# Moses, the LXX, and the Ontological Rupture. People who bear the image of God. - Author: Paul Csavdari - Site: MEKORAH - Content type: Article - Editorial status: Current position - Canonical URL: https://paulcsavdari.blog/2026/07/12/moses-the-lxx-and-the-ontological-rupture-people-who-bear-the-image-of-god/ - Published: 2026-07-12T01:10:11+02:00 - Last revised: 2026-07-12T01:10:11+02:00 ## Subject Collections - [Jesus Melek](https://paulcsavdari.blog/ai/category/jesus-melek.md): Articles focused on Jesus Melek, kingship, Messiah, and the restoration of the original biblical perspective on Jesus. Canonical category page: https://paulcsavdari.blog/category/jesus-melek/ ## Official Summary Why the Law is alive only if the human being bears the image of God There is an unseen but decisive turning point in the history of theology: the moment when the human being was redefined.Not through revelation, but through a shift in perspective regarding… ## Full Text **Why the Law is alive only if the human being bears the image of God** There is an unseen but decisive turning point in the history of theology: the moment when the human being was redefined. Not through revelation, but through a shift in perspective regarding human ontology — that is, regarding what a human being truly is. It was a silent but devastating rupture. And if we want to understand why the Law given through Moses is today considered “dead” or “obsolete,” we must begin here: with the image of God that the human being already has, or that — according to others — he lost, damaged, or never possessed at all. **I. Moses and the Law for people who bear the image of God** The authentic starting point is not the Eden myth, but Genesis 1 — the only coherent account of creation, in which the human being is created in the image of God. Not as a subject, not as a sinner, not as a helpless being, but as a partner. “Let Us make man in Our image and likeness” is not a projection but a declaration of identity. The human being is already capable of discernment, morality, and choice. This is why dominion over the world is entrusted to him. This vision is the foundation of the Law given through Moses. The commandments are not given to a herd of worthless sinners, but to a people called to be a “kingdom of priests” — meaning a community of people who live consciously, with moral responsibility, without waiting for commands from outside. The Law of Moses is not a collection of punishments but a code of life for those who bear the image of God: people who can discern, choose, and respond. But everything collapses when this image is denied. And that denial did not begin in the wilderness, but much later — in Alexandria. **II. The Septuagint (LXX) and the moment of falsification: the human being becomes “the problem”** When the Hebrew text was translated and rewritten in Greek between 283–280 BC, a subtle but fundamental change took place. Alongside translation there was ideological editing — adapting the content to Hellenistic thought. This is where the myths enter: Eden, the Flood, the Tower of Babel. These narratives did not exist in their current form within the Mosaic tradition — and the absence of any mention of them in the rest of the Torah or in authentic prophetic texts proves it. Through the insertion of these myths, a foreign idea is introduced into the Law of Moses: that the human being is fallen, corrupt from the start, a threat rather than a blessing. Eden transforms the human into a “thief” who steals knowledge. The Flood portrays him as a degenerate being, dangerous to the world. The Tower of Babel condemns him for aspiration and cooperation. These images have one purpose: to justify the ontological rupture — the idea that the human being no longer bears the image of God but needs restoration, salvation, redemption... through someone else. This is the original betrayal of the Septuagint: it replaced the responsible human with the suspicious human. And if the human being is no longer trustworthy, then the Law no longer makes sense. **III. Paul’s theology: the logical consequence of the ontological falsification** Paul did not invent the ontological rupture — he simply systematized it. Drawing from the LXX, where the myths had already redefined the human being, he developed a coherent but radically different theology from that of Moses. For Paul, the human being is “sold under sin,” “without hope,” incapable of good. Therefore, the Law — which asks the human being to choose the good — becomes, in this view, useless: “The Law was a tutor to lead us to Christ, but now we are no longer under it.” This vision is not merely an interpretation. It is a demolition of the idea that the human being bears the image of God. Thus Paul replaces the Law with grace, responsibility with dependency, conscience with faith in a sacrifice. Not because the Law would be wrong, but because in his view the human being is incapable of fulfilling it. Here lies the final rupture. Moses presupposes a moral, capable, free human being. Paul presupposes a fallen, incapable, dependent human being. **IV. Jesus and the return to the human created in the image of God** But between Moses and Paul stands Jesus. And He makes the essential choice: He does not follow Paul, but returns to the ontology of Genesis 1. Jesus does not preach a religion of salvation from original sin; He calls the human being to live in truth, love, courage, and justice — that is, to live in harmony with the image of God already within him. He does not abolish the Law but carries it further: “You have heard it said… but I say to you…” — not to relax it, but to internalize it, moralize it, strip it of fear, and fill it with conscience. Jesus does not offer a religion; He offers a demonstration. He lives as a complete human being, without fear, without the compromise of lies, without hierarchy, without dominating or submitting. He is the human being in the image of God in its full sense. And He says: “Follow Me.” If the human being had lost this image, he would be unable to follow such a model. But he has it. And the Gospel is precisely this news: you do not need to become something else, but to live what you already are. **Conclusion** The Law given through Moses is alive only if the human being bears the image of God. If the human is free, conscious, capable of responsibility, then the Law makes sense — not as an instrument of control, but as the expression of a moral order in which each person is accountable. But if the human is fallen, degenerate, suspicious — then the Law becomes oppression, and its alternative becomes external, mediated, mythological salvation. This is the choice every theology makes — even if it does not admit it. And revelation does not begin with Eden and does not culminate with the cross, but begins with the image and culminates with the assumption of that image in a life lived in truth. Any other vision is counterfeit. ## Attribution The interpretations and conclusions belong to Paul Csavdari. The AI-generated voice is the narrator, not the author. © Paul Csavdari. All rights reserved.