Identities and Ideologies: The Greek Translator(s) of the Pentateuch and God's Arm
(2025) Theological and Ethical Transformations in Ancient Bible Translations — ISBN: [9789042949478], accepted/in-press
Files
outstretchedarmEDCRfirstpages.pdf
preprint first page
Open Access - Adobe PDF
- 289.96 KB
Details
- Authors
Recalcati, Camilla 
- Abstract
- Often used in the so-called Deuteronom(ist)ic expression “with mighty hand and outstretched arm”, God’s hands and arms are associated with His power and might, and often refer to God leading the Israelites out of Egypt. In fact, all the references to God’s “mighty hand” in the Pentateuch refer directly to the exodus, and these references often couple God’s hand with other concepts denoting power and might. God’s arm is, then, used to underline God’s might — but is it only used metonymically to denote power, or does it constitute a part of God’s physical body? This article will focus on God’s outstretched arm, and how this is portrayed in the LXX-Pentateuch, examining possible anti-anthropomorphic tendencies visible in the renderings, as well as subtle instances of Egyptian influences in the depiction of the divine outstretched arm.
- Affiliations
Citations
De Doncker, E., & Recalcati, C. (2025). Identities and Ideologies: The Greek Translator(s) of the Pentateuch and God’s Arm. In Collectif (ed.), Theological and Ethical Transformations in Ancient Bible Translations. Peeters. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/270006