Notae Et Miscellanea NOTES to the SEPTUAGINT EZEKIEL 7 Chapter 7
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384 Notae et Miscellanea NOTES TO THE SEPTUAGINT EZEKIEL 7 Chapter 7 of Ezekiel voices an insistent announcement of doomsday. The divergences between MT and LXX are important. LXX is shorter, and, in the first part of the chapter, the order of the verses is different. These divergences are not due to accidental errors in the transmission of the text. Most of them are the result of a redactional activity on the side of MT. The redactor(s) specify the human instrument of the Lord's punishment on the final day, and morally disqualify him. Whereas LXX describes the threat in more general lines, MT seems to insert allu- sions pointing to Antiochus IV1. Before going over to a more detailed analysis, it may be useful to list the major differences between LXX and MT, and to evaluate their impact. (1) The main minuses in LXX correspond to the following phrases in MT: – in v. 3 (MT v. 7a): “the Òefirah” has come; – in v. 9 (MT v. 5b): “An evil, a singular evil, see it is coming”, and (MT v. 6a): “the end is coming; it is ripe for you!”; – in v. 10 (MT v. 10b): “see it has come, the Òefirah has come forth”; – in v. 11 (MT v. 11c): “and there is no noah among them”. All these pluses in MT specify the evil that is coming at the end of the days. (2) The composition in LXX displays a strictly concentric structure. The end of v. 6 occupies central position: “(I am) the one who strikes” ö túptwn. This theme prepares for the vision in ch. 9, the only other instance in which this participle occurs (9,5.7.8). The role of the Lord is emphasized. His punishing action is sit- uated on the “day of the Lord” (v. 10). MT presents a reshuffling of the materials. Its structure is also concentric, but more complex. Vv. 3-6 of LXX are transposed and are in MT vv. 6-9; and vv. 7-9 of LXX are equally transposed and are in MT vv. 3-5. The central and final notion in MT, the coming of the cryptic Òefirah, is absent from LXX. (3) The pluses in MT use some words that are new in this context: eripo / eyr / hca. The rare term eripo receives an emphasis, being used twice, in a central position, and at the end. Whereas LXX emphasizes the punishing role of the Lord and the day of the Lord, MT draws the attention to the eripo, the instrument of the Lord’s fury. The day of the Lord is not mentioned explicitly in MT. Given the literal character of the translation, it may be taken for granted that the differences are not due to the translator. This implies that they were already * Continuation of ETL 75 (1999) 5-31, 315-331; 76 (2000) 386-419; 77 (2001) 133-152. 1. See P.-M. BOGAERT, Les deux rédactions conservées (LXX et TM) d’Ézéchiel 7, in J. LUST (ed.), Ezekiel and his Book (BETL, 74), Leuven, 1986, pp. 21-47; J. LUST, The Use of Textual Witnesses for the Establishment of the Text. The Shorter and Longer Texts of Ezekiel, in J. LUST (ed.), Ezekiel and His Book (BETL, 74), Leuven, 1986, pp. 7-20, and ID., Major Divergences Between LXX and MT in Ezekiel, in S. SIPILÄ (ed.), Proceedings IOSCS Basel (forthcoming). EZEKIEL 7 385 present in the Hebrew Vorlage of LXX. The comparison between both texts demonstrates that a reorganisation of the materials took place within MT, in order to bring to the fore a new element: the coming of the eripo. The identification of this cryptic figure may give us some information about the historical background of the editors of MT. In Dan 8,5 the image of the ripo or “he-goat” refers to Alexander. Inspired by this model, the editor of MT-Ezekiel may have applied the same image to the Greek people, using the feminine gender. The editor presents a re-reading of the text from his historical point of view, after the events during the reign of Antiochus IV. Additional parallels with Daniel’s report on these events confirm this. In Dan 9,12-14 the coming of the same Greek empire is described in terms of “a great evil", using eyr in a sense very similar to that in Ez 7,6. The use of hca on Ez 7,5 may then allude to the one horn of the he-goat in Dan 8,9 that refers to Antiochus IV2. Parallel Alignment Schematically the differences in the order of vv. 1-11 in LXX and in MT can be presented as follows3: LXX 1-2 3 4-6 7-8 9 10a 10b.c. 11 MT 1-2 6b 7b-9 3-4 5a 6c 10a.c. 11b.d Taking LXX as the witness to the more original text, the alignment of the full texts looks as follows: 1 kaì êgéneto lógov kuríou próv me légwn rmal ila evei-rbd ieiv 1 2 kaì sú, uïè ân‡rÉpou e¤pon táde légei kúriov evei inda rma-ek jdai-fb ehav 2 t±Ç g±Ç toÕ Israjl pérav Økei, ab xq larwi hmdal tò pérav Økei êpì tàv téssarav ptérugav t±v g±v xrae hvpnk hybra-ly xqe 3 Økei tò pérav xqe ab 6b -- ---- eripoe eab 7a 4a êpì sè tòn katoikoÕnta t®n gjËn xrae b‹vi çila b b Økei ö kairóv, ≠ggiken ™ ™méra jvie bvrq hye ab c c oû metà ‡orúbwn oûdè metà Ödínwn jire de-alv emvem d 5 nÕn êggú‡en êkxe¬ t®n ôrgßn mou êpì sè çily ihmc çvp‹a bvrqm ehy 8 kaì suntelésw tòn ‡umón mou ên soì çb ipa ihilkv kaì krin¬ se ên ta⁄v ödo⁄v sou çikrdk çihtp‹v kaì dÉsw êpì sè pánta tà bdelúgmatá sou çihvbyvh-lk ha çily ihhnv 6 oû feísetai ö ôf‡almóv mou, oûdè m® êleßsw lvmca alv iniy svch-alv 9 dióti tàv ödoúv sou êpì sè dÉsw fha çily çikrdk kaì tà bdelúgmatá sou ên méswç sou ∂sontai fiieh çkvhb çihvbyvhv kaì êpignÉsjÇ dióti êgÉ eîmi kúriov evei ina ik jhydiv ö túptwn ekm 7 nÕn tò pérav pròv sé kaì âpostel¬ êgÑ êpì sè çb ipa ihcl‹v çily xqe ehy 3 kaì êkdikßsw se ên ta⁄v ödo⁄v sou çikrdk çihtp‹v kaì dÉsw êpì sè pánta tà bdelúgmatá sou çihbyvh-lk ha çily ihhnv 8 oû feísetai ö ôf‡almóv mou oûdè m® êleßsw lvmca alv çily iniy svch-alv 4 dióti t®n ödón sou êpì sè dÉsw fha çily çikrd ik 2. BOGAERT, Les deux rédactions , pp. 41-43. 3. Compare ibid., pp. 26-27. 386 J. LUST – K. HAUSPIE – A. TERNIER kaì tà bdelúgmatá sou ên méswç sou ∂stai fiieh çkvhb çihvbyvhv kaì êpignÉsjÇ dióti êgÑ kúriov evei ina-ik jhydiv 9 dióti táde légei kúriov evei inda rma ek 5a -- -- -- -- -- eab ene eyr hca eyr b -- -- ab xq 6a 10 îdoù tò pérav Økei -- eab ene çila xiqe c îdoù ™méra kuríou jvie ene 10a -- --- erpoe eaoi eab ene b eî kaì ™ Åábdov ≠n‡jken, ™ Àbriv êzanéstjke fvdze crp etme xo c 11 kaì suntrícei stßrigma ânómou y‹r-etml jq smce 11 --- --- jem-al kaì oû metà ‡orúbou oûdè metà spoud±v jemem alv jnvmem alv --- --- jeb en-alv Close Reading of the Septuagint Text of Ez 7 1-2 And a word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man say, thus says [ ] the Lord to the land of Israel: An end has come! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. “say”: This imperative has no counterpart in MT. The messenger formula is most often preceded by a command to speak. According to MT, only here and in 39,17 it exceptionally follows immediately upon the vocative “son of man”. In both cases, LXX inserts the imperative “say”, see CTAT. – [ ]: MT has the usual plus: inda. – “An end”: pérav, here and in most of its other occurrences, translates xq. In classical Greek the word is most often used in local sense, meaning “boundary, limit” (see LEH). Occasionally in LXX it appears to be given a chrono- logical sense, meaning “end”, especially in eschatological contexts, see Ez 7,2.3.7.10; see Am 8,2 “the end has come”, and Dan 11,40 “at the time of the end”; 12,9 “until the time of the end”. This new meaning is probably influenced by Hebrew xq that can be used both in local and in chronological sense. The New Testament does not seem to have adopted this new application, preferring the more classical télov in chronological contexts; in patristic writings, however, the chronological dimension of pérav is fully accepted (see Lampe). – “Has come”, LXX repeats this verb, whereas MT has it only once; note that MT also repeats the verb in its parallel v. 6. – “corners” ( lit. “wings”): ptérugav, a calque of Hebrew hvpnk. The Hebrew term does not only mean “wing”, but also “border, corner”. The translator seems to ignore this. – “land”: For Theodoretus this refers exclusively to the land of Israel. 3 (6b) The end has come [ ] In the introduction to his comments on vv. 3-4 Jerome notes: “in the Septuagint interpretation of this chapter the order has been changed and confused” (CC 75,72). – [ ]: In MT the short v. 3 of LXX corresponds to v. 6b. MT then continues with v. 7a: “the Òefirah has come”, a phrase which is missing in LXX.