Abstract
Barthelemy, J.D., Critique textuelle de l'Ancien Testament. Tome 5: Job, Proverbes, Qohélet et Cantique des Cantiques (OBO, 50/5; Fribourg: Academic Press Fribourg/ Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), pp. xxviii + 975. €300.00. ISBN 978-3-7278-1786-1 (Academic Press Fribourg), 978-3-525-54402-0 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht): ISSN 1015-1850.
This, the final volume of text critical notes on the Hebrew Bible, brings to completion the final reports of the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (HOTTP) whose committee met in six sessions between 1969 and 1979. The committee assigned the task of writing up the final reports to B., who died in 2002, leaving the first draft of a manuscript. This draft has been edited by C. Locher, S.D. Ryan and A. Schenker. The committee's task was to consider significant textual difficulties that had proven troublesome to recent Bible translations, and the reports summarize the textual evidence and offer preferred readings and translations. As in the previous volumes, the data are clearly laid out and the problems explained well, so that these are invaluable resources for those working on the biblical text, not least for these wisdom books whose textual histories are complex. There is a tendency in all the volumes to favour the Masoretic Text, and scholarly conjectures are few. The influence of the HOTTP discussions and B.'s text-critical decisions will be familiar now to those who use BHQ, where similar terms are employed to describe text-critical judgements. The volume therefore not only presents the data clearly and succinctly for anyone to use, but also can shed light on some of the thinking behind BHQ. It is a helpful companion to be on anyone's shelf.
James K. Aitken
Bons, Eberhard and Jan Joosten (eds.), Die Sprache der Septuaginta/The Language of the Septuagint (Handbuch zur Septuaginta/|Handbook of the Septuagint, 3; Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2016), pp. 506. €198.00. ISBN 978-3-579-08104-5.
The language of the Septuagint has been a subject of much debate, especially regarding its special character and relation to standard Greek. This volume, forming vol. 3 of the Handbuch zur Septuaginta, brings the discussion up to date by providing an overview of key issues in the field and some neglected topics too. It is particularly valuable for its inclusion of Greek linguists as well as Septuagint specialists and for its focus on fresh topics such as style. It feels less like a ‘Handbook’ than a collection of critical essays, and inevitably the quality of contributions vary, but this is a highly significant contribution to the field. The volume is divided into seven sections. Section 1, Prolegomena: Stanley E. Porter, ‘History of Scholarship on the Language of the Septuagint’; Peter Prestel, ‘Die Diversität des Griechischen in der Septuaginta’. Section 2, The Greek of the Septuagint as Hellenistic Greek: Geoffrey Horrocks, ‘The Phases of the Greek Language’; Gerard Mussies, ‘Phonology and Morphology of Septuagint Greek’; John A.L. Lee, ‘The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and Documentary Evidence’; Anssi Voitila, ‘Septuagint Syntax and Hellenistic Greek’; Knut Usener, ‘Literarische Anspielungen in der LXX’. Section3, The Greek of the Septuagint as Translation Greek: Takamitsu Muraoka, ‘Limitations of Greek in Representing Hebrew’; Cameron Boyd-Taylor, ‘The Classification of Literalism in Ancient Hebrew-Greek Translation’; Raija Sollamo, ‘The Study of Translation Technique’; Katrin Hauspie, ‘Transcriptions of Hebrew Words’; Andrés Piquer Otero, ‘Hebraisms’; Hans Ausloos and Bénédicte Lemmelijn, ‘Etymological Translations in the Septuagint’; Peter J. Gentry, ‘New Ultra-Literal Translation Techniques in Kaige-Theodotion and Aquila’; Georg A. Walser, ‘Statistical Differences between Translation Greek and Non-Translation Greek Texts’. Section 4, Local Influences: Stefan Pfeiffer, ‘Ägyptische Elemente im Griechischen der LXX’; Jan Joosten, ‘Septuagint Greek and the Jewish Sociolect in Egypt’; Carlo Consani, ‘Do Some Books of the Septuagint Contain Elements of Palestinian Greek?’. Section 5, The Vocabulary of the Septuagint: Gilles Donval, ‘La lexicographie de la Septante’; Robert J.V. Hiebert, ‘Innovative Elements in the Vocabulary of the Septuagint Pentateuch’; Emanuel Tov, ‘The Septuagint Translation of the Torah as a Source and Resource for the Post-Pentateuchal Translators’; Martin Vahrenhorst, ‘Der Kult’; Anna Passoni dell'Acqua, ‘Sin and Forgiveness’; Gilles Dorival, ‘Le lexique de l'administration et de la politique’; Cécile Dogniez, ‘Le vocabulaire de la loi dans la Septante’. Section 6, The Style of the Septuagint: Alexis Léonas, ‘The Language of the Septuagint between Greek and Hebrew’; Jennifer Dines, ‘Stylistic Features of the Septuagint’; Luca Mazzinghi, ‘The Style of the Book of Wisdom’; Eberhard Bons, ‘The Language of the Book of Judith’; Frank Shaw, ‘The Language of Second Maccabees’; Wolfgang Orth, ‘Die Sprache des 3. Makkabäerbuches’; Christoph Kugelmeier, ‘Sprache und Stil des 4. Makkabäerbuches’. Section 7, The Language of the Septuagint and the New Testament: Moisés Silva, ‘The Language of the Septuagint and the New Testament: Prolegomena’; Madeleine Wieger, ‘Le vocabulaire de la Septante dans le Nouveau Testament’; Thomas J. Kraus, ‘Die Sprache der Septuaginta und das Neue Testament: Grammatik’; Ralph Brucker, ‘Die Sprache der Septuaginta und das Neue Testament: Stil’.
James K. Aitken
Brotzman, Ellis R. and Eric J. Tully, Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2nd edn, 2016), pp. xv + 255. $24.00. ISBN 978-0-8010-9753-9.
The first edition, written by Brotzman alone, was reviewed in B.L. 1995, p. 48. In this new and substantially reworked edition, the aim is still accessibility for students without shirking the issues. As before, there are chapters on the history of writing, the transmission of the OT text, surveys of surviving Hebrew texts and of the principal ancient versions, and discussion of the types of scribal and other errors that may occur. New this time is a valuable chapter explaining and comparing BHS and BHQ, nearly always in strong favour of the latter. In a final main chapter, many verses from the book of Ruth are explained and evaluated, examples being chosen where there is a comment in the apparatus in BHS. Given how often it is concluded that the apparatus is partial and misleading, it is a pity that this could not also have included the use of BHQ for the same verses. The tone throughout is respectfully cautious but far from obscurantist, and it is certainly concluded sometimes that better readings are attested than MT. Whether the students for whom this will serve well as a valuable introduction to sometimes challenging material will themselves be equipped to follow the ideal path in textual criticism that the authors rightly champion is quite another question, however.
H.G.M. Williamson
De Lange, Nicholas, Japheth in the Tents of Shem: Greek Bible Translations in Byzantine Judaism (Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism, 30: Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015), pp. xvi + 221. €99.00. ISBN 978-3-16-154073-8; ISSN 0179-7891.
D. continues here his unique field of textual research. Two decades ago he published Greek Jewish Texts from the Cairo Genizah (B.L. 1997, p. 25), and now he uses those and related texts from the Byzantine period to paint a picture of the Bible and its use in the Jewish community of the time. He finds a fundamental controversy between the ‘traditionalists’, who read the Bible in Greek and favoured the LXX (some may be surprised to learn this!), and the ‘innovators’ (related to the rabbinic movement in Palestine), who wanted to introduce synagogue readings in Hebrew and rabbinic inter-pretation. Where the ‘innovators’ allowed use of a Greek version, they very much preferred the translation of Aquila. Yet there is evidence for use of a variety of translations, though whereas Christians focused on the written text, there are indications that many of the Greek biblical readings found in Jewish sources were passed down orally. There are also indications that Qaraism made inroads into the Byzantine Jewish community. Although the Hebrew text eventually came to dominate the synagogue readings, there is evidence for the use of Greek translations (including the LXX!) down to the fifteenth century. These are only some of the remarkable conclusions of an exhilarating study that all textual scholars of the Bible, as well as specialists in later Judaism, can benefit from. A long appendix gives information on the 19 manuscripts on which the study is primarily based.
Lester L. Grabbe
Fincati, Mariachiara, The Medieval Revision of the Ambrosian Hexateuch: Critical Editing between Septuaginta and Hebraica Veritas in Ms. Ambrosianus A 147 inf. (De Septuaginta Investigations, 5; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016), pp. 456. €110.00. ISBN 978-3-525-53618-6; ISSN 2198-1140.
Codex Ambrosianus A 147 inf. (F in the Cambridge and Göttingen editions), a fifth-century manuscript probably written in Egypt and containing the Septuagint version of the Hexateuch, was extensively restored in Italy during the late eleventh century. In the course of restoration, numerous corrections and marginal annotations were made. The present work, revision of a doctoral dissertation defended in Florence in 2012, is dedicated to the description and analysis of these medieval additions (designated by the siglum Fb in the major editions). The sources of the additions are not only the ‘usual suspects’-Hexaplaric readings originating in the minor versions, exegetical remarks of Greek fathers-but also more recent traditions partially paralleled in such little known witnesses as the Graecus Venetus and the Constantinople Pentateuch. Although undoubtedly reflecting a Christian initiative, the revision of Codex F draws extensively on Jewish traditions circulating in Greek in the Middle Ages. After a brief description of the manuscript and its putative history, Fincati's book goes through the Fb readings verse by verse, explaining their nature and exegetical tenor and attributing them to their sources as far as these can be determined. The concluding chapter, addressing mostly the questions of sources and the identity and milieu of the reviser(s), is again very short. The Fb material is copious, much of it is more or less unique, and much of it is written in medieval Greek. Fincati's competent guidance will be very much appreciated by anyone trying to make sense of the first and second apparatus in John Wevers’ Göttingen edition of the Pentateuch (or of the Cambridge or Margolis editions of Joshua).
Jan Joosten
Glenny, W. Edward, Amos: A Commentary based on Amos in Codex Vaticanus (Septuagint Commentary Series; Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. x +183. €96.00/$133.00. ISBN 978-90-04-24557-0 (print), 978-90-04-25331-5 (e-book); ISSN 1572-3755.
This commentary on the Greek text of Amos is a sequel to G.'s doctoral dissertation on the translation techniques of LXX Amos (Finding Meaning in the Text: Translation Technique and Theology in the Septuagint of Amos [Leiden: Brill, 2009], reviewed in B.L. 2010, pp. 68-69). The present work is based on a single Greek manuscript, Vaticanus (‘B’), and attempts to understand what an early Greek reader would have made of that text, without having access to the Hebrew text or any knowledge of Hebrew. A brief overview of scholarship on LXX Amos and discussion of the format of the Vaticanus text of Amos is followed by the Greek text, including textual apparatus. and author's translation. The detailed commentary that forms the main section of the work follows the scribal paragraph divisions in the Vaticanus manuscript, even though the reason for some of these divisions seems unclear. The commentary comprises detailed linguistic and semantic comments, including comparison with the Hebrew text and discussion of inter-textual references and allusions. Emphases distinctive to the LXX are noted in support of the author's previous discussion (cited above) of the theological Tendenz of LXX Amos, namely its anti-Syrian and anti-Samaritan bias, its portrayal of God, and its understanding of three interlinked themes: eschatology, the gentiles and messianism. The work concludes with a bibliography and indices of references to ancient literature and authors cited.
Hilary Marlow
Himbaza, Innocent (ed.), Making the Biblical Text: Textual Studies in the Hebrew and the Greek Bible (OBO, 275; Fribourg: Academic Press Fribourg/Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), pp. xiv + 192. Numerous figures and tables. €65.00. ISBN 978-3-7278-1772-4 (Academic Press Fribourg); 978-3-525-54399-3 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).
This volume of essays arises from a symposium organized by the Institut Dominique Barthélemy at the University of Fribourg. The contributions are detailed studies of particular textual issues, and all are of a high standard, emphasizing the extent of multiple text types in the earliest text history of the Hebrew Bible: T. Römer, ‘From Deuteronomistic History to Nebiim and Torah’; J. Joosten, ‘The Tiberian Vocalization and the Edition of the Hebrew Bible Text’; A. Schenker, ‘Die Tiqqune sopherim im Horizont der biblischen Textgeschichte-Theologische Korrekturen, literansche Varianten im alttestamentlichen Text und Textvielfalt: Wie gehen sie zusammen?’; P. Hugo, ‘“Dreissig Jahre war David alt, als er König wurde…”(2 Sam 5,4): Literarische und textkritische Studie der Regierungsnotizen in den Samuelbüchern’; M. Richelle, ‘Revisiting 2 Kings 13:14-21 (MT and LXX): The Transposition of a Pericope and Multiple Literary Editions in 2 Kings’; Y.P. Goldman, ‘Du sacerdoce à la royauté: une suppléance hasmonéenne sur le trône de David selon le texte massorétique de Zacharie 6,11-15?’; I. Himbaza, ‘Masoretic Text and Septuagmt as Witnesses to Malachi 1:1 and 3:22-24’; A. Lange, ‘The Book of Jeremiah and the Hebrew and Greek Texts of Ben Sira’. This is a volume well worth reading for the current perspectives it gives on the textual history of the Bible.
James K. Aitken
Jobes, Karen H. (ed.), Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader (Grand Rapids. M: Kregel Academic, 2016), pp. 351. $39.99. ISBN 978-0-8254-4342-8. [Distributed in the UK by Alban Books.]
This includes a selection of texts in Greek (all from the Hebrew canon), analysing the grammar and the vocabulary verse by verse. Approximately 600 verses are included. The selections from each book are provided with a brief introduction and bibliography. The aim is to provide notes for students learning the Greek of the Septuagint. The initial work was done by J.'s graduate students and teaching assistants in her class in advanced Koine Greek. The basis of the Greek text is Rahlf’ s second edition (2006), while the English translation is taken from A New English Translation of the Septuagint (B.L. 2009, p. 57). It is a shame a book like 2 Maccabees (which was probably composed originally in Greek rather than being translated) was not included; nevertheless, this should be a useful teaching and learning tool for the LXX.
Lester L. Grabbe
Jobes, Karen H. and Moisés Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2nd edn, 2015), pp. xxi + 432. $36.00/£26.00. ISBN 978-0-8010-3649-1.
This is a most welcome second edition of a valuable and well-established handbook to the LXX, first published in 2000 (and reviewed in B.L. 2002, p. 55). The editors described their work over-modestly as ‘a relatively brief and inviting introduction for the student who has no prior knowledge of the Septuagint’, one that might also serve some other users. In fact, this was a substantial discursive guide, providing succinct analyses of most major problems in tackling this most complex of creations, lucidly structured, and offering extensive bibliographical guidance throughout, as well as much useful information in the appendices. The second edition, likewise issued without fanfare, represents the results of a remarkably careful and complete updating. The seamless integration both of the substantial fresh or rewritten material and of a great deal of new bibliography is masterly. The 15 years between the two editions have seen extraordinary growth and development in Septuagint studies: they are far more diverse, often moving far away from a long-standing preoccupation with textual questions, they are more sophisticated and methodologically aware, and debate is lively. There are major projects in hand, and frequent conferences. The NETS translation and a range of digital resources have already transformed access and scholarship. The editors of the volume are at home in this new world, and there is very little of it that they have failed to do justice to, except perhaps in the sphere of pure linguistic analysis, which they presumably regard as beyond the reach of their core intended readership. New and important sections illuminate a succession of complex and still contested issues, without taking sides. Among these, full coverage is rightly given to the new light shed on the development of the Greek text by the documents of the Judaean desert; to theories as to the nature and uses of the translations in their original contexts; to theologizing, or lack of it, on the part of the translators; and to the process by which the later versions ascribed to Aquila and others might have emerged, including their linkage with Rabbinic Judaism. Scholars of this generation whose pathbreaking work has been brought to the fore and incorporated into the wider picture are too numerous to mention. The guidance in the appendixes has been thoroughly updated. All this undoubtedly puts Jobes and Silva's second edition at the forefront of high quality introductions to the LXX, the indispensable guide in the second half of the second decade of our century.
Tessa Rajak
Kraus, Wolfgang, Michaël N. Van Der Meer and Martin Meiser (eds.), XV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Munich, 2013 (Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 64; Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016), pp. viii + 796. $119.95 (hardback), $99.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-8841-4162-4 (hardback). 978-1-6283-7138-3 (paperback), 978-0-8841-4161-7 (e-book).
The latest IOSCS Congress volume presents no less than 46 papers from the 2013 Congress in Munich. The specific biblical books under scrutiny are Joshua (M. Sigismund on the identification and characteristics of the Antiochene text, M.N. van der Meer on the literary and textual history of ch. 2, S. Sipilä on the textual problems of 7.14-18), Judges (N. LaMontagne on the relationship between the A and B texts, S. Lesemann on a possible case of theological exegesis in 8.32), Samuel (J. Harjumäki on differences between the Greek and Armenian versions, A. Aejmelaeus on the difficulties of establishing a critical text of 1 Sam. 14.47), Kings (J. Koulagna on literary problems in its textual transmission, M. Meiser on its context in the history of early Jewish literature), Esther (P. Chalupa on the relationship between the narrative and the law), Job (P. Pouchelle on its use of νoυθετέω, M. Dhont on literary features in the first cycle of speeches, J.D. Meade on the tenth-century catena manuscript RA 788, M. Cimosa and G. Bonney on the concept of ‘hope’ in the book and in some Patristic texts), Psalms (S. Olofsson on a translational divergence between Bk 1 and Bks 2-5 in the rendering of the word ‘sinner’, P. Ceulemans on the need for a new critical edition of Theodoret's commentary), Proverbs (J. Cook on a number of representative issues for an exegetical commentary, SA. Bledsoe on modifications made to the MT's references to the ‘stranger/foreigner’, L. Cuppi on Latin and Sahidic evidence concerning 8.31). Ecclesiastes (N. Dundua on the textual value of the Old Georgian version), Song of Songs (S.P. Cowe on the witness of the Armenian version to the Old Greek), Isaiah (P. LeMoigne on the ‘poetics’ of the book's use of the nominative absolute, A.T. Ngunga on the book's conception of πνεῦμα, J. Verburg on translational inconsistencies in 2.6-21), Jeremiah (M. Tucker on 11.1-14 as a case study on the use of recurring Hebrew phrases to evaluate a LXX translation), Daniel (E. Kellenberger on narrative vanations in ch. 14 ['Bel and the Dragon']), Amos (A. Kharanauli on the origins of the Georgian version), 1 Esdras (B. Gesche on the Old Latin translation's witness to an otherwise unknown Vorlage), Judith (E. Bons on the meanings of σϰάνδαλoν in the book, D. Scialabba on the use of ἀγνóτμα in 5.20), and 4 Maccabees (A. Bowden on ‘desire’ in the book and its bearing on Rom. 7.7). Further essays give wider attention to the Pentateuch (R. Sollamo on reflexive pronouns therein, C.J. Fresch on the peculiar occurrences of oὖν in Genesis and Exodus) and to the Minor Prophets (WE. Glenny on translation technique, G.J. Steyn on quotations in Matthew's Gospel), and to such matters as Egyptian translation methods (J.K. Aitken), legal hermeneutics and the tradition underlying the LXX (J. Joosten), passivization in LXX Greek (T. Muraoka), and lexical possibilities in LXX research (WA. Ross). Several studies are devoted to specific words or expressions in the LXX as a whole (A. van der Kooij on ἀλλóϕνλoζ, T.J. Kraus on βασιλίσϰoζ, J.A.E. Mulroney on ἵνα τί, P. Danove on τίθημι, and there are also contributions on whether Origen used the Aristarchian signs in the Hexapla (P.J. Gentry), how parabiblical compositions may have influenced the Letter of Aristeas (E. Matusova), and how the translation of the LXX may have impacted the paideutic ideal in Hellenistic Judaism (J.M. Zurawski). The volume certainly ‘bears testimony to the vitality of Septuagint research’, as the editors rightly claim in their Introduction (p. 9).
John Jarick
Kreuzer, Siegfried (ed.), Einleitung in die Septuaginta (Handbuch zur Septuaginta/ Handbook of the Septuagint, 1; Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2016), pp. 718. €198.00. ISBN 978-3-579-08100-7.
Introductions and study aids are making an ever increasing and welcome appearance in the field of Septuagint studies, and this one is sure to be pre-eminent among them. The central focus is a book-by-book summary of the key features for each Septuagint translation following a standard format: first is listed bibliographic information including text editions, Qumran manuscripts, and translations and commentaries. This is followed by a section discussing the textual history of the Septuagint book; then there is a section on the translation technique, time and place of the translation; next, a section on the linguistic, thematic and theological profile of the translation; and after this some features of the reception history. The discussion is concluded with thoughts on future research. Each chapter is written by a leading specialist in the field. In addition to the chapters on each Septuagint book, there is an extensive and very useful introduction surveying among other things the origins of the Septuagint, issues in current research, and the recensional history (S. Kreuzer) and an overview of the textual witnesses (S. Kreuzer and M. Sigismund). Two concluding chapters on the relation of the Septuagint and the NT (M. Karrer and W. Kraus) and extensive and helpful indices finish off the volume. The contnbutions are all learned and informed summaries of the state of the field. This is a must read for anyone not only in Septuagint studies but also in the field of Hebrew Bible and needing the latest opinions on the Septuagint books they are using.
James K. Aitken
Kreuzer, Siegfried, Martin Meiser and Marcus Sigismund (eds.), Die Septuaginta -Orte und Intentionen. 5. Internationale Fachtagung veranstaltet von Septuaginta Deutsch (LXX.D), Wuppertal 24.-27. Juli 2014 (WUNT, 361; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. 2016), pp. xvi + 923. €214.00. ISBN 978-3-16-153832-2; ISSN 0512-1604.
This began in a conference of the Septuaginta Deutsch, as the subtitle indicates. The essays (26 in English, 24 in German, 2 in French) are as follows: LXX and ancient philosophy (M. Karrer, in German); Plutarch and Judaism, Plutarch and LXX (K. Usener. German); provenance of the LXX: case study of Proverbs, Job and 4 Maccabees (J. Cook); Psalms of Solomon-locations and intension (M. Lattke, German); Egyptian recension of LXX Joshua in light of the Sahidic tradition (M. Sigismund, German); how does the damaged translation of Esdras A’ come into the Vulgate? (B. Gesche, German): the text-critical location of the Minor Prophets citations in the NT (S. Kreuzer, German); Heliopohs and On in LXX (G.J. Steyn); Moses’ thibis (J.K. Aitken); textual criticism and topography in Joshua 19.10-39 (M.N. van der Meer); place and space in the thought of Ben Sira (F. Ueberschaer, German); angelology exemplified through Daniel (M. Rösel, German); Philo and the Garden of Eden (J. Leonhardt-Balzer); dreams in Graeco-Roman antiquity, ancient Judaism and early Christianity (M. Meiser, German); the shared tradition of the LXX and the Samaritan Pentateuch (E. Tov); what if 4QLXXLeva contains the earliest formulation of LXX? (I. Himbaza); significance of the post-Lucianic Latin witnesses for the textual history of Kings (T. Kauhanen); recensions in the MT and in the OG of 2 Kgs 1.17-18 and 8.16 (A. Schenker); the Alexandrian tradition and the recension of Hesychius of Alexandria in the prophetic books of LXX (F. Albrecht, German); textual problems of Esther 1.13-20 (C. Cavallier, French); a new critical edition of Greek 4 Maccabees (R.J.V. Hiebert); OG and MT of Daniel 6 (M. Segal); exegesis of the graphic form of the Greek text, and the Codex Venetus (W. Schütte, German); Symmachus’ depoliticizing translation re-examined (S. Mulder); did the LXX translators really intend the Greek text as it is? (T.A.W. van der Louw); a syntactical perspective on LXX Greek (T. Muraoka); double translations in OG Job (M. Dhont); LXX term for ‘innocence’: akakia and akakos (E. Bons); a special meaning for the are- word group (C. Kugelmeier, German); relevance of the translation of ⋅dqh by eleos/eleēmosunē (J.-H. Kim, German); contextual translation practice in LXX Genesis? (M. Kepper, German); attitudes toward sexuality in LXX translations of contentious texts (W. Loader); Israel's military characterization in Greek Exodus (L. Perkins); on the Sitz im Leben of the LXX Psalter (R. Brucker, German); translation of skin/flesh from bsr-ôr into derma, bursa, sarx (A. Weissenrieder); conceptions of atonement in Ben Sira (H.-J. Fabry, German); scribal receptions in Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac Ben Sira (B.M. Zapff, German); the intentions of the translator of the Minor Prophets (C. Dogniez, French); LXX translation of Jonah 1.6 (D. Scialabba); LXX hermeneutics and the book of Isaiah (A. van der Kooij); harmonization in Isaiah 35 (J. Verburg); Nebuchadnezzar as lord of the animals: understanding a difference between LXX Jeremiah and MT Jeremiah in light of Daniel (J. Erzberger); origin of the LXX canon (J. Joosten); concepts of God in the Letter of Aristeas (B. Schmitz); motifs of LXX according to Aristobulus and their intention (M. Müller, German); the question of the origin and reception of Baruch 3.38 (W. Kraus, German); the OT in the Didache and in subsequent church orders (J. Draper); on the reception of Psalms in Dracontius’ De laudibus Dei (S. Diederich, German); Psalms as translated poetry in the perception of Hilarius of Poitiers (S. Freund, German); Pia festa litterarum, a case study of Christian transformation of Roman convivial lyrics (M. Rühl, German); Commodian and the Psalter (C. Schubert, German); Trinitarian Hymn (POxy 1786) and its environment (E. Pöhlmann, German). The Foreword explains the aim and themes of the conference. There is no summary of the essays, but there are indexes of subjects and citations. An important-if expensive- collection for LXX scholars.
Lester L. Grabbe
Lesemann, Sven, ‘Und Gideon starb in einem guten Greisenalter'. Untersuchungen zu den hebräischen und griechischen Texttraditionen in Ri 6-8 unter Einbeziehung des jüdisch-hellenistischen und frühen rabbinischen Schrifttums (De Septuaginta Investigationes, 6; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016), pp. 411. €100.00 (print); €79.99 (PDF). ISBN 978-3-525-53681-0 (print), 978-3-647-53681-1 (e-book); ISSN 2198-1140.
This Kiel dissertation (supervisors Ulrich Hübner and Rüdiger Bartelmus) is an investigation of the relationship between the Greek textual tradition of Judges and the Hebrew text. The core of the study is a detailed textual analysis of Judg. 6.1-8.35. There are four mam Greek versions (the Alexandrian or Hexaplaric recension, the B or kaige group, the K or koinē group, and the Antiochian or [proto-]Lucianic recension) and two related textual Greek traditions of Judges. L. argues that these can be grouped into two rather different textual versions. The variation in the different textual groups can be explained by different translation and revision techniques (e.g. word-for-word versus ad sensum translation). There are also traces of ‘theological exegesis’, which have parallels in Pseudo-Philo (Liber Antiquitum Biblicarum) and Josephus and also rabbinic literature. The text of Judges is very complex, and L. has given much useful analysis, especially in his study of the individual pericopes. Yet his precise conclusions could have been clearer: some dissertation writers have yet to discover the virtues of concise bullet-point summation.
Lester L. Grabbe
Martín-Contreras, Elvtra and Lorena Miralles-Maciá (eds.), The Text of the Hebrew Bible: From the Rabbis to the Masoretes (JAJSup, 13; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014), pp. 262. €90.00 (print), €74.99 (PDF). ISBN 978-3-525-55064-9 (print), 978-3-647-55064-0 (PDF); ISSN2198-1361.
The history of the text of the Hebrew Bible has traditionally been compartmentalized in scholarship into separate fields, relating to different chronological periods, such as textual criticism, rabbinic studies, Masoretic studies. This volume brings together papers by scholars working in these various fields. It opens with an introductory essay by the editors offering a brief survey of some current issues in the research of these fields, with particular attention to the historicity and diversity of sources. The first section focuses on the preservation and transmission of the Hebrew Bible: E. Tov (‘The Myth of the Stabilization of the Text of the Hebrew Scripture’) argues that there was no attempt at overall standardization of the text during the Second Temple period but rather a conservative transmission of one particular text type (proto-Masoretic) side-by-side with a pluriformity of other types of text; J. Van Seters (‘Did the Sopherim Create a Standard Edition of the Hebrew Scriptures?’) proposes that the received MT tradition was a ‘common vulgate text’ and a ‘product of the marketplace’ rather than the result of scholarly editonal activity, drawing parallels with recent research on the transmission of the Greek text of Homer; A. van der Kooij (‘Standardization or Preservation? Some Comments on the Textual History of the Hebrew Bible in the Light of Josephus and Rabbinic Literature’) adopts the view that there was stability of Scripture that was carefully preserved in the Temple under the auspices of the chief priests alongside fluidity among the texts that were disseminated in the community for study purposes. but eventually these disseminated copies were brought into line with the Temple text; E. Martin-Contreras (‘Rabbinic Ways of Preservation and Transmission of the Biblical Text in the Light of Masoretic Sources’) describes her ongoing project to trace Masoretic-style comments on the biblical text in rabbinic literature, with a view to seeking the historical origins of the Masorah; G. Stemberger (‘Preliminary Notes on Grammar and Orthography in Halakhic Midrashim: Late Additions?’) examines a number of passages in rabbinic texts that relate to distinctions in grammatical gender and orthography, concluding that several such passages are likely to be later insertions in the redactional growth of the text; and J. Trebolle and P. Torijana (‘The Behavior of the Hebrew Medieval Manuscripts and the Vulgate, Aramaic and Synac Versions of 1-2 Kings vis-à-vis the Masoretic Text and the Greek Version’) demonstrate the antiquity of many of the vanants of 1-2 Kings in medieval Hebrew manuscnpts and the different degree of their distribution across the two books of Kings. The second section contains papers relating to different approaches to the study of the text of the Hebrew Bible: N.R. Jastram (‘The Severus Scroll and Rabbi Meir's Torah’) examines the extant lists of variants attributed to the Severus Scroll, drawing attention to differences in the lists. which he interprets as reflections of variations arising in the process of transmission; A Samely (‘Some Literary Features of Midrashic and Masoretic Statements’) argues that Masoretic notes differ crucially from Masoretic-like notes in Mdrashic literature in that the latter always have an ‘object orientation’ (i.e., broadly, exegetical significance) whereas the former generally lack this feature; W. Smelik (‘Targum & Masorah: Does Targum Jonathan Follow the “Madinhae” Readings of Ketiv-Qere?’) critically examines cases where Targum Jonathan has been claimed to conform to the ‘eastern’ reading (qere) in the Masoretic tradition, concluding that most such cases do not secure evidence for such a claim; L. Himmelfarb (‘Does the Tiberian Accentuation System Preserve the Babylonian Accentuation System?’) demonstrates that there is a high level of correspondence between the verse division reflected by the Babylonian accent signs and the division reflected by the Tiberian accents, though this correspondence is not complete and is of a lower degree where Tiberian has a paseq; Y. Ofer (‘Three Enigmatic Notes from the Babylonian Masorah Comparing the Language of the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah’) offers new interpretations of some passages from the Babylonian Masorah that contrast words in the biblical text with words in the Mishnah; and D. Marcus (‘The Practical Use of the Masorah for the Elucidation of the Story of Samuel's Birth’) demonstrates how Masoretic notes and Masoretic textual divisions draw attention to literary units, intertextual connectivity and, at times, exegesis of individual words. The range of papers, which include medieval, rabbinic and Second Temple textual studies, makes this volume a very important contribution to the study of the text of the Hebrew Bible.
Geoffrey Khan
Mulroney, James A.E., The Translation Style of Old Greek Habakkuk: Methodological Advancement in Interpretative Studies of the Septuagint (FAT, II/86; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), pp. xvii + 264. €79.00. ISBN 978-3-16-154386-9.
This revised Edinburgh PhD thesis (supervisor David Reimer) aims to demonstrate that through an understanding of his style the translator's understanding of Habakkuk may be explained. In spite of the debate over ‘literal’ versus ‘free’ translation, there is an increasing view that there was a concern for style and literary quality even in a ‘literal’ translation. M. examines (in ch. 3) the question of Greek style in LXX Habukkuk, finding examples of elegant variation, repetition of the same word or root (or variations of it), assonance, alliteration, rhyming and other indications of Greek rhetorical devices. The translator (clearly a trained scribe) was aware of both the poetic nature of the Hebrew source text and rhetoric in the target Greek text, and addressed both entities in various ways. The translator had a prior understanding of the text and aimed to get this understanding over to the reader, even adding phrases or clauses not in the original when felt necessary. His translation included theological nuances, some of which were obvious in the Hebrew original but others were enhanced according to the translator's understanding of the text. M. includes an appendix with the Hebrew and Greek texts side by side, followed by an English translation of each, which helps to bring out how the translator has worked. This is a clearly written and helpful contribution to the debate about the translation of the LXX.
Lester L. Grabbe
Patmore, Hector M., The Transmission of Targum Jonathan in the West: A Study of Italian and Ashkenazi Manuscripts of the Targum to Samuel (JSSSup, 35; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp. xxii + 481. £25.00. ISBN 978-0-1987-6585-1.
P. begins by offering a survey of previous scholarship on MSS and printed editions of Targ. Jon. (the Aramaic translation of the Prophets authorized by the Rabbis), their relative value and the relationships between them. A second chapter concludes that Targ. Jon. continued to play a role in Italian and Ashkenazi Jewry in the Targum's scholarly citation, in its public recitation and in private preparation for the latter. A third chapter offers a description of the characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the MSS compared in P.'s study, namely, those containing a continuous text of Targ. Sam. He finds that the MSS have been regularly accommodated to the Hebrew (ch. 4) and to the targumic context and idiom (ch. 6) and are very unlikely to reflect ancient targumic or Hebrew variants (ch. 5). While the MS tradition is also regularly found to contain clarifications and embellishments, P. finds remarkably few exegetical additions (ch. 7) and an idiosyncratic collection of dialectal variations (ch. 8). Final chapters offer a positive evaluation of the textual significance of the marginalia of Codex Reuchlinianus No. 3 (ch. 9), the observation of clear affinities between liturgical texts and the Western textual tradition (ch. 10) and the reaffirmation of the hypothesis that targumic toseftot developed from Targ. Jon. itself. P.'s competent and very careful scholarship represents yet another preparatory step on the way toward a modern critical edition of Targ. Jon.
David Shepherd
Thomas, Angela, Anatomical Idiom and Emotional Expression: A Comparison of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint (Hebrew Bible Monographs, 52; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2014), pp. xvi + 366. Several tables. £75.00. ISBN 978-1-907534-84-3; ISSN 1747-9614.
In numerous instances the Hebrew Bible links emotions to various parts of the body. This detailed study aims at identifying all examples ‘of parts of the body used in the expressions of the emotions of distress, dear, anger and gladness in the Hebrew Bible’ (p. 12) and to compare them with the Septuagint. T. hopes to discover how far the translators of the Septuagint retain the original imagery and anatomical idiom and where and why the Greek differs. A chapter is devoted to each of the four emotions and every chapter ends with a table showing what body parts occur to convey an emotion as well as translations of all passages mentioned. There is a further chapter assessing the findings and evaluating the sixty or so instances where the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew. The result is a very useful study and readers will thank her for a valuable tool for accessing passages that are using anatomical idioms. An appendix (again in the form of four tables) provides a summary of the biblical verses, the ‘misreadings’ of the Septuagint, a list of different/omitted body parts in MT and LXX, and a summary of significant differences in meaning between MT and LXX.
Anselm C. Hagedorn
Tov, Emanuel, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research: Completely Revised and Expanded Third Edition (Winona Take, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), pp. xxx + 248. $47.50. ISBN 978-1-57506-328-7.
The first edition of this standard handbook was warmly reviewed in B.L. 1982, p. 38. In the 35 years since, factors that have led to this further revised edition include the development of electronic aids, the development of T.'s own thinking on some relevant areas, not least in connection with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the publication of T.'s equally standard work Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (now also in a third edition, 2012), to which he now refers for treatment of some elements that were included in the first edition of the work here under review. Adaptations to accommodate these and other revisions are welcome, of course. The fundamentals remain as important now as they were then, however, as a glance at many works which purport to include the results of textual criticism demonstrate. Methods to govern the responsible use of the Septuagint in this enterprise are not as frequently observed as they should be, so that attention to this practical and sensible book should remain mandatory not just for advanced students but for more senior scholars as well.
H.G.M. Williamson
Weigert, Sebastian, Hebraica Veritas. Übersetzungsprinzipien und Quellen der Deuteronomiumübersetzung des Hieronymus (BWANT, 207; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2016), pp. 280. €89.00. ISBN 978-3-17-030381-2.
This useful book ranges more widely than its title suggests. After a short introduction, Part B offers a thorough overview of Jerome as a translator. His own statements about the principles on which he worked change over time, and are not consistent: he attracted controversy, and his statement of method on any occasion tends to be coloured by whatever dogfight he is currently in. But commitment to translating a Hebrew text is a constant from c. 386 onwards. Hebrew was the first language of divine revelation; the LXX translators who were before Christ could not do justice to the christological sense of the OT. Everything, even his own earlier work, had to be retranslated from Hebrew. But how far did Jerome follow his own programme? And what do we learn from the many occasions when he departs from the Hebrew in favour of LXX, or Symmachus, or others? Part C is a careful study of all such departures in Jerome's translation of Deuteronomy. A nuanced picture emerges, of a translator whose commitment to Christological interpretation precedes his commitment to Hebraica Veritas, and who was willing to learn from Jewish interlocutors while seeing Jews themselves as unable to understand the true sense of their own scriptures. One caution: in W.'s comparisons, modern editions of MT stand in for Jerome's actual Hebrew Vorlage, which is of course to oversimplify.
Anders K. Bergquist
Werman, Cana (ed.), From Author to Copyist: Essays on the Composition, Redaction, and Transmission of the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Zipi Talshir (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), pp. xxiv + 390. $62.50. ISBN 978-1-57056-350-8.
This volume of essays in honour of the late Zipi Talshir (d. 4 October 2016) consists of nine papers from a symposium of January 2012 in her honour together with contributions from other friends and colleagues. J. Joosten writes on Septuagint and Samareitikon J. Trebolle Barrera provides a text-critical case study of 2 Kgs 8.10-11. E. Tov looks at the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 in three different versions. A. Schenker assesses the identical scribal mistake in 1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 7. A. Rofé considers the textual elimination of the names of gods. E. Blum reconsiders the relationship between Hosea and Pentateuchal traditions. J. Lust offers text-critical remarks on Ezek. 33.31-32. T. Forti grapples with bears in Hebrew and Greek Proverbs. I. Kislev looks at the transitional Num. 36.13. D. Amara tackles the OG and Theodotion for Bel and the Dragon. O. Munnich outlines the Masoretic rewriting of Daniel 4-6. J. Ben-Dov and R. Vergari write about Person Deixis in Malachi. DA. Glatt-Gilad analyses Hezekiah's cultic reforms in Chronicles. N. Mizrahi provides a study of Hebrew zmr to juxtapose textual history and historical linguistics. F.H. Polak looks at implicit subject, discourse structure and pragmatics in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles. N. Shupak notes how the Egyptian idea of weighing in the scales found its way into biblical literature. M.I. Gruber rehearses Bickerman on the rabbinic views of LXX Gen. 1.1. A. Aejmelaeus asks when the books of Samuel became Scripture. R. Hendel poses the question, ‘What is a biblical book?’ R. Deines expounds revelatory experiences as the beginning of scripture. And C. Werman reviews the canonization of the Hebrew Bible in light of Second Temple literature. Despite the technical character of many of the contributions, this collection is an exciting, even landmark, exposition of how the texts of the Greek and Hebrew Bibles reflect a wealth of topics which together suitably make textual criticism the parent of everything from composition to canonization.
George J. Brooke
Wirth, Raimund, Die Septuaginta der Samuelbücher. Untersucht unter Einbeziehung ihrer Rezensionen (De Septuaginta Investigationes, 7; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016), pp. 271. €100.00. ISBN 978-3-525-53694-0; ISSN 2198-1140.
This Heidelberg doctoral thesis (supervised by Manfred Oeming) investigates how the Hebrew Samuel was translated into Greek in the second century BCE. This is done by sampling a number of grammatical features, including conjunctions, infinitive and participial constructions, and verbal ‘tenses’, focusing on the kaige and Lucianic recensions. This in turn gives some insight into the development of the Hebrew text. W. concludes that the translator (he uses the singular) was expert in Greek but less so in Hebrew; however, the aim was to represent the Hebrew in a somewhat literalist fashion rather than given an idiomatic translation into Greek. Characteristic of the kaige recension is revision toward the proto-Masoretic text (which was itself a development from an earlier text, partly through theological editings). The Lucianic recension is characterized by stylistic revision toward better Greek, even Atticizing; the Hebrew influence comes through Hexaplaric borrowings. With regard to originality, W. argues that the Vorlage of the Septuagint is the earliest (second century BCE), followed by 4QSama (second/first century BCE), and the proto-Masoretic the latest (first century BCE). This recognition of the centrality of the LXX represents a return to the wisdom of some nineteenth-century scholars such as Wellhausen. Unlike too many doctoral theses, this is refreshing for being clearly written and accessible.
Lester L. Grabbe
Note also the following books reviewed in other sections of this Book List.
Mackie, Timothy P., Expanding Ezekiel: The Hermeneutics of Scribal Addition in the Ancient Text Witnesses of the Book of Ezekiel — see p. 122
Wagner, Thomas et al. (eds.), Text—Textgeschichte—Textwirkung. Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Siegfried Kreuzer— see p. 12