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A Handbook to the Septuagint

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A Handbook to the Septuagint LIBRARY Brigham Young University ^ FROM ^ V I Sfa^iAS. hT 228.83ii, ^;^iVtj^^ lIa^cu^^ A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPTUAGINT A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPTUAGINT BY RICHARD R. OTTLEY, M.A. AUTHOR OF "ISAIAH ACCORDING TO THE SEPTUAGINT" 228839 METHUEN & GO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON First Published in jg2o VXORI DILECTAE CVIVS MEMORIA PACEM lAM CONSECVTAE SEMPER DVLCIS EST PREFACE THIS handbook deals with the oldest transla- tion of the Hebrew Scriptures ; older than the New Testament, and written in the same language. Very naturally, therefore, the Old and New Testaments in Greek came together to form the Bible of the early Christian Church. For five centuries or so this version of the Old Testament was dominant; translations into other languages were, as a rule, made from it, and not from the Hebrew, until the Vulgate appeared. It is only the Bible's due that the better translations of it have ranked, side by side with original works, among the world's great literature ; but the Septuagint counted for generations of men almost as the sacred original itself Yet its makers, excepting only the grandson of the author of Ecclesiasticus, are anonymous and unknown ; they have won no such personal repute as Jerome, Wiclif, Luther, or Coverdale, But their work exercised for long years an influence which it is hardly possible to over-rate, until the Vulgate prevailed, not directly over the Greek Version itself, but over its Latin daughter-version. And when, after the Dark Ages, the revival of learning brought Greek literature westward again, the hold of the vii ' viii A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPTUAGINT Vulgate upon the Latin countries was too strong to be dislodged or even shaken, and the Northern nations demanded translations from the original into their own tongues. So vanished all chance of the Septuagint regaining its former place as a popular possession. It has lived on only as a field (but there was treasure hid in that field) for a narrow circle of students. Of late, however, it has begun to seem possible that this circle might be to some extent enlarged. Greek scholarship is not, so far, extinct in this country, and may yet survive for some time. But the Septuagint was not fully intelligible to every Greek scholar as such ; and only lately has the help that he needed been forthcoming, in the shape of an improved text, and aids to the understanding of it. There still seems room for the present book, which demands from the reader, as a minimum, only a fair knowledge of the Greek language, and of the Old Testament; and begins, as far as possible, at the beginning. In recent years, several of those to whom reference is made in this book have been taken away. My friend Professor James Moulton succumbed to the results of the pirate methods of the German Empire ; I cannot write of it uhmoved. * His virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off : I leave my references to his work unaltered, as I believe he would have wished. PREFACE ix Professor Swete has also passed away, honoured by all who knew him, and by many who knew only his writings. I owe him far more than I may here set down. As, doubtless through his kindness, my name appears on the title-page of the latest edition of his Introduction^ I may perhaps explain that I feel my part in it to have been quite subordinate. The merits of the work remain his. To my friends, Professor Burkitt and Mr. H. St. J. Thackeray, I have on former occasions been much indebted and very grateful. That this is still the case, the plentiful references in the following pages will show. In such a handbook as this, dealing largely with names, facts, and dates, a writer who works alone can hardly hope to avoid slips, and is lucky if he can steer clear of more serious blunders. 1 am the more grateful, therefore, to Messrs. Methuen's reader and to the printers for their watchful accuracy and care. The object of this work is to induce people to read the Septuagint. I hope that as they do so, they will feel themselves drawing a step nearer to the original. While scanning the pages, perhaps, with greater ease than if the Hebrew were before them, they will come to perceive its terms of expression, and even its wording, under the Greek surface. They will be able to enjoy the simple, unpretending language; and will have the satisfaction of reading the Old Testament as in the oldest surviving documents that contain it. R. R. O. December 19 19 I — CONTENTS CHAPTER I WHAT IS THE SEPTUAGINT? A FIRST SURVEY PAGE Our four great MSB. of the Bible in Greek—How is this ?—A|[e of the Greek Version, and of MSB. —Names of books Contents of the Greek MBS. —The Apocrypha—Order of books, and of passages—Differences of detail —Character of * the translation—Textual and inter-textual ' criticism Confusion of letters—Quotations from LXX. in N.T. —The Language of the LXX, —Proper Names—Differences be- tween MSB. —Summary ..... i CHAPTER n EARLY HISTORY OF THE SEPTUAGINT (TO A.D. 500) The * Letter of Aristeas ' —Date and place of the making of the Beptuagint—Evidence of the N.T. writers, etc. —Spread and range of the LXX. —Its popularity—Adopted by Christian Church—Hostility of the Jews—Aquila, and other translators —Origen and the Hexapla—The three editions that followed Origen—Versions in other languages—Mostly made from LXX.—The Old Latin—Jerome, and the Vulgate—The LXX. ceases to be generally used—Ways in which its influence survives . , . -Si — xii A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPIUAGINT CHAPTER III MODERN STUDY OF THE SEPTUAGINT (FROM A.D. 1500) PAGB The blank of a thousand years—Earliest printed editions Work at the Text—Grabe—Holmes and Parsons—Other branches of study—The nineteenth century—Tischendorf— Lagarde—Field—The Cambridge O.T. in Greek—The Oxford Concordance—Recent and living workers . 62 CHAPTER IV THE TEXT OF THE SEPTUAGINT Textual Criticism—The necessity for it—Its methods—Special difficulties of the LXX. —Varieties of text, due to corruption, revision, locality—Marshalling of the material—Lagarde's rules—Difficulties in criticising text of a version—Some examples . .Si CHAPTER V THE CHARACTER OF THE TRANSLATION : THE GREEK AND THE HEBREV^ The Greek and the Hebrew, as we have them—Their differences : of order, of matter, verbal—Examples—Varying character of the books in LXX. —The task of the translators—Difficulty — of reading the Hebrew—The Hebrew verb * Representa- tion' of tenses—Psalm civ. —The relative—Other points of syntax—Methods of dealing with them—General character of the Greek O.T, . .101 — CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER VI THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA PAGB Esdras A—Its relation to Ezra and Nehemiah (Esdras B)—Tobit, Judith—Wisdom—Ecclesiasticus—Its Hebrew text—prob- lems arising—Baruch—The Four Books of Maccabees. The Psalms of Solomon—Enoch—The Odes of Solomon The Pseudepigrapha—The Book of Jubilees—The Testa- ments of the XII. Patriarchs—Other books—The story of Ahikar . • '33 CHAPTER VII THE LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF THE SEPTUAGINT Translated and Original Books—Question of Semitic idioms in the Greek—Parallel idioms in the papyri—Arguments that ' Semitic influence is slight, and Biblical Greek ' simply the vernacular of the time, apart from 'translation-Greek' (Deissmann and Moulton)—Arguments in favour of Semitic influence—-What causes these idioms?—Examples—The history of languages—^The points at issue not very weighty The difficulty of translating from the LXX.—The intention of the LXX. translators—Remarks on the literary style of the LXX. .159 CHAPTER VIII SOME PASSAGES EXAMINED. REMARKS ON GRAMMAR Genesis iv. —Numbers xxiv. 15 fif. — i Kings xviii, 10, etc. Grammar — Asseverations — Comparative and conditional sentences—Absence of the devices of classical Greek , 179 — xiv A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPTUAGINT CHAPTER IX THE VALUE OF THE LXX. HOW TO WORK AT IT PASS The LXX. aids us in approaching the original—No other version does as much—LXX. and N.T, ; wide range of Greek at that time—The Bible of the Apostolic Age, and of the Fathers—Theological and ecclesiastical terms—Merits oi the Greek and Hebrew texts—Questions to be answered Verdict in favour, generally, of the Hebrew—Mistakes of the LXX. on minor points numerous and demonstrable— Its 'authority' often a misnomer—Its value in confirming the Hebrew—Its claim to consideration—Often represents the Hebrew more closely than English can—More divergent than other versions—Evidence of N.T. quotations—Advan- tage of learning Hebrew—Methods for general and special work at the LXX. —The working copy and private note- book—Read the LXX. itself, not merely about it , . 202 CHAPTER X BOOKS FOR STUDY. MSS. OF THE SEPTUAGINT A. Texts—B, Editions of Books—C. Lexicons, Grammars, Concordances—D. Ancient Versions and Recensions E. Language—F. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha—G. Commentaries—H. Miscellaneous .... 230 MSS. : I. Uncials—II, Some Cursives .... 240 CONTENTS XV CHAPTER XI PAGE GLOSSARY FOR REFERENCE . 248 APPENDIX : The Hebrew Alphabet . 290-1 INDEX 293 Note. —Biblical references we generally given according to the English Version. — A HANDBOOK TO THE SEPTUAGINT CHAPTER I WHAT IS THE SEPTUAGINT? A FIRST SURVEY Our four great MSS. of the Bible in Greek—How is this ?—Age of the Greek version, and of MSS. —Names of books—Contents of the Greek MSS.—The Apocrypha—Order of books, and of passages Differences of detail — Character of the translation — Textual and " *' inter-textual criticism — Confusion of letters — Quotations from LXX.
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