ἑβδομήκοντα

From the study of Luke 10:1

Range of meaning

'Seventy' or 'seventy-two'. In Jewish tradition both numbers carried symbolic associations as well as their counting value.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT (and older NASB) follow manuscripts reading 'seventy'. BSB, NIV, ESV, NLT follow those reading 'seventy-two'. Readers who compare Bibles are seeing a real manuscript split, not a translation error.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 10 lists the nations descended from Noah: 70 in the Hebrew text, 72 in the Greek Septuagint. 1 Enoch 89:59 speaks of 70 shepherds over the nations. Moses' 70 elders receive a share of his spirit (Numbers 11:16-25), with Eldad and Medad making 72. The Jewish high council (Sanhedrin) had 70 or 71 members (Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:6). The Letter of Aristeas has 72 translators of the Torah into Greek.

From the study of Luke 10:17

Range of meaning

A plain number, “seventy” (with δύο, “seventy-two”). In Jewish tradition both numbers were symbolic.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and NASB (1995) follow the “seventy” manuscripts. BSB, NIV, ESV and NLT follow the “seventy-two” manuscripts. Neither choice is a mistranslation. Each follows a different line of manuscripts.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 10 lists the nations descended from Noah: seventy in the Hebrew text, seventy-two in the Greek Septuagint. Later Jewish tradition spoke of “the seventy nations.” Moses chose seventy elders to share his spirit, and two more, Eldad and Medad, prophesied in the camp (Num 11:16–29), which some count as seventy-two. The Sanhedrin was traditionally seventy or seventy-one members. In 1 Enoch 89:59 God sets seventy shepherds over Israel. The Letter of Aristeas makes seventy-two the number of the elders who translated the Law into Greek.