Zacharias Frankel’s Conception of the Septuagint in Context

Zacharias Frankel had a very low opinion of the abilities of the LXX translators, the quality of their work and the ensuing textual transmission. He considered the Septuagint only useful as a testimony to help prove the antiquity of the halakah, a notion with apologetic value. Methodologically, he conceptualized the genesis of the Greek Pentateuch through the theories of contemporary historical criticism. His monographs on the Septuagint display great continuity with early modern scholarship. This also holds true for the assumption that the Septuagint reflects Jewish interpretation, and the notion of five translators/editors for the Greek Pentateuch. Frankel’s works were considered important, but his innovations, viz. the insistence that all Jewish exegesis was Palestinian in origin and his rejection of textual criticism, were accepted by few and rejected by most scholars, Jews and Christians alike. Frankel’s boldness and his use of German helped to keep his ideas on the scholarly agenda.

Exploring the Masoretic Treatment of the Form ‮פֶ֛לִאי‬‎ in Judges 13:18

A strange form found in Judges 13:18 raises the issue of how the Masoretes communicated their text to the reader. Did they intentionally leave the choice of reading up to the reader in rare cases or not? This study offers a view of how to interpret potential mixed readings for scholarly consideration. Furthermore, a hitherto unrecognized lexeme will be identified.

The Repetition of ‮אֶעֱנֶה‬‎ in MT Hosea 2:23

The verb ‮אֶעֱנֶה‬‎ appears twice in MT Hos 2:23 construed with the same object, ‮הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם‬‎, while LXX does not reflect the first of its appearances. Many scholars regard the repetition in MT as a rhetorical device. The author, however, points to a distinction between this supposed rhetorical repetition and the examples of repetition adduced by scholars who make the case for Hos 2:23 being an intentional device. Furthermore, the study provides data demonstrating that the repetition in Hos 2:23 functions in a manner that is decidedly different than all other cases in the Bible in which the other Hebrew expressions surrounding the purported repetition appear. This study also offers two possible scenarios in which the verb may have been duplicated erroneously.

A Genealogy of Lust

In this study I argue that the translator of Prov 24:50–51 LXX (30:15–16 MT) adapts the Hebrew text to his Hellenistic audience by alluding to Hesiod’s Theogony. The core message of these verses—the ineluctability of cosmic greed—remains the same, yet the images employed in the Septuagint are engrained in and originally belong to the Hellenic mythological understanding of how the universe came into being. The use of classical literature to convey the message contained in the texts of the Hebrew Bible speaks to the hybrid character of the Jewish community of the Egyptian diaspora. When the translator quotes or alludes to Greek literature, he is not borrowing foreign material, but rather drawing wisdom from his very own well. In Alexandria, the waters that flowed from the rock at Horeb and from the Hippocrene spring have merged their course.

The Value of the Samaritan Versions for the Textual History of the Samaritan Pentateuch

The Samaritan Aramaic Targum presents an extremely literal translation of SP, but the measure of literalness varies between different manuscripts. Further textual differences between these manuscripts can be related to different Hebrew Vorlagen, or to different interpretations of one and the same Hebrew Vorlage. It can thus be concluded that the Samaritan Targum tradition does not represent a single Aramaic translation of SP, but rather consists of several translations, based on different Hebrew Vorlagen. SAT and also the Samaritan Arabic translation are therefore important witnesses for the textual history of SP, relating to the written transmission of SP in the period before the 12th century CE, for which no Hebrew manuscripts are extant, and also to the Samaritan vocalization. This evidence demonstrates that the textual variety found in the Hebrew manuscripts of SP was already present in the transmission of SP between the 1st and the 11th century CE.

Textual Criticism and Its Impact on the Study of Israel’s Religion and Hebrew Grammar

Textual criticism is a necessary first step when studying a biblical text. However, textual issues go beyond isolated readings and reach the literary composition of the book, Hebrew grammar, theology or history. The books of Kings / Kingdoms offer many examples where textual variants solve difficulties or shed light on other venues of study. In the present article, we study the name Molek / Molok / Milkom, the presence of the proleptic pronoun in some verses of Kings, and the names with suffix -ay from a textual point of view.

Abel and Dan (2 Sam 20:18–19) in Textual Criticism, Tradition History, and Archaeology

The MT form of the saying of the wise woman in 2 Sam 20:18–19 presents multiple text-critical problems. Instead of “Let them inquire at Abel,” the LXX refers to “Abel and Dan.” The notion of the wise woman being “one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel” (NRSV) is grammatically difficult; the LXX reads differently: “what the faithful of Israel had established, had been abandoned.” This article seeks to bring textual criticism into discussion with an archaeological analysis, including a tradition-historical angle on the story, by: 1. Re-examining the textual evidence, with due consideration of the Septuagint; 2. Considering the archaeological findings of Iron Age sites at Tel Abel and Tel Dan; 3. Examining the textual and iconographic implications of the motif “woman on the wall;” and 4. Evaluating the plausibility of the historical settings implied in the story in light of the textual and archaeological evidence.

Textual Criticism, Translation Studies, and Symmachus’s Version in the Book of Job

The late second century CE translator/reviser Symmachus took a very different approach to the versions of his predecessor Aquila. His renderings do not appear to have survived in Jewish circles but were much admired by early Christian scholars, thanks to their preservation in Origen’s Hexapla. However, for textual critics of the Hebrew Bible Symmachus’ free approach has limited his value since his readings cannot be easily retroverted, unlike those of Aquila or Theodotion. In the case of the book of Job, although Symmachus’ “transformations” (to use a term from Descriptive Translation Studies) differ in nature from the freedoms observed in OG Job, while rejecting the narrow isomorphism of Aquila and Theodotion he nevertheless adheres quite closely to his Hebrew Vorlage. This offers the possibility of identifying elements significant for textual criticism in his rendering, including variant reading traditions or a different consonantal text.

Blotting Out the Name

Part 1 of this study considered how the rabbinic prohibition against erasing the Tetragrammaton led to scribes performing diverse procedures to resolve scribal errors. In part 2 it will be shown that special procedures were performed in Torah scrolls, namely, skiving, excision, and removing sheets. Washing off the divine name was not found in the corpus examined. Despite the rabbinic prohibition, medieval Jewish scribes occasionally marked the Tetragrammaton with a strikethrough or erased it through abrasion. This may have been the handiwork of Karaite scribes who did not see themselves bound by the midrashic interpretation of Deut 12:4. The scribes who wrote the Aleppo Codex may have abraded erroneous instances of the Tetragrammaton in order to create a model codex. Scribes in the isolated Jewish community of Kaifeng, who erased erroneous instances of the Tetragrammaton, may not have been familiar with rabbinic strictures.