1. Exodus 1:9 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How does the Septuagint render the Hebrew for “too many and too mighty”?

Exodus 1:9 (ESV)

9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

The Septuagint translates it as “a great multitude and stronger than we,” taking only the second adjective to be a comparative. It is better, however, to take both adjectives as comparatives (see Deuteronomy 7:1; Deuteronomy 9:14).