The Seventy
(c) 2006 David Stewart

After the flood, the earth was divided into seventy (sometimes represented as seventy-two) nations and languages.  You can count them yourself in Genesis 10.  According to Jewish tradition, the Sanhedrin with its seventy elders was an earthly body fashioned after the heavenly council of seventy (or seventy-two), one for each nation, that stands always before the throne of God. The number seventy (or seventy-two) therefore represents "all the nations of the earth."  Paul declared: "[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitations" (Acts 17:26).

References to the Seventy occur repeatedly in the scriptures.  Jacob's house consisted of seventy individuals when he went down to Egypt (Exodus 1:5).  Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel (or Moses, Aaron, and seventy-two elders) saw the God of Israel at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:1, 9-10). Christ sent forth seventy witnesses as missionaries: "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come" (Luke 10:1).  The office of the Seventy, as represented in the New Testament and in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, is missionary work, reflecting the task of gathering the pure of heart from the seventy nations of the earth.  This is not my discovery, but was pointed out to me some forty-five years ago by my mother’s sister, Ruth Pate Shinsel.

The Septuagint, or Koine Greek translation of the Old Testament, means “Seventy” and is sometimes referred to by Latin numerals, LXX.  Some sources claim that it took seventy-two elders sent from Jerusalem seventy days to make the translation.  In fact, it was called the Septuagint - “the Seventies Book” - because, having been translated into the lingua franca of the world at that time, it was to go to all peoples of the earth (seventy of them) by the Seventy (the missionaries), just as the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi prophesied that the Bible would “[go] forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 13:29).

The number seventy is used to represent all the nations of the earth in other scriptural contexts. Peter asked Christ: “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?” Jesus replied: “I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22).  Peter would have understood the Savior’s instruction to mean not that he should forgive four hundred and ninety times and then stop, but that he was required to forgive seventy (all the nations of the earth) times seven (every day of the week, a cycle of releasing, related to the Hebrew word “Sabbath”), or in other words, to forgive all people at all times.  The Savior’s instruction was in this sense identical to his modern revelation through Joseph Smith: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10).

Seventy or Seventy-Two?
Some confusion has arisen over the fact that some New Testament translations refer to the Seventy, while others refer to seventy-two.  As noted above in the case of Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel, both are correct, depending on whether the two counselors of the presiding church officer (Nadab and Abihu in Moses’ case) are counted (cf. Exodus 24:1).  We see the same variation in the Egyptian Hall of Judgment (HTML here – PDF here), where there are twelve presiding figures in some papyrii (x6=72), and fourteen in others (raised one degree or multiplied by five to represent the seventy).  Various translations of Luke 10:1 are cited below which report the number of witnesses called by Christ as either seventy or seventy-two.

Seventy Witnesses (Luke 10:1)
English: “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.”

Bulgarian: "Sled tova Godpod' opredeli drugi sedemdeset' dushi, i gi izprati po dvama pred Sebe..." (United Bible Societies 1993)

Croatian: "A po tom izabra Gospodin i drugijeh sedamdesetoricu, i posla ih po dva i dva pred licem svojijem u svaki grad..." (Vuk. Stefan Karadzic, 1994)
Czech: "Potom pak vyvolil Pan i jinych sedmdesat, a poslal je po dvou pred tvari svou..." (Kralicky edition 1613 / Ceska Biblicka Spolecnost 1991)
Estonian: "Parast seda maaras Issand teised seitsekummend ja lakitas nad kahekaupa enese eele igasse linna ja paika..."(Finnish Bible Society, 1991)
French: "Apres cela, le Seigneur en designa encore soixante-dix autres et les envoya devant lui, deux a deux..." (Alliance Biblique Universelle, 1993)
Hungarian: "Ezek utan pedig rendele az Ur masokat is, hetvenet, es elkulde azokat kettonkent az o orezaja elott..." (Karoli Gaspar Translation, United Bible Societies 1991)
Latvian: "Pec tam tas Kungs nozimeja vel deptindesmit citus un izsutija tos pa divi un divi sava prieksa uz ikkatru pilsetu un vietu..." (United Bible Societies 1992)
Lithuanian: "Paskui Viespats paskyre septyniasdesimt kitu ir juos issiunte po du pirma saves i kiekviena miesta ir vieta, kur jis pats ketino eiti." (United Bible Socitieies 1993)
Russian: "Poslye sevo izbral Gospod' i drugikh sem'desyat uchenikov, i poslal ikh po dva pered litsem svoim..." (Synodal version, United Bible Societies 1993)
Serbian: "A po tom izabra Gospod i drugijekh sedamdesetoritsu..." (Vuk. Stef. Karadzic, Beograd 1974)
Slovak: "Potom vuvolil Pan aj inych, sedemdesiatich, i poslal ich po dvoch pred svojou tvarou..." (Jozef Rohacek translation, Slovenska Biblicka Spolocnost 1993)
Ukrainian: "Pislya togo priznachyv Hospod' i inshykh simdesyat, i poslav jikh po dvokh pered sebe..." (Ukrains'ke Biblijne Tovaristvo, 1993)

Seventy-Two Witnesses (Luke 10:1)
Finnish: "Taman jalkeen Herra valitsi viela seitsemankymmentakaksi opetuslasta ja lehetti heidat kaksittain edelaan jokaiseen kaupunkiin ja kylaan..." (Maija Sohlman translation, Suomen Kirkon Sisalahetysseura, 1993)
German: "Danach bestimmte der Herre weitere zweiundsiebzig Manner und sandte sie zu zweien aus..." ("Die Gute Nachricht Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsche," Deutsche Bibelgellschaft Stuttgart 1982)
Polish: "A potem wzynaczyl Pan inych, siedemdziesieciu dwoch, i rozeslal ich po dwoch przed soba..." (United Bible Societies 1975)

 Swedish: "Darefter utsag Herren sjuttiotva andra och sande ut dem framfor sig, tva och tva..." (Normans Forlag Ab, Stockholm 1977)

As explained above, accounts of either seventy or seventy-two witnesses are both correct, depending on whether the counselors are counted.