George F Somsel wrote:11 ἀνοίσει 1°] αναφερει 85′mg-321′mg; ανθισει 318 | τὸ δράγμα 931] το δραχμα M′ 82 85*(vid)-346* 392 55*; τα δραγματα 376 134 AethM; τα δωρα x-509; om τό oI | ἔναντι κυρίου] -τιον κ̅υ̅ 52′ 130mg-321′c-344mg 319; ενωπιον κ̅υ̅ 376; > 318; post ὑμῖν tr 121 | ὑμῖν] ημιν 730; > oI-15 | τῇ ἐπαύριον] pr offeretis id Sa3; pr και 15 130mg-321′mg -344mg y-121 Aeth Arm; > 53′ | ἐπαύριον] sup ras 129 | πρώτης] + των σαββατων 29 68′ 319 AethCRa | ἀνοίσει 2°] pr και 16; bis scr 129 | αὐτό] αυτω 376-707 53′-246*; αυτον V; αυτα A B* n-767 121* 319; > AethMPR
Excellent. Thanks for that Mr. Somsel. Could I ask where you got this from?
So four other sources for Leviticus 23:9 add on των σαββατων after της πρωτης, therefore more or less conforming it to the underlying Hebrew. This would mean that either they had access to the underlying Hebrew, or to other manuscripts that had των σαββατων here as well.
I managed to find an image of Codex Vaticanus in this place, and it certainly just has της πρωτης there.
I'm wondering however, whether the scribes that include των σαββατων aren't just influenced by the first section of Leviticus 23:15: Καὶ ἀριθμήσετε ὑμεῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπαύριον τῶν σαββάτων - which is also referring to the same day as that mentioned in Leviticus 23:11. Do 29, 68′, 319, & AethCRa also include της πρωτης in Leviticus 23:15?
RandallButh wrote:I wonder if the substitution of ημερης for σαββατου is related to the controversy of the counting of the `omer? Some interpreted shabbat to refer to the 15th of Nisan, others to the normal shabbat of the week in which the 15th of Nisan fell. 'the first' might be a midrashic appositive that refers to the first day of the week, Sunday, in order to explicitly avoid the other reading. The genitive may appear strange for an appositive to a dative, but the dative and accusative would be problematic, too, and would not have made Sunday as explicit.
I too was thinking this. Both Josephus and Philo state that the tradition during their time was to have Firstfruits on the second day of Unleavened bread:
But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. -
Josephus: The Antiquities of the Jews: 3.250 (Or Book 3, Chapter 10)
There is also a festival on the day of the paschal feast, which succeeds the first day, and this is named the sheaf, from what takes place on it; for the sheaf is brought to the altar as a first fruit both of the country... -
Philo: The Special Laws, II: 162
But even today, there are some Jewish groups (especially the Karaites) who don't have it always on the sixteenth of Nisan/Abib, but after the first seventh-day Shabbat that appears during Unleavened bread.
I wonder whether the Septuagint translator had indeed wanted to make it explicit as to what day it was, possibly attempting to create something like "And he shall raise the sheaf up before Yahweh, acceptable for you all; on the day after (this being the first day of the week), the priest shall raise it up." Or he (they?) could've wanted to make the 16th of Nisan/Abib explicit, with της πρωτης meaning the first day of unleavened bread, "And he shall raise the sheaf up before Yahweh, acceptable for you all; on the day after the first (day of unleavened bread) the priest shall raise it up."
Essentially, I was hoping to find something in the Greek text itself that could clarify as to what "first" was being referred to, be it the first day of the week, or the first day of unleavened bread
