Eric, שָׁלוֹם.
There are a couple of very good (albeit expensive) lexica that deal with the range of koine Greek that one encounters in the Septuagint. Obviously, Liddell-Scott-Jones would work; however, there are two alternatives that specialise specifically in Septuagint Greek: Lust-Eynikel-Hauspie's, Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, or the more recent and comprehensive, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint by Muraoka. Each is excellent, but I find I use the last most often. Unless your friend is planning on becoming a Septuagintal specialist, I doubt that he could justify the expense of purchasing either of them. He would be better off buying the excellent, A New English Translation of the Septuagint,by Pietersma and Wright.

Blessings,

Ian

Glad et Ralph,

The "Stone of Scone" was examined several years ago. Guess what? It was conclusively proven to be naught but Scottish red sandstone! I guess I'm a little unsure as to why God apparently chose to translate a hunk of Caledonian rock to Palestine, just so Jacob could pour a wee dram of oil onto it!

Blessings,

Ian

Ian et All,

After spending three days down in the Negev and Judean Wilderness, I can assure you all that sandstone is nowhere to be found in Eretz Israel. The major composing rock is Limestone. These are generally eocene, senonian and cenomanian. Eocene is a soft limestone, and senonian is chalk limestone whilst cenomanian is a hard limestone that breaks down into a reddish brown soil called "terra rosa" and is highly fertile and good for growing things such as wheat and olives etc.. Bethel which is just 15 Klm north of Jerusalem up in Ephraim's territory that borders with Benjamin is mostly cenomanian with lots of terra rosa soil.. 

So you WON'T find sandstone at Bethel .. NO NOT AT ALL.. Of course you will find the basalt volcanic stuff and the flintstone over in the Judean Wilderness which Joshua used to make flint knives out of in order to trim the young men at Gilgal before entering the promised land. So Israel is mostly different aged limestone.. So it looks like Lloyd Longfield and the Revival Centre leaders, Victor Samoilenko and Darcy Ryan and the rest of their gullible leaders have goofed up badly here..

Before I go. Scored a good pic of one of Ian's favourite libraries - No 4 cave at Qumran.. Will share when I get back..

blessings

Eric 

Hi-yo, Glad-o.

Well, given Eric's absence I guess you'll just have to make do with "second best" when it comes to exegetical rigor, by putting up with the insights of little ol' me. So, without further ado, let's consider Ezekiel 21:27.

The King James Version (KJV), which bases its translation on the Hebrew rather than the Greek Old Testament (i.e. the LXX), puts things thus: I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

The Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) has:עַוָּה עַוָּה עַוָּה אֲשִׂימֶנָּה גַּם־זֹאת לֹא הָיָה עַד־בֹּא אֲשֶׁר־לֹו הַמִּשְׁפָּט וּנְתַתִּיו׃

My own translation (after considering both the MT and the LXX) is: I will make it a total ruin! (The crown) will not be restored until the One arrives to whom I have assigned judgment; to him alone I will give it.

The translators of the KJV understood the Hebrew word, עַוָּה to mean "overturn", but in the sense of destruction. The MT repeats the word thrice, which is the Hebrew way of expressing the sense of complete destruction, hence my choice of "total ruin". I've also added the words, "the crown" to my translation, in brackets, where the Hebrew text uses a pronominal suffix (i.e. "it"). Because the verb to which the suffix is affixed (i.e. "make") is feminine, it's antecedent is the feminine gender "turban/crown" mentioned in the previous verse. Jerusalem to be made a total ruin, with David's throne to be vacant until God installs the Messiah upon it. Such is the immediate literary context of our passage, and if I might be so blunt, hardly supportive of the BI fable that the Sovereign of England is David's heir!

So from whence did the truly bizarre idea of the "stone" (of Scone) being "overturned" three times spring?! Easy answer: the wild imagination of certain fanatical BI theorists! Using a single English word drawn from an obscure verse in the KJV as their launching pad into a flight of sheer fantasy, these "kooks" have created a travelogue purporting to be the adventures of a chunk of rock!

Let me be perfectly clear on this score: the word עַוָּה, means "ruin/destruction". That it's repeated thrice is simply the Hebrew convention for verbalising complete, or total, destruction. The very same verse clearly indicates that no-one is to sit on David's throne until God installs his Messiah there. Revivalist pastors sit up and take note (you who approach Scripture after precisely the same fashion as does Dan Brown).

Anyway, isn't it amazing what light a little learning in the original languages can shed on some dark and/or obscure theories?

Blessings,

Ian