Septuagint and Reception Supplements to the Vetus Testamentum
Edited by the Board of the Quarterly h.m. barstad – r.p. gordon – a. hurvitz – g. knoppers a. van der kooij – a. lemaire – c.a. newsom – h. spieckermann j. trebolle barrera – h.g.m. williamson
VOLUME 127 Septuagint and Reception
Essays prepared for the Association for the Study of the Septuagint in South Africa
Edited by Johann Cook
LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Association for the Study of the Septuagint in South Africa. Conference (1st : 2008 : University of Stellenbosch) Septuagint and reception : essays prepared for the Association for the Study of the Septuagint in South Africa / edited by Johann Cook. p. cm. — (Supplements to the Vetus Testamentum, ISSN 0083-5889 ; v. 127) Includes indexes. Collection pf papers delivered at the first Conference of the Association for the Study of the Septuagint in South Africa (ASSSA), Aug. 14-15, 2008 at the University of Stellenbosch. ISBN 978-90-04-17725-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T. Greek—Versions—Septuagint—Congresses. 2. Bible. O.T—Criticism, interpretation, etc—Congresses. I. Cook, Johann. II. Title. III. Series.
BS744.A86 2008 221.4’8—dc22 2009012559
ISSN 0083-5889 ISBN 978 90 04 17725 3
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Preface ...... ix
PART ONE: THE SEPTUAGINT
THE OLD GREEK TEXT
The Prayer of Azariah (DanLXX 3): Sources and Origin...... 5 JAN JOOSTEN
On the Role of External Traditions in the Septuagint ...... 17 JOHANN COOK
Psalms as Magic? P.Vindob. G 39205 Revisited ...... 37 PETER ARZT-GRABNER
Examining the ‘Pluses’ in the Greek Psalter: A Study of the Septuagint Translation Qua Communication ...... 45 RANDALL X. GAUTHIER
The Greek Translation of Lamentations: Towards a More Nuanced View of its ‘Literal’ Character ...... 77 GIDEON KOTZÉ PART TWO: RECEPTION
SECTION ONE: THE NEW TESTAMENT
Hab 2:3-4 in the Hebrew Tradition and in the Septuagint, with its Reception in the New Testament ...... 101 WOLFGANG KRAUS
Quotations from the Minor Prophets in Hebrews ...... 119 GERT J. STEYN
Ancient Egyptian Elements in Hebrews 1? ...... 141 ANNETTE EVANS
Differences Between the MT and LXX Contexts of Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament: Isaiah 45:18-25 as a Case Study ...... 159 RONALD H. VAN DER BERGH
vi CONTENTS
SECTION TWO: FROM JOSEPHUS TO AUGUSTINE AND BEYOND The Use of Names as Evidence of the Septuagint as a Source for Josephus’ Antiquities in Books 1 to 5 ...... 179 LAWRENCE RONALD LINCOLN
Wisdom in the Wisdom of Solomon and Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus .....195 JOHAN C. THOM
The Strange Woman in Proverbs, LXX Proverbs and Aseneth ...... 209 WILLIAM LOADER
The Reception of the Susanna Narrative (Dan. XIII) in Early Christianity ...... 229 CHRIS L. DE WET
Augustine, Jerome and the Septuagint ...... 245 ANNEMARÉ KOTZÉ
SECTION THREE: MISCELLANEA The Treatment of Hapax Legomena in MT Ezekiel, in the LXX Ezekiel and Peshitta: A Comparative Study ...... 263 HARRY F. VAN ROOY
The Role of Metatexts in the Translations of Sacred Texts: The Case of the Book of Aristeas and the Septuagint ...... 281 JACOBUS A. NAUDÉ
Kingship Ideology: A Neglected Element in Aristeas’ Charter Myth for Alexandrian Judaism ...... 299 JONATHAN MORE
“Eunuchs”? The Ancient Background of Eunouchos in the Septuagint ...... 321 SAKKIE CORNELIUS
Reading Judith as Therapeutic Narrative ...... 335 PIERRE JOHAN JORDAAN
Performing Susanna: Speech Acts and Other Performative Elements in Susanna ...... 347 EUGENE COETZER
CONTENTS vii
Reading Narratives in the Septuagint: A Discourse on Method ...... 361 DICHK M. KANONGE
Index of Modern Authors ...... 383
Index of Subjects ...... 389
Index of Texts ...... 397
PREFACE
This collection is partly an outcome of the activities of the newly formed Association f or t he S tudy of t he S eptuagint i n S outh Africa ( ASSSA). This or ganization w as f ormally c onstituted i n Potchefstroom on November 2007 a t a S eptuagint c onference. C urrently t he e xecutive consists o f t he P resident ( Johann Cook); t he s ecretary/treasurer ( Pierre Jordaan) and an additional member (Gert Steyn). On 14 a nd 15 August 2008 another Septuagint congress took place, this time at the University of S tellenbosch, at t he Wallenberg Research C entre, S tellenbosch Institute f or A dvanced S tudies ( STIAS). E ven t hough v arious conferences o n t hings S eptuagintal ha ve be en he ld i n S outh Africa before, this was formally the first conference of ASSSA. Although this was a br oadly S outh A frican i nitiative, J ohann C ook or ganised t he meeting a nd v arious s cholars f rom a broad a ttended t he c ongress. Jan Joosten f rom S trasbourg a nd B ill L oader f rom P erth were i nvited a s keynote speakers, with financial assistance from the National R esearch Foundation (NRF). Peter Arzt-Grabner from Salzburg also attended the conference. The papers delivered on this occasion have been included in the collection. However, a number of essays, including the one by Wolfgang Kraus, were added although they were not read at the Stellenbosch conference. All of t he contributions went t hrough a pe er-review pr ocess. This publication will hopefully contribute towards assisting the newly formed ASSSA t o e xcel i n a dvancing s cholarship i n t his f ield. F uture conferences are already being planned. As editor of this volume I should like to express my gratitude towards various persons and institutions. Firstly, the U niversity of Stellenbosch has cr eated an e nvironment i n w hich primary research can b e successfully executed. The division of Research Development has been extremely helpful in obtaining financial and other assistance, especially as f ar as t he N RF i s co ncerned. T he Dean of t he F aculty o f A rts an d Social Sciences, Prof. Hennie Kotzé, is an astute supporter of research. A word of thanks to him is in order as well as to the Director of STIAS, Prof. Hendrik Geyer, for their words of encouragement at the opening of the conference. Secondly, the NRF sponsored two international guests as well as the expenses related to the organization of the conference. The international company, Shoprite-Checkers, made R10 000 a vailable for the c onference a t t he r ecommendation of L arry Lincoln. T hirdly, t he excecutive committee members Gert Steyn and Pierre Jordaan were very supportive t hroughout t his whole e ndeavour. F ourthly, I a m e specially indebted t o t he pa rticipants a nd t hose w ho m ade t heir c ontributions x PREFACE available f or p ublication. I also t hank Prof. Hans Barstad, t he g eneral editor of Vetus Testamentum Supplementum, for accepting the collection for publ ication i n t his s eries. T he publ ishers Brill, Inc. s hould also receive a word of thanks for publishing this collection. Camila Werner, assistant editor, was very helpful during the whole process of preparing the publ ication. A f inal w ord of a ppreciation goe s t o M r. R andall Gauthier, my doctoral student and research assistant. He did all the hard work of pr eparing t he manuscript f or publ ication. Wi thout hi s professional involvement this volume would not have been possible.
The Editor, Johann Cook, Dept of Ancient Studies, University of Stellenbosch, January 2009
PART ONE THE SEPTUAGINT
THE OLD GREEK TEXT
THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH (DANLXX 3): SOURCES AND ORIGIN
Jan Joosten
University of Strasbourg
1. Introduction
There are basically two aspects to the collection of Greek texts that goes under the name of Septuagint. The Septuagint originated, for the most part, as a translation of a source text. As such it represents a link—and a very important one—in the reception history of the Hebrew-Aramaic scriptures. But the Septuagint very soon turned into a literary and religious reference in its own right. It was quoted as scripture and subjected to commentary. The Septuagint itself now became the starting point for a new reception history. In the workshops of La B ible d’Alexandrie a lot of energy is expended on this latter aspect of the Greek Bible.1 The works of Philo, the New Testament and Patristic literature are scrutinised in order to determine how the Septuagint was read and interpreted in antiquity. Some of the early interpretations seem almost arbitrary. Ancient readers of the Septuagint had their own agendas and blind spots. But very often the early use of the Greek Bible text throws real light on its meaning and implications. Most of the ancient readers were native speakers of Greek and they came from a culture that was not far removed, in time and in space, from that of the translators. Some of them also had a very intimate knowledge of the Greek Bible and cognate literature. An interesting question is when this use of the Septuagint as scripture started. The Letter of Aristeas shows that the prestige of the Greek version was very high already in the latter half of the second century B.C.E.2 But Aristeas never quotes the Septuagint explicitly. The writings of Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Demetrius the Chronographer, Aristobulus or Eupolemus have been transmitted only fragmentarily.
1 See, for example, Marguerite Harl, “L’usage des commentaries patristiques pour l’étude de la Septante,” RSR 73 (1999): 184-201. 2 For the date of the Letter of Aristeas, see Raija Sollamo, “The Letter of Aristeas and the Origin of the Septuagint,” in X Congress of t he I nternational Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies: Oslo 1998 (ed. Bernard A. Taylor; Atlanta: SBL, 2001), 329-342, in particular 331-334. 6 JAN JOOSTEN
Although they know the Septuagint, it is hard to determine what authority they attribute to it.3 There is, however, a group of writings that gives ample evidence of the use of the Septuagint as an authoritative reference, namely, the Septuagint itself. Let me clarify this with two illustrations that have recently come to my attention: — The Greek version of Psalms, probably dating from around the middle of the second century B.C.E., uses the Greek version of the Pentateuch. This is not merely a practical matter of adopting translation equivalents As I have argued in a paper presented at the .; בְּ רִ י ת such as διαθήκη for IOSCS conference in Ljubljana, the Psalms translator really referred to the Greek Pentateuch as an authoritative text.4 In a few cases the Psalms text is altered or supplemented on the basis of perceived parallels in the Pentateuch. — The Book of Judith, a book absent from the Hebrew canon, was until recently almost universally regarded as a translation of a lost Hebrew original. However, during the last decade or so, several authors have started to argue that Judith was composed originally in Greek by a writer who imitated the style of the Septuagint.5 A crucial observation in this regard is that biblical quotations in Judith follow the Septuagint text even in passages where the Hebrew text is rather different. Thus Ex 15:3 is quoted twice in the following form: “The Lord who crushes wars (κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους), the Lord is his name.” The thought expressed here corresponds to one of the main thematic strands of the book of Judith: man makes war, but God breaks war; he does away with it entirely, thrusting aside every symbol of human strength and imposing his victory in an unexpected way. The theme is found in the Hebrew Bible, but the quotation of Ex 15:3 reflects the Septuagint specifically. the ,( ְ י הוָ ה אִ י שׁ מִ לְ חָ מָ ה) The Hebrew text reads: “The LORD is a warrior Lord is his name.” Such examples attest specifically what the Letter of Aristeas affirms generally, namely, that the Greek version became an authoritative reference within the Greek speaking Jewish community very early on. Later translators and writers linked up with the vocabulary, the style and the “spirit” of the earlier parts. In the light of this, we will now take a
3 These writers quote the Septuagint but feel free to modify its text for stylistic reasons, see H. B. Swete, An Introduction to t he O ld T estament i n Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1914), 369-71. 4 See J. Joosten, “The Impact of the Septuagint Pentateuch on the Greek Psalms,” in XIII C ongress of the I nternational O rganization for S eptuagint a nd C ognate St udies: Ljubljana 2007 (ed. Melvin Peters; Atlanta: SBL — Leiden:Brill, forthcoming), 197-205. 5 See, with bibliographical references, J. Joosten, “The Original Language and Historical Milieu of the Book of Judith,” Meghillot 5-6 : A F estschrift f or D evorah Dimant (2007): *159-*176. THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH (DANLXX 3) 7 look at a different passage, one of the supplements to Greek Daniel, the prayer of Azariah.
2. Daniel 3 and its Supplements
Because they do not want to worship the idol made by King Nebuchadnezzar, three Jews serving in the royal administration, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are thrown into a blazing furnace. Thereupon, the King sees four men walking about in the middle of the fire: he calls Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they come out unscathed. In the Aramaic version of Daniel 3, transmitted by the MT, the miracle itself – the coming down of the angel and the preservation of the three men – is told indirectly. The reader hears about it first from the King. In narratological terms the story is “gapped”: there is a lacuna between the throwing of the men into the furnace, in verse 23, and the observation of the King in verse 24. Such “gaps” are, of course, very normal in biblical narratives. A similar one occurs at the beginning of the story where the fact that the three men refuse to bow down to the image is first reported from the mouth of the Chaldeans denouncing this act to the King.6 In a literary perspective, nothing is missing in Daniel 3 – or rather: what is missing is entirely functional. Gaps are made for filling in, however, and the Greek versions have an addition telling the reader exactly what happened when the three Jews were cast into the fire. “The angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions (Azariah is Abednego according to Dan 1:7), and drove the fiery flame from the furnace, and made the inside of the furnace as though a moist wind were whistling through it” (Dan 3:49-50). This prepares the reader for the observation of the King, who sees four men walking in the furnace in the sequence of the story. However, the Greek addition is not limited to filling in the sparest outline of what is missing. Alongside the information on the appearance of the angel and the preservation of the three men, the Greek versions insert a prayer pronounced by one of the men and a very long hymn of praise sung by the three. Altogether, the supplement in the Greek
6 See C. Kuhl, Die drei Männer im Feuer (Daniel Kapitel 3 und seine Zusätze: Ein Beitrag z ur i sraelitisch-jüdischen Literaturgeschichte (BZAW 55; Giessen: Töpelmann, 1930), 84-5. On “gaps” in general, see Meir Sternberg, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative. Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), 186-229. 8 JAN JOOSTEN versions runs to 65 verses, thus easily surpassing the length of the original story in the Aramaic. The addition was not inserted entirely harmoniously. It is not clear, for instance, at what precise moment the prayer was said: before (see LXX v. 24b) or after (see LXX v. 25) the men were thrown into the furnace. Also, while the Aramaic part of the story uses the Babylonian version of the proper names of the men, the supplement uses their Hebrew names. And Azariah, who is everywhere number three, becomes the main figure in the supplement.7 Thus the supplement raises a number of questions:8 — At what stage were the texts inserted into Daniel 3? Were they first added to the Aramaic story, or to the Greek translation? In the past, many researchers held that the long plus of the Greek versions reflected the original and that the Massoretic version was the result of shortening, but nowadays this view is rightly abandoned. — What was the process of supplementation? The narrative addition, the prayer and the hymn may have been added in phases, or jointly in different combinations. — What is the origin of the prayer and the hymn? Were they composed for the present context, or did they exist independently before being incorporated into Daniel 3. — What is the relation between the Greek texts in this section? Both the so-called “Old Greek” and the so-called “Theodotion” have the long addition, although with some minute variations. In the present paper, I will not try to confront these questions head- on. Instead, I propose to take a closer look at one section, the prayer of Azariah. This text can teach us a few points of interest throwing some light on the whole process of supplementation.
3. The Prayer of Azariah
The Prayer of Azariah forms the first part of the supplement to Daniel 3. In Rahlfs’s count, it covers verses 26 to 44. During the 19th century wildly divergent opinions have been expressed on this text. In more recent publications, a certain consensus has crystallised. Most
7 See already verse 25 in the Greek versions. 8 See the following studies: M. Gilbert, “La prière d’Azarias (Dn 3 , 26-45 Théodotion),” NRT 96 (1974): 561-82; P. M. Bogaert, “Daniel 3 LXX et son supplément grec,” in The Book of Daniel in the Light of New Findings (BEThL 106; ed. A. S. van der Woude; Leuven: Peeters, 1993), 13-37; Ingo Kottsieper, Zusätze z u D aniel, in O. H. Steck, R. G. Kratz, I. Kottsieper, Das Buch Baruch. Der Brief des Jeremia. Zu Ester und Daniel (ATD Apokryphen 5; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998), 211-328. THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH (DANLXX 3) 9 commentators hold that the prayer is a translation of a lost Hebrew original that originally had nothing to do with the Book of Daniel but existed separately.9 The date of the text is determined in the light of its contents, notably the indication as to the absence of a place to bring sacrifices in verse 38: the prayer is held to go back to the period 167-164 B.C.E., after the Temple in Jerusalem had been desecrated. The “unjust and most evil King” of verse 32 is identified as Antiochus IV. Laudably, all scholars have stressed the difficulty of reaching definitive results on the basis of a relatively short text. It seems to me, however, that the present consensus is not merely precarious, but properly indefensible. A renewed evaluation of the text is necessary.
3.1. Structure, Τheme and Parallels The prayer falls naturally into three parts, the latter two being clearly marked by the expression καὶ νῦν (v. 33, v. 41).10 – The first part, verses 26-32, justifies the judgment God inflicted on his people, notably the destruction of Jerusalem. “Your punishments are just because we have transgressed your law,” says the pray-er. – In the second part, verses 33-40, two arguments are developed on the basis of which the central request will be based: firstly, the covenant with the patriarchs is invoked, and secondly, the pray-er proposes the sacrifice of a broken soul and a humble spirit in order to find propitiation. – Finally, in verses 41-44, the request is made explicit to “save” the servants of the Lord and thus to bring shame to their adversaries and glory to the Lord’s name. The piece clearly belongs to a type of petitionary prayer that became popular in the Second Temple period, typical representatives of which are found in Neh 9, Dan 9, Tob 3, Addition C in Greek Esther and 3 Macc 2. All the motifs of Dan 3:26-44 are also found in at least one of these other texts. The individuality of our prayer arises out of nuances and emphases only.
9 Among recent commentators, only Bogaert stands apart from this consensus, holding a view much closer to the one defended in the present paper (although with different arguments). 10 This expression also occurs in verse 31 according to the Septuagint version. It seems that here, the original text has been better preserved in the “Theodotionic” text. Note that this expression is found not only in translations from Hebrew and Aramaic but also in original Greek writings, e.g. 3 Macc 6:9. 10 JAN JOOSTEN
3.2. Biblical Allusions and the Question of the Original Language A striking feature of the prayer of Azariah is its reuse of biblical phrases and expressions. There is practically no verse in which one cannot point to a passage in the Pentateuch, the Prophets, the Psalms or other writings as the probable source of the language. In this respect, too, Azariah conforms to contemporary models: scripturalised prayer is a very prominent feature in Second Temple Judaism.11 Beyond its intrinsic interest, this feature may give some purchase on the issue of the original language of the prayer. When one starts looking up the verses alluded to one is struck by the fact that the Greek language of the prayer to a large extent reproduces the exact wording of the Septuagint version. A few representative examples may be reviewed rapidly:
Dan 3:30 οὐδὲ ἐποιήσαμεν καθὼς ἐνετείλω ἡμῖν ἵνα εὖ ἡμῖν γένηται “We have not done as you commanded us so that it might go well with us”
Deut 12:28 ποιήσεις πάντας τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοι ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται “You will do all the words that I command you so that it may go well with you”12
Dan 3:33 καὶ νῦν οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀνοῖξαι τὸ στόμα “And now it is impossible for us to open our mouth”
Ezek 16:63 ὅπως...μὴ ἦ σοι ἔτι ἀνοῖξαι τὸ στόμα σου “In order that … it be impossible for you any longer to open your mouth”
Dan 3:35 καὶ μὴ ἀποστήσῃς τὸ ἔλεός σου ἀφ Æ ἡμῶν “And do not remove your mercy from us”
2 Sam 7:15 τὸ δὲ ἔλεός μου οὐκ ἀποστήσω ἀπ Æ αὐτοῦ “But I will not remove my mercy from him”
11 See, e.g., Judith H. Newman, Praying by the Book: The Scripturalization of Prayer in Second Temple Judaism (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999). 12 The English translation of the Septuagint loosely follows the New English Translation of the Septuagint. THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH (DANLXX 3) 11
See also 1 Chr 17:13; Ps 65(66):20; Jdt 13:14; 2M 6:16; Ps Sal 9:8; 16:6.
Dan 3:36 ὡς ἐλάλησας πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων πολυπληθῦναι τὸ σπέρμα αὐτῶν ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ πλήθει “As you spoke to them saying that you would greatly multiply their seed as the stars of the sky in number”
Ex 32:13 καὶ ἐλάλησας πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων πολυπληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα ὑμῶν ὡσεὶ τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ πλήθει “And you spoke to them saying, ‘I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the sky in number’”
Dan 3:44 καὶ ἐντραπείησαν πάντες οἱ ἐνδεικνύμενοι τοῖς δούλοις σου κακὰ καὶ καταισχυνθείησαν ἀπὸ πάσης δυναστείας “May all who display evil to your slaves be put to shame and let them be put to embarrassment, deprived of all dominion”
Ps 39(40):15 καταισχυνθείησαν καὶ ἐντραπείησαν ἅμα οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχήν μου τοῦ ἐξᾶραι αὐτήν “May those be put to shame and embarrassment who seek my soul to remove it”
The systematic correspondence between Azariah and the Septuagint is compatible with the view that the text was from the start composed in Greek by an author who knew the Greek Bible intimately. It is also possible, however, to reconcile the phenomenon with the idea that the text was composed in Hebrew. One might suppose that the prayer was translated from a Hebrew text containing allusions to the Hebrew Bible. The translator of the prayer would have identified the allusions in Hebrew, looked up their translation in the Septuagint and assimilated them into his version to the latter. Alternatively, he may have known the passages by heart. Greater certainty could be attained if one could point to a passage where the meaning called for by the context in the prayer is found in the Septuagint source text but not in the text. As stated previously, examples of this type make it likely that the Book of Judith was directly created in Greek. Now Azariah is a much shorter text than Judith, but there is one passage that may satisfy this criterion.
Dan 3:39 ἐν ψυχῇ συντετριμμένῃ καὶ πνεύματι τεταπεινωμένῳ προσδεχθείημεν ὡς ἐν ὁλοκαυτώσει κριῶν καὶ ταύρων καὶ μυριάσιν ἀρνῶν πιόνων 12 JAN JOOSTEN
“May we be accepted by means of a broken soul and a humbled spirit as if it were by means of burnt offerings of rams and bulls and ten thousands of fat lambs.”13
Ps 50(51):19 θυσία τῷ θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον καρδίαν συντετριμμένην καὶ τεταπεινωμένην ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐξουθενώσει “Sacrifice to the Lord is a broken spirit, God will not despise a broken and humbled heart.”
Mic 6:7 εἰ προσδέξεται κύριος ἐν χιλιάσιν κριῶν ἢ ἐν μυριάσιν χειμάρρων πιόνων “Will the Lord accept in (?) thousands of rams and ten thousands of streams of fat?”
The passage has several intertexts. The remarkable combination of perfect participles of συντρίβω and ταπεινόω leaves no doubt that the first part of the verse alludes to Ps 50(51):19. The second part, however, equally clearly refers to Mic 6:7.14 This second passage is interesting. Although it is not easy to determine the intended meaning of the Greek translation, it appears to diverge somewhat from the Hebrew: