D32-42: Why Doesn’t This Verse Appear In The Last Part Of The Song Of Moses In Most Bibles?

In my last post, we were having a hot discussion about the final verses of the Song of Moses.

I stated that depending upon which source text was used, there was a very key verse that has either been included or deleted.

For Bible translations that use the Masoretic Text as their source such as the Complete Jewish Bible, this key verse has been deleted.

However, for Bibles that base their translation on the Septuagint, the verse is kept intact.

So which Biblical source is correct, the Masoretic Text or the Septuagint?

The answer is the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls settled matters for us.

Because what’s written there is pretty much the same as what’s in the Septuagint.

So the Septuagint wins.

Here are the verses in question:

“O heavens, rejoice with Him,
Bow to Him all sons of the divine.
O nations, rejoice with His people,
And let all angels of the divine strengthen
themselves in Him.
Requite those who reject Him,
And He will cleanse His people’s land.”

The controversy of course lies with the part above that I bolded and underlined.

First, don’t you find it interesting that the placement of these verses immediately follows the part in the Song of Moses where God is sarcastically asking His people...

…”So what good did the heathen gods of the gentile nations ever do for you homies” (that’s a paraphrase by the way)?

Think about it for a second.

In the very same context where the Lord is scolding Israel for following after the gods of the nations, immediately afterwards He says these divine beings or BENEI ELOHIM are to bow down to Him.

Isn’t that interesting?

So let’s get back to the $64,000 question of why the Jewish scholars who wrote the Masoretic Texts removed this verse in the first place?

It is believed they did this because they were following a tradition that any and all mention of BENEI ELOHIM had to be removed because to even consider that other beings or spiritual entities could be worshipped as gods (even if under the control of Hashem) was a big no-no.

And we have to understand that the ancient Israelites were constantly falling into idolatrous practices.

So what to make of all this?

Well, remember there are BENEI ELOHIM or divine beings spoken of in the Book of Genesis and we’re told that Hashem has assigned these divine beings over each nation on the planet (except Israel of course).

Remember in the Book of Daniel we have the scene where the Prince of Persia stops an angel of the Lord from visiting Daniel in Babylon.

It wasn’t until the chief angelic prince Michael joined the battle that Daniel’s angel was able to disentangle himself and get free from the angelic Prince of Persia.

And in these same passages, there’s mention of another BENEI ELOHIM who rules over Greece.

Here’s the deal and understand I’m not being dogmatic about this.

In fact, I don’t see how anyone can be dogmatic about matters like this that occur in the unseen realms of the invisible spiritual world.

Here’s my take.

I betcha throughout history these so-called spiritual princes who rule over the gentile nations (again called BENEI ELOHIM in Scripture) have allowed themselves to be worshipped as “gods”, even though they’re NOT gods.

However, so awesome in power and appearance these BENEI ELOHIM were that quite frankly it’s not hard to imagine why the gentiles would be fooled into thinking these divine beings were gods.

Heck, even in the Scriptures, there are many times whenever an angel sent from the Lord appears, the first reaction is for folks to bow down and begin worshipping it.

In these cases, the angel tells the awestruck witness to hold his horses and NOT bow down and worship him because He’s just an angel and not the Almighty Himself.

So in the final verses that close the Song of Moses contained only in the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, we find the commandment that everything in the heavens and earth, the angels, the gentiles AND…

…the BENEI ELOHIM are all to bow down to Hashem the God of Israel.

In other words, we’re being told that NOT just the children of Israel but every being in both heaven and earth are to bow down to Hashem.

Hashem is saying…

“I don’t care how great you think you are, at the end of the day you answer to ME”.

In other words, the Lord is making clear where His creation stands within the spiritual hierarchy or heavenly pecking order so to speak.

Hashem is to be above everyone and everything…including the gods of the nations.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
^“…that at the name of Yeshua
every knee should bow,
of those in heaven,
and of those on earth,
and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess
that Yeshua Messiah is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
-Philippians 2:10-11