In Revelation, chapter 7, we have the angels
worshipping God but Paul would not have had John’s writing most likely which is
believed to have been written later. There is no specific phrase in the Old
Testament that says And let all the angels of God worship him and modern
scholars insist that it is found in the Septuagint, supposedly the original
Greek Bible miraculously translated in a brief period of time, in Deuteronomy
32:43, which the KJV translators apparently had access to as they mention the
Septuagint twice in their Letter to the Reader which used to be in front of old
editions of the King James Bibles and used it for the Apocrypha which was
placed between the Testaments and eventually removed altogether. They didn’t
hold the Septuagint as being authoritative apparently because of the hastiness
of its preparation.
The facts is that the earliest evidence of a
Septuagint, the Hebrew Torah translated into common Greek, called Koine’ Greek,
are fragments from as early as the 2nd century BC. However, think
about it, the oldest complete manuscript we have is from the 4th
century, the Codex Vaticanus, which is referred to heavily in modern versions,
containing the Hebrew Bible and apocryphal books. Online sources note that the
word Septuagint comes from the Latin and is first called as such in the 16th
century. So apart from a few fragments of manuscripts from before Christ
translated into Greek from the Hebrew, Greek being the common language of the
Roman world and the Mediterranean world of the time, we don’t have a complete
manuscript until 300+ years after Christ and it isn’t even called “The
Septuagint” until the 16th century. Be careful in ascribing verses
to a Greek manuscript that may or may not have existed at the time of Paul and
which, if it did, may have back copied this verse into Deuteronomy, altering
the text to make it match this reference in Hebrews. I’m not convinced and am
not ready to say that this verse in Hebrews copies the Septuagint.
The point is that there are credible scholars
who insist that the main evidence of the existence of a Greek Septuagint before
Christ is a document called The Letter of Aristeas, which many believe
to be a hoax due partly to anachronisms in it. From my study the story of a
Pre-Christian Septuagint is a hoax and a few fragments of the Hebrew Bible
translated into Greek don’t mean that there was an entire Bible like that
before the 4th century.
I say that this passage in Hebrews, like some
other phrases and words in the New Testament that have no Old Testament
moorings, was understood to be valid and true in Paul’s time and came from a
source that was not given by inspiration, perhaps a letter by an Apostle
we don’t have in our Bible but that the Holy Spirit confirmed this statement
here. So where is And let all the angels of God worship him found in the
Bible. It is found here and in the sentiment expressed in Psalm 97:7.
Psalm 97:7
Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves
of idols: worship him, all ye gods.
Verse 7 directly quotes Psalm 104;
Psalm 104:4
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Verse 8 refers back to a verse in Psalms, as
well;
Psalm 45:6 ¶
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a
right sceptre.
See how Paul here notes that this verse
references Christ as God? And note these Old Testament passages for comparison.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon
the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Again, in verse 9, Paul underscores the link
to Christ by referring back to Psalm 45.
Psalm 45:7
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
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