RBL 01/2021 Frank Ueberschaer, Thomas Wagner, and Jonathan Miles Robker, eds.

Theologie und Textgeschichte: Septuaginta und Masoretischer Text als Äußerungen theologischer Reflexion

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 407

Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018. Pp. viii + 315. Cloth. $196.00. ISBN 9783161554940.

Leonardo Pessoa da Silva Pinto Pontifical Biblical Institute

The present volume contains fourteen papers originally presented in a Symposium that took place at Wuppertal in 2015 on the occasion of Professor Siegfried Kreuzer’s retirement. The meeting celebrating his teaching career and scholarly work focused on the relationship between textual history and theology and on the consequences of textual diversity for the theological work with the Bible. The papers in the volume are published in German, with the exceptions of the papers of Emanuel Tov and Kristin De Troyer in English.

In the first essay, “Textgeschichte und Theologie,” Siegfried Kreuzer states that textual criticism and textual history are the basis for all exegetical work with the Bible, although the history of the reception is also essential for theological work. The important role played by the is underscored, and Kreuzer gives many examples of theological insights in the LXX distinct from the MT. In the last part of the essay, Kreuzer repeats what has become the ceterum censeo of his publications: the priority of the Lucianic Text vis-à-vis the kaige text in Samuel–Kings.

Martin Rösel’s “Eine Theologie der Septuaginta? Präzisierungen und Pointierungen” offers a more general discussion about the possibility and the makeup of a theology of the Septuagint. Because of the need to compare the Greek texts of the LXX both among themselves and with the Hebrew text, a theology of the Septuagint will necessarily be a

This review was published by RBL ã2021 by the Society of Biblical Literature. See https://www.sblcentral.org/home.

diachronic enterprise. Rösel also explains that there can be different kinds of theology of the LXX according to the various emphases on the , Hellenistic , or the New Testament.

Emanuel Tov studies the specific character of MT in “The Enigma of the Masoretic Text.” Tov explains that scholars have seldom provided characterizations of the MT apart from stating that it is precise, a qualification that is not always warranted. Given the heterogeneity of the texts forming that collection, he writes, it is not possible to give a description of the MT as a whole.

Adrian Schenker’s “Implizieren 1 Kön 8,18 und 2 Chr 6,8 einen Archetyp? Ein gemeinsamer Schreibfehler im masoretischen Text und in der Septuaginta der Bücher der Könige und Chronik” discusses an interesting case in which LXX and MT of both Kings and Chronicles agree in a reading that is likely the result of scribal error. All those texts go back to an archetype already containing the mistake, one that preceded both the writing of Chronicles and the Greek translation of Kings.

In “The Fall of Jericho and the Textual History of the ,” Kristin De Troyer explains the debate regarding the translation character of the LXX of Joshua and sustains that the book’s Hebrew Vorlage was distinct from the MT. After comparing the MT, the LXX, the Old Latin, and the Qumran witnesses of Josh 6, De Troyer concludes that the MT displays a later tendency to emphasize the repetition of the number “seven,” mostly due to the interest of harmonizing God’s commands to their execution in the narrative.

In his “Salomo am Ende. Möchte die Septuaginta tatsächlich Salomo in Schutz nehmen? Ein Blick auf 1 Kön 11,1–13 G und M,” Frank Ueberschaer offers a reassessment of Van Keulen’s idea that the translator of LXX of 1 Kgs 2–11 tried to protect Solomon from the accusations leveled at him in the Hebrew text. Ueberschaer uses 1 Kgs 11:1–13 as a test case and, after comparing LXX and MT, concludes that Solomon is not portrayed more positively or exonerated in any of the versions of the narrative.

Jonathan Miles Robker discusses the messianic interpretations of the LXX of Num 22–24 in “Bileam messianisch gelesen?” According to Robker, the Vorlage of LXX-Numbers was a Hebrew text close to proto-MT, and an analysis of the Balaam story and oracles does not detect a messianic tendency stronger in LXX than in MT.

Marcus Sigismund’s contribution, “Textgeschichtliche Beobachtungen zur Catenengruppe der griechischen Josuaüberlieferung,” discusses the value and the grouping of the text of the catenae of the book of Joshua. All the witnesses to the catenae come originally from the

This review was published by RBL ã2021 by the Society of Biblical Literature. See https://www.sblcentral.org/home.

same archetype, and the catenae remain close to the OG, despite showing small additions for clarity and a mixed text.

Jong-Hoon Kim’s “Betrachtungen zu den griechischen Textformen der Paralleltexte zwischen 1 Kön 8,1–53 und 2 Chr 5,2–6,42” summarizes the history of the research on the Lucianic text and kaige in Samuel–Kings and presents the different kinds of agreements between MT and LXX of both 1 Kgs 8:1–53 and the parallel text in 2 Chr 5:2–6:42. All of these texts go back originally to the same textual tradition, but their diversity also witnesses to the textual flexibility in that phase of textual transmission.

Thomas Wagner’s “Was haben sie sich nur dabei gedacht? Zur Textüberlieferung von Ez 1 in M und LXX” compares the MT and LXX of Ezek 1 with attention also to the Qumran manuscripts. Whereas the MT version does not allow the reader to understand what exactly the prophet sees in his vision, the LXX version offers a clearer picture. The MT version of Ezek 1 has priority, and the differences in LXX are not due to the Vorlage but rather to the translator’s work.

Martin Meiser offers a comprehensive discussion about how prophecy is treated in biblical and extrabiblical literature in the third and second centuries BCE in his “Phänomene der Prophetie in der Septuaginta.” He discusses the uses and changes in Hebrew and Greek terminology related to prophetic activity and concludes that, although the literature of the Second Temple period unanimously acknowledges the biblical prophets, it offers updated and varied portraits of them.

Heinz-Josef Fabry’s “Neues Licht vom Garizim. Zum gegenwartigen Stand der Samaritanus- Forschung” presents recent developments in Samaritan studies, including topics such as the history of the Samaritan community, the Qumran texts related to the Samaritan Pentateuch and the editions of its text, the Samaritan Targum, and the Samareitikon. He shows that the negative evaluations of the Samaritan Pentateuch in older scholarship were unfounded.

In “Zur Aufnahme von Ps 102 (101 LXX) und seiner Bedeuteung für die Eschatologie des Hebräerbriefs,” Wolfgang Kraus studies the reception of LXX Ps 101 in Heb 1. Kraus explains that scholarship is divided in relating the eschatology of the Letter to the Hebrews to either Jewish apocalypticism or to the Hellenistic philosophy of Middle Platonism. Kraus also discusses the text of Heb 12:26–28 and concludes that, unlike the mainstream of New Testament eschatology, Hebrews tries to reconcile faith in the investiture of Jesus at God’s right hand with the still-pending eschatological consummation using both references to the and Hellenistic thought.

This review was published by RBL ã2021 by the Society of Biblical Literature. See https://www.sblcentral.org/home.

The last contribution is Martin Karrer’s “Lucas Cranachs Tafel der Zehn Gebote und die Textgeschichte des Dekalogs,” which deals with Lucas Cranach’s The Ten Commandments, a painting on wood panels of 1516, originally located at the Wittenberg town hall. The notions expressed by the painter are compared to, among others, Luther’s writings on the subject and to the versions of the Decalogue of MT, LXX, and Vulgate of both Exod 20 and Deut 5.

A volume intending to show the relevance of textual criticism and history of textual transmission for theology must be celebrated, especially when it contains papers of such high quality from such eminent scholars. It must be said, however, that the degree with which the authors engage with theological subjects varies greatly throughout the book. The work contains essays fully devoted to strictly theological subjects (e.g., messianism in Robker), those that discuss a theological subject among others or just in passing (e.g., temple centralization in Fabry), and that that do not treat any theological subject (e.g., Sigismund’s discussion of the catenae of Joshua). These observations are not intended to detract any value from the essays, but the reader should not expect a volume entirely dedicated to the impact of textual studies on biblical theology.

As the volume’s subtitle suggests, the Septuagint has a prominent place in most of the essays, and the discussion often takes into account other textual witnesses apart from the LXX and the MT, such as the , the Old Latin, and the Samaritan Pentateuch. The authors, many of whom are experts in Septuagint studies, are highly attentive to textual criticism. Another positive remark is that the papers in the volume avoid the excessive attachment to MT still so common in biblical studies. It may be fair to say that the significance of the volume for biblical theology and exegesis is not as much in the theological subjects treated therein as in the method of proceeding found in all of its chapters, namely, to bring all ancient texts to the center of scholarly attention.

I strongly recommend the volume to all those interested in Old Testament textual criticism, Septuagint studies in general, and theology of the Septuagint in particular.

This review was published by RBL ã2021 by the Society of Biblical Literature. See https://www.sblcentral.org/home.