the perpetual lamp.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 27 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 27 belongs to the great Tabernacle-instruction block (chs. 25–31) and is dominated by the recurring second-person future ποιήσεις ('you shall make'), the LXX's rendering of the Hebrew construct וְעָשִׂיתָ — a volitive future functioning as command. The chapter falls into three movements: the bronze altar of burnt offering (vv. 1–8), the court of the Tabernacle with its hangings, pillars and bronze sockets (vv. 9–19), and the oil for the lamp (vv. 20–21). The vocabulary is densely technical and largely architectural: θυσιαστήριον ('altar', lit. 'place of sacrifice', a Hellenistic-Jewish coinage distinguishing the legitimate altar from the pagan βωμός), κέρατα ('horns', the projecting corners), ἐσχάρα ('grate / hearth') with its ἔργον δικτυωτόν ('latticework / net-work'), κοῖλον σανιδωτόν ('hollow, made of boards', v. 8), and for the court ἱστία ('hangings / curtains'), στῦλοι ('pillars'), βάσεις ('sockets / bases'), κρίκοι ('rings / hooks'), ψαλίδες ('fillets / connecting rods'), and κεφαλίδες ('capitals'). Measurements are given in the genitive of measure (πήχεων / πηχῶν, 'of cubits'). The materials carry symbolic weight: bronze (χαλκός) characterises the altar and the court's structural feet, silver (ἄργυρος) the upper fittings, while the gate-screen alone (v. 16) repeats the four-fold tapestry palette of the sanctuary — ὑάκινθος (blue), πορφύρα (purple), κόκκινον (scarlet) and βύσσος κεκλωσμένη (fine twined linen) — worked by the ῥαφιδευτής (embroiderer). The LXX names the court's sides by an Egyptian-Mediterranean compass idiom (λίψ, ἀπηλιώτης, θάλασσα 'seaward', νότος). The chapter closes with a transition from architecture to liturgy: the people's gift of ἔλαιον … κεκομμένον καθαρόν (pure beaten oil) for the perpetual lamp (λύχνος διὰ παντός), tended by Aaron and his sons ἔξωθεν τοῦ καταπετάσματος ('outside the veil') as a νόμιμον αἰώνιον ('perpetual statute'), language that pivots the narrative toward the consecration of the priesthood in chapter 28. The chapter's defining theological note is the model-clause of v. 8, κατὰ τὸ παραδειχθέν σοι ἐν τῷ ὄρει ('according to what was shown you on the mountain'), grounding the whole construction in the heavenly pattern revealed to Moses (cf. 25:9, 40; Heb 8:5).

Exodus 28 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΗ′

Theme. Exodus 28 prescribes the priestly vestments of Aaron and his sons: the holy garments made 'for honor and glory' (εἰς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν), the ephod (ἐπωμίς) with its two onyx shoulder-stones engraved with the tribal names, the breastplate of judgment (λογεῖον τῶν κρίσεων) with four rows of three gemstones, the robe (ποδήρης/ὑποδύτης) with golden bells and pomegranates, the golden plate (πέταλον) inscribed ἁγίασμα κυρίου, and the tunic, turban, sash, and linen breeches.

Outline.

• A · 28:1–5 — The priestly call of Aaron and his sons; the holy garments for honor and glory.
• B · 28:6–14 — The ephod and the two onyx shoulder-stones engraved with the tribal names for a memorial.
• C · 28:15–22, 29 — The breastplate of judgment with the twelve named gemstones.
• D · 28:30 — The Manifestation and the Truth (Urim and Thummim) in the breastplate of judgment.
• E · 28:31–35 — The robe of blue with pomegranates and golden bells.
• F · 28:36–38 — The golden plate inscribed 'a holy thing of the LORD'.
• G · 28:39–43 — Tunic, turban, sash; the sons' garments; the linen breeches and the perpetual statute.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 28 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 28 prescribes the priestly vestments of Aaron and his sons: the holy garments made 'for honor and glory' (εἰς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν), the ephod (ἐπωμίς) with its two onyx shoulder-stones engraved with the tribal names, the breastplate of judgment (λογεῖον τῶν κρίσεων) with four rows of three gemstones, the robe (ποδήρης/ὑποδύτης) with golden bells and pomegranates, the golden plate (πέταλον) inscribed ἁγίασμα κυρίου, and the tunic, turban, sash, and linen breeches. A signal feature of the chapter is that the Old Greek high-priest-garment account is markedly shorter than the Masoretic Text: the OG OMITS MT 28:23–28 (the gold rings and chains that fasten the breastplate to the ephod). Consequently the Rahlfs versification runs 1–22 and then jumps directly to 29–43; there are NO verses numbered 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, or 28 in this chapter, which therefore has 37 verses in all. Some of the omitted MT material on the fastenings reappears, in compressed and re-ordered form, as a supplementary clause within OG v. 29 (… καὶ θήσεις ἐπὶ τὸ λογεῖον τῆς κρίσεως τοὺς κροσσούς …). Lexically the chapter is dense with technical and transliterated vocabulary: the textile terms βύσσος κεκλωσμένη ('twined fine linen') and the three dyed yarns ὑάκινθος / πορφύρα / κόκκινον, the artisan-genitives ἔργον ὑφαντὸν ποικιλτοῦ, and a long catalogue of twelve gemstones (σάρδιον, τοπάζιον, σμάραγδος, ἄνθραξ, σάπφειρος, ἴασπις, λιγύριον, ἀχάτης, ἀμέθυστος, χρυσόλιθος, βηρύλλιον, ὀνύχιον), most of them transliterations or rough equivalents of the Hebrew stone-names. The single greatest crux is v. 30, where the LXX renders the Hebrew אורים ותמים ('Urim and Thummim') interpretively as ἡ δήλωσις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ('the Manifestation and the Truth'), construing the oracular media as the embodiment of revelatory clarity and reliability. The plate on the turban is engraved ἁγίασμα κυρίου ('a holy thing of the LORD' = 'Holiness to the LORD', v. 36), and the whole vestiary ordinance closes as a νόμιμον αἰώνιον ('a perpetual statute', v. 43). κύριος throughout represents the Tetragrammaton יהוה.

Exodus 29 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΚΘ′

Theme. Exodus 29 is the great priestly-ordination liturgy of the LXX Exodus: a sustained second-person divine address to Moses prescribing the seven-day consecration (τελείωσις) of Aaron and his sons.

Outline.

• A · 29:1–9 — The rite of ordination: offerings prepared, the washing, vesting, anointing, and the filling of hands.
• B · 29:10–14 — The sin-offering bull.
• C · 29:15–18 — The first ram: the whole burnt offering.
• D · 29:19–28 — The ram of consecration: the blood-rite, the wave and heave offerings, and the priestly portions.
• E · 29:29–37 — The holy garments, the seven days, and the altar made most holy.
• F · 29:38–42 — The continual daily offering (ἐνδελεχισμός).
• G · 29:43–46 — The indwelling promise: God meets and dwells among Israel.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 29 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 29 is the great priestly-ordination liturgy of the LXX Exodus: a sustained second-person divine address to Moses prescribing the seven-day consecration (τελείωσις) of Aaron and his sons. The chapter is built from a long chain of future indicatives (λήμψῃ, ποιήσεις, προσάξεις, σφάξεις, ἐπιθήσεις, ἀνοίσεις) that function as legislative imperatives, the LXX's habitual rendering of the Hebrew weqāṭal of ritual instruction. Its governing idiom is τελειόω τὰς χεῖρας ('to fill / consecrate the hands', vv. 9, 29, 33, 35), a calque of Hebrew מִלֵּא יָד ('fill the hand'), from which the ram of ordination is named κριὸς τελειώσεως ('ram of consecration', vv. 22, 26, 27, 31, 34). The vesting vocabulary is technical and Tabernacle-specific: ἐπωμίς ('ephod'), λογεῖον ('the oracle-piece / breastpiece', the LXX's distinctive rendering of חֹשֶׁן), μίτρα ('turban'), πέταλον τὸ ἁγίασμα ('the holy plate / diadem'). The sacrificial system unfolds in three movements — the sin-offering bull (μοσχάριον/μόσχος τῆς ἁμαρτίας, vv. 10–14, 36), the first ram as ὁλοκαύτωμα ('whole burnt offering') εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ('for a fragrance of sweet savour', vv. 15–18), and the ram of consecration with its blood-rite on the right ear, thumb, and toe (vv. 19–21) and its wave/heave portions (ἀφόρισμα, ἀφαίρεμα, vv. 22–28). The terms κάρπωμα ('offering by fire'), σπονδή ('drink-offering'), and especially ἐνδελεχισμός ('the continual / perpetual offering', vv. 38, 42, with the adverb ἐνδελεχῶς) and the measure ιν (the transliterated hin) mark the daily-offering legislation of vv. 38–42. The chapter climaxes in the indwelling promise (vv. 43–46): καὶ ἐπικληθήσομαι ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ισραηλ καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεός (v. 45), the covenant-presence formula echoed at Lev 26:12, 2 Cor 6:16, and Rev 21:3, sealed by the recognition formula καὶ γνώσονται ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ θεὸς αὐτῶν (v. 46). The LXX's ἐπικληθήσομαι ('I will be invoked / be named among') renders the Hebrew שָׁכַנְתִּי ('I will dwell') by way of the name-theology of divine presence, a rendering of theological weight for later Jewish and Christian Shekinah/indwelling readings.

Exodus 30 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Λ′

Theme. Exodus 30 belongs to the cultic-instruction block of the tabernacle pericope (Exod 25–31), and the LXX of this section is notable both for its dense technical vocabulary and for occasional divergences in sequence and detail from the Masoretic Text.

Outline.

• A · 30:1–10 — The golden altar of incense and its yearly atonement.
• B · 30:11–16 — The census ransom: the half-shekel atonement money.
• C · 30:17–21 — The bronze laver for the washing of hands and feet.
• D · 30:22–33 — The holy anointing oil and its exclusive use.
• E · 30:34–38 — The sacred incense, most holy and inimitable.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 30 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 30 belongs to the cultic-instruction block of the tabernacle pericope (Exod 25–31), and the LXX of this section is notable both for its dense technical vocabulary and for occasional divergences in sequence and detail from the Masoretic Text. The chapter falls into five distinct ordinances, each introduced or sustained by the second-person future-as-imperative addressed to Moses (ποιήσεις, καταχρυσώσεις, χρίσεις, etc.), a Hebraism in which the indicative future renders the Hebrew weqatal of legislative command: (1) the golden altar of incense (θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος, vv. 1–10); (2) the census ransom or atonement money (vv. 11–16); (3) the bronze laver (λουτήρ, vv. 17–21); (4) the holy anointing oil (ἔλαιον χρῖσμα ἅγιον, vv. 22–33); and (5) the sacred incense (vv. 34–38). The incense-altar regulations introduce θυμίαμα ἐνδελεχισμοῦ ('incense of perpetuity', v. 8), rendering Hebrew קְטֹרֶת תָּמִיד, and the once-a-year atonement on the horns (ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ … ἐπὶ τῶν κεράτων, v. 10), the LXX background to the theology of Heb 9. The census-ransom unit is theologically and lexically rich: each numbered Israelite gives τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ διδράχμου ('the half of the didrachm'), a λύτρα τῆς ψυχῆς ('a ransom for his soul', v. 12), rich and poor alike (vv. 13–15); the διδράχμον vocabulary is the precise Septuagintal background to the temple-tax episode of Matt 17:24 (τὰ δίδραχμα). The anointing-oil unit (vv. 22–33) is built on the χρῖσμα / χρίω word-group — the very root of Χριστός — and culminates in the prohibition of imitation under penalty of being 'cut off' (ἐξολεθρευθήσεται, v. 33); the incense unit closes with the parallel sanction ἀπολεῖται ('he shall perish', v. 38). The verb ἐξιλάσκομαι and its noun ἐξιλασμός dominate the atonement vocabulary (vv. 10, 15, 16), the standard LXX rendering of the כפר word-group.

Exodus 31 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΑ′

Theme. Exodus 31 closes the great tabernacle-instruction block (chs. 25–31) with three movements: the divine designation and Spirit-filling of the master-craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab (vv.

Outline.

• A · 31:1–11 — The Spirit-filled craftsmen: Bezalel and Oholiab commissioned for the tabernacle works.
• B · 31:12–17 — The Sabbath as perpetual covenant sign rooted in creation.
• C · 31:18 — The two stone tablets written by the finger of God.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 31 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 31 closes the great tabernacle-instruction block (chs. 25–31) with three movements: the divine designation and Spirit-filling of the master-craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab (vv. 1–11), the legislation of the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant sign (vv. 12–17), and the giving of the two stone tablets 'written by the finger of God' (v. 18). At v. 2 YHWH says ἀνακέκλημαι ἐξ ὀνόματος ('I have called by name') — a perfect of settled designation rendering Hebrew קָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם — singling out Βεσελεηλ (Bezalel) son of Uri of the tribe of Judah. The most striking LXX touch comes at v. 3: God fills Bezalel with πνεῦμα θεῖον σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως καὶ ἐπιστήμης, where the translator expands Hebrew רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים into the explicitly qualified 'divine spirit of wisdom and understanding and knowledge,' making Bezalel the first person in Scripture said to be filled with God's Spirit — and notably for the work of craftsmanship (ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ). The LXX names the second craftsman Ελιαβ (for MT אָהֳלִיאָב, Oholiab) son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan (v. 6), and to 'everyone wise in heart' (παντὶ συνετῷ καρδίᾳ) God has given σύνεσιν. The catalogue of works (vv. 7–11) recapitulates the sanctuary furniture — tent of witness, ark of the covenant, mercy-seat (ἱλαστήριον), table, lampstand, laver, priestly vestments, anointing oil and incense — sealing the instruction-block with a summary. At vv. 12–17 the Sabbath is legislated as a σημεῖον ('sign') between YHWH and Israel εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν: the recognition-formula ἵνα γνῶτε ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων ὑμᾶς grounds it in YHWH as the one who sanctifies; profanation incurs the death penalty (θανάτῳ θανατωθήσεται, a cognate-dative Hebraism) and the karet-formula ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη. The motive clause at v. 17 grounds the Sabbath in creation — ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν κύριος τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἐπαύσατο καὶ κατέπαυσεν — echoing Gen 2:2–3 LXX, where the verb καταπαύω ('cause to rest') anchors the later 'sabbath rest' typology of Heb 4. The chapter ends (v. 18) with the two πλάκας λιθίνας ('stone tablets') of the μαρτύριον, γεγραμμένας τῷ δακτύλῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ('written by the finger of God') — the anthropomorphic δάκτυλος θεοῦ phrase that elsewhere marks immediate divine action (cf. 8:15 LXX, the magicians' confession; and, in the NT, Luke 11:20 par. Matt 12:28).

Exodus 32 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΒ′

Theme. A point of versification must be flagged at the outset: in the Rahlfs LXX, Exodus 32 runs to thirty-four verses numbered 1–8 and then 10–35 — THERE IS NO VERSE 9.

Outline.

• A · 32:1–6 — Apostasy at the mountain: the people demand gods and Aaron makes the calf.
• B · 32:7–8, 10–14 — Divine wrath and the intercession of Moses (no verse 9).
• C · 32:15–20 — Moses descends: the tablets of God's writing, broken; the calf destroyed.
• D · 32:21–29 — Aaron's excuse and the judgment of the Levites.
• E · 32:30–35 — Moses' atoning return: 'blot me out of your book'; the guiding angel and the plague.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 32 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. A point of versification must be flagged at the outset: in the Rahlfs LXX, Exodus 32 runs to thirty-four verses numbered 1–8 and then 10–35 — THERE IS NO VERSE 9. The numbering leaps directly from v. 8 (the people's apostasy-confession οὗτοι οἱ θεοί σου Ισραηλ) to v. 10 (καὶ νῦν ἔασόν με …), and vv. 10–35 are NOT renumbered to fill the gap; this annotation preserves Rahlfs' numbering exactly. The chapter is the great narrative of the golden calf and Moses' intercession. The LXX renders the calf consistently as ὁ μόσχος (vv. 4, 8, 19, 20, 24, 35), translating Hebrew עֵגֶל, and qualifies it μόσχον χωνευτόν ('a molten calf', v. 4) for מַסֵּכָה. Several turns of phrase carry heavy New-Testament freight: 32:6 ἐκάθισεν ὁ λαὸς φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν καὶ ἀνέστησαν παίζειν is quoted verbatim by Paul at 1 Cor 10:7; the people's cry at 32:1, 23 (ποίησον ἡμῖν θεούς …) and the calf-making of 32:4 are echoed in Stephen's speech at Acts 7:40–41; and Moses' self-imprecation at 32:32 (ἐξάλειψόν με ἐκ τῆς βίβλου σου) stands behind Rom 9:3, Phil 4:3, and Rev 3:5 (the book of life). The LXX also marks the writing on the tablets emphatically: ἡ γραφὴ γραφὴ θεοῦ ἐστιν (v. 16, 'the writing was God's writing'). The verb ἱλάσθη κύριος (v. 14, 'the LORD was propitiated / relented') renders the bold Hebrew anthropopathism וַיִּנָּחֶם ('the LORD repented'), softening it toward the cultic language of propitiation. Throughout, κύριος renders the Tetragrammaton יהוה.

Exodus 33 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΓ′

Theme. Exodus 33 is the theological heart of the golden-calf aftermath: a chapter wholly concerned with the divine Presence — whether, and how, YHWH will accompany a 'stiff-necked' people.

Outline.

• A · 33:1–6 — Depart with the angel: God will not go up 'in the midst' of a stiff-necked people.
• B · 33:7–11 — The tent of meeting outside the camp: face to face, as with a friend.
• C · 33:12–17 — Moses' plea for the Presence: 'I myself will go before you'.
• D · 33:18–23 — The glory in the cleft of the rock: the Name proclaimed and the limit of sight.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 33 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 33 is the theological heart of the golden-calf aftermath: a chapter wholly concerned with the divine Presence — whether, and how, YHWH will accompany a 'stiff-necked' people. It unfolds in four movements: the command to depart with an angel rather than YHWH 'in the midst' (vv. 1–6), the tent of meeting outside the camp and the face-to-face speech (vv. 7–11), Moses' intercessory plea for the Presence (vv. 12–17), and the theophany of glory in the cleft of the rock (vv. 18–23). The LXX renders the land-formula γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι (v. 3, 'a land flowing with milk and honey'), a calque of אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ. The recurring epithet λαὸς σκληροτράχηλος (vv. 3, 5, 'a stiff-necked people') renders עַם קְשֵׁה־עֹרֶף and supplies the chapter's anthropological problem. At v. 7 the tent Moses pitches is named σκηνὴ μαρτυρίου ('tent of witness/meeting'), the LXX's standard rendering of אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד; the pillar of cloud (ὁ στῦλος τῆς νεφέλης, vv. 9–10) marks the descending Presence. The chapter's most celebrated idiom is at v. 11: κύριος ἐλάλει πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἐνώπιος ἐνωπίῳ ('the LORD spoke to Moses face to face'), a Hebraism for פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים, immediately qualified by the simile ὡς εἴ τις λαλήσει πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον ('as a man speaks to his friend') — the friend-of-God motif (cf. Num 12:8; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23). Moses' plea climaxes at v. 14 with αὐτὸς προπορεύσομαί σου ('I myself will go before you'), and at v. 17 with the double assurance εὕρηκας χάριν ἐνώπιόν μου καὶ οἶδά σε παρὰ πάντας ('you have found favor before me and I know you above all'). The theophanic finale (vv. 18–23) opens with Moses' δεῖξόν μοι τὴν σεαυτοῦ δόξαν ('show me your glory', v. 18) and answers with the proclamation of the Name and, supremely, v. 19: ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω ('I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion') — quoted verbatim by Paul at Rom 9:15 as the scriptural ground of divine sovereign mercy. The chapter ends with the limit of theophany: no one may see God's face and live (οὐ … ἴδῃ ἄνθρωπος τὸ πρόσωπόν μου καὶ ζήσεται, v. 20); Moses is hidden in the cleft of the rock (ὀπὴ τῆς πέτρας) and sees only τὰ ὀπίσω μου ('my back parts', v. 23).

Exodus 34 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΔ′

Theme. Exodus 34 is the great chapter of covenant renewal after the apostasy of the golden calf (ch. 32) and Moses' tabernacle-of-meeting intercession (ch.

Outline.

• A · 34:1–4 — New tablets commanded and cut: the second ascent of Sinai.
• B · 34:5–7 — The proclamation of the Name: the LORD's self-revelation of mercy and justice.
• C · 34:8–9 — Moses worships and intercedes for pardon and presence.
• D · 34:10–17 — Covenant renewed: no covenant with Canaan, no molten gods, the Jealous Name.
• E · 34:18–26 — The cultic calendar: feasts, firstborn, Sabbath, firstfruits, the milk prohibition.
• F · 34:27–28 — Moses writes the words; forty days without bread or water.
• G · 34:29–35 — The shining face and the veil (κάλυμμα).

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 34 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 34 is the great chapter of covenant renewal after the apostasy of the golden calf (ch. 32) and Moses' tabernacle-of-meeting intercession (ch. 33): the LORD commands Moses to hew two new stone tablets to replace those he shattered (λάξευσον … καθὼς καὶ αἱ πρῶται … αἷς συνέτριψας, vv. 1–4), descends in the cloud, and proclaims his own Name. The self-revelation of vv. 6–7 — κύριος ὁ θεὸς οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος καὶ ἀληθινός … ἀφαιρῶν ἀνομίας καὶ ἀδικίας καὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ οὐ καθαριεῖ τὸν ἔνοχον — is the fountainhead of the so-called 'gracious formula' echoed throughout the OT (Num 14:18; Ps 85[86]:15; 102[103]:8; Joel 2:13; Jon 4:2; Nah 1:3) and the NT (πολυεύσπλαγχνος, Jas 5:11). The LXX coins the dense compound πολυέλεος ('abounding in mercy', rendering רַב־חֶסֶד) and renders the difficult Hebrew נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן by a cascade of participles (διατηρῶν, ποιῶν, ἀφαιρῶν, ἐπάγων), holding mercy and judgment in deliberate tension: he keeps mercy εἰς χιλιάδας yet 'will by no means clear the guilty' (οὐ καθαριεῖ τὸν ἔνοχον), visiting fathers' iniquity ἐπὶ τέκνα … ἐπὶ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεάν. The covenant stipulations (vv. 10–28) form a compressed 'ritual decalogue': no covenant or intermarriage with the Canaanite nations, whose βωμοί, στῆλαι, and ἄλση must be destroyed (v. 13); the apodictic prohibition of other gods grounded in the striking declaration κύριος ὁ θεὸς ζηλωτὸν ὄνομα, θεὸς ζηλωτής ἐστιν ('the LORD God, Jealous is his name', v. 14); the festal calendar of Unleavened Bread, Weeks (ἑβδομάδων), and Ingathering (συναγωγῆς, v. 22); the firstborn redemption; the Sabbath of sowing and harvest (v. 21); and the milk prohibition οὐ προσοίσεις ἄρνα ἐν γάλακτι μητρὸς αὐτοῦ (v. 26). Moses remains forty days and nights without bread or water and writes 'the ten words' (τοὺς δέκα λόγους, v. 28). The chapter closes with the radiant-face episode (vv. 29–35): the skin of Moses' face is 'glorified' (δεδόξασται ἡ ὄψις τοῦ χρώματος τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ) — the LXX's δοξάζω rendering Hebrew קָרַן ('to send out horns/rays'), a translational choice with enormous theological afterlife — so that Aaron and the people fear to approach, and Moses places a veil (κάλυμμα) over his face, removing it only before the LORD. Paul's midrash in 2 Cor 3:7–18, contrasting the fading δόξα of the old covenant with the unveiled glory of the new, is built directly on this LXX wording (τὸ κάλυμμα; δεδοξασμένη ἡ ὄψις).

Exodus 35 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΕ′

Theme. Exodus 35 begins the LXX's account of the construction of the tabernacle (the 'second tabernacle pericope', chs.

Outline.

• A · 35:1–3 — The Sabbath rest reiterated to the assembly.
• B · 35:4–9 — The call for a freewill offering: the materials.
• C · 35:10–19 — The summons of the skilled and the inventory of the tent and its furnishings.
• D · 35:20–29 — The people respond: men and women bring their freewill offerings.
• E · 35:30–35 — Bezalel and Oholiab named and filled with the divine spirit for the craft.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 35 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 35 begins the LXX's account of the construction of the tabernacle (the 'second tabernacle pericope', chs. 35–40), which in the Old Greek is markedly shorter than the Masoretic text and differently arranged: the Greek inventory of the tent and its furnishings is compressed, and many items detailed in the MT are absent or telescoped. As a result the Rahlfs versification of this chapter is irregular: it numbers thirty-one verses as 1–7, 9–14, 16, 19–35, with NO Greek verses 8, 15, 17, or 18 — these MT verse-numbers carry no Old Greek text here and are not to be invented or closed up. The chapter opens with a reiteration of the Sabbath command to the whole assembly (vv. 1–3): six days for work, but the seventh a κατάπαυσις … ἀνάπαυσις κυρίῳ, with the striking added prohibition οὐ καύσετε πῦρ ('you shall not kindle fire', v. 3). The remainder is the summons to a freewill offering (ἀφαίρεμα, vv. 4–9) — everyone ὁ καταδεχόμενος τῇ καρδίᾳ ('whose heart accepts it') brings gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair, ram-skins and 'hyacinth' skins, acacia wood, gemstones, oil and incense — followed by the call for the σοφοὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ / τῇ διανοίᾳ ('the wise of heart / of mind') to make the tent and its vessels (vv. 10–19), the people's enthusiastic response, men and women alike, ὧν ἔφερεν ἡ καρδία / ἡ διάνοια αὐτῶν (vv. 20–29), and finally the naming of Βεσελεηλ (Bezalel) and Ελιαβ (Oholiab), whom God has filled with πνεῦμα θεῖον σοφίας ('a divine spirit of wisdom') for the craft (vv. 30–35). The willing-heart generosity of the offering (everyone ᾧ ἔδοξεν τῇ διανοίᾳ) anticipates the NT ideal of the ἱλαρὸς δότης, the 'cheerful giver' of 2 Cor 9:7, and the craftsman-Spirit motif — God's own πνεῦμα as the source of artistic skill — is among the most theologically suggestive notes in the Pentateuch.

Exodus 36 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛϚ′

Theme. A reader comparing the Old Greek with the Masoretic Text will at once notice that the second half of Exodus in the LXX follows a markedly different arrangement of the Tabernacle-construction account: the Greek of chapters 36–39 is both shorter and reordered relative to the Hebrew.

Outline.

• A · 36:1–7 — The wise-hearted begin the work; the people's surplus offerings restrained.
• B · 36:8–14 — The ephod and the engraved shoulder-stones of the tribes.
• C · 36:15–28 — The breastplate (λογεῖον): four rows of gemstones and its fastenings.
• D · 36:29–33 — The robe of the ephod (ὑποδύτης): pomegranates and golden bells.
• E · 36:34–38 — Tunics, turbans, sashes, and the golden plate Ἁγίασμα κυρίῳ.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 36 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. A reader comparing the Old Greek with the Masoretic Text will at once notice that the second half of Exodus in the LXX follows a markedly different arrangement of the Tabernacle-construction account: the Greek of chapters 36–39 is both shorter and reordered relative to the Hebrew. In particular, LXX Exodus 36 does NOT narrate the making of the tent-curtains, boards, and hangings (the content the MT places in its chapter 36); instead it recounts the fabrication of the priestly vestments — the material the MT presents in its chapter 39. Thus LXX Exodus 36 is the execution-report corresponding to the vestment instructions of chapter 28: the ephod (ἐπωμίς), its gold-and-dyed-yarn weave, the two engraved shoulder-stones bearing the tribes' names, the breastplate (λογεῖον) with its four rows of gemstones, the robe (ὑποδύτης) fringed with pomegranate-tassels (ῥοίσκοι) and golden bells (κώδωνες), the linen tunics, turbans and sashes, and finally the golden plate (πέταλον) engraved Ἁγίασμα κυρίῳ ('Holy to the LORD'). The chapter opens (36:1–7) with a brief notice of the artisans Beseleel and Eliab and all the wise-hearted beginning the work, and of the people's freewill offerings proving more than sufficient, so that Moses must restrain further giving (ἐκωλύθη ὁ λαὸς ἔτι προσφέρειν). Several technical terms here are rare or quasi-technical Greek: λογεῖον ('oracle-piece / breastplate', cf. λόγιον), ἐπωμίς ('shoulder-piece / ephod'), ἀσπιδίσκη ('little shield / rosette'), ἐμπλόκιον ('plaited chain'), κροσσοί ('tassels / fringes'), and the participial cluster συμπεπορπημένους / περισεσιαλωμένους describing the gold-set emerald shoulder-stones. The recurring refrain καθὰ / ὃν τρόπον συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ ('just as the LORD instructed Moses') punctuates the account (vv. 8, 12, 14, 28, 33, 36, 38), stamping each completed item with exact obedience to the Sinai blueprint.

Exodus 37 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΖ′

Theme. The construction account of the tabernacle in the LXX (Exod 35–40) diverges markedly from the Masoretic order: it is shorter, the material is rearranged, and the sequence of items does not track the Hebrew chapter divisions.

Outline.

• A · 37:1–6 — The curtains, the veil, and the screen of the tent of witness.
• B · 37:7–14 — The hangings of the court on its four sides.
• C · 37:15–18 — The metalwork of the court and the embroidered gate-screen.
• D · 37:19–21 — Colophon: the ordering of the tent and the master-craftsmen.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 37 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. The construction account of the tabernacle in the LXX (Exod 35–40) diverges markedly from the Masoretic order: it is shorter, the material is rearranged, and the sequence of items does not track the Hebrew chapter divisions. In particular, the LXX places in this chapter the making of the tent's textile fabric — the curtains and the hangings — material that the MT distributes across its chapter 36 (the curtains of the dwelling) and chapter 38 (the court). Thus LXX Exod 37 opens not, as MT 37, with the ark and the golden furniture (which the LXX has already narrated under the heading of the holy vessels), but with καὶ ἐποίησαν τῇ σκηνῇ δέκα αὐλαίας ('and they made for the tabernacle ten curtains', v. 1). The chapter narrates the ten linen curtains (αὐλαῖαι), the woven veil (καταπέτασμα) of blue, purple, and spun scarlet and twined byssus with cherubim, the screen of the door of the tent of witness, and then the hangings (ἱστία) of the court (αὐλή) on all four sides — south (λίψ), north (βορρᾶς), west (θάλασσα), and east (ἀνατολαί) — with their pillars (στῦλοι), bases (βάσεις), hooks (ἀγκύλαι), capitals (κεφαλίδες), and bronze pegs (πάσσαλοι). The vocabulary is that of skilled craft-execution: ἐποίησαν, κατεχρύσωσαν, περιηργυρωμένοι, ἔργον ὑφάντου ('work of a weaver'), ἔργον ποικιλτοῦ ('work of an embroiderer'). The perfect passive participles νενησμένου ('spun'), κεκλωσμένης ('twined'), and the gold/silver-plating participles describe finished, dedicated workmanship. The chapter closes (vv. 19–21) with a colophon: the σύνταξις ('ordering') of the tent of witness as it was commanded to Moses, the liturgical service of the Levites under Ithamar son of Aaron the priest, and the naming of the two master-craftsmen — Bezalel (Βεσελεηλ) son of Uri of the tribe of Judah, who made all that the LORD commanded, and Eliab/Oholiab (Ελιαβ) son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, who was chief-craftsman (ὃς ἠρχιτεκτόνησεν) of the woven, embroidered, and variegated work in scarlet and byssus.

Exodus 38 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΗ′

Theme. Exodus 38 in the LXX belongs to the second tabernacle account — the 'execution' or construction narrative (chs.

Outline.

• A · 38:1–4 — The ark of acacia overlaid with gold, with its rings and poles.
• B · 38:5–8 — The mercy-seat and the two cherubim of gold.
• C · 38:9–12 — The table of the Presence and its golden vessels.
• D · 38:13–17 — The golden lampstand with its branches, calyxes, and seven lamps.
• E · 38:18–21 — The silvering and gilding of the pillars; rings, hooks, capitals, and bronze pegs.
• F · 38:22–24 — The bronze altar from the censers of Korah's company, and its vessels and grating.
• G · 38:25–27 — The holy anointing oil, the incense, and the bronze laver from the women's mirrors.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 38 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 38 in the LXX belongs to the second tabernacle account — the 'execution' or construction narrative (chs. 35–40) — whose order and contents diverge markedly from the Masoretic Text and even from the Old Greek's own first, 'command' account in chs. 25–31. In the LXX's reckoning this chapter narrates the making of the sacred FURNITURE, the material the MT distributes mainly across its chapter 37: the ark (κιβωτός) of acacia overlaid with pure gold and its mercy-seat (ἱλαστήριον) crowned with the two cherubim (χερουβιμ); the table of the Presence (ἡ τράπεζα ἡ προκειμένη) and its golden vessels; the lampstand (λυχνία) with its branches (καλαμίσκοι), buds, calyxes (ἐνθέμια), and seven lamps; then a stretch of metalwork — the silvering and gilding of pillars, the casting of rings, hooks (ἀγκύλαι), bars, capitals, and bronze pegs; the bronze altar of burnt offering (θυσιαστήριον), cast 'from the bronze censers of the men who rebelled with the congregation of Korah' (ἐκ τῶν πυρείων τῶν χαλκῶν … μετὰ τῆς Κορε συναγωγῆς, v. 22 — a striking LXX plus absent from the MT); the holy anointing oil and the compounded incense, 'the work of a perfumer' (ἔργον μυρεψοῦ); and finally the bronze laver (λουτήρ) and its base, made 'from the mirrors of the women who fasted (ἐκ τῶν κατόπτρων τῶν νηστευσασῶν) at the door of the tent of witness.' Throughout, the craftsman Βεσελεηλ (Bezalel) is the controlling subject — named at v. 1 (καὶ ἐποίησεν Βεσελεηλ τὴν κιβωτόν) and thereafter resumed by the emphatic anaphoric οὗτος ('this man') that opens vv. 18–26 — and the execution vocabulary is dense and technical: ἐποίησεν ('made'), κατεχρύσωσεν / ἐχρύσωσεν ('overlaid with gold'), ἐχώνευσεν ('cast/founded'), περιηργύρωσεν ('overlaid with silver'). The chapter reads as an inventory of obedient craftsmanship, closing (v. 27) on the note that all was done καθάπερ συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ ('just as the LORD had instructed Moses').

Exodus 39 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ ΛΘ′

Theme. Exodus 39 belongs to the second tabernacle-construction account (chs.

Outline.

• A · 39:1–5 — The reckoning of gold and silver: totals of the offering.
• B · 39:6–9 — The reckoning of bronze and its works.
• C · 39:10–12 — Completion-refrain; the surplus gold and dyed yarn for the sacral vestments.
• D · 39:13–21 — The finished work brought to Moses: the full inventory.
• E · 39:22–23 — All done as commanded; Moses inspects and blesses (creation echo).

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 39 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 39 belongs to the second tabernacle-construction account (chs. 35–40), where the LXX diverges markedly from the Masoretic Text in both arrangement and extent: the Greek of this section is shorter, follows a different sequence of items, and distributes the material across chapter and verse boundaries quite unlike the Hebrew. In particular, LXX Exodus 39 gathers into a single chapter two bodies of material that the MT separates: the metrological reckoning of the metals — the totals of gold, silver, and bronze contributed and worked for the sanctuary (corresponding to MT 38:21–31) — and the bringing of the completed work to Moses with his inspection and blessing (corresponding to MT 39:32–43). The chapter thus opens with an accounting register (vv. 1–9): πᾶν τὸ χρυσίον ὃ κατειργάσθη ('all the gold that was worked', v. 1) at twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels; the silver ἀφαίρεμα ('contribution') of the mustered men at one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels (v. 2), itemised as a δραχμὴ μία τῇ κεφαλῇ — the half-shekel poll-tax per head (v. 3); the silver cast (χώνευσις) into the hundred sockets (vv. 4–5); and the bronze ἀφαίρεμα at seventy talents and 1,500 shekels worked into sockets, pegs, and the altar's bronze grating (vv. 6–9). A completion-refrain follows (v. 10: καθὰ συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ οὕτως ἐποίησαν), and then the surplus gold and the leftover blue, purple, and scarlet are made into the sacral vestments (vv. 11–12). The remainder of the chapter (vv. 13–21) is the great inventory: καὶ ἤνεγκαν … πρὸς Μωυσῆν ('and they brought … to Moses') — the tent, ark, altar, lampstand, table, vestments, hangings, coverings, and all the implements. The climax (vv. 22–23) reprises the obedience-formula and presents Moses' inspection: καὶ εἶδεν Μωυσῆς πάντα τὰ ἔργα καὶ ἦσαν πεποιηκότες αὐτὰ ὃν τρόπον συνέταξεν κύριος … καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς Μωυσῆς ('and Moses saw all the works, and they had done them just as the LORD had directed … and Moses blessed them'). The diction deliberately echoes the completion-and-blessing of creation in Genesis: God 'saw' all that he had made (εἶδεν … πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν, Gen 1:31), 'completed' the works (συνετέλεσεν … τὰ ἔργα, Gen 2:2), and 'blessed' (εὐλόγησεν, Gen 2:3) — casting the finished sanctuary as a new microcosm, a world rightly ordered according to the divine plan.

Exodus 40 — ΕΞΟΔΟΣ Μ′

Theme. Exodus 40 is the closing chapter of the book, and the Old Greek here is markedly shorter than the Masoretic Text: the LXX lacks Greek equivalents for several MT verses, so that Rahlfs' versification skips vv.

Outline.

• A · 40:1–10 — Divine command: erect the tabernacle and set its furnishings in place.
• B · 40:12–15 — Divine command: ordain and anoint Aaron and his sons.
• C · 40:16–29 — Moses' exact obedience: 'just as the LORD commanded'.
• D · 40:33–38 — Completion and climax: the glory fills the tabernacle; the guiding cloud and fire.

Translation & textual notes. The Greek text of Exodus 40 follows the standard critical text of the Septuagint as established in the Rahlfs–Hanhart edition (Septuaginta, rev. ed. 2006), an ancient and public-domain text; the critical apparatus is not reproduced. Exodus 40 is the closing chapter of the book, and the Old Greek here is markedly shorter than the Masoretic Text: the LXX lacks Greek equivalents for several MT verses, so that Rahlfs' versification skips vv. 7, 11, 28, 30, 31, and 32 entirely — the chapter runs 1–6, 8–10, 12–27, 29, 33–38 for a total of thirty-two verses, and these gaps are not editorial omissions but reflect the genuine brevity of the Greek tabernacle-narrative (the second tabernacle account in LXX Exodus 35–40 diverges substantially from the MT in both order and extent). The chapter falls into two great movements: a divine command to Moses to erect and arrange the tabernacle on the first day of the first month and to anoint and consecrate Aaron and his sons (vv. 1–15), and the narrative of Moses' exact obedience, punctuated by the recurring refrain ὃν τρόπον / καθὰ / καθάπερ συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ ('just as the LORD commanded Moses', vv. 19, 21, 23, 25, 27). The book climaxes at vv. 34–38: the cloud (νεφέλη) covers the tent of meeting and the glory of the LORD fills the tabernacle (δόξης κυρίου ἐπλήσθη ἡ σκηνή), so that Moses cannot enter; thereafter the cloud by day and fire by night guide Israel on all their journeys (ἀναζυγαί). This indwelling-glory is the goal toward which the whole exodus has moved — the LORD now tabernacles in the midst of his people (cf. 1 Kgs 8:10–11; the Johannine ἐσκήνωσεν of John 1:14; Rev 21:3) — and with it the Book of Exodus closes.

How the data set is organized

• lxx-interlinear/data/exodus{1..40}.json — the durable scholarly content: one JSON object per chapter (reference, titles, text-note, outline, and verses with per-word annotation and per-verse discourse notes). The data set shares the nt-interlinear toolkit and schema with the New Testament volumes.
• lxx-interlinear/ — the LXX data home and index builder; rendering reuses the chapter-agnostic nt-interlinear toolkit (stdlib-only HTML; headless-Chromium PDF). Adding a chapter (or a book) requires no code changes.
• Rendered artifacts — Exodus{1..40}.html and .pdf under lxxsite/Exodus/, linked from its index.html in the Septuagint site root.

The interpretive tiers (syntactic function, semantic force, discourse structure, and the proposed argument outlines) are interpretive by nature; where readings legitimately differ, the more common analysis was generally chosen, and the lexical notes are condensed orientation rather than a substitute for a lexicon (e.g. LEH / Muraoka) or a full commentary.