In 2011, Elke Verbeke has examined the Greek rendering of Hebrew absolute and non-absolute
This article fits well within the scope of
From 2006 onwards, a new approach to study the translation technique of the different Septuagint (LXX) books has been developed in Leuven by Bénédicte Lemmelijn and Hans Ausloos: the content- and context-related approach (Ausloos & Lemmelijn
Within the framework of this approach, several studies on the Greek rendering of Hebrew
Firstly, all the absolute Hebrew
Before registering the absolute Hebrew
Verbeke has made a list containing all the absolute and non-absolute Hebrew
The words that have been labelled as a
Those that are only labelled as a
If all three authors agree on whether a certain
If two of the three authors agree on whether a certain
If the
If the
Following Verbeke’s list and the rules-of-thumb I have formulated
However, as we are only interested in the translation technique of the Old Greek (OG) translator of Job, the passages marked with an asterisk (※) in Ziegler’s critical edition (Ziegler
Hebrew absolute
Verse | MT | LXX | DSS |
---|---|---|---|
4:10 | נתע | σβέννυμι | / |
4:18 | תָּהֳלָה | σκολιός | |
15:12 | רזם | ἐπιφέρω | / |
15:24 | כִּידוֹר | πίπτω | / |
15:27 | פִּימָה | περιστόμιον (※) | / |
15:29 | מִנְלֶה | σκιά | / |
18:2 | קֶנֶץ | οὐ(?) παύω | סוף (11QtgJob) |
18:3 | טמה | σιωπάω | דמינא (11QtgJob) |
22:20 | קִים | ὑπόστασις (※) | |
25:5 | אהל | ἐπιφαύσκω | זכי (11QtgJob) |
33:20 | זהם | οὐ μὴ δύνηται προσδέξασθαι | / |
33:24 | פדע | / | פצהי (11QtgJob)/ |
33:25 | רטפשׁ | ἁπαλύνω | בשרו (4QJoba [4Q99])/ |
35:15 | פַּשׁ | παράπτωμα (※) | |
37:16 | מִפְלָשׂ | διάκρισις | להלבש{ו}א (11QtgJob) |
Now that we have registered all the Hebrew absolute
Before we start the evaluation, one final methodological remark should be made. As the study of
MT | LXX |
---|---|
:הֵ֣ן בַּ֭עֲבָדָיו לֹ֣א יַאֲמִ֑ין וּ֜בְמַלְאָכָ֗יו יָשִׂ֥ים תָּהֳלָֽה | σθένος λέοντος φωνὴ δὲ λεαίνης γαυρίαμα δὲ δρακόντων ἐσβέσθη. |
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion and the teeth of the young lions are broken. |
The strength of the lion and the voice of the lioness and the pride of dragons were extinguished. |
The LXX presents a different reading than MT in this verse. The rendering of כְּפִיר by δράκων is noteworthy. However, what is of interest here, is the rendering of the Hebrew
MT | LXX | 4QtgJob |
---|---|---|
הֵ֣ן בַּ֭עֲבָדָיו לֹ֣א יַאֲמִ֑ין וּ֜בְמַלְאָכָ֗יו יָשִׂ֥ים תָּהֳלָֽה׃ | εἰ κατὰ παίδων αὐτοῦ οὐ πιστεύει κατὰ δὲ ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ σκολιόν τι ἐπενόησεν. | ובמלאכו[הי ישים |
Even in his servants he puts no trust, and he charges his angels with error. | Whether he believes charges against his servants, who know, but he took note of any crookedness in his angels. | and against [his] angels [he] charges |
The
When the
וּ֜בְמַלְאָכָ֗יו | δὲ ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ |
יָשִׂ֥ים | ἐπενόησεν |
תָּהֳלָֽה | σκολιόν τι |
The addition of the indefinite neutral pronoun τί (‘any’) which accompanies σκολιόν, is an addition by the LXX translator to emphasise that no single error or any crooked ways of God’s angels are left unnoticed. By doing so, the LXX translation seems to stress the omniscience of God.
MT | LXX |
---|---|
מַה־יִּקָּחֲךָ֥ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וּֽמַה־יִּרְזְמ֥וּן עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ | τί ἐτόλμησεν ἡ καρδία σου ἢ τί ἐπήνεγκαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου. |
Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash. | What did your heart dare, or what did your eyes set themselves upon. |
The LXX represents the Hebrew quantitatively in this verse. The Hebrew
MT | LXX |
---|---|
יְֽ֭בַעֲתֻהוּ צַ֣ר וּמְצוּקָ֑ה תִּ֜תְקְפֵ֗הוּ כְּמֶ֤לֶךְ׀ עָתִ֬יד לַכִּידֽוֹר׃ | ἀνάγκη δὲ καὶ θλῖψις αὐτὸν καθέξει ὥσπερ στρατηγὸς πρωτοστάτης πίπτων. |
Distress and anguish terrify them; they prevail against them, like a king prepared for battle. | And distress and anguish will take hold of him; he will be like a general falling in the front rank. |
So far, no one has given a well argumented answer to the question why the translator has opted for πίπτω as a rendering of כִּידוֹר. The
In MT, distress and anguish are the subject of this verse. They are the ones that prevail against the wicked or impious such as a king ready for battle. However, in contrast to MT, the subject of the verse in the LXX remains the impious as introduced at the beginning of the cluster (15:20). Thus, although the LXX renders the verse differently and perhaps even struggled to translate the
MT | LXX |
---|---|
לֹֽא־יֶ֭עְשַׁר וְלֹא־יָק֣וּם חֵיל֑וֹ וְלֹֽא־יִטֶּ֖ה לָאָ֣רֶץ מִנְלָֽם׃ | οὔτε μὴ πλουτισθῇ οὔτε μὴ μείνῃ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα οὐ μὴ βάλῃ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν σκιὰν. |
They will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure, nor will they strike root in the earth. | Neither shall he ever become rich, nor shall his possessions last. He shall not cast a shadow upon the ground. |
The LXX renders the
Moreover, it seems that the LXX translator has tried to fit this verse into the context of the first colon of the next verse (15:30) which reads:
MT | LXX |
---|---|
לֹֽא־יָס֙וּר׀ מִנִּי־חֹ֗שֶׁךְ | οὐδὲ μὴ ἐκφύγῃ τὸ σκότος. |
They will not escape from darkness. | Nor shall he escape darkness. |
In this verse, the noun σκότος (‘darkness’) is used as a rendering of חֹשֶׁךְ (‘darkness’). Both lexemes, σκότος and σκιά, pertain to the same semantic domain and are even orthographically closely linked to one another. Moreover, σκότος and σκιά often appear as a word pair in the LXX in general (e.g. LXX Ps 106:10, Ps 106:14, Ob 9:79, Jr 13:16) and even occur three times in LXX Job (3:5, 12, 22; 28:3). Thus, the choice to render the obscure word מִנְלֶה by the Greek lexeme σκιά might have stemmed from the immediate context of 15:29, that is, 15:30, in order to create the word pair σκότος/σκιά. Once more, as was the case in 15:24
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob |
---|---|---|
עַד־אָ֤נָה׀ תְּשִׂימ֣וּן קִנְצֵ֣י לְמִלִּ֑ין תָּ֜בִ֗ינוּ וְאַחַ֥ר נְדַבֵּֽר׃ | μέχρι τίνος οὐ παύσῃ ἐπίσχες ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ λαλήσωμεν. | ]עד אמת]י תשוא סוף למלא |
How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we shall speak. | How long before you stop? Hold back, so that we too can speak. | [Whe]n will you stop speaking? [ |
The
The editors of DJD XXIII (eds. García Martínez et al.
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob |
---|---|---|
מַ֭דּוּעַ נֶחְשַׁ֣בְנוּ כַבְּהֵמָ֑ה נִ֜טְמִ֗ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיכֶֽם׃ | διὰ τί ὥσπερ τετράποδα σεσιωπήκαμεν ἐναντίον σου. | לב]עירא דמינא[ |
Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight? | Why have we, like quadrupeds, been silent before you? | [] do we resemble [ca]ttle? [ |
In Job 18:3, the Greek σιωπάω (‘to be silent’) for the Hebrew
Thus, it seems that the LXX translator offers an adequate rendering of the Hebrew verb that was attested in his
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob |
---|---|---|
הֵ֣ן עַד־יָ֭רֵחַ וְלֹ֣א יַאֲהִ֑יל וְ֜כוֹכָבִ֗ים לֹא־זַכּ֥וּ בְעֵינָֽיו׃ | εἰ σελήνῃ συντάσσει καὶ οὐκ ἐπιφαύσκει ἄστρα δὲ οὐ καθαρὰ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ. | ]זכי וכוכביא לא[ |
If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his sight. | If he instructs the moon, then it does not shine, and the stars are not pure before him. | [] pure, and the stars are not [ |
The Hebrew
MT | LXX |
---|---|
וְזִֽהֲמַ֣תּוּ חַיָּת֣וֹ לָ֑חֶם וְ֜נַפְשׁ֗וֹ מַאֲכַ֥ל תַּאֲוָֽה׃ | πᾶν δὲ βρωτὸν σίτου οὐ μὴ δύνηται προσδέξασθαι. |
So that their lives loathe bread, and their appetites dainty food. | And he shall not be able to take any edible bit of food. |
The LXX only attests the first stich of verse 33:20. Stich b, that is, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ βρῶσιν ἐπιθυμήσει, is marked with an asterisk and is not part of OG.
The Greek text of the LXX offers a completely different translation of the Hebrew text attested in MT. Concerning the
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob | 4QJoba |
---|---|---|---|
וַיְחֻנֶּ֗נּוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר פְּ֭דָעֵהוּ מֵרֶ֥דֶת שָׁ֗חַת מָצָ֥אתִי כֹֽפֶר׃ | ἀνθέξεται τοῦ μὴ πεσεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς θάνατον ἀνανεώσει δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ὥσπερ ἀλοιφὴν ἐπὶ τοίχου τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἐμπλήσει μυελοῦ. | ]ויאמר פצהי מן חב ת[אשה ישנקנה ויתמלין [גרמוהי מוח | ]ויחננו ויא]מר]פדעהו מרדת שחת[מצאתי כפר |
And he is gracious to that person, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit; I have found a ransom.’ | He will provide support so that he does not fall into death and renew his body like paint does a wall and fill his bones with marrow.’ | And he will say: ‘Save him from ha[rm] of fire strangles him. And [his bones] will be filled [with marrow.]’ | And he is gracious to that person, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit; I have found a ransom.’ |
According to Seow (
The LXX provides a completely different reading from MT. One might think that the translator has elaborated this verse, because the Hebrew text is considerably shorter than the Greek one. However, the suggestion of the editors of DJD that 11QtgJob probably lacks two hemistichs that are missing in MT, implies that it might have reflected the Hebrew
33:21 (LXX) | 33:24b (LXX) |
---|---|
ἕως ἂν σαπῶσιν αὐτοῦ αἱ σάρκες καὶ ἀποδείξῃ τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ κενά. | δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ὥσπερ ἀλοιφὴν ἐπὶ τοίχου τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ ἐμπλήσει μυελοῦ. |
Until his flesh rots and he shows his bones to be bare. | And renew his body like paint does a wall and fill his bones with marrow. |
This contrasting elaboration of the image of the renewed body and bones is absent in MT’s version of 33:24.
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob | 4QJoba |
---|---|---|---|
רֻֽטֲפַ֣שׁ בְּשָׂר֣וֹ מִנֹּ֑עַר יָ֜שׁ֗וּב לִימֵ֥י עֲלוּמָֽיו׃ | ἁπαλυνεῖ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὰς σάρκας ὥσπερ νηπίου ἀποκαταστήσει δὲ αὐτὸν ἀνδρωθέντα ἐν ἀνθρώποις. | ]מן עולים ותב ליומי עלימ[ותה | [ ] בשרו מנער[ ישוב לימי עלומין] |
Let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigour. | And will make his flesh soft like an infant’s and restore him full-grown amongst people. | ] than that of a youth, and he will return to the days of [his] you[th. | [ ] his flesh become fresh with youth; [let him return to the days of his youthful vigour.] |
In 4QJoba, the last letters of the first word are attested, although they are barely readable. The editors of DJD XVI suggest that it cannot be a
The LXX renders רֻֽטֲפַ֣שׁ by ἁπαλύνω (‘to soften’). The verb ἁπαλύνω only occurs three times in the LXX, that is, 2 Kings 22:19, Psalms LXX 54:22 and Job 33:25, as a rendering of the Hebrew verb רכך (‘to be tender’). Seow (
MT | LXX | 11QtgJob |
---|---|---|
הֲ֭תֵדַע עַל־מִפְלְשֵׂי־עָ֑ב מִ֜פְלְא֗וֹת תְּמִ֣ים דֵּעִֽים׃ | ἐπίσταται δὲ διάκρισιν νεφῶν ἐξαίσια δὲ πτώματα πονηρῶν. | [התנ]דע להלבש{ו}א עננה גבורה |
Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect. | And he understands the division of the clouds and the extraordinary falls of the wicked. | [Do you kn]ow how to clothe His cloud with might? |
The Hebrew
Dhorme (
Having analysed the Greek rendering of the Hebrew absolute
Most hapaxes have been rendered with an adequate Greek equivalent by the LXX translator. This is the case for the
Some Hebrew hapaxes have been rendered into Greek by drawing upon contextual exegesis, that is, כִּידוֹר (15:24), מִנְלֶה (15:29) and in a lesser degree also מִפְלָשׂ (37:16). This observation confirms the results of Verbeke on the Greek rendering of Hebrew
In one instance, the LXX does not provide a Greek rendering for the Hebrew
In two cases, that is, טמה (18:3) and רטפשׁ (33:25), the LXX translator of Job probably had a Hebrew
These results point toward a translator who employed a variety of techniques to render possibly difficult Hebrew words. Although some of these words might have posed a challenge, the LXX translator never resorted to transliteration and has always aimed at providing an intelligible rendering of the Hebrew text, for example, by employing contextual exegesis.
This article has only examined the absolute Hebrew
The author would like to express his gratitude towards Johann Cook for inviting him to submit an article to the Special Collection of
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
B.B. is the sole author of this research article.
This article followed all ethical standards for research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
The financial and other assistance of the Fonds Special de Recherche (FSR) and the Institut de recherche Réligions, Spiritualités, Cultures, Sociétés (RSCS, UCLouvain) is acknowledged.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.
Verbeke (
As the
In Ziegler’s text, there are some verses that belong to the asterisked material, which are left unmarked. Therefore, Gentry (
For the English translation of the Hebrew and Greek lexemes, several lexicons and dictionaries have been consulted. For the Hebrew words: Genesius (
English translation of Hebrew text taken from NRSV.
English translation of the LXX taken from NETS. The LXX version of Job has been translated by Cox (
The term ‘adequate rendering’ used in this article denotes a (literal) rendering whereby the Hebrew word has been rendered with a corresponding Greek equivalent that shares the same meaning as the Hebrew.
Translated from the French translation of Puech (
The root הלל entails multiple meanings. The most commonly known is ‘to sing, to praise, to shout exultingly’ but it can also mean ‘to act like a madman, folly’ and ‘to begin to shine’ (see Job 25:5
I would like to express my gratitude to Claude E. Cox for giving me access to his unpublished manuscript of his SBL commentary on LXX Job.
That the LXX translator of Job made some theological nuances with respect to the figure of God is also observed by Johann Cook (Cook & Van der Kooij
The Aramaic reads: ‘Distress and anguish terrify him; they
The authors who worked on the registration of hapaxes in the Hebrew Bible do not agree whether אהל is a
Clines (2007:655) and BDB (
Contrary to Homer Heater, who believes it has been rendered in the LXX (Heater