Where Did the 10 Shekels Go? Understanding MT Ezekiel 45:12 and its LXX translation
(2027) EABS annual conference — Location: Leuven (20.July.2027)
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- Ezekiel 45 is part of the final part of the book of Ezekiel, in which Ezekiel, following the description of the new Jerusalem, gives ordinances for how an ideal society should be structured. An interesting, yet often overlooked part is Ezekiel’s instructions on weight and measurements for offerings, in 45:10-17. This section starts out with a general statement (v. 10-12) describing the different units of measurements and how much they contain. Particularly verse 12 is interesting, as it describes a weight system for calculating the mina: 15 + 25 + 20 shekels equals one mina. This strange way of calculating the mina, as well as some inner Hebrew inconsistencies, has led several scholars to look at the Septuagint. For this verse the Septuagint has 50, not 60 shekels to the mina and a much simpler way of presenting this figure, leading scholars to propose this as the original reading. This solution proved popular, with the RSV even using a translation of the LXX in their English text of Ezekiel for this verse. While more contemporary scholarship is more careful, the issue remains unresolved. Did the LXX preserve an older version that, through textual mishaps, became the text of the MT? In this paper, we want to propose a new solution, based on an analysis of the description of weights in the Zenon papyri. We want to argue that the MT made sense in the early Persian period in which Ezekiel was likely composed and reflects the value of the mina and the weights used in that context. However, in the Hellenistic context of the Septuagint translators the value of the mina had changed and the LXX text reflects this change. By comparing the descriptions from the Zenon papyri to archaeological findings in both Ptolemaic Egypt and the Southern Levant, we want to attempt to show the historical reality that likely explains this difference between the MT and the LXX.
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Beukenhorst, M., & Delmeulle, M. (2027, July 22). Where Did the 10 Shekels Go? Understanding MT Ezekiel 45:12 and its LXX translation. EABS annual conference, Leuven. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/279921