"You Saw no Form When YHWH Spoke to You at Horeb" (Deut 4:15). Antianthropomorphisms in the Greek Deuteronomy

As literature making use of human language, it is unavoidable that the Hebrew Bible presents God in a so-called anthropomorphic way. Even within Deuteronomy, a book that clearly reacts against making carved images of God (Deut 4:16), God seems to have human characteristics: reference is made to God's mouth (Deut 8:3), it is often mentioned how God leads Israel through the desert with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm (e.g., 4:34), and how God has written the stone tables with his finger (9:10). Besides these physical human characteristics, God also is referred to as having feelings or emotions similar to human ones. Whereas Fritsch was of the opinion that the Septuagint translation of Deuteronomy is characterised by an antianthropomorphic bias, Wittstruck considered this so-called antianthropomorphic tendency within the Septuagint as a mere stylistic issue, not influenced by any theological motivation. This chapter reevaluates this topic and investigates if and to what extent the anthropomorphic presentation of God in the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy troubled the Septuagint translator of this book.