The Septuagint Of Proverbs Jewish And Or Hellenistic Proverbs

This monograph deals with an important but unexplored document of Hellenistic Judaism. The question of "Hellenistic influence" is addressed on the basis of an analysis of a representative number of chapters of Septuagint Proverbs (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 24, 29, 30 and 31). Scholars have argued that this book was influenced extensively by Greek philosophy. The author follows a contextual cultural method. The Greek text is analysed on four levels: the semantic, syntactical, stylistic (which represents the translation technique of the translator), and finally the "theological" level. This study represents the first exhaustive analysis of the theme. The conclusion is that the impact of Stoicism on this Greek version has been overestimated in the past. Novel views are also formulated concerning the role of the law in LXX Proverbs, its historical setting and its text-critical value.

The greater part of this volume ... is occupied with a study of the teaching of “Wisdom” among the Jews in Palestine during the Hellenistic Age, so far as the subject is represented in the two great collections of Jewish sayings, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus. -From the Preface

This exhaustive analysis of the issue of Hellenistic colouring of LXX Proverbs concludes that the impact of Stoicism has been overestimated. Moreover, the law plays a more prominent role than previously thought, and this document should be placed in Palestine.

Most writers on proverbs have thought it necessary to attempt a definition of their subject, but the task is difficult, and the phrase that will silence criticism has yet to be produced. Lord Russell's epigram describing a proverb as "The wisdom of many and the wit of one" is as good as any, but it leaves so much unsaid that as a definition it is certainly inadequate. On the other hand, it is a true remark, and the facts it emphasises may conveniently be taken as the point from which to begin this study. No saying is a proverb until it has commended itself to a number of men; the wisdom of one is not a proverb, but the wisdom of many. Countless fine expressions well suited to become proverbial have perished in the speaking, or lie forgotten in our books. To win wide acceptance and then to keep pace with the jealous years and remain a living word on the lips of the people is an achievement few human thoughts have compassed; for thousands that pass unheeded only one here or there, helped by some happy quality, or perhaps some freak of fortune, is caught from mouth to mouth, approved, repeated and transmitted. Every accepted proverb has therefore survived a searching test, all the more severe because judgment is not always passed upon the merits of the case. Popular favour is at the best capricious, and often an admirable saying has died out of use and a worse become famous.

The Septuagint is the term commonly used to refer to the corpus of early Greek versions of Hebrew Scriptures. The collection is of immense importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The renderings of individual books attest to the religious interests of the substantial Jewish population of Egypt during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and to the development of the Greek language in its Koine phase. The narrative ascribing the Septuagint's origins to the work of seventy translators in Alexandria attained legendary status among both Jews and Christians. The Septuagint was the version of Scripture most familiar to the writers of the New Testament, and became the authoritative Old Testament of the Greek and Latin Churches. In the early centuries of Christianity it was itself translated into several other languages, and it has had a continuing influence on the style and content of biblical translations. The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint features contributions from leading experts in the field considering the history and manuscript transmission of the version, and the study of translation technique and textual criticism. The collection provides surveys of previous and current research on individual books of the Septuagint corpus, on alternative Jewish Greek versions, the Christian 'daughter' translations, and reception in early Jewish and Christian writers. The Handbook also includes several conversations with related fields of interest such as New Testament studies, liturgy, and art history.

This volume contains twenty-two essays in honor of Carl R. Holladay, whose work on the interaction between early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism has had a considerable impact on the study of the New Testament. The essays are grouped into three sections: Hellenistic Judaism; the New Testament in Context; and the History of Interpretation. Among the contributions are essays dealing with conversion in Greek-speaking Judaism and Christianity; 3 Maccabees as a narrative satire; retribution theology in Luke-Acts; church discipline in Matthew; the Exodus and comparative chronology in Jewish and patristic writings; corporal punishment in ancient Israel and early Christianity; and Die Judenfrage and the construction of ancient Judaism.