Septuagint
The Septuagint is the oldest continuous translation of the Hebrew Bible in the former ancient Greek everyday language, the Koine, interspersed with " Hebraisms ", the syntax and word usage Hebrew texts imitated. It was built about 250 BC to 100 AD in Hellenistic Judaism, mainly in Alexandria.
Originally, the Septuagint was a translation of the Torah, the five books of Moses, in ancient Greek. Later the term was expanded primarily by Christians on Greek versions of the Old Testament. In this later Christian form of the Septuagint contained both all Greek translated books of the Hebrew Bible and apocryphal and deuterocanonical books, partly in Greek translation, partly as a Greek original texts.
From pre-Christian times, when the Septuagint was created by Jewish translators, a few manuscript fragments have been preserved. The Septuagint is now mainly obtained as a Christian writing tradition in Greek. Composed of the Old Testament apocrypha and deuterocanonical texts in ancient Greek Koine and more modern late ancient Greek vernacular, the Septuagint, therefore, the Christian religion and its history of writing today is mainly attributable.
Judaism rejects the Septuagint since ancient times as a valid signature from, although her - were initially met with respect and hope, for example, by Philo, Josephus and the Rabbis - in their pre-Christian version as a translation of the Pentateuch. Today, the Septuagint and nearly all Hellenistic- Jewish writings have been preserved only in Christian manuscripts and codices.
- 3.1 Translation of the Torah
- 3.2 Translation of other biblical books
- 3.3 revisions
- 4.1 Recording in the New Testament
- 4.2 Old Church
- 4.3 revisions
- 4.4 Ecclesiastical use
- 5.1 The oldest manuscripts
- 5.2 relative to the Masoretic text
- 5.3 Original LXX text
Name
The Latin word number 70 follows the Greek Septuagint for self-description Κατὰ τοὺς ἑβδομήκοντα (kata tous Hebdomêkonta = " according to the Seventy "). It is often abbreviated with the Roman number LXX or the letter.
So this Bible translation is ( about 130 BC ) traditionally called since the legendary Aristeas. Then translated 72 Jewish scholars in Alexandria, the Torah ( five books of Moses ) in 72 days from Hebrew into Greek. The number 72 was rounded down to 70 and commemorates the seventy- elect, who are endowed with God's Spirit to help Moses in the law ( Num 11:24 ff EU). This means that the verbal inspiration of this translation was emphasized.
The name was extended to about 200 AD to all Greek first translations of biblical books and Greek texts drawn scriptures of Judaism. The Christians applied it to this collection of all Greek-speaking Jewish holy scriptures, which they took as their Old Testament.
Canon
Book title and arrangement
Relation to other canons
Main article: Bible canon
The Septuagint contains all the books of the Tanakh, Jews and Christians recognize as canonical. It also contains some books and accessories that are not included in the Bible canon for Judaism because they had either lost or no Hebrew originals. It was created before the three-part canon of the Tanakh had prevailed. Nichtprophetische writings were therefore not added back, but is inserted in the existing floor plan of Torah (front) and prophets (rear).
They were not compiled on a tiered revelation rank, but according to their literary genres, so that the Torah following historical and prophetic books which apply in the Tanakh as Nevi'im came apart. Between they advanced poetic and sapiential books, which form the third main part of the Ketubim in the Tanakh. In addition, go to the LXX "small" to "large" prophet advance and are not counted as such a common Twelve Prophets, but as individual books in the Tanakh. Thus, the major prophetic books in the LXX form the canon end and could accordingly be understood even more than open future announcement.
Old Church canon lists were inconsistent, particularly with respect to the distribution of the force as Ketubim in the Tanakh Scriptures. Finally, all the churches took over the quartering of the LXX canon in the Pentateuch, history, wisdom and prophetic books, the sequence of these parts, and largely domestic row of each main part, but put the "big" before the "small" prophets and approached it as the actual historical History of.
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the LXX additions to esters and Daniel, Tobit, Judith, the first two Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah as deuterocanonical writings. The 3rd and 4th Maccabees, and the first ( for them 3 ) Book of Esdras it does not recognize. The second book of Esdras, they divided into the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Most Orthodox churches have included the deuterocanonical books mentioned as Anaginoskomena in their canon, in addition also the first book of Esdras and 3 Maccabees. In some Orthodox churches, the Book of Odes, the 4th Book of the Maccabees, the Prayer of Manasseh, and / or a fourth book of Ezra are (which is passed down only in Latin and Slavonic translation, while the Greek version was lost ) recognized as canonical.
Protestantism has taken only the books of the Tanach in his Bible canon. In the Lutheran churches, the deuterocanonical mentioned additives and books as well as the Prayer of Manasseh shall be deemed apocryphal books, which are in their editions of the Bible often included as an appendix. In the Reformed churches only the books of the Hebrew Bible are generally recognized and printed in their Bibles.
History of Judaism
Translation of the Torah
The Letter of Aristeas, the Septuagint radically Aryan, but historically accurate as a result of collective work of a Hellenistic educated elite among the Jewish Toralehrern Represent was necessary because the Jewish diaspora grew rapidly and in worship and everyday language, the then world language. They also tend educated non-Jews to explain Judaism and the Torah bring in former philosophical and ethical discourse served. An approval of the then Egyptian ruler to the project is feasible to integrate the strong Jewish minority in his kingdom and to bind to the cultural metropolis of Alexandria.
The translators of the Torah went before, word for word, so that the result at the same time ready made vocabulary for further translations of biblical books. In her choice of words - it is delimiting, be it picking up - show Hellenistic Egyptian influences and concepts. That is Gen 1:1 LXX: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. The definite article (ho theos ) demarcated Elohim (literally, " gods " ), in the Hebrew context as henotheistisches predicate YHWH seen immediately from the general Oriental polytheism from.
Translation of other biblical books
Also a lot of the other writings was translated in Alexandria. The translation can be only of a few quotes from the Greek Septuagint text in Narrow other sources or historical references therein: Isaiah and the books of Chronicles were therefore to about 150 BC, completed the book job to 100 BC. The to 132 BC Greek wrote the preface to Ecclesiasticus sat already a Greek translation " of the Law, the Prophets and the other books" advance so that at that time probably only some of the to 100 AD controversial Ketubim ( writings ) missing. Only the books of Ruth, Ester, Song of Songs and Lamentations were translated into Jerusalem, probably in the first century after the destruction of the Temple (70). The last book was around 100 AD the "2nd Esdras " (Ezra and Nehemiah ) translated.
During the LXX - style language within a book usually remains approximately the same, it is different from book to book: Paul de Lagarde took Therefore, as a rule for each book to a single translator. Paul Kahle, however, adopted a number of translation experiments for each book, of which a version was finally enforced.
Here, the methods translators distinguished. Some stayed close to the original text and used many Hebraisms: so in the Book of Judges, the books of Samuel and Kings, the Psalms. Other translated free and the Greek language style and flow of language adapted: eg Genesis, Exodus, Job, Proverbs, Isaiah and Daniel. Their LXX version differs partly heavily on the well-known Hebrew text.
Revisions
Even after its preliminary conclusion that the text of the LXX developed further. About 100, it remained the Bible use the Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, even in the synagogue service. After that, they gradually lost influence: on the one hand because since the destruction of the Temple (70 AD) rabbinic guided Judaism began to enforce a common consonantal text (abbreviated proto -MT), on the other hand, because Rabbi Akiba strict, oriented at any Hebrew text detail exegetical method was dominant, the third, because the Christians appropriated the Septuagint as their Old Testament and the Greek text often umdeuteten allegorically in order to lead him into the field of Jewish interpretations can.
This resulted in Judaism but not for the abrupt exclusion of the LXX, but initially to increased attempts at narrowing the differences between Greek and Hebrew text versions. This approximation began about 100 BC with the kaige - review the then LXX versions. This shows the Greek Twelve Prophets role that was found in a cave in Nahal Chever the Dead Sea. Also for the Book of Judges and for parts of the books of Samuel and Kings such peer-reviewed versions are preserved.
In the 2nd century translated Aquila, Theodotion and the Symmachos now been unified again Tanakh into Greek. This Theodotion followed most of the LXX template. These reviews are only fragmentary handed and to develop as a whole only indirectly from old manuscripts of the Hexapla, which they faced the Hebrew text. They went largely lost because the Jews were working more and more on the MT and other versions refused or destroyed, while the Christians increasingly as the sole tradition passed on the different type of revision of the Septuagint of Origen.
From about 400, the Jews returned entirely dependent on the LXX and left it to the Christians who had created around this time first complete manuscripts of her.
History of Christianity
Inclusion in the New Testament
The writers of the New Testament only take in some books ( the Gospel of Luke, Acts ) hebraistischen the style of the Septuagint on. Otherwise, the Greek in the New Testament for each of the writers has a typical character of its own, because it is Greek original texts rather than translations. The often made summary of the Septuagint Greek and the Greek of the New Testament under the heading of Biblical Greek is therefore inappropriate.
Many of the quotations from the Old Testament, which can be found in the New Testament, the Septuagint has been taken, with differences of detail, often point out that the writer quoted from memory.
Old Church
As a major part of early Christianity from the Greek-speaking Judaism arose ( the so-called Hellenists; cf. Acts 6), it is not surprising that the Old Testament was often cited by the authors of the New Testament according to the Septuagint. Also, most church fathers quoted the Old Testament according to the Septuagint, because very few church fathers were of Hebrew at all powerful. In addition, as the Christian side postulated unity of the Old Testament was more clearly drafted with the Greek New Testament.
Even disputes with Judaism or polemics against Judaism took usually the text of the Septuagint as the basis for their argument. This contributed to the fact that the Jews turned towards and from the Hebrew text of the Septuagint, but also meant that Origen his great philological work ( the Hexapla ) created to resolve the dispute over the scientific text.
Revisions
As in Judaism, it was also part of Christians revisions of the Septuagint text. Have survived number Empire hexaplarische reviews, ( inspired by the Hexapla of Origen ) come closer to the Septuagint text of the Masoretic text. As a perhaps the Septuagint as a whole, comprehensive review (and thus a new edition ) is the Antiochene or lukianische review, which is characterized primarily by stylistic smoothing.
Churches use
The Septuagint is in the Eastern Churches still the most important version of the Old Testament. In Greece and Cyprus, it is still used today in worship. Most of the other Eastern churches use an Old Testament which is translated from the Septuagint in the local language.
The Roman Catholic Church used against it for more than a millennium, both the Septuagint and the Vulgate, a translation of the Bible into Latin by Jerome. However, Jerome changed his initial contract, the Vulgate translate solely on the basis of the Septuagint by heranzog also the Hebrew text as a translation basis. Nevertheless, he took many readings of the Septuagint, which explains the numerous similarities between the Vulgate and the Septuagint against the Masoretic text. He also largely adopted the canon of the Septuagint. This decision followed Catholic Bibles today (see also later writings of the Old Testament ).
Martin Luther, however, used the Hebrew Old Testament for his German translation of the Bible and put his (shorter) canon based. Septuagint and Vulgate he used as an aid for his translation. Some of the additional books of the Septuagint and Vulgate, he gave his translation as an attachment ( the so-called Apocrypha).
Textual Criticism
Oldest manuscripts
From the LXX approximately 2000 different manuscripts are preserved, to which their development can be read complicated text. The oldest date from about 200 BC and contain mostly on papyrus and leather scrolls listed Toratexte. Confirm the indication of Aristeasbriefs that the LXX began around 250 BC with the Toraübersetzung. Among them is the Qumran role 4QLXXLeva. This version translated freer than later Hebrew manuscripts of the same text and so proved a Hebrew of these independent LXX template for the Book of Leviticus. More Torafragmente are 4QLXXNum, Papyrus Fouad 266, Papyrus Rylands Gk. 458, 150-100 emerged BC.
The oldest LXX version of Daniel book contains the Papyrus of two scribes created around 200 AD He was 967 together with LXX papyri found for most books of the Bible in 1931 in Egypt. Also among the scrolls from the Cairo Geniza were found LXX versions.
As the oldest and best as yet hardly influenced by later revisions full LXX manuscript applies the Codex Vaticanus from the 4th century. Only his Isaiah text follows the Hexapla. The Codex Sinaiticus is true mostly agree with him; the deviations are due to revisions of the LXX. The Codex Alexandrinus of the 5th century, however, was already strongly influenced by the Hexapla. These three codices written by Christians comprise the New Testament.
From about 500 AD to dominate in uncials or capital letters (uppercase) listed, from about 1000 to noted in minuscule or cursive handwriting.
Relation to the Masoretic text
The Masoretic Text ( MT) prevailed from about 900 Hebrew Bible as the authoritative text and applied since 1520 in parts of Christianity as the original text. The LXX was the other hand, long considered secondary. Only new manuscript discoveries forced to differentiate this judgment and enabled greater understanding of text creation and tradition processes.
In the Book of Isaiah a few verses of the MT missing in the LXX. In the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, the first book of Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel, Job, Proverbs and esters, the LXX differs, however, not only isolated from the MT from, but assigns sections of text differently and contains less text, so that there are shorter book volumes.
In the book of Jeremiah LXX is about one-seventh shorter than MT, because you often single verses or Versgruppen - a total of up to 3100 words - are missing. The chapter sequence is different, so that the foreign peoples sayings in Jer move further 46-51 MT in LXX forward and result in a different row. Also in the books of Samuel are missing the LXX entire passages compared to MT. This is true to a lesser extent also to the book of Exodus. These differences have been interpreted since the Reformation as an arbitrary distortion of MT by the LXX translators.
Among the scrolls from the Dead Sea, however, found texts that are closer than the LXX MT (eg 4QJerb and d) and with the hypothetical back-translation mainly matched into Hebrew from older manuscripts. So this Hebrew fragments confirmed the LXX version. Text surpluses of the MT in the Books of Samuel and in the book of Jeremiah could be recognized as later insertions. The enfeebled the hermeneutic notion that in cases of doubt, MT against LXX was preferable as the original.
Most researchers now believe that for some books to at least 100 several Hebrew versions were passed in parallel and equal, and also the 100 from fixed consonantal text to at least 200 or alter, as the LXX was already completed. Also this was after that revised several times, so that the strong deviations arose from each other.
Original LXX text
Main problem of textual criticism with the help of the LXX is: Before it can be used as a possible correction Hebrew versions of the text, the original text of the LXX itself must be tapped as possible. This has been Alfred Rahlfs and Rudolf Smend taken with the Göttingen Septuagint company in attack. In this LXX edition about two-thirds of the Bible books are now published.
Newer versions of the Bible as the German Catholic NRSV grab partly based on readings of the LXX, to correct a distorted or unclear Hebrew text or to interpret or reproduce as more original Hebrew text (eg 1 Sam 1.9 EU).
Often unused vocabulary ( Hapax legomena ) can otherwise only be translated using the LXX, since the Ancient Greek a larger vocabulary and more comparison features than the Ancient Hebrew.