Invitation to the Septuagint

© 2000, 2015 by Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-0004-1

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are the authors’ translation.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

"For years I have been using and recommending Invitation to the Septuagint as an excellent, reader-friendly introduction to an often complex field of study. It orients the novice and nonspecialist to the discipline by means of clear explanations of key terms and concepts, liberal use of examples and illustrations, and up-to-date discussions of the spectrum of issues and perspectives within the world of Septuagint scholarship. Its usefulness as a resource for the Septuagintalist should also not be underestimated. The second edition judiciously augments the content in light of the many developments in the world of Septuagint and cognate studies during the past fifteen years. Regardless of whether one agrees on every point with the authors’ perspectives, in terms of its clarity, conciseness, and coverage of the field, Invitation to the Septuagint is an admirable achievement."

—Robert J. V. Hiebert, Trinity Western University

It is up-to-date with the most significant contributions in the field, offering the reader a good presentation and a fair analysis of the most crucial sources in Septuagint research. I think the authors have succeeded in doing justice to one of the most complex subjects in biblical studies.

—Myrto Theocharous, Greek Bible College, Athens, Greece

Praise for the First Edition

This is a very inviting book for anyone wanting to learn about the Septuagint, not only those for whom this is a first introduction but also those who know their way in this area.

—Emanuel Tov, Hebrew University

We commend this authoritative and helpful guide, written as it has been by two seasoned practitioners in the delights, dangers, and pitfalls of establishing and using the text of the Greek Old Testament and of plotting its history and significance. . . . [The authors] have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject and an international perspective on current developments as well as a good pedagogical approach to the subject.

—J. K. Elliott, Novum Testamentum

This book provides up-to-date information concerning the making, transmission, and significance of the Greek Septuagint, the first translation of the Hebrew Bible. Students and pastors alike will profit from the research of Jobes and Silva, presented in clear and understandable form.

—Bruce M. Metzger, Princeton Theological Seminary

Contents

Cover    i

Title Page    iii

Copyright Page    iv

Endorsements    v

List of Illustrations    ix

Preface to the Second Edition    xi

Preface to the First Edition    xiii

Acknowledgments for the First Edition    xvi

Abbreviations    xviii

Map    xxii

Time Line    xxiii

Introduction: Why Study the Septuagint?    1

Part 1:  The History of the Septuagint    11

1. The Origin of the Septuagint and Other Greek Versions    13

2. The Transmission of the Septuagint    34

3. The Septuagint in Modern Times    63

4. The Septuagint as a Translation    84

Part 2:  The Septuagint in Biblical Studies    111

5. The Language of the Septuagint    113

6. Establishing the Text of the Septuagint    128

7. Using the Septuagint for the Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible    156

8. The Judean Desert Discoveries and Septuagint Studies    181

9. The Septuagint and the New Testament    200

10. Interpreting the Septuagint    228

Part 3:  The Current State of Septuagint Studies    263

11. Our Predecessors: Septuagint Scholars of a Previous Generation    265

12. Current Studies in Language and Translation    289

13. Reconstructing the History of the Text    308

14. Theological Development in the Hellenistic Age    326

Appendixes

A. Major Organizations and Research Projects    351

B. Reference Works    365

C. Glossary    369

D. Differences in Versification between English Versions and the Septuagint    376

E. Symbols and Abbreviations of the Göttingen Critical Apparatus    381

Indexes

Index of Hebrew/Aramaic Words and Phrases    385

Index of Greek Words and Phrases    387

Index of Scripture References    389

Index of Modern Scholars    392

Index of Subjects    398

Back Cover    409

Illustrations

I.1. Map of the Hellenistic World    xxii

I.2. Time Line of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods   xxiii

2.1. Traditional Understanding of the Relationship between the Septuagint and the Later Greek Versions    35

2.2. Alternative Understanding of the Relationship between the Septuagint and the Later Greek Versions    39

2.3. Textual History of the Greek Versions    49

2.4. Codex Vaticanus    53

2.5. Codex Sinaiticus    54

2.6. Codex Alexandrinus    55

2.7. Codex Marchalianus    57

2.8. Manuscript Chigi (Daniel)    58

2.9. Manuscript Chigi (Ezekiel)    59

3.1. Holmes-Parsons Septuagint    67

3.2. Order of Books in the Hebrew Bible, the Greek Septuagint, and the English (Protestant) Bible    76

5.1. 1 Reigns (1 Samuel) 3:19–4:2    120

6.1. Larger Cambridge Septuagint    148

6.2. Rahlfs’s Septuagint    150

6.3. Göttingen Isaiah    152

6.4. Göttingen Genesis    154

7.1. 3 Reigns (1 Kings) 2:1–5    176

8.1. Qumran Scroll Fragments 4QJerb,d,e    189

10.1. Esther 5:1–2 and D:1–16 Compared    254

11.1. Paul A. de Lagarde    269

11.2. Alfred Rahlfs    272

11.3. Henry Barclay Swete    274

11.4. Henry St. John Thackeray    277

11.5. Max Leopold Margolis    279

11.6. John W. Wevers    287

Preface to the Second Edition

The authors and publisher are gratified by the warm reception given to the first edition of Invitation to the Septuagint. Since its publication, however, research in the field of Septuagint and cognate studies has developed at an increasingly faster pace. Numerous contributions—including some of major significance—have appeared in monographs, works of reference, journal articles, and anthologies. In addition, we have received many valuable suggestions from reviewers, colleagues, and students.

Any attempt to give a full account of developments during the past fifteen years would make the book unwieldy and diminish its value as an introductory text. We therefore have needed to be selective in the addition of new material. In spite of that, every chapter has grown longer. Often the additions consist of bibliographic references in the footnotes, but the body of the text itself has been expanded at many points, either to provide fuller discussion of topics treated in the previous edition or to cover new issues (e.g., the current debates on the interlinear paradigm and on the hermeneutics of translation). Chapter 11 now includes biographic profiles of several additional scholars (J. Ziegler, I. Soisalon-Soininen, D. Barthélemy, and J. W. Wevers). And a new appendix lists an English translation of the Göttingen sigla and abbreviations. The glossary too has been expanded.

Revisions include the correction of some inaccuracies and numerous minor changes that we hope will make the text more serviceable. Many of these changes might not have occurred to us had it not been for those readers who graciously took the time to bring them to our attention; we are truly grateful for their collaboration.

In addition, we have attempted to clarify statements that were either ambiguous or susceptible to misunderstanding. In particular, some readers have inferred that we do not consider the Septuagint to be valuable for the establishment of the Hebrew text.1 We believe that this criticism was unjustified. It is true that we urge caution in this area (to avoid the frequently haphazard use of the Septuagint as an easy solution to text-critical problems), but at several crucial points we handle the subject in positive terms.2 Nevertheless, we welcome the opportunity in this new edition to make our position clearer through various changes and additions in chapter 7.

Thanks must go to the Wheaton College and Graduate School teaching assistants who helped in various ways during the revision process, especially Jeremy Otten (2012–13), who helped to gather bibliography, and Jeremiah Coogan (2013–14), who assisted in expanding chapters 6 and 11 and the appendixes.

To the students who have used or will use this book to further their knowledge, we dedicate this work.

Karen H. Jobes

Wheaton, Illinois

Moisés Silva

Litchfield, Michigan

1. Such was the judgment of the late James Barr in his extensive review of our book in RBL (Oct. 2002; published online at http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/1341_3027.pdf), and other writers have depended on his evaluation. Our response was published in BIOSCS 35 (2002): 43–46 and is also included at the end of Barr’s online review.

2. To mention only the most obvious example: in our primary treatment of this topic, where we discuss Deut. 31:1 (see chap. 7, The Septuagint Compared to the Masoretic Text, below), we conclude that the Septuagint reading, rather than that of the Masoretic Text, is original. Note also that we commend Emanuel Tov’s book The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research as a sober and reliable guide (see chap. 7, To Continue Your Study, below). Indeed, aside from a couple of issues (such as his low regard for the classic rules of internal evidence), we find ourselves in almost complete agreement with Tov’s judicious principles and methods.

Preface to the First Edition

The inspiration for a book like this was born during my doctoral studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in a course entitled The Greek Old Testament, taught by Moisés Silva. I had previously heard Professor Silva comment that this course was the hardest one offered at the seminary. Being a woman who enjoys a reasonable challenge and having become enamored with Biblical Greek, I registered for the course with enthusiasm.

Very quickly I began to appreciate both the technical and conceptual complexities of Septuagint studies. So many of my naive assumptions about texts, manuscripts, and the Scriptures I hold dear were quickly shattered. I began to see a more profound, mysterious, and wonderful picture that captured my scholarly imagination. I’ve been hooked on Septuagint studies ever since.

Professor Silva was right; it was a difficult course. But one of the difficulties for me as a student completely new to the subject was that everything I read about the Septuagint seemed to presume a great deal of prior knowledge. I could find nothing that provided an introduction to the scholarly discussions that had been going on for decades. I needed a concise primer that would define the jargon, delineate the most fundamental and elementary concepts, and trace out the overarching issues of what Septuagint studies was all about. As I worked through the course under Professor Silva’s able guidance, I began to make notes of things I wish someone had written in clear, easy language. Although I was unaware of it at the time, the outline for this book had begun to take shape.

This book is intended to be a relatively brief and inviting introduction for the student who has no prior knowledge of the Septuagint. It aims to introduce both the history and current state of the scholarly discussion by presenting the terminology, foundational concepts, and major issues in Septuagint studies. Nevertheless, those interested in pursuing the technical use of the Septuagint in textual criticism and biblical studies will also find resources here to further their understanding. If successful, this book will serve as a bridge to the more sophisticated literature produced by scholars working in the field. We trust that our book not only honors the work done by previous generations of Septuagint scholars and accurately presents the work now being done by our colleagues in the field but will also inspire future generations to take up this fascinating field of research.

Karen H. Jobes

Santa Barbara, California

In my student days at Westminster Theological Seminary, unlike Professor Jobes, I did not even have the option of taking a class in Septuagint studies. I was, however, able to sign up for an independent reading course on the subject as part of my Th.M. program; and later the text of the Septuagint became a major focus of attention in my doctoral research at the University of Manchester. In my experience, learning the basic facts related to the Septuagint proved painless, but I soon realized how superficial, and therefore dangerous, that knowledge was. Moving to the next level—that is, being able to handle the Greek text responsibly and to understand specialized articles—required considerable effort, especially without the benefit of structured guidance.

When I began to offer a course on the Greek Old Testament, my aim was to help students profit from my mistakes. While there is no such thing as Septuagint without tears (indeed, without the affliction of trial and error, one seldom learns anything), pedagogical direction can prevent much wasted time and unnecessary frustration. This book seeks to perform that service. We have made a special effort to write part 1 in a simple and user-friendly fashion, but without minimizing the problems and ambiguities inherent in the subject. The qualifications and nuances in those first chapters are essential if one is to avoid building a shaky foundation.

It is in part 2, however, that we seek to guide the reader through the thicket of the Septuagintal forest. The chapters in this section are intended for students who already have some knowledge of the biblical languages and who wish to attain an intermediate level of proficiency in the use of the Greek Bible. With the additional help of part 3, which reviews the state of scholarship on selected topics, a few readers may even decide that advanced study of the Septuagint is worth pursuing.

The great challenge in teaching a course (or writing a book) on a complex subject is that explaining any one detail seems to assume some understanding of many other items not yet covered. This problem is particularly acute in the field of Septuagint studies. Some repetition is therefore unavoidable, but in dealing with individual topics we have also relied heavily on the use of cross-references to both prior and subsequent discussions within the book. In the end, however, a second reading of the volume may be necessary to tie loose ends.

I must add that this book would never have been written without the productive and persevering efforts of Professor Jobes, on whom fell the lion’s share of the work in its initial stages. Throughout the project, however, we have been in frequent consultation, reading and critiquing each other’s work, and discussing every aspect of the book before it took its final form. As a result, this book represents a collaborative effort in the fullest sense of the term. It is our wish that others will find as much delight in reading these pages as we have found in writing them.

Moisés Silva

Ipswich, Massachusetts

Acknowledgments for the First Edition

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the significant help we have received throughout the course of this project. We are especially grateful to David Aiken for proposing the idea of such a book in the first place, for promoting the work in many ways, and for agreeing to copyedit the typescript. His personal and scholarly interest in Septuagint studies has much to do with the successful completion of the book.

Several specialists have generously given of their time to assist us. Leonard J. Greenspoon, Emanuel Tov, Robert A. Kraft, and Martin G. Abegg read portions of the typescript at an early stage and provided valuable criticisms. Other colleagues, including Natalio Fernández Marcos, Peter W. Flint, Peter J. Gentry, Robert H. Gundry, Galen Marquis, Bruce M. Metzger, Takamitsu Muraoka, Bradley Nassif, Gerard Norton, Albert Pietersma, Eugene C. Ulrich, and John W. Wevers, were kind enough to respond to inquiries or otherwise support our research.

To the staff of the Septuaginta-Unternehmen in Göttingen we extend our sincere thanks. During a visit to its facilities, the authors were able to discuss some important questions and to gather information unavailable anywhere else. We are particularly indebted to its director, Anneli Aejmelaeus, for the time that she unselfishly spent with us, and to Udo Quast, whose unique knowledge of Septuagint manuscripts and of the work of the institute proved invaluable.

We also profited greatly from a brief visit to the Centre for Septuagint Studies and Textual Criticism (Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium). Our thanks to Erik Eynikel and Katrin Hauspie for their assistance during that time and to its director, Johan Lust.

The authors also thank the staff of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center at Claremont, California, for their assistance in selecting and acquiring the photographs of manuscripts that appear in this volume.

David L. Palmer, Byington scholar at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, read a near-final draft of the typescript with great care, identifying some remaining problems and offering numerous suggestions for improvement.

Bradford Zinnecker, also a Byington scholar at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, prepared an initial draft of appendix D that greatly facilitated our work.

Finally, the authors express their thanks to Westmont College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for the support they have received in the production of this book.

Abbreviations

General and Bibliographic

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

Old Testament Apocrypha

New Testament

Introduction

Why Study the Septuagint?

The SEPTUAGINT—commonly abbreviated LXX—is a fascinating treasure from the ancient past.1 Whether you are Christian or Jewish or neither,2 whether you are only generally interested in religious studies or are an aspiring biblical scholar, it is worth your while to become acquainted with it. Because the Septuagint was the first translation made of the Hebrew Bible (and possibly of any literary work of comparable size) into another language, it marks a milestone in human culture. Knowledge of the ancient world is incomplete without understanding the significance of the Septuagint and the history that brought it into existence. In this book, we invite you to learn about the place of this translation in history, to appreciate its value for modern scholarship, and to come away with some of our enthusiasm for it. The present chapter is intended as an overview of the field, with a brief description of issues that will be treated later in greater detail.

The Septuagint and the Hebrew Bible

The Bible contains ancient writings that have been read continuously from the time of its authors until our own. The first and oldest part of the Bible was written originally in Hebrew (with some small portions in Aramaic: Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26; Dan. 2:4–7:28; Jer. 10:11; and two words in Gen. 31:47). The abiding importance of these sacred writings—first to the Jews and later to the Christians—demanded that throughout history they be translated into the languages of the peoples who received them as Scripture.

After the Near East was conquered by Alexander the Great (ca. 333 BCE), the Jewish people came under the influence of Hellenistic culture. Their religious values and ancient ways collided with Greek practices, philosophies, and language. Just as today most Jews live outside of Israel, so it was during the Hellenistic period. Because as a rule the Jews of the DIASPORA (Dispersion) scattered throughout the Mediterranean no longer spoke Hebrew, they needed to translate their sacred writings into Greek, which had become the lingua franca of the Hellenistic world. Thus the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, now known as the Septuagint, became Scripture to the Greek-speaking Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Together with the Greek NT, it would become the Bible of most Christians during the first centuries of the church. The Greek version remains even today the canonical text for the Orthodox Christian tradition, which traces its heritage to the earliest Greek-speaking Christians.

Because of the Greek Bible’s widespread importance, numerous copies of it were produced by scribes in many places throughout the centuries. More manuscripts of the Greek OT survive than of any other ancient Greek text except the NT. According to one authoritative source, At present, up to 2000 Greek manuscripts of the Septuagint are known: they cover a period of time that stretches from the 2nd century BCE to the 16th century CE and are now scattered all over the globe.3 For scholars interested in the complexities of textual criticism and the tendencies of scribes, the manuscripts of the Greek versions provide an enormous amount of material for study.

The Septuagint is written in KOINE, that is, the common Greek of the Hellenistic age, a form of the language that had developed from the Classical Greek of fifth-century Athens. For students of the Greek language during the Hellenistic period, the Septuagint is a major source of information. Moreover, because it is a translation of a Hebrew text into Greek, it provides a unique opportunity for those interested in comparing translation Greek to composition Greek.

The Greek version has great value also for the study of the Hebrew text. The issues surrounding this use of the version are complex, but the fact remains that the Septuagint was translated from some Hebrew text that was not identical to the Hebrew text we use today. That original Greek translation, which was produced earlier than surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible, is an indirect witness to its VORLAGE, that is, the Hebrew parent text from which it was translated. In theory, the Septuagint should allow scholars to reconstruct that earlier Hebrew text, though in practice this activity is fraught with difficulties.

Already in the first chapter of the Bible we come across some interesting examples where the Greek differs from the extant Hebrew. Compare Gen. 1:6–7 in the two forms (translated literally into English):

A few minor differences may be observed, such as the repetition of God in the Greek version of verse 7. Note especially, however, that the Greek has the words and it was so in verse 6 rather than in verse 7. Does that mean, as some scholars argue, that the Hebrew manuscript used by the Greek translator also had the phrase in verse 6? Or is there some other way to account for the difference?

One of the reasons scholars cannot be certain that the Greek exactly represents its Hebrew Vorlage is that translation between any two languages always involves a degree of interpretation. The translators who produced the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible were also interpreters who came to the text with the theological and political prejudices of their time and thus had to deal with hermeneutical issues similar to those we face today. Their translations were no doubt influenced, whether deliberately or subconsciously, by what they believed the Hebrew meant in light of their contemporary situation, which may not have been what the author of the Hebrew text intended. Clearly, this is bad news to the textual critic, who wants to use the Greek version to reconstruct its Hebrew parent text. It is possible that the Greek translator deleted the phrase and it was so from Gen. 1:7, perhaps because it sounded out of place, and inserted it in 1:6, where it seemed more appropriate immediately following God’s command (similarly, the Greek text includes this phrase after the command in Gen. 1:20, where it is absent in extant Hebrew texts).

On the other hand, precisely because the Septuagint reflects the theological, social, and political interests of its translators, it provides valuable information about how the Hebrew Bible was understood and interpreted at the time the translators were working. In the Greek we find passages that are given a particular political or religious spin. This feature is especially clear in the book of Isaiah. For example, the Hebrew text of Isa. 65:11 reproaches those who, forsaking the Lord, set tables for Gad [a god of fortune] and fill cups of mixed wine for Meni [a god of fate]. The names of these SEMITIC gods were probably not familiar to Alexandrian Jews, and so the translator replaced these names with the Greek words for demon and fate, both of which could be understood as names for deities.4 With this technique, the translator managed not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also to contextualize it.

One must also remember that the Septuagint was produced in the wake of Alexander’s conquest and death, when Palestine was coveted by the Ptolemies to the south in Egypt and the Seleucids to the north in Syria. Because Palestine was caught in the middle, political allegiances among the Jews were often divided. Moreover, great internal turmoil resulted as Jews in favor of Hellenization clashed with those who opposed it. Just as people today use the Bible to support their agendas, so also were the sacred writings appealed to for authority at that time. And just as a given verse today can be interpreted to support the claims of opposing parties, so also were specific sacred texts understood differently by different communities. This conflict may be seen, for instance, in the Essenes’ understanding of Scripture when compared with that of the Pharisees. To what extent such interpretations can be identified in the Greek translation of the Bible is a subject of debate, but it would be strange indeed if the political loyalties and religious convictions of the translators were not reflected in their work.5 In any case, the Septuagint provides invaluable material showing how the Hebrew Bible was used in this crucial period of Jewish history.

The Septuagint in the Christian Church

The Greek OT, not the Hebrew Bible, was the primary theological and literary context within which the writers of the NT and most early Christians worked.6 This does not mean that the NT writers were ignorant of the Hebrew Bible or that they did not use it. But since the NT authors were writing in Greek, they would naturally quote, allude to, and otherwise use a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible. This process is no different from that of a modern author writing in Spanish, for instance, and quoting a widely used Spanish translation of the Bible.

Consequently, familiarity with the Greek OT cannot help but enlighten the student of the Greek NT. Biblical scholar Adolf Deissmann once wrote, A single hour lovingly devoted to the text of the Septuagint will further our exegetical knowledge of the Pauline Epistles more than a whole day spent over a commentary.7 The connection can be illustrated at several levels.

In the first place, the Septuagint provided some of the vocabulary that the NT writers drew upon. To be sure, it is often difficult to determine whether a NT writer used a given Greek word, such as sabbaton (Sabbath), because of its use in the Septuagint or simply because it was already a part of the vocabulary among Greek-speaking Jews in the first century. There is no doubt, however, that the NT writers often use Septuagint terms or phrases that were not in common Greek usage (e.g., pasa sarx, all flesh, in Luke 3:6). In such cases, they may be borrowing the terms from the Septuagint to affect a biblical style. Most of us have heard someone pray using the archaic English pronouns thee and thou. Although these pronouns are not current in modern English, people still use them on certain occasions if they want to imitate or suggest the style of biblical language as found in the enormously influential King James Version. The Septuagint certainly left its mark in Greek, just as the King James Version has in English.

Second, the NT writers sometimes used expressions found in the Septuagint to draw the reader’s mind to specific passages of OT Scripture. Paul, for instance, uses the phrase every knee shall bow in Phil. 2:10 to describe the ultimate exaltation of Jesus. This phrase occurs in the Greek text of Isa. 45:22–23, which may be translated as follows:

Turn to me, and you will be saved,

you from the ends of the earth.

I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I swear

—surely righteousness will come out of my mouth,

my words will not be thwarted—

that every knee will bow to me

and every tongue will confess to God.

Clearly Paul is using vocabulary from the Greek version of Isa. 45:23, not just to sound biblical, but to bring that passage to mind in order to identify Jesus with God.

Third, the NT writers frequently quote the Greek OT directly—perhaps as many as three hundred times. This accounts for some of the differences readers note when comparing these quotations with the corresponding OT passages. For example, in Heb. 11:21 dying Jacob is said to have worshiped leaning on the top of his staff, a reference to the Greek text of Gen. 47:31. In almost all English Bibles, however, Genesis says that Jacob worshiped at the top of his bed, which is indeed what the surviving Hebrew manuscripts say. The reason for the discrepancy is that the Hebrew text used by the Greek translator of Genesis consisted only of consonants; the appropriate vowels were to be inferred by the reader from the context. The Hebrew noun mṭh in Genesis could be read as either maṭṭeh (staff) or miṭṭâ (bed), and the Greek translator, possibly following an interpretative tradition, inferred that the word staff was meant. Some centuries later, when vowel points were added to the Hebrew biblical texts, the noun in Gen. 47:31 was taken (on the basis of a different tradition) to mean bed.8

One must appreciate that the continuity and development of thought between the Old and New Testaments is of particular concern for biblical theology. The Greek OT provides essential, but often overlooked, theological links that would have been familiar to Christians of the first century but are not so obvious in the Hebrew version. No NT scholar can afford to ignore the Septuagint and other Greek versions.

In addition, the Greek, not the Hebrew text, was the Bible used by the early church fathers and councils. As Christian doctrine on the nature of Jesus and the Trinity developed, discussion centered on the exegesis of key OT texts. Because most of the church fathers could not read Hebrew, exegetical debates were settled using the Greek OT. Some of the Greek words used to translate the OT had connotations associated with Greek culture and philosophy that were probably alien to the thought of the original Hebrew author. The simple fact that the Hebrew Scriptures existed in the Greek language and were read by people living in a Greek culture led to exegesis by both Jewish and Christian interpreters (e.g., Philo and Arius, respectively) that was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy.

Of course, one must also consider that the Greek translators themselves originally rendered the Hebrew in ways that were to some extent influenced by Greek culture and thought, making the text even more congenial to a later exegesis that would be similarly influenced. A good example is the Greek text of Prov. 8:22–31, which held a prominent place in the early discussions about the nature of Jesus and his place in the Trinity. In this passage, wisdom is personified as the first of the Lord’s works prior to the creation of the universe. Primarily because of the opening verses of John’s Gospel, Jesus became associated with this divine wisdom (sophia) or rationality (logos). In Greek philosophy, however, the Greek concept of an impersonal divine wisdom permeating the universe was prominent, and so the nature of Jesus and his relationship to God the Father had to be carefully delineated. Many early theologians, such as Origen and Tertullian, used Prov. 8 in their discussions of the relationship between the Son and the Father. Subsequently Arius, a Christian presbyter of Alexandria (died 336), argued on the basis of the Greek translation of Prov. 8 that the Son was a created being, not coeternal with the Father. Subtle differences between the Greek and Hebrew worked in favor of Arius’s argument, which led to years of intense debate.9

Augustine famously made frequent use of Isa. 7:9, Unless you have believed, you will not understand (according to the Old Latin), making faith a central component in the quest for knowledge.10 But this statement is not found in most English Bibles today, which translate the Hebrew text, If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all (NIV). Spoken in the original context of Isaiah’s exhortation to King Ahaz, the statement threatens the future of Ahaz’s reign if he seeks security in an alliance with Assyria. As Pope Francis points out in his encyclical letter Lumen Fidei,

Here there is a play on words, based on two forms of the verb ʾamān: you will believe (taʾamînû) and you shall be established (tēʾāmēnû). . . . It might seem that the Greek version of the Bible, by translating be established as understand, profoundly altered the meaning of the text by moving away from the biblical notion of trust in God towards a Greek notion of intellectual understanding. Yet this translation, while certainly reflecting a dialogue with Hellenistic culture, is not alien to the underlying spirit of the Hebrew text. The firm foundation that Isaiah promises to the king is indeed grounded in an understanding of God’s activity and the unity which he gives to human life and to the history of his people.11

Augustine, reading most likely from a Latin Bible that had been translated from a Greek text, found there that without faith in God’s enduring presence one cannot attain true understanding.

These examples are only two of many that show how the doctrines and beliefs of Christianity were hammered out with exegetical appeals to an OT that was written in Greek, not Hebrew. While no point of Christian doctrine rests on the Greek text in contradiction to the Hebrew, it is also true that the Greek OT text was the Word of God for the universal church in its first three centuries. Moreover, the Eastern Orthodox churches inherited the Greek text as their Bible. Traditionally, the Orthodox churches have considered the Greek version to be divinely inspired (and even in some sense to have superseded the Hebrew text), although this view is a matter of debate among Orthodox scholars today.12

Because of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, most Christians in the Western church today are completely unfamiliar with the Septuagint. Part of the reason for this development is that the Reformation shifted attention away from the early translations of the OT, whether they be Greek or Latin, back to the original Hebrew. Today’s English translations of the OT are rightly based, not on the Greek or Latin versions, but on the best available Hebrew text, known as the MASORETIC TEXT (MT). While the Hebrew is the best textual base for modern translations, we cannot forget that the ancient Greek version of the OT was nevertheless the Bible of the earliest Christian writers.13

As we have seen, the Greek versions contain textual links not found in the Hebrew that provide historical and literary continuity for the important task of biblical theology and for accurately understanding the exegetical debates of the early church fathers. The student of the Bible at the college or seminary level must learn to appreciate the Septuagint and to understand its use in modern biblical scholarship and exegesis. Although few students will pursue Septuagint studies as a specialty at the graduate level, all students of the Bible, regardless of their religious identity, should understand the historical importance of the Septuagint and its significant contribution to the development of the Bible that we hold in our hands today. As the eminent biblical scholar Ferdinand Hitzig is said to have remarked to his students, Gentlemen, have you a Septuagint? If not, sell all you have, and buy a Septuagint.14

1. The proper way to pronounce Septuagint is the subject of lighthearted debate among specialists. English dictionaries typically suggest the pronunciation SEP-too-a-jint or sep-TOO-a-jint or the like, but many scholars in the discipline treat it as a three-syllable word, SEP-twa-jint. In Europe, one often hears the last syllable pronounced with a hard g, after the pattern of Latin Septuaginta.

Terms included in the glossary are set in small caps the first time they appear in the text.

2. The authors are Christian but recognize and value the Jewish heritage of the Bible and its translations. Accordingly, the term Hebrew Bible or Hebrew Scriptures will be used mainly when the text is discussed in the context of Judaism, and Old Testament (OT) when in the context of the church.

3. This estimate comes from the Septuaginta-Unternehmen in Göttingen: http://adw-goe.de/en/research/research-projects-within-the-academies-programme/septuaginta-unternehmen/ (accessed September 2, 2015). As with ancient works generally, many of the manuscripts are fragmentary. See below, chap. 2, Greek Manuscripts, for further detail.

4. See Isaac L. Seeligmann, The Septuagint Version of Isaiah: A Discussion of Its Problems (Leiden: Brill, 1948), 99. He argues that the Greek words should be taken as a reference to Agathos Daimon and Tyche, deities in the Hellenistic cult. This work, along with two other studies, has been reprinted as The Septuagint Version of Isaiah and Cognate Studies, ed. Robert Hanhart and Hermann Spieckermann, FAT 40 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), with different pagination (see 264).

5. E.g., see Isa. 15:7b, which in the Hebrew reads, They [i.e., the Moabites] will carry away their possessions over the brook of willows. The Greek translator, however, misunderstood the text (the Hebrew word for willows has the same consonants as the word for Arabs) and rendered it, For I will bring Arabians upon the valley, and they will take it. Seeligmann (Septuagint Version of Isaiah, 89 [repr. 234]) suggests that this rendering alludes to the conquest of Transjordan by the Nabateans, an Arab state, in the second century BCE.

6. See Emanuel Tov, The Septuagint between Judaism and Christianity, in Die Septuaginta und das frühe Christentum—The Septuagint and Christian Origins, ed. Thomas Scott Caulley and Hermann Lichtenberger, WUNT 277 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011), 3–25.

7. Adolf Deissmann, The Philology of the Greek Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1908), 12.

8. The NIV translates Gen. 47:31 so as to agree with Heb. 11:21, presumably on the grounds that the traditional vowel pointing of the Hebrew text is incorrect and that the Greek version preserves the correct sense. For a discussion of this quotation, see Moisés Silva, The New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Text Form and Authority, in Scripture and Truth, ed. D. A. Carson and J. W. Woodbridge (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 147–65.

9. The Arian teaching was pronounced a heresy by the Council of Nicea in 325. For further details, see Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, 5 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971–89), 1:191–210.

10. Robert J. O’Connell, Soundings in St. Augustine’s Imagination (New York: Fordham University Press, 1994), 123–24.

11. Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei, Vatican website, June 29, 2013, §23, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei.html (accessed September 2, 2015).

12. See the discussion below in chap. 3 under the heading The Biblical Canon and n. 48.

13. Müller goes so far as to argue that the Christian church in the West was quite wrong to follow Jerome’s preference for the Hebrew text over that of the Septuagint. See Mogens Müller, The First Bible of the Church: A Plea for the Septuagint, JSOTSup 206, Copenhagen International Seminary 1 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 143. Even more emphatic is Timothy Michael Law, When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013). While the arguments of these and other authors are not persuasive, they are helpful in showing the great importance of the Greek text for early Christianity.

14. J. J. Kneucker, Zur Erinnerung an Ferdinand Hitzig: Eine Lebens- und Charakterskizze, in Dr. Ferdinand Hitzig’s Vorlesungen über Biblische Theologie und Messanische Weissagungen des Alten Testaments, ed. J. J. Kneucker (Karlsruhe: H. Reuther, 1880), 1–64, esp. 19n2. Apparently Professor Hitzig had no female students. Today, women are among the outstanding scholars contributing to Septuagint studies.

Part 1

The History of the Septuagint

In this first part of the book, the reader is introduced to the basic facts and concepts related to Septuagint studies. We begin in chapter 1 by defining our terms and describing the historical origins of the Septuagint. We then discuss in chapter 2 the complications that developed in the following centuries as the Greek text underwent various revisions. Chapter 3 provides a summary of the manuscripts that have survived and of the printed editions available today, followed by a description of the contents of the Septuagint in the light of historical developments regarding the biblical canon. Finally, chapter 4 is devoted to the nature of the Septuagint as a translation document.

These chapters are written with the general reader and the beginning student in mind. Although most readers will probably have a basic familiarity with biblical studies, no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew is assumed in this part of the book, and a special effort has been made to explain new terms as they appear. These terms are also included in the glossary and are set in small caps on their first appearance in the text.

1

The Origin of the Septuagint and Other Greek Versions

Defining Our Terms. The term Septuagint, which is used in a confusing variety of ways, gives the inaccurate impression that this document is a homogeneous unit. Important distinctions sometimes need to be made, such as the contrast between the initial translation of the Pentateuch (the Septuagint proper), the earliest translation of other books (the Old Greek), and the modern printed volumes (e.g., Rahlfs).

The First Greek Translation. The Letter of Aristeas, in spite of its legendary character, seems to preserve some valuable information. The Pentateuch was originally translated in Alexandria around the year 250 BCE, and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures were translated within the following two or three centuries. The precise reason for the translation of the Pentateuch at that time is debated by scholars. Later traditions, which provide little help in sorting out the origins of the Septuagint, are in part responsible for the present terminological confusion.

The Later Greek Translations. For several reasons, such as dissatisfaction with the Septuagint, other attempts were made to render the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Aquila was a Jewish proselyte who tried to represent almost every detail of the Hebrew text consistently. The translation associated with Theodotion has some points of contact with that of Aquila, but its origin is the subject of much scholarly debate. Symmachus produced a careful translation that can be characterized as moderately literal while showing sensitivity to Greek idiom. We know little about the Other Versions from antiquity.

Defining Our Terms

Strictly speaking, there is really no such thing as the Septuagint. This may seem like an odd statement in a book titled Invitation to the Septuagint, but unless readers appreciate the fluidity and ambiguity of the term, they will quickly become confused by the literature.1

One might think that the Septuagint is the Greek version of the Bible in the same way that the VULGATE, for example, is the Latin version. The difference between them, however, is much greater than simply the language used. The Vulgate was largely the work of one man (Jerome) at one time (the end of the fourth century) in one place (Bethlehem).2 As a result, the Latin Vulgate as a whole displays considerable unity. Not so with the Septuagint, which was produced by many people unknown to us, over two or three centuries, and almost certainly in more than one location. Consequently, the Greek OT does not have the unity that the term the Septuagint might imply.

Because the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures has such a long and complicated history, most of which is unknown today, the term Septuagint is used to refer to several different things. In its most general sense, the term refers to any or all ancient Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, just as one might now refer in general to the English Bible, with no particular translation in mind. This is the sense in which the term is used in the title of our book—a book about the ancient Greek version(s) of the Hebrew Scriptures. Often, the term (or its abbreviation LXX) is also used to refer to a particular printed edition of the Greek text, whether that edition reproduces the text of a particular manuscript or prints a reconstructed text.3

Given these typical uses of