On page 154 in his book Bible History: Old Testament, Alfred Edersheim states in a footnote that “he-goat” is erroneously rendered “devils” in Leviticus 17: 7 in the Authorized (King James) Version.
In this essay, forty-two versions of the Old Testament are examined. There are thirteen ways of translating the word in question. One version, the Amplified Bible, offers three possibilities. The whole verse from thirteen versions is quoted, but only one term is considered. Other versions which use the same term are listed with the version that is quoted. Following the passages are footnotes from five versions and quotes from four other reference books.
Versions Compared
- ASV – American Standard Version
- EVD – English Version for the Deaf
- HSH – Holy Scriptures (Harkavy)
- IB – Interlinear Bible
- JBK – Jerusalem Bible (Koren)
- KJV – King James Version
- KTC – Knox Translation
- LXX – The Septuagint
- NBV – New Berkeley Version
- NJPS – New JPS Version
- NLV – New Life Version
- NTJ – A New Translation
- NWT – New World Translation
Other Versions Used
- AAT – An American Translation (Beck)
- AB – Amplified Bible
- DHB – Darby Holy Bible
- EBR – The Emphasized Bible
- GW – God’s Word
- HBME – The Holy Bible in Modern English
- HBRV – Holy Bible Revised Version
- IV – Inspired Version
- LB – Living Bible
- LBP – Lamsa Bible
- MNT – Moffatt New Translation
- MRB – Modern Reader’s Bible
- NAB – New American Bible
- NAS – New American Standard Version
- NCV – New Century Version
- NEB – New English Bible
- NIV – New International Version
- NJB – New Jerusalem Bible
- NKJ – New King James Version
- NLT – New Living Translation
- NRS – New Revised Standard Version
- REB – Revised English Bible
- RSV – Revised Standard Version
- SGAT – An American Translation (Smith-Goodspeed)
- SNB – Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bibles
- SSBE – The Sacred Scriptures, Bethel Edition
- TEV – Today’s English Version
- TJB – The Jerusalem Bible (Catholic)
- YLR – Young’s Literal Translation, Revised Edition
Leviticus 17: 7
ASV – And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the he-goats, after which they play the harlot. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: HBRV, MRB, SSBE.
EVD – They must not offer any more sacrifices to their ‘goat idols’! They have chased after those other gods. In that way, they have acted like prostitutes. These rules will continue forever!
Other Versions: GW, NCV, NIV.
HSH – And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto evil spirits, after whom they have gone astray. This is a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: AAT, LB, NLT.
IB – And they shall not sacrifice their sacrifices any more to goats, after which they have gone whoring. This is a never-ending statute to them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: YLR.
JBK – And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to the demons, after whom they have gone astray. This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: AB, DHB, EBR, HBME, LBP, NEB, NKJ, REB, SNB.
KJV – And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a-whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: IV.
KTC – You have prostituted yourselves to the worship of false gods; to them you must offer victims no longer. Such is the law they and their descendants must obey for all time; … .
Other Versions: [None.]
LXX – And they shall no longer offer their sacrifices unto the vain gods after which they go a whoring; it shall be a perpetual statute to you for your generations.
Other Versions: [None.]
NBV – They shall no longer present their offerings to field spirits whom they are adulterously courting.
Other Versions: AB.
NJPS – …; and that they may offer their sacrifices no more to the goat-demons after whom they stray. This shall be to them a law for all time, throughout the ages.
Other Versions: NAS, NRS, TEV.
NLV – So they will no longer give their gifts to the goat-like gods to whom they sell themselves. This will be a Law to them for all their people forever.
Other Versions: AB.
NTJ – And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the satyrs, after whom they go astray. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Other Versions: MNT, NAB, NJB, RSV, SGAT, TJB.
NWT – So they should no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat-shaped demons with which they are having immoral intercourse. This will serve as a statute to time indefinite for YOU, throughout your generations.
Other Versions: [None.]
Notes
- Darby Holy Bible:
- Lit. ‘hairy,’ hence ‘a buck-goat.’ Sacrifices were offered to imaginary beings thus designated.
- Living Bible:
- Literally, “hairy ones.”
- The Jerusalem Bible (Catholic):
- “Goats,” contemptuously used of the demons in animal form thought to live in deserts and ruins.
- New Berkeley Version:
- The whole Hebrew nation had been married to Jehovah [Deut. 4:13, 23] at Sinai, and again [Deut. 29:1], a new generation on the plains of Moab.
- New Living Translation:
- Or goat idols.
- Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon:
- hairy, rough;
- a he-goat, hircus; as to the [idolatrous] worship of the he-goat among the Hebrews (following the example of the Egyptians), see Leviticus 17:7; 2 Chronicles 11:15;
- wood demons, satyrs, resembling he-goats, inhabiting deserts.
- Smith’s Bible Dictionary:
- Satyr: a sylvan deity or demigod of Greek mythology, represented as a monster, part man and part goat. Isaiah 13:21; 34:14. The Hebrew word signifies “hairy” or “rough,” and is frequently applied to “he-goats.” In the passages cited it probably refers to demons of woods and desert places. Comp. Leviticus 17:7; 2 Chronicles 11:15.
- Devil (slanderer). The name describes Satan as slandering God to man and man to God. [SATAN; DEMON.]
- Strong’s Concordance:
- Sâ ‘îr: as noun, a he-goat; by anal. a faun: devil, goat, hairy, kid, rough, satyr.
- Vine’s Expository Dictionary:
- Leviticus 17:7: This passage demonstrates that the word [goat-demons] represents beings that were objects of pagan worship. Worship of these “demons” persisted long in the history of Israel, appearing under Jeroboam (929-909 B. C.), who “… ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves he made” (Chronicles 11:15).
