Septuagint Targum And Beyond

In Septuagint, Targum and Beyond leading experts in the fields of biblical textual criticism and reception history explore the relationship between the Greek and Aramaic versions – the two major Jewish translation traditions of the Hebrew Bible in antiquity.

In this volume Jan Joosten brings together seventeen articles, published in journals and collective volumes between 1996 and 2008, with one unpublished essay. In these essays he deals mainly with questions of language and interpretation in the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Many of Jan Joosten's studies take their point of departure in one or the other striking features in the language of the Septuagint, propose a theory explaining its peculiarity, and go on from there to relate the linguistic phenomenon to wider historical, exegetical or theological issues. Others deal with problems of method in establishing the historical background of the version, its relation to the Hebrew source text, and its theology. Taken as a whole, Jan Joosten offers an original contribution to a number of contemporary debates on the Old Greek version. Notably in this book he addresses from various perspectives the questions of who the translators were and what they tried to do.

The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of Jewish sacred writings) is of great importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The first translation of the books of the Hebrew Bible (plus additions) into the common language of the ancient Mediterranean world made the Jewish scriptures accessible to many outside Judaism. Not only did the Septuagint become Holy Writ to Greek speaking Jews but it was also the Bible of the early Christian communities: the scripture they cited and the textual foundation of the early Christian movement. Translated from Hebrew (and Aramaic) originals in the two centuries before Jesus, the Septuagint provides important information about the history of the text of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have looked to the Septuagint for information about the nature of the text and of how passages and specific words were understood. For students of the Bible, the New Testament in particular, the study of the Septuagint's influence is a vital part of the history of interpretation. But until now, the Septuagint has not been available to English readers in a modern and accurate translation. The New English Translation of the Septuagint fills this gap.

Much can be learned about a translation’s linguistic and cultural context by studying it as a text, a literary artifact of the culture that produced it. However, its nature as a translation warrants a careful approach, one that pays attention to the process by which its various features came about. In Characterizing Old Greek Deuteronomy as an Ancient Translation, Jean Maurais develops a framework derived from Descriptive Translation Studies to bring both these aspects in conversation. He then outlines how the Deuteronomy translator went about his task and provides a characterization of the work as a literary product.

This volume presents original research on the historical context, narrative and wisdom books, anthropology, theology, language, and reception of the Septuagint, as well as comparisons of the Greek translations with other ancient versions and texts.

This volume from the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) includes the papers given at the XVII Congress of the IOSCS, which was held in Aberdeen in 2019. Essays in the collection fall into five areas of focus: textual history, historical context, syntax and semantics, exegesis and theology, and commentary. Scholars examine a range of Old Testament and New Testament texts. Contributors include Kenneth Atkinson, Bryan Beeckman, Elena Belenkaja, Beatrice Bonanno, Eberhard Bons, Cameron Boyd-Taylor, Ryan Comins, S. Peter Cowe, Claude Cox, Dries De Crom, Paul L. Danove, Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Frank Feder, W. Edward Glenny, Roger Good, Robert J. V. Hiebert, Gideon R. Kotzé, Robert Kugler, Nathan LaMontagne, Giulia Leonardi, Ekaterina Matusova, Jean Maurais, Michaël N. van der Meer, Martin Meiser, Douglas C. Mohrmann, Daniel Olariou, Vladimir Olivero, Luke Neubert, Daniel Prokop, Alison Salvesen, Daniela Scialabba, Leonardo Pessoa da Silva Pinto, Martin Tscheu, and Jelle Verburg.

Ronald S. Hendel offers a careful and thorough re examination of the text of Genesis 1 11. He takes a strongly positive position on the value of the Septuagint as a reliable translation of its Hebrew parent text. This position is contrary to that taken in most existing studies of the text of Genesis, including some in standard editions and reference works. Nevertheless, Hendel shows, there is an accumulating mass of evidence indicating that his position is correct.Hendel begins with a discussion of theory and method, and points out the lessons to be learned from the new biblical manuscripts discovered at Qumran. He goes on to argue for the preparation of eclectic critical editions of books of the Hebrew Bible a task long pursued in Classical, New Testament, and Septuagint studies, but still highly controversial with respect to the Hebrew scriptures. The critical edition of Genesis 1 11 which follows is Hendel's first step toward such a comprehensive task.

A concise study of a large number of examples of pluses and minus providing insight into translation from Hebrew to Greek Van der Vorm-Croughs focuses this translation study on the processes leading to pluses and minuses including linguistic and stylistic aspects (i.e., cases in which elements have been added or omitted for the sake of a proper use of the Greek language), literary aspects (additions and omissions meant to embellish the Greek text), translation technical aspects (e.g., the avoidance of redundancy), and contextual and intertextual exegesis and harmonization. This work also covers the relation between the Greek Isaiah and its possible Hebrew Vorlage to try to determine which pluses and minuses may have been the result of the translator’s use of a different Hebrew text. Features: Eleven categories for the pluses and minuses of the Greek Isaiah Examination of translation techniques and translator errors Use of Joseph Ziegler’s critical edition