'[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]: Appeasing God in the Septuagint Pentateuch (Critical Essay‪)‬

I. STATING THE PROBLEM The simplex verb [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and its compound [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] indicate in Greek literature the action "appease," "placate," "propitiate," and are found in both the religious and secular realms. The word group (hereafter "the word" or "the verb") expresses the process by which a person could restore to kindness an aggrieved deity or fellow mortal, who would typically appear as the direct object of the verb. In the Septuagint this sense occurs to a limited extent. (1) In the cultic portions of the Pentateuch, however, the word in its meaning "propitiate" becomes a contextual difficulty. Such a meaning does not equate to [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], which there does not mean "appease" but rather something like "purge of impurities." (2) Moreover, the Greek verb does not appear in syntax familiar to Greek readers. Instead of a human or deity appearing as the direct object in the accusative, a prepositional phrase or, far less frequently, an impersonal noun as the direct object now follows the verb. The nouns in the prepositional phrases are often individuals, but could also be items such as tents and altars or abstracts such as life and sin. If the verb could convey something like "purge," "purify," or "expiate" in these types of constructions, it would make better contextual sense, especially since this is what the Hebrew means.