I'd like to introduce a topic, explain what the contemporary scholarship has to say about it and how it relates to the Latter-day Saint perspective, and then invite comments. When the topic has run its course I'll move one. It's not my intention to open this thread for other submissions, but to discuss the topics I introduce. Hopefully that's not too much to ask. There will be plenty to discuss. Often this format breaks down and obdurate posters preclude the introduction of new topics. I'd like to avoid that.
My first post will deal with ancient Israelite ideology about a corporeal deity, specifically one whose face is available to his followers in the temple. I don't remember if I've discussed this particular topic before, but if I have please forgive me. Those acquainted with LDS theology will obviously see the link to D&C 93:1; 88:68; and 101:38.
Exodus 23:17 introduces a commandment found in the KJV thus:
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
The commandment is cited or alluded to in a number of other scriptures:
- Exod 23:15
- Exod 34:20
- Exod 34:23
- Exod 34:24
- Deut 16:16 (x2)
- Deut 31:11
- 1 Sam 1:22
- Isa 1:12
- Ps 42:3
The interesting aspect of these scriptures becomes evident when the verb translated "appear" in the KJV is found in the infinitive construct (in Hebrew, of course), which occurs in Exod 34:24, Deut 31:11, and Isa 1:12. In all three places the infinitive construct is as follows:
לֵרָאֹות
To be passive, and mean "appear," this verb (ra'ah - "to see") needs to be in the Niphal, and the vowels added to the text indicate a Niphal reading, but in the infinitive construct the Niphal has a preformative he, as in 1 Kgs 18:2:
לְהֵרָאֹות
Without the preformative he, the verb is indistinguishable from the active Qal morphology. In the imperfective, which is the morphology of every other attestation of the phrase (Except 1 Sam, which will be discussed below) the Qal and the Niphal are identical without vowels. The vowels were added by 9th century CE Jewish scribes, and they, of course, align the text with their ideology as much as possible.
What this all leads to is the conclusion that this verb, when originally written, was written with an active conjugation, meaning the translation should read:
Three times in the year all thy males shall see the face of the Lord God.
The phrase אֶת־פְּנֵי means "to the face of," or "to my face," and can colloquially mean "in the presence of," or "before me." Oddly, the particle אֶת is usually used as a direct object marker or an indicator of an accusative case. אֶל ("to," "before," "against") is the preposition prefixed to פְּנֵי to indicate the colloquial reading.
A number of Samaritan Pentateuch manuscripts and medieval Jewish manuscripts preserve the earlier Qal reading in the verses appearing in the infinitive construct, and some preserve an active reading for 1 Sam 1:22, which is the only verse that cannot be active (see Carmel McCarthy, The Tiqqune Sopherim [Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1981], 199–205.). In the case of 1 Sam, the manuscript appears to have had the actual consonants changed, which is not inconsistent with Samuel's textual tradition.
This little scribal correction has been recognized for centuries, although I'm working on some research associated with it that I am hoping to publish next year. The only potential obstacle that I've been able to uncover is Gary Rendsburg's assertion that the elision of the he in Niphal infinitive constructs are common to Mishnaic Hebrew and might be responsible for this development in Late Biblical Hebrew (see Gary Rendsburg, “Laqtil Infinitives: Yiphil or Hiphil?” Orientalia 51.2 (1982): 231–38.). The four examples he points out are all ambiguous enough that a Qal reading is either not precluded, or preferred. The verses in question are also a little early to be grouped with Late Biblical Hebrew morphological developments. I've emailed him to discuss the issue.
To sum up, the original versions (as close as we can get) contained a commandment to go up three times a year to the temple to see the face of God. The commandment was thus understood from Exodus to Josiah's composition of Deuteronomy, and to Isaiah and the Psalmist. The Septuagint translates the verb passively. This puts the theological innovation around the time of increased Greek influence, which is consistent with the theory that the deanthropomorphization (nice word, huh?) of God in Judaism was catalyzed by the assimilation of Hellenistic ideologies.
For further reading, please see a phenomenal new book by Esther J. Hamori entitled "When Gods Were Men": The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2008). The book doesn't address out text, but provides a wealth of other resources for the early anthropomorphized Israelite perspective on God.
Any thoughts?