Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

According to the number of the angels
Deuteronomy 32:8

"When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:8, NKJV)

According to this text Elyon, the Most High, God, set the boundaries and borders of the nations. Many Bibles have a table of nations at the back derived from those listed as descended from the three sons of Noah (Genesis 10:32). History teaches us what has befallen man from upsetting this balance; just think of the artificial national boundaries decreed to the Balkans and the Middle East, especially Iraq and Israel, by the twentieth century superpowers, and the resultant wars that have followed.

Our problem here, though, lies in the meaning and textual transmission of the last phrase of the verse, "According to the number of the children of Israel". Does this mean that God appointed territory in relation to the size of Israel, or allotted the number of nations to match the number of descendants of the patriarch Jacob, a.k.a. Israel? Another possibility stems from the alternative readings of this text in the Greek, Latin and Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) versions. For instance, take a look at some of our Bible translations:

• "number of the children of Israel" (KJV, NKJV, NAS, JPS)
• "number of the sons of Israel" (NIV, Vulgate)
• "number of the sons of God" (RSV, Symmachus)
• "according to the number of the angels of God" (LXX, DSS)
• "under the care of divine guardians" (Message)
• "number of the gods” (NRSV)

There is little difference between "children" and "sons" since the Hebrew word, בְּנֵי benêy, can mean both. The change from "Israel" to "God" is more substantial and derives from the text of the Septuagint Greek Old Testament. Once the word "God" is added then the phrase "children of" more definitely shifts towards the rendering "sons of" because of the idiomatic phrase "sons of God" which in turn can mean angels (cf. Genesis 6:2,4; Job 1:6 38:7), the preferred usage of the Greek Septuagint and the earliest known Hebrew text found at Qumran.

Keil and Delitzsch^F1 regarded the Septuagint rendering as of "no critical value, - in fact, ... nothing more than an arbitrary interpretation founded upon the later Jewish notion of guardian angels of the different nations (Sir. 17:14), which probably originated in a misunderstanding of Deut. 4:19, as compared with Dan. 10:13, 20, 21, and 12:1." Sirach 17:14 (Vulgate, v.17 some English Apocrypha versions) offers some light on this thinking, "Over every nation he places a ruler, but the LORD'S own portion is Israel", but it is not clear whether human rulers or angelic princes, as the Daniel references, are imagined. Certainly, some Dead Sea Scrolls texts, such as the book of Jubilees, support a Jewish belief that the "sons of God" were angelic.

The United Bible Societies translator’s handbook on Deuteronomy^F2 seems to prefer the NRSV rendering, "according to the number of gods", which is describes as "more accurate" and based upon both the Septuagint and Qumran variants mentioned above. The dilemma here is that this appears to be based upon an evolutionary philosophy that the Hebrews came out of a polytheistic tribal environment where every nation had its god and Yahweh was just one amongst many and chose Israel out from amongst the nations and the other gods.

Similar critical tendencies point to the myth that the Canaanite deity El had 70 sons, which is similar to the nations described in Genesis 10. The notion of "70" is an even stronger motif within the Hebrew tradition for there were 70 children of Jacob/Israel who went down to Egypt as well as the 70 nations already mentioned. Jewish tradition also records the giving of the Torah on mount Sinai as being accompanied by flaming words and being in 70 tongues or languages, one for each nation that refused the Torah.^F3 Other Jewish traditions again mention there being 70 nations besides Israel, indeed, Numbers 29:12f. commands the sacrifice of 70 bulls over 7 days at the Feast of Tabernacles which legend says represents the 70 gentile nations.^F4 The Septuagint itself was reputedly translated by 70 scholars, hence its moniker the LXX, Roman numerals for "70". Similarly, Christ sent out 70 disciples in pairs to witness to Israel (Luke 10:1).

Thus, the idea seems to be that of ascribing boundaries to the nations either based upon the need of future Israel or simply using the numerical symbolism of the 70 as being the number of divided nations after Babel which coincided with the number of Israel's children. Whilst Scripture does speak of angels over nations and gods of other lands (who are not gods at all) it does not seem to be what is intended here. Furthermore, despite the early church's preference for the Greek Septuagint the second-century church father Justin Martyr^F5 preferred the reading "children of Israel" whilst acknowledging the alternative readings.

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F., Commentary on the Old Testament
F2: Bratcher, R. G., & Hatton, H., A handbook on Deuteronomy, UBS handbook series, 2000, (New York: United Bible Societies), p.538.
F3: Exodus Rabbah 29; Rappoport, Ancient Israel, Myths and Legends, p.307
F4: Rashi quoting Sukkah 55b
F5: Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 131 (mid-2nd century A.D.)

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