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Archive for the ‘Septuagint’ Category


Vom Bernstein zum Luchsstein

In Bryan Beeckman, Felix Albrecht, HB/OT, Septuagint, Universitätsverlag Winter on May 30, 2022 at 12:33 pm

2022.05.06 | Felix Albrecht. Vom Bernstein zum Luchsstein. Der im Hebraïschen mit lšm bezeichnete Stein und seine Äquivalente in Septuaginta und Vetus Latina. Indogermanische Bibliothek. 3. Reihe, Untersuchungen; Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2021. ISBN 978-3-8253-4799-4.

Review by Bryan Beeckman, KU Leuven/UCLouvain.

In Vom Bernstein zum Luchsstein, Felix Albrecht examines the meaning of לֶשֶׁם (lšm; Ex 28:19 // 39:12), one of the twelve stones which were placed on the breastplate made for Aaron, the high priest. In order to reconstruct the origin and transmission history of lšm, Albrecht examines this specific lexeme in the different textual witnesses of the Hebrew Bible, i.e. the Masoretic Text (MT), the Septuagint (LXX) and the Vetus Latina (VL).

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Scripture, Texts, and Tracings

In A. Andrew DAS, Anthony Royle, Fortress Press, Intertextuality, Lexington Books, Linda L. BELLEVILLE, Romans, Scripture, Septuagint on March 26, 2022 at 2:00 pm
Book cover

2022.03.04 | Linda L. Belleville and A. Andrew Das (eds.). Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in Romans. London: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2021. pp. xiii + 267. ISBN: 978-1-9787-0471-8.

Review by Anthony P. Royle, University of Glasgow.

Scripture, Texts, and Tracing in Romans is a collection of twelve essays presented at the Society of Biblical Literature seminar on Scripture and Paul from 2017 and 2018. This is the second edited volume in a planned four volume series. (The previous volume on 1 Corinthians was edited by Linda Belleville and B. J. Oropeza.) In this volume Andrew Das is co-editor with Belleville, who also contribute two chapters alongside notable senior Pauline scholars invited to deliver papers to the seminar.

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The Greek of the Pentateuch

In Adam W. Jones, John A. L. Lee, Oxford University Press, Pentateuch, Septuagint, Translation on March 31, 2020 at 3:00 pm

9780198816133

2020.03.06 | John A. L. Lee. The Greek of the Pentateuch: Grinfield Lectures on the Septuagint 2011–2012. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Reviewed by Adam W. Jones, London School of Theology.

John A. L. Lee’s The Greek of the Pentateuch represents the compiled and edited form of the Grinfield lectures given by Lee at Oxford in 2011 and 2012. This volume is a welcomed addition to the multitude of recent studies on the LXX, providing insight through comparison with extant contemporary Greek literature. One of Lee’s main goals is to prove the Greek Pentateuch exemplifies good Greek. After some brief introductory material, Lee establishes the need for examining as much evidence as possible from Greek literature when studying the LXX, with more weight given to “the evidence closest in time to the LXX” (p. 5). Read the rest of this entry »


Hebrew Wordplay and LXX Translation

In Adam W. Jones, Bloomsbury, Book of Psalms, Elizabeth H. P. Backfish, Septuagint, Translation on February 13, 2020 at 8:00 am

9780567687104

2020.02.04 | Elizabeth H. P. Backfish. Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Translation Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter. LHBOTS 682. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2019.

Reviewed by Adam W. Jones, London School of Theology.

In Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Translation Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter, Elizabeth H. P. Backfish analyzes the nature of wordplay in the Fourth Book of the Hebrew Psalter and its translation in the LXX. This volume, a revised version of her PhD dissertation, fills a gap in scholarship on wordplay both in the Hebrew Psalter and in the LXX. Through this book, Backfish provides a significant contribution to multiple disciplines and creates room for the discussion to be carried forward in the future. Read the rest of this entry »


The Translation Style of Old Greek Habakkuk

In Adam W. Jones, Habakkuk, Hebrew Bible, James A. E. MULRONEY, Mohr Siebeck, Septuagint, Translation on October 4, 2019 at 2:00 pm

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2019.10.11 | James A. E. Mulroney. The Translation Style of Old Greek Habakkuk: Methodological Advancement in Interpretative Studies of the Septuagint. FAT II 86. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016. ISBN 978-3-16-154386-9.

Review by Adam W. Jones, London School of Theology.

While research in the field of Septuagint translation technique is not a new concept, there has been a recent surge in such studies. James A. E. Mulroney’s The Translation Style of Old Greek Habakkuk: Methodological Advancement in Interpretative Studies of the Septuagint, a revision of his doctoral dissertation (University of Edinburgh), is an important contribution to this field. It is the first study “to analyse the Greek style of Ambakoum as a Greek (Hellenistic) historical, religious and linguistic artefact in its own right” (p. 24). Read the rest of this entry »


Contours in the Text

In Bloomsbury, Garrick V. Allen, Hebrew Bible, Jonathan D. H. NORTON, Josephus, Manuscripts, New Testament, Paul, Qumran, Romans, Scribal habits, Scripture, Second Temple, Septuagint, Textual Criticism on December 19, 2013 at 9:01 am

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2013.12.23 | Jonathan D. H. Norton. Contours in the Text: Textual Variation in the Writings of Paul, Josephus and the Yahad. Library of New Testament Studies 430; London: T&T Clark, 2011. xiii + 210 pages (PB). ISBN 9780567521996.

Review by Garrick V. Allen, University of St Andrews.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for providing a review copy.

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In this volume, Norton explores Paul’s reuse and awareness of multiple antecedent scriptural traditions in the textually pluriform environment of first century Palestine. His approach blends text-critical acumen and an awareness of exegetical issues in the contemporary discussion. His study “questions Paul’s awareness and encounter with textual plurality in Jewish scripture” (p. 1). Read the rest of this entry »

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Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch?: Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings

In Biblical Criticism, Genesis, HB/OT, Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Kerry Lee, Konrad SCHMID, Pentateuch, Scribal habits, Scripture, Septuagint, Society of Biblical Literature, Thomas B. DOZEMAN, Thomas RÖMER on June 11, 2012 at 5:07 pm

2012.06.12 | Thomas B. Dozeman, Thomas Römer, and Konrad Schmid, eds. Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch?: Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings. Ancient Israel and its Literature 8. Atlanta: SBL, 2011. x + 313 pages. $39.95. ISBN: 9781589835429.

Reviewed by Kerry Lee, University of Edinburgh.

RBECS would like to thank SBL for kindly providing us with a review copy.

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Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? is a collaboration between the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic History Sections of SBL Read the rest of this entry »


Richard Hays, “The One Who Redeems Israel: Reading Scripture with Luke”

In Edinburgh, Gospels, Gunning Lectures, HB/OT, Intertextuality, Kerry Lee, Luke-Acts, New Testament, NT Theology, Richard HAYS, Scripture, Septuagint on January 26, 2012 at 5:40 pm

A report on a paper given by Richard Hays (Dean and George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke University in Durham, NC), 23 January 2012. Professor Hays is delivering this year’s Gunning Lectures at New College, University of Edinburgh, on the topic “Israel’s Scripture Through the Eyes of the Gospel Writers.” I should note that Professor Hays has let me know that he is preparing a book for publication based upon these Gunning lectures.

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Continuing in his investigation of the ways the Gospels use the Old Testament, Professor Hays turned, in his fourth Gunning lecture, to the Gospel of Luke. The launching point for Hays’ discussion was Jesus’ post-resurrection interaction with the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35. Focusing on the disciples’ ironic statement “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” as a hermeneutical key to the narrator’s understanding of Jesus’ significance, and on Jesus response which took them through “Moses and all the Prophets” explicating himself, Hays identifies redemption as a recurrent theme in Luke and asks what is it in “Moses and all the Prophets” that points to Jesus as that redeemer. Read the rest of this entry »


Richard Hays, “Torah Reconfigured: Reading Scripture with Matthew”

In Edinburgh, Gospels, Gunning Lectures, HB/OT, Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Kerry Lee, Matthew, New Testament, NT Theology, Richard HAYS, Scripture, SEMINAR REPORTS, Septuagint on January 25, 2012 at 8:29 am

A report on a paper given by Richard Hays (Dean and George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke University in Durham, NC), 19 January 2012. Professor Hays is delivering this year’s Gunning Lectures at New College, University of Edinburgh, on the topic “Israel’s Scripture Through the Eyes of the Gospel Writers.”

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Professor Hays’ third lecture in the 2012 Gunning series focused on the Gospel of Matthew, whose use of the Old Testament has become a central feature of the scholarly characterisation of the New Testament’s overall appropriation of the Old Testament. Very often, the Gospel writers’ use of the Old Testament is understood as a series of proof-texts which show no concern for the meaning or context of the cited or alluded Old Testament reference. Professor Hays’ aim in these lectures, and especially in this one, is to challenge this view by closely reading the Gospels with special sensitivity to the unique narrative strategies of the individual writers.

The intertextual strategy of Matthew in many ways makes a striking contrast with that of Mark. Read the rest of this entry »


Arie van der Kooij, “The Translators of the Pentateuch in Greek”

In Arie van der KOOIJ, David J. Larsen, HB/OT, Pentateuch, SEMINAR REPORTS, Septuagint, St Andrews on December 7, 2011 at 8:28 pm

This is a report on a paper presented by Prof Arie van der Kooij (Emeritus), Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Universiteit Leiden, at the Biblical Studies Research Seminar at St Andrews, 1 December 2011. The list of forthcoming papers in this seminar at St Andrews is available here.

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Professor van der Kooij, of Leiden University, gave a fascinating paper at the University of St Andrews’  Biblical Studies Research Seminar.  His topic was one that has not been discussed in detail at the seminar in recent years, which made his paper even more intriguing.  Professor van der Kooij’s thesis was that, contrary to other current theories, when evaluating the character of the translators of the Pentateuch into Greek we should take the perspective of the ancient Letter of Aristeus — that they were learned, noble persons working under the direction of the High Priest from Jerusalem. Read the rest of this entry »