Editing Septuagint (section)

==== Differences from the Vulgate and the Masoretic Text ====
The text of the Septuagint is generally close to that of the Masoretes and Vulgate. Genesis 4:1–6<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:1–6|KJV}}</ref> is identical in the Septuagint, Vulgate and the Masoretic Text, and Genesis 4:8<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:8|KJV}}</ref> to the end of the chapter is the same. There is only one noticeable difference in that chapter, at 4:7:{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

{|cellspacing="5" cellpadding="10"
|-style="text-align:center;"
|'''Genesis 4:7, LXX and English Translation ([[New English Translation of the Septuagint|NETS]])'''||'''Genesis 4:7, Masoretic and English Translation from MT ([[Judaica Press]])'''||'''Genesis 4:7, Latin Vulgate and English Translation (Douay-Rheims)'''
|-
|οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ.<br /><br />Have you not sinned if you have brought it righteously, but not righteously divided it? Be calm, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him.||{{Script/Hebrew|הֲלוֹא אִם תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ וְאַתָּה תִּמְשָׁל בּוֹ:}}<br /><br />Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it.||{{lang|la|nonne si bene egeris, recipies : sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit? sed sub te erit appetitus ejus, et tu dominaberis illius.}}<br /><br />If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
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The differences between the Septuagint and the MT fall into four categories:<ref name="Jinbachian">See Jinbachian, ''Some Semantically Significant Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20040514084024/http://210.107.99.8/appendage/labhwp/Jinbachian.doc].</ref>
# ''Different Hebrew sources for the MT and the Septuagint''. Evidence of this can be found throughout the Old Testament. A subtle example may be found in Isaiah 36:11;<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|36:11|KJV}}</ref> the meaning remains the same, but the choice of words evidences a different text. The MT reads ''"...al tedaber yehudit be-'ozne ha`am al ha-homa"'' [speak not the Judean language in the ears of (or—which can be heard by) the people on the wall]. The same verse in the Septuagint reads, according to the translation of Brenton: "and speak not to us in the Jewish tongue: and wherefore speakest thou in the ears of the men on the wall." The MT reads "people" where the Septuagint reads "men". This difference is very minor and does not affect the meaning of the verse.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Scholars had used discrepancies such as this to claim that the Septuagint was a poor translation of the Hebrew original. This verse is found in Qumran (1QIsa''a''), however, where the Hebrew word ''"haanashim"'' (the men) is found in place of ''"haam"'' (the people). This discovery, and others like it, showed that even seemingly-minor differences of translation could be the result of variant Hebrew source texts.
# ''Differences in interpretation'' stemming from the same Hebrew text. An example is Genesis 4:7,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:7|KJV}}</ref> shown above.
# ''Differences as a result of idiomatic translation issues'': A Hebrew idiom may not be easily translated into Greek, and some difference is imparted. In Psalm 47:10,<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|47:10|KJV}}</ref> the MT reads: "The shields of the earth belong to God"; the Septuagint reads, "To God are the mighty ones of the earth."
# ''Transmission changes in Hebrew or Greek'': Revision or recension changes and copying errors