Two Ancient Editions of the Book of Jeremiah

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-113
Author(s):  
Hermann-Josef Stipp
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
Translation Technique ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

The book of Jeremiah has been handed down from antiquity in two separate editions that differ markedly from each other: MT and the Alexandrian version (JerAlT), which is represented by the original Greek translation (JerG*) and certain Qumran fragments. The Alexandrian edition is about one-seventh shorter than its Masoretic counterpart, and it deviates from JerMT both in its macro-structure and in some traits of its microstructure. A growing and well-founded consensus holds that the two editions derive from a common ancestor, with JerAlT still closely resembling this predecessor, whereas JerMT has been enlarged and restructured. This chapter characterizes the translation technique of JerG* and the value of that source as an access to its Hebrew Vorlage. Further, the essay discusses the most important reasons for the text-historical priority of the Alexandrian edition and the secondary nature of the Masoretic Sondergut (the material specific to the Masoretic edition), with the strongest probative force accorded to the pre-Masoretic idiolect, an extended set of linguistic properties distinguishing the Sondergut from the remainder of the book and, to a major part, from the entire rest of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, the chapter summarizes the particular features of the Sondergut, it reflects on the intention guiding the scribes who created this corpus, and concludes with an estimate of its date of origin.

The Double Text of Jeremiah Revisited

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Alexander Rofé
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah ◽  
The Church

From the time of the Church Fathers, it has been recognized that the Greek translation (LXX) of the book of Jeremiah is shorter than the received Hebrew text (MT). Modern assessments of this textual situation have viewed the LXX as between one-eighth and one-sixth shorter than the corresponding Masoretic text of the book of Jeremiah. Since manuscripts have been found at Qumran that seem to confirm the antiquity of the shorter LXX recension, many explanations for this editorial discrepancy have focused on the phenomenon of editorial expansion within the Masoretic tradition. This chapter presents a range of counter-evidence demonstrating that the LXX has been subjected to a sustained process of editorial concision.

Jeremiah and Baruch

2021 ◽  
pp. 258-274
Author(s):  
Matthieu Richelle
Keyword(s):  
Translation Technique ◽  
Semitic Language ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

This chapter discusses two books that are inseparable in the Septuagint manuscripts: Jeremiah and Baruch. For both books, it surveys classical topics like translators, translation technique, and provenance. The main focus, however, is on the manner they exemplify important and recurrent issues in Septuagintal studies. The book of Jeremiah is a textbook case of a work that exists in two literary editions, a short one (in Hebrew) and a long one (in Greek). The study of the book of Baruch is a good example of a pseudepigraphical work that seems to be translated from a Semitic language, although this is disputed.

Translation Technique

2021 ◽  
pp. 163-179
Author(s):  
Hans Ausloos
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
History Of Research ◽  
Translation Technique ◽  
Translation Techniques ◽  
History Of

The Septuagint translators did not make use of handbooks nor could they rely on editorial guidelines when translating the books of the Hebrew Bible. Yet every translator undoubtedly had his own typical methods and practices that diverged from those of others. These methods and practices constitute the translator’s ‘translation techniques’. The present chapter presents the difficulties and challenges in exploring and describing the translation techniques of the Septuagint translators. After a brief survey of the history of research, the question of the characterization of translation technique is dealt with, distinguishing particularly between quantitative and qualitative criteria.

Jeremiah

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin A. Sweeney ◽  
Shelley Birdsong
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Standard Form ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Divine Will ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the major prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible, although Rabbinic tradition sometimes places it first following Kings and prior to Ezekiel due to its thematic focus on destruction (b. Baba Batra 14b–15a). It presents the words of the prophet, Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, who lived in Jerusalem during the reigns of the Judean kings, Josiah (640–609 bce), Jehoahaz (609 bce), Jehoiakim (609–598 bce), Jehoiachin (597 bce), and Zedekiah (597–587 or 586 bce). Jeremiah was a Levitical priest from Anathoth, who resided in Jerusalem during the last years of the kingdom of Judah. Major events during the period ascribed to Jeremiah include the outset of King Josiah’s reforms (c. 628 bce), the death of Josiah (609 bce), the Babylonian subjugation of Judah (605 bce), Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (597 bce), the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (587–586 bce), and the assassination of Gedaliah (582 bce). Jeremiah interpreted the Babylonian subjugation of Jerusalem in 605 bce and the later destruction of Jerusalem in 587 or 586 bce as acts of punishment by YHWH, the G-d of Israel and Judah, for the people’s alleged failure to observe the divine will. Although the book of Jeremiah is largely concerned with destruction, it also holds out hope for the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, especially in Jeremiah 30–33. The book appears in two very distinctive forms from antiquity. The Hebrew Masoretic text (MT) is the standard form of Jeremiah in Jewish Bibles, but the Greek Septuagint (LXX) form of the book is approximately one-eighth shorter and displays a very different arrangement of materials (e.g., the oracles concerning the nations in MT Jeremiah 46–51 appear following portions of Jeremiah 25 in the LXX form of the book). The Dead Sea Scrolls likewise include remnants of early Hebrew forms of both of these versions. Scholarly consensus maintains that both versions grew out of a common original text, although the issue is still debated.

scholarly journals Reciprocity and the Risk of Rejection: Debate over Sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 422
Author(s):  
Göran Eidevall
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

Sacrifice is a central but contested topic in the prophetical literature in the Hebrew Bible. Whereas some texts criticize the sacrificial cult vehemently, other texts express strong support for such a cult. Interestingly, and somewhat paradoxically, a certain writing, such as the book of Jeremiah, may contain both cult-critical prophecies and passages that promote sacrifices. Divergent interpretations of this ancient debate have engendered an intense scholarly debate. Adopting a new approach, informed by sacrifice theories that emphasize the notion of reciprocity, this article refutes the view that prophets like Amos and Jeremiah rejected all sacrifices. Rather, they (that is, the authors of these books) addressed specific situations, or explained specific catastrophes in retrospect. Viewed from this perspective, the cult-critical prophecies, as well as other references to rejected sacrifice, are in fact compatible with a basically positive attitude towards the sacrificial cult.

From the Book of Jeremiah to the Qumranic Apocryphon of Jeremiah

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devorah Dimant
Keyword(s):  
Early Period ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
Early Date ◽  
Narrative Fragments ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

Abstract The article shows that the two narrative fragments of the Qumran second century B.C.E. Apocryphon of Jeremiah C (4Q385a 18 and 4Q389 1) elaborate traditions of the prophet Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch. The juxtaposition of the two types of traditions in a single work attests to its early date. Such an early period, and perhaps even earlier one, is also reflected by the Hebrew Vorlage of the book of Jeremiah. Like the Greek translation this Hebrew Vorlage probably juxtaposed as appendix the book of Baruch 1:1–3:8 to the book of Jeremiah.

Translating Anger : A comparison of the Masoretic and Greek text of the Septuagint of the Book of Proverbs1

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-336
Author(s):  
Petra von Gemünden
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Greek Text ◽  
Basic Emotion ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Greek Translation

Abstract What particularities can be observed in the translation of notions of “anger” from the Hebrew to the Greek language, from a Semitic to a Hellenistic culture? This question is examined in an exemplary manner with reference to the oldest sapiential book of the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Proverbs, and its Greek translation in the Septuagint, since ProvLXX is a particularly free, receptor language oriented translation. Four tendencies can be detected in the LXX-translation of this basic emotion: the tendencies to theologization, to ethicization, to psychologization and, most clearly, the tendency to politicization.

scholarly journals The Book of Obadiah in the Septuagint

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 63-116
Author(s):  
Barbara Strzałkowska
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Greek Version ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
Text Content

The Book of Obadiah, although short (it has only 21 verses; the shortest in the Hebrew Bible), is at the same time very difficult. The difficulties are manifested in its linguistic and textual layers, but above all in what concerns its content, theology and interpretation. The Greek translation of Obad contained in the LXX is particularly important because it represents a way of understanding the Book going back to pre-Christian, Hellenistic times, which strongly emphasised the theme of threats to Israel from other nations. In the Greek translation (LXXObad), the cursing character of the Book is radicalised and the guilt of the enemies (Edomites – Idumeans) is highlighted. The article presents the Book of Obadiah in its historical context (both the Hebrew original and the Greek version), and presents its text, content and character in the Septuagint version. It compares it with LXXJer 29 (LXX numbering) and shows how the challenging theology of the Book was understood among the Jews of Hellenistic Alexandria. The universalisation of the message of the Book by the LXX translation was later continued in its patristic and rabbinic interpretations.

scholarly journals Esoteric wisdom texts from Qumran

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
George J. Brooke
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Wisdom Literature ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Early Judaism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Change Of Perspective

The dominant approach to sapiential compositions found in the caves at and near Qumran has been based on traditional views of the wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible. The intention here is to look rather at the likely contexts of the transmission of the sapiential literature in the movement that preserved the Scrolls. In so doing, particular attention is given to esoteric writings. The first part of the paper outlines three key factors that indicate how a change of perspective might be justified and facilitated, namely views among biblical scholars that the overarching category of Wisdom Literature has lost much of its heuristic value, early Jewish views on evil and how to deal with it, and views on secrecy in early Judaism. The second major part is a brief consideration of sapiential compositions in the light of those key factors, suggesting a hierarchy of texts to match the social hierarchy and its accompanying hierarchy of knowledge for the group responsible for collecting the Scrolls in the caves at and near Qumran.

The Text-Critical Utility of the Peshitta to Ezekiel in View of Recent Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-58
Author(s):  
Godwin Mushayabasa
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Translation Technique ◽  
Semantic Frames ◽  
Base Text

Following recent studies demonstrating that the Peshitta to Ezekiel is largely a translation that was rendered at the level of semantic frames or the idiomatic level, the logical question to be asked from the point of view of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is whether such a translation would be useful at all within that discipline. Traditionally, a version that is considered ideal and useful for the textual criticism of the Bible is one whose translation technique is as literal as possible. Studying some difficult texts in the light of the idiomatic approach inpeshows thatpecan still provide meaningful contribution to the text-critical study of the book of Ezekiel, though not in every instance. There are instances where the process of translation inpecould have made the base text difficult to retrace.pecan therefore be used in the study of Ezekiel, with some precautions.

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