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Recensional Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint of Ezekiel

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Recensional Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint of Ezekiel CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX RECENSIONAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MASORETIC TEXT AND THE SEPTUAGINT OF EZEKIEL There exist many differences in details between the MT and LXX of Ezekiel which are usually ascribed to copyists of the Hebrew text or the Greek translator. In light of this assumption, Cooke remarked: 'In the Hebrew Bible perhaps no book, except 1 and 2 Samuel, has suffered more injury to its text than Ezekiel.'1 This is actually an overstatement as many of the differences between the MT and LXX were created at the time of the literary growth of the book, and therefore should not be ascribed to textual factors. In this regard the LXX of Ezekiel resembles other biblical books and pericopes whose relevance to literary criticism has been discussed in recent years (see Tov, TCHB, chapter 7). This study focuses on a few select issues in Ezekiel which highlight the recensional differences between the two main preserved texts. 1. Ezek 7:3-92 The first nine verses of chapter 7 are represented according to the RSV in such a way that the parallel structure of vv. 3-4 and 8-9 is stressed: 1. The word of the Lord came to me: 2. 'And you, 0 son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four comers of the land. 3. Now the end is upon you, 8. Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you and I will let loose my anger upon you, and spend my anger against you, and will judge according to your ways; and judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you and I will punish you for all your abominations. for all your abominations 1 G.A. Cooke, Ezekiel (ICC; Edinburgh 1936) XL. 2 For special studies in addition to the commentaries, see J.A. Bewer, "On the Text of Ezekiel 7:5-14," JBL 45 (1926) 226-231; J. Goettsberger, "Ezek. 7:1-16 textkritisch und exegetisch untersucht," BZ 22 (1934) 195-223. 398 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 3. And my eye will not spare you, 9. And my eye will not spare nor will I have pity; nor will I have pity; but I will punish you for your ways, I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who smite 5. Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold it comes. 6. An end has come, the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold it comes 7. Your doom has come to you, 0 inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting upon the mountains. It is not easy to summarize the content of vv. 1-11 in MT. These verses contain a prophecy of doom, or a series of doom prophecies. The first nine verses constitute a string of 'alarms of doom,' as they are called by Greenberg.3 The sequence of ideas in MT is difficult, as vv. 3-4 and 8-9 are almost identical, and there does not seem to be a literary reason for the repetition. The content of the LXX is equally difficult, and probably even more so. For the LXX has the identical sections, vv. 3-4 and 8-9, next to each other; in fact, vv. 8-9 of MT precede vv. 3-4 in the LXX. This juxtaposition is difficult, if not impossible. From a contextual point of view it is not logical to assume with Cooke, Ezekiel, 76 that the translator, or his Vorlage brought the two identical sections together. Rather, a textual mishap such as a doublet must be presup­ posed here. As in other instances in the LXX (see Tov, "Sequence"*), the different sequence of the LXX may point to a late insertion of a section. Probably one of the two parts of the doublet was added in MT in one place and in the LXX in another. At first the added section was placed in the margin and from there it reached two different places in the text. This assumption solves two problems, that of the unusual repetition in all texts and of the difference in sequence between the MT and LXX. If this suggestion is correct, we are faced with a textual-literary problem. Basically a doublet is a textual issue, but the duplicates were probably not created by scribes. They could have derived from differenfliterary editions of the prophecy in the formative period of the book. There may even be additional cases of such duplication during this period, that is, during the stage of the literary development of the book, but in 3M. Greenberg, Ezekie/1-20 (AB; New York 1983) 157. .
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