📜 The Dead Sea Scrolls And Septuagint Solve A Mystery In The Masoretic Text
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Israel Wasn’t Even In Existence When the Most High Divided The Nations!
The fact that Israel didn’t even exist at this point in Gen. 11:1-9, as referenced by Deut. 32:8, proves that the much older Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) & Septuagint (LXX) are crucial in solving complex issues in the Masoretic Text (MT).
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. — Deuteronomy 32:8 King James Version (KJV)
The only versions of the Bible that survived my previous litmus tests, that also have the correct “sons of God” or “heavenly assembly / court” translation are the: ESV, NET, and NLT.
English Standard Version
Formal Equivalence (Essentially Equivalent) “Word-For-Word”. Textual Basis: Masoretic Text BHS ‘83, DSS, LXX, SP, S, Vg; UBS5, NA28
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders[a] of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.[b]
b. Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text sons of Israel
ESV Study Bible
According to 200+ biblical scholars from 9 countries, nearly 20 denominations, and 50 seminaries, colleges, and universities. With educated professors from universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, London, Tokyo Japan, California, MIT, Dallas, etc. The ESV Study Bible says:
32:8–9 gave to the nations their inheritance. For example, Edom, Moab, and Ammon in 2:1–23, as well as Israel throughout the book. According to the number of the sons of God may suggest that certain angels (“sons of God”; see Job 1:6) are responsible for specific nations, whereas the Lord himself cares for Israel. See also the second esv footnote on v. 8. the LORD’s portion. A term of special affection. See notes on Deut. 4:20 and 18:1–2.
New English Translation (NET)
Optimal Equivalence. Textual Basis: Masoretic Text BHS [B19A(L)], DSS; NA28, UBS4.
When the Most High[a] gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up humankind,[b] he set the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the heavenly assembly.[c]
NET Full Translators’ Notes
25+ of the world’s foremost biblical scholars including Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Dr. W. Hall Harris III editor of LEB and contributor of NASB ‘95. Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Sheffield, Columbia, Dallas, etc.
c. Deuteronomy 32:8 tc Heb “the sons of Israel.” The idea, perhaps, is that Israel was central to Yahweh’s purposes and all other nations were arranged and distributed according to how they related to Israel. See S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC), 355-56. For the MT יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bene yisraʾel, “sons of Israel”) a Qumran fragment has “sons of God,” while the LXX reads ἀγγέλων θεοῦ (angelōn theou, “angels of God”), presupposing בְּנֵי אֵל (bene ʾel) or בְּנֵי אֵלִים (bene ʾelim). “Sons of God” is undoubtedly the original reading; the MT and LXX have each interpreted it differently. MT assumes that the expression “sons of God” refers to Israel (cf. Hos. 1:10), while LXX has assumed that the phrase refers to the angelic heavenly assembly (Pss 29:1; 89:6; cf. as well Ps 82). The phrase is also attested in Ugaritic, where it refers to the high god El’s divine assembly. According to the latter view, which is reflected in the translation, the Lord delegated jurisdiction over the nations to his angelic host (cf. Dan. 10:13-21), while reserving for himself Israel, over whom he rules directly. For a defense of the view taken here, see M. S. Heiser, “Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God,” BSac 158 (2001): 52-74.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Dynamic Equivalence “Thought-For-Thought” NOT paraphrase. Textual Basis: Masoretic Text BHS ‘77, DSS, LXX, SP, S, Vg; UBS4, NA27. Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Columbia, Manchester, Dallas, etc.
When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court.[a]
a. 32:8 As in Dead Sea Scrolls, which read the number of the sons of God, and Greek version, which reads the number of the angels of God; Masoretic Text reads the number of the sons of Israel.
Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s Peer Reviewed Research
Here is the PDF I located on his research mentioned in the video above.
This article has argued that the best translation of Deut 32.17 involves rendering אֱלֹ֔הַ as a singular (“God”). Doing so results in a reading where the passage assumes the reality of the other gods as demonic spiritual entities. This rendering and its result are internally consistent with other statements in Deuteronomy where YHWH disinherits the nations to the governance of lesser gods who are qualitatively and ontologically inferior to YHWH, who is unique. The lexical, syntactic, and contextual data support rendering Deut 32.17 as, “They sacrificed to demons, not God, gods they had never known … “
From what I could glean from his videos, it would seem that Heiser favors the ESV as well as NET Full Notes, and is seeking to further perfect the ESV in Deut. 32:17, especially after translating Deut. 32:8 so well.
… I recommend the ESV. For a study Bible, however, I like the NET Bible …
You can read Michael S. Heiser’s blog, where he personally recommends the ESV, NET, NRSV, and NLT. These are nearly identical findings to our own independent research over the past half year.
My test case for this is Deuteronomy 32:8 and Deuteronomy 32:43. The former should read “sons of God” (ESV; cp. “gods” in NRSV), or something like “heavenly beings” (NET Bible) or “heavenly court” (NLT) instead of “sons of Israel.” Verse 43 should read “bow down to Him, all you gods” (ESV, NRSV) or something akin to it like NLT’s “let all God’s angels worship him.”
| Version | Deut. 32:8 | Deut. 32:43 | Deut. 32:17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKJV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| AMP | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| AMPC | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| ASV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| BRG | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| CEB | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| CEV | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| CJB | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| CSB | 🦶 | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| DARBY | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| DRA | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| EHV | ❌ | 🦶 | ❌ |
| ERV | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| ESV | 👑 | ✔️ | ❌ |
| ESVUK | 👑 | ✔️ | ❌ |
| EXB | 🦶 | ❌ | ✔️ |
| GNT | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| GNV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| GW | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| HCSB | ❌ | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| ICB | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| ISV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| JUB | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| KJ21 | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| KJV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| LEB | 🦶 | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| LSB | 🦶 | ❌ | ✔️ |
| MEV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| MSG | ✔️ | ❌ | ❔ |
| NABRE | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| NASB ‘20 | 🦶 | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NASB ‘95 | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NCB | 👑 | ✔️ | ❌ |
| NCV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NET | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NIRV | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NIV | 🦶 | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| NIVUK | ❌ | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| NKJV | 🦶 | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| NLT | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| NLV | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| NOG | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| NRSV A |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| NRSV ACE |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| NRSV CE |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| NRSV UE |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| OJB | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| RSV | 👑 | ❌ | ❌ |
| RSVCE | 👑 | ❌ | ❌ |
| TLB | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| TLV | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| VOICE | 👑 | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| WEB | ❌ | 🦶 | ✔️ |
| WYC | 〰️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| YLT | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |