The Septuagint in Context

by Marcos, Natalio Fernandez; Watson, Wilfred G. E.

• ISBN13: 9780391041097
• ISBN10: 0391041096
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-12-01
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Summary

The Septuagint, the first translation -- or as Fernandez Marcos points out, a "collection of translations" -- of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek figures prominently in both the history of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. In this second, revised edition of the successful Spanish translation, Natalio Fernandez Marcos introduces readers to the origin of the Septuagint in its earliest versions (Aquila, Theodotian, and Symmachus) and traces the fundamental issues associated with Septuagint studies. This volume will certainly stand alongside classics in the field such as H. B. Swete's "Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek (1914), and to S. Jellicoe's "The Septuagint in Modern Study (1968). A well-rounded study, "The Septuagint in Context affords readers insight into a variety of questions associated with the Septuagint, such as: What's the relationship among the variety of versions? What was the Septuagint's role in the religion of Hellenistic Judaism? What is the connection between the Septuagint and the New Testament? What is Lucian's recension? What can the Septuagint tell us about the authority of sacred texts for those who used it? What import does the Septuagint have for text critical studies? For anyone trying to stay in touch with the inner worlds of Hellenistic Judaism and the New Testament, "Septuagint in Context affords an indispensable connection.
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Author Biography

Natalio Fernandez Marcos is a research professor at the Institute of Philology, where he served as director from 1988 to 1992

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Acknowledgements	xv
PART ONE THE LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL SETTING
Biblical Greek and its Position within koine	3	(15)
History of Research	3	(3)
Comparison with the Papyri	6	(3)
The New Approach of Bilingualism	9	(3)
The Technical Language of Hellenistic Prose	12	(1)
Conclusions	13	(5)
Select Bibliography	16	(2)
The Septuagint as a Translation	18	(17)
An Unprecedented Event	18	(4)
A Range of Translation Techniques	22	(4)
Modern Linguistics and the Translation Process	26	(9)
Select Bibliography	30	(5)
PART TWO THE ORIGINS OF THE SEPTUAGINT
The Letter of Pseudo-Aristeas and Other Ancient Sources	35	(18)
The Jews of Alexandria	35	(1)
Description and Contents of the Letter	36	(3)
Historicity	39	(2)
Date of Composition and Sources	41	(2)
Purpose of the Letter	43	(1)
The Letter in Jewish Tradition	44	(3)
Later Legend concerning the Origin of the Septuagint	47	(3)
The Completion of the Septuagint	50	(3)
Select Bibliography	51	(2)
Modern Interpretations of the Origins of the Septuagint	53	(14)
The Septuagint as a Greek Targum (P. Kahle)	53	(4)
An Alexandrian Origin but in the Maccabean Period (c. 146 BCE)	57	(1)
A Palestinian Origin	58	(1)
A Liturgical Origin	59	(2)
The Transcription Theory	61	(1)
Other Theories	62	(2)
The Proto-Septuagint	64	(3)
Select Bibliography	66	(1)
The Septuagint and the Hebrew Text	67	(18)
Two Texts Face to Face	67	(3)
Qumran and the Septuagint	70	(6)
The Use of the Septuagint in Hebrew Textual Criticism	76	(3)
Textual Criticism and Literary Criticism	79	(6)
Select Bibliography	83	(2)
The Double Texts of the Greek Bible and Targumism	85	(24)
Introduction	85	(3)
Double Texts in the Septuagint	88	(13)
Targumism	101	(8)
Select Bibliography	103	(6)
PART THREE THE SEPTUAGINT IN JEWISH TRADITION
Aquila and his Predecessors	109	(14)
Ancient Witnesses	111	(2)
The Sources of this Version	113	(2)
Characteristics	115	(4)
Current Research and Future Prospects	119	(4)
Select Bibliography	121	(2)
Symmachus the Translator	123	(19)
Ancient Witnesses	123	(4)
Sources for Symmachus	127	(1)
Characteristics	128	(5)
Current Research and Future Prospects	133	(9)
Select Bibliography	140	(2)
Theodotion and the kaiy Revision	142	(13)
Ancient Witnesses	142	(3)
Sources	145	(1)
Characteristics	146	(2)
Current Research and Future Prospects	148	(7)
Select Bibliography	153	(2)
Other Ancient Versions	155	(19)
The Quinta (E')	155	(4)
The Sexta (Z')	159	(1)
The Septima	160	(1)
The Hebrew	161	(3)
The Syrian	164	(3)
The Samariticon	167	(2)
Josephus the Translator	169	(5)
Select Bibliography	172	(2)
Jewish Versions into Mediaeval and Modern Greek	174	(17)
Witnesses	175	(8)
Relationship to Earlier Jewish Versions	183	(8)
Select Bibliography	186	(5)
PART FOUR THE SEPTUAGINT IN CHRISTIAN TRADITION
Transmission and Textual History	191	(13)
Introduction	191	(3)
External Transmission	194	(5)
Internal Transmission	199	(1)
Textual Restoration	200	(4)
Select Bibliography	202	(2)
Origen's Hexapla	204	(19)
Origen and his Knowledge of Hebrew	204	(2)
The Hexapla	206	(7)
The Fifth Column of the Hexapla and the secunda	213	(10)
Select Bibliography	220	(3)
The Lucianic Recension	223	(16)
Ancient Witnesses	223	(3)
History of Research	226	(4)
Characteristics	230	(2)
Current Research and Future Prospects: The Proto-Lucianic Text	232	(7)
Select Bibliography	236	(3)
Hesychian Recension or Alexandrian Group of Manuscripts?	239	(8)
Ancient Witnesses	239	(2)
The History of Research	241	(1)
Hesychian Recension or Alexandrian Revision?	242	(5)
Select Bibliography	246	(1)
Other Revisions	247	(11)
Pre-Hexaplaric Revisions	247	(5)
Para-Hexaplaric Revisions	252	(6)
Select Bibliography	256	(2)
Indirect Transmission: Biblical Quotations	258	(16)
The Septuagint in Hellenistic Jewish Historians	260	(2)
The Septuagint in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha	262	(2)
The Septuagint in Philo and Josephus	264	(1)
The Septuagint in the New Testament, Apostolic Fathers and Apologists	265	(2)
The Septuagint in Inscriptions and Papyri	267	(2)
Quotations from the Fathers and the Septuagint	269	(5)
Select Bibliography	271	(3)
Aporiai and Biblical Commentaries	274	(13)
Aporiai	275	(5)
Commentaries	280	(7)
Select Bibliography	285	(2)
The Literature of the Catenae	287	(18)
Formation of the Literary Genre	287	(3)
Formal Aspects of Catenary Manuscripts	290	(3)
Textual Contents of the Catenae	293	(5)
Methodology for Studying the Catenae	298	(1)
Catenary Manuscripts in Spanish Libraries	299	(6)
Select Bibliography	300	(5)
PART FIVE THE SEPTUAGINT AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS
The Religion of the Septuagint and Hellenism	305	(15)
Introduction	305	(1)
The Hellenisation of the Jews	306	(5)
The Hellenisation of the Septuagint	311	(3)
The Formal Hellenisation of the Wisdom Writings	314	(6)
Select Bibliography	318	(2)
The Septuagint and the New Testament	320	(18)
Introduction	320	(3)
Quotations of the Old Testament in the New	323	(9)
Other Areas of Influence	332	(6)
Select Bibliography	335	(3)
The Septuagint and Early Christian Literature	338	(25)
The Bible of the Fathers	338	(5)
The Septuagint and Christian Greek	343	(3)
The Septuagint Translated	346	(17)
Select Bibliography	361	(2)
Glossary of Technical Terms	363	(6)
Index of Modern Authors	369	(13)
Index of Biblical Quotations	382	(7)
Abbreviations	389