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    Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament
    Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament
    Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament
    Ebook149 pages2 hours

    Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament

    By Randy Neal

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    About this ebook

    This book examines the role of the LXX (Septuagint) and the MT (Masoretic Text) as the basis for the English Bible Old Testament.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandy Neal, PH.D.
    Release dateMar 12, 2022
    ISBN9798201465322
    Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament
    Author

    Randy Neal

    Randy Neal is a part-time minister who also works as a house manager in a group home with adults who have disabilities. His wife, Kim, is a graduate of MTSU and an elementary school teacher. They have three adult children (the oldest is a teacher and the other two are planning on a career in law). Randy has been preaching since high school (1982) and has worked various public jobs as well as taught college.  Randy grew up on a dairy farm (along with his dad, mom, brother, and two sisters) in Middle Tennessee and still enjoys the rural life. His dad also preached part-time for rural congregations over 55  years. He has earned a BA, MA, and completed a PH.D. in August 2019. Randy has several works in the pipeline that he wants to publish and looks forward to working with draft2digital.

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      Book preview

      Backgrounds to the Text of the Old Testament - Randy Neal

      Observant Publishing

      Randy Neal

      s

      Chapter One

      The Value of the Septuagint

      ––––––––

      Part One:

      The Value of the Septuagint

      Introduction

      What value is there for in studying the Septuagint?  As this research paper will point out, there are many usages for the Greek translation of the Old Testament.  Most scholars today concur that the production of the Septuagint (abbreviated from here on out as LXX) took place over a number of years and that what the Letter of Aristeas refers to is more than likely the translation of the Pentateuch into Hellenistic Greek.  The remainder of the so-called LXX was completed by the time of the writing of the uninspired wisdom book, Ecclesiasticus, penned around the end of the second century B.C. (according to the grandson of Jesus ben Sirach in the prologue to Ecclesticacus or the Wisdom of Sirach).[1]

      This paper will present seven different ways Biblical scholars can benefit from examining the LXX.  While this is not an exhaustive paper, the purpose is to give one an overview of how better to utilize this early translation of the Old Testament Scriptures.[2]  Aside from the Aramaic Targums, this is the first real translation of the Bible and there are serious reasons why the LXX should still be studied today.  First, we will look at the LXX from the point of view of textual criticism.  There are some passages in the Hebrew text that are simply not clear, and turning to the early translations of the Old Testament (such as the Greek or even the Old Latin) can help shed some light what the text really means.  Secondly, the Greek translation of the Old Testament gives us a better idea of the variants that exist between the two textual traditions (the MT and the LXX).  Third, the LXX can also help us better understand the New Testament.  Fourth, there is a definite theological presupposition of the translators of the Greek Old Testament that may help us formulate a working translation theory.  Fifth, studying the LXX sheds light on how this translation was used by Christians and Jews alike in their interpretation and theological debates.  Sixth, the LXX can help solve exegetical problems in the Old Testament.  Seventh, the LXX can also aid scholars in interpreting the New Testament.[3]

      Textual Criticism

      Perhaps the best role for one of the earliest translations of scripture is in identifying the original text of the LXX.  We realize that no one has a copy of any original autograph of any book of the Bible.[4]  The importance of textual criticism is obvious even from a cursory study of the footnotes in some of our modern English translations, many of which call attention to passages in which Greek versions have influenced the revisers to depart from the MT in an endeavor to arrive at a closer approximation of the original Hebrew.[5]  At times the Hebrew text and the LXX agree, but at times they go in different directions.  This is perhaps the time to investigate the LXX and compare it with other early translations of the Old Testament (perhaps the LXX does not contain the original readings at times).  There are some instances where the LXX may agree with some of the scrolls found at the Qumran scrolls which may preserve an older and possibly more accurate text.[6]  We will look at some five examples of how the LXX helps shed light on textual criticism of the MT.

      First, in Genesis 4:8 the MT reading is a bit awkward.  The text reads, literally, And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up unto Abel his brother, and he killed him (translation mine).[7]  The reading here in the Hebrew text tells of Cain talking with his brother and ending up killing him in the field.  The LXX (supported by the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate) gives a different and fuller reading.[8]  καὶ εἶπεν Καιν πρὸς Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνέστη Καιν ἐπὶ Αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν.[9]  The MT does not include the phrase, let us enter into the field/plain.  Speiser notes that the original text must have contained Cain’s statement, but the phrase was accidentally omitted in MT, owing, no doubt, to the repeated outside (literally the field); the ancient versions supply the missing clause.[10]

      Second, the translators of the King James Version did the best they could in Judges 13:19 (based upon the MT), which simply reads where Monah offers upon the rock to the LORD and the amazing thing to do and Monoah and his wife were watching (rendering mine).[11] The insertion by the KJV translators of the angel as the one who acts marvelously is confusing.  The translators of the Revised Standard Version more wisely follow the text of the LXX which smooth out this reading by explaining that the one who works wonders is he (that is, the LORD), and not the angel of the LORD.[12]

      Third, there is another controversial passage from the book of Judges.  There is a problem with the standard Hebrew text of Judges 16:14. When the translation committee of the Revised Standard Version looked at this passage, they realized that the Septuagint included fifteen words that were not recorded in the MT.  The belief is that at some point these words fell out of the Hebrew Bible and the translators included the Greek version in this translation.[13]

      Fourth, the reading of the MT in 1 Samuel 9:25-26 is a repetitious sequence which the Greek translation is able to smooth out.  The Hebrew text has Samuel talking with Saul on the roof in verse 25 and has Samuel calling out to Saul on the rook in verse 26.  The LXX has the people preparing a place for Saul to lay down upon the roof instead of Samuel speaking to him.  Evidently the LXX translators uncovered a slight transposition of the MT consonants in the forוַיְדַבֵּר and translated וַיִרְבְדוּ with the proposition לin place of ,עִם with the resultant καὶ διέστρωσαν τῷ Σαουλ,  they spread a couch for Saul."[14]  Here the Greek translation is definitely advantageous in determining the reading of 1 Samuel 9:25-26.

      Fifth, once again the LXX comes to our aid in solving the mysterious reading of the MT in 2 Samuel 4:6 (the slaying of Isbosheth).  The MT reads that the two men, Rechab and Baanah, entered into the house as if they were getting wheat (what some say already signals some corruption in the text).  The LXX informs us that these two men entered during the heat of the day while Isbosheth was asleep and that a doorkeeper who was winnowing wheat had fallen asleep.  While this doorkeeper is asleep, the two assassins slay Ishbosheth and cut off his head.[15]

      Sixth, there is the example of the LXX clearing up our understanding of Psalm 49:11-12 [MT].  The LXX here gives what appears to be a more coherent rendering of the Hebrew.  While the Hebrew reads that the dead’s houses live forever, while the LXX reads that their sepulchers are their houses forever.  In other words, the psalmist here is saying that the only permanent dwelling place for the foolish is the grave.[16]

      Help in Understanding Variants

      Not all differences between the LXX and the MT are due to scribal error or incompetence.  There is evidence that at times the Hebrew text that lay before the translators of the LXX sometimes differed greatly from the MT.  Some of the Biblical manuscripts at Qumran reveal a consonantal text that is identical with that of the MT.[17]  In a majority of the instances, however, all that distinguishes these texts is greater use of the letters YOD and WAW to indicated pronunciation in the Qumran scrolls.  This indicates that the MT represents an ancient and authentic textual tradition.  There are occasions where the LXX translators may have had a Hebrew text that is close to what the LXX translators may have had in front of them.  This can be seen especially in Samuel and Jeremiah.[18]  The translators of the LXX must have followed the Hebrew text they had in front of them whether or not the text was identical to the MT.  There seems to have been some textual fluidity in the texts during the time leading up to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D.  Often there are multiple copies of the same books that have different readings circulating at the same time at Qumran.[19]

      The translators or copyists’ or translators of the Greek text often made improvements or even at time revisions to the LXX.  These

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