Presented by Douglas K. Smith, Jr., PhD, July 22, 2024, for the Origins 2024 Conference, a collaborative event with the Creation Theology Society, Creation Biology Society, and Creation Geology Society
OneDrive Folder where pre-recorded video presentation (not the actual presentation, which was delivered live, but substantially the same) and PDF of the Powerpoint Slides are available
This presentation draws from my dissertation but organizes and presents the data differently, focusing here on the contribution to Septuagint studies.
Smith, Jr., Douglas K. “A Comparative Discourse Analysis of the Genesis Flood Account in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Septuagint.” PhD diss., Columbia International University, 2023.
Dissertation Abstract
A comparison of every clause of the Masoretic Text and Septuagint Versions of Genesis 6:9–9:17 confirms that efforts to characterize the translation profile of the translator of Greek Genesis (i.e., GenesisLXX) as essentially formal or literal are overly simplistic, such that one must treat individual words, phrases, and clauses on a case-by-case basis since the translation profile of GenesisLXX is more complex and fluid. At times, an alternative Vorlage is indeed plausible though not certain; however, numerous instances are better explained by issues arising from copying or reading the Hebrew text and numerous others suggest that the GenesisLXX translator assumed considerable freedom to harmonize the text, sometimes to produce more pleasing Greek for his target audience and sometimes to rectify a perceived difficulty in the text. Furthermore, other differences in GenesisLXX suggest a sophisticated translator who read the parts in light of the larger context.
Links for Comparison
STEPBible.org - ESV|MT|SP|LXX quad-column view of Genesis 6:9–9:17: https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=ESV|version=OHB|version=SP|version=LXX|reference=Gen.6.9-Gen.9.17&options=VNGUH&display=COLUMN&sort=false
New English Translation of the Septuagint: https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/01-gen-nets.pdf
Bibliography
Primary Texts
Genesis in Biblia Hebraica Quinta and the Auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis Editum series’ serve as the base text for the study.
Tal, Abraham, ed. Genesis: Critical Apparatus and Notes. Quinta Editione Cum Apparatu Critico Novis Curis Elaborato. Vol. 1. Biblia Hebraica Quinta. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2015.
Wevers, John W., ed. Genesis. Auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis Editum. Vol. I. Vetus Testamentum Graecum. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1974.
Textual Criticism, Primarily in Reference to LXX
These volumes furnish additional evidence regarding the use of LXX for textual criticism with several addressing the question of whether the original text of LXX can be distinguished from later revision. Some are limited specifically to Genesis, Genesis 1–11, or the Flood Account.
Chia, Philip Suciadi. “A Critical Edition of the Hexaplaric Fragments of Genesis.” PhD diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2021.
Fernández Marcos, Natalio. The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Version of the Bible. Translated by Wilfred G. E. Watson. Leiden: Brill, 2000.
Field, F., ed. Origen: Hexapla. Vol. 1. Oxford, 1875.
Gentry, Peter J. “Old Greek and Later Revisors: Can We Always Distinguish Them?” In Scripture in Transition: Essays on Septuagint, Hebrew Bible, and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour of Raija Sollamo, edited by Anssi Voitila and Jutta Jokiranta, 301–27. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 126. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
Gentry, Peter J. “The Text of the Old Testament.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52, no. 1 (2009): 19–45.
Hendel, Ronald S. The Text of Genesis 1-11: Textual Studies and Critical Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Longacre, Drew G. “Charting the Textual Waters: Textual Issues in the Chronology of the Genesis Flood Narrative.” In Grappling with the Chronology of the Genesis Flood: Navigating the Flow of Time in Biblical Narrative, edited by Steven W. Boyd and Andrew Snelling, 231–96. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2014. https://www.academia.edu/10335518/Charting_the_Textual_Waters_Textual_Issues_in_the_Chronology_of_the_Genesis_Flood_Narrative_with_Appendix_A_Critical_Edition_of_the_Hebrew_Text_of_the_Genesis_Flood_Narrative_Genesis_6_5_9_17_
Salvesen, Alison. Symmachus in the Pentateuch. Journal of Semitic Studies Monograph 15. Manchester: University of Manchester, 1991.
Screnock, John. “The Septuagint and Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible.” In T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research, edited by William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny, 135–47. T&T Clark Handbooks. New York: T&T Clark, 2021.
Steinmann, Andrew E. “A Comparison of the Text of Genesis in Three Traditions: Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 64, no. 1 (2021): 25–44.
Tov, Emanuel. The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research. 3rd ed. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2015.
Discourse Grammar Topics
These resources discuss aspects of discourse grammar which are productive grounds for comparison between MT and LXX to discern translation technique. Some involve extended studies throughout large blocks of biblical text (Dempster in the Joseph cycle and the succession narrative); some involve heavy use of Genesis examples (Floor, Runge); and some marshal a smorgasboard of data across a wider corpus (Levinsohn).
Dempster, Stephen G. “Linguistic Features of Hebrew Narrative: A Discourse Analysis of Narrative from the Classical Period.” PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1985.
Floor, Sebastiaan Jonathan. “From Information Structure, Topic, and Focus, to Theme in Biblical Hebrew Narrative.” DLitt thesis, University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
Fresch, Christopher J. “The Septuagint and Discourse Grammar.” In T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research, edited by William A. Ross and W. Edward Glenny, 79–92. T&T Clark Handbooks. New York: T&T Clark, 2021.
Lambrecht, Knud. Information Structure and Sentence Form: Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representations of Discourse Referents. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Levinsohn, Stephen H. “Participant Reference in Koine Greek Narrative.” In Linguistics and New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Discourse Analysis, edited by David Alan Black, Katharine G. L. Barnwell, and Stephen H. Levinsohn, 31–42. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992.
Levinsohn, Stephen H. Discourse Features of New Testament Greek: A Coursebook on the Information Structure of New Testament Greek. 2nd ed. Dallas: SIL, 2000.
Runge, Steven E. “A Discourse-Functional Description of Participant Reference in Biblical Hebrew Narrative.” DLitt thesis, University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
Discourse: Comparative Studies
These studies pioneered comparative discourse analysis between extended texts in MT and LXX. Although they limit themselves to particular models (Cerone’s building on Boyd-Taylor’s use of Toury’s descriptive translation studies to analyze Jonah; Pyles’ reliance on R. Longacre’s tagmemic hierarchy of verb forms correlated with genre in his study of Judges 13), their results suggest key similarities and differences obtaining in the Greek translation and show the value of discourse comparison for assessing translation technique.
Cerone, Jacob N. Into the Deep: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of the Masoretic and Septuagint Versions of Jonah. GlossaHouse Thesis Series, vol. 2. Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse, 2016.
Pyles, Anthony. “Sam(p)Son’s Advent: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Judges 13 in Hebrew and Greek.” In Modeling Biblical Language: Selected Papers from the McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle, edited by Stanley E. Porter, Gregory P. Fewster, and Christopher D. Land, 172–99. Linguistic Biblical Studies 13. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
Septuagint Translation Technique
These studies comprise investigations into particular aspects of translation technique evidenced in LXX, attending to details such as clause connectors and the way certain verbal forms and genres are rendered.
Aejmelaeus, Anneli. Parataxis in the Septuagint: A Study of the Renderings of the Hebrew Coordinate Clauses in the Greek Pentateuch. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae 31. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1982.
Aitken, James K. “The Characterisation of Speech in the Septuagint Pentateuch.” In The Reception of the Hebrew Bible in the Septuagint and the New Testament: Essays in Memory of Aileen Guilding, edited by David J. A. Clines and J. Cheryl Exum, 9–31. Hebrew Bible Monographs 55. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2013.
Aitken, James K. “Neologisms: A Septuagint Problem.” In Interested Readers: Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honor of David J. A. Clines, edited by James K. Aitken, Jeremy M. S. Clines, and Christl M. Maier, 315–30. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013.
Aitken, James K. “Linguistic Variation and the Circumstantial Participle.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 54 (2021): 55–75.
Barr, James. The Typology of Literalism in Ancient Biblical Translations. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979.
Evans, Trevor V. Verbal Syntax in the Greek Pentateuch: Natural Greek Usage and Hebrew Interference. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Fresch, Christopher J. “Discourse Markers in the Septuagint and Early Koine Greek with Special Reference to The Twelve.” PhD diss., University of Cambridge, 2015.
Fresch, Christopher J. “The Peculiar Occurrences of Οὖν in the Septuagint of Genesis and Exodus.” In XV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Munich, 2013, edited by Wolfgang Kraus, Michaël N. van der Meer, and Martin Meiser, 455–72. Septuagint and Cognate Studies 64. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.
Lee, John A. L. The Greek of the Pentateuch: Grinfield Lectures on the Septuagint 2011-2012. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Louw, Theo A. W. van der. Transformations in the Septuagint. Towards an Interaction of Septuagint Studies and Translation Studies. Leuven: Peeters, 2007.
Wevers, John W. “The Interpretative Character and Significance of the Septuagint Version.” In Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation: Volume I: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (Until 1300): Part 1: Antiquity, edited by Magne Sæbø, 84–107. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996.
Voitila, Anssi. Présent et imparfait de l’indicatif dans le pentateuque grec: une étude sur la syntaxe de traduction. Suomen Eksegeettisen Seuran julkaisuja 79. Helsinki: Société d’Exégèse de Finlande, 2001.
Whittle, Benjamin W. “The Translation of Biblical Hebrew Verbal Stems in the Septuagint of the Pentateuch and Former Prophets.” PhD diss., University College London, 2021.
Genesis Studies
A. General and Genesis 1–11
Most of these studies comprise assessments of the GenesisLXX translator’s work, with several offering detailed analyses of much of the book (most notably, Wevers), and one producing a specimen of discourse analysis in Genesis (Bandstra).
Bandstra, Barry L. Genesis 1-11: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2008.
Brayford, Susan A. Genesis: Commentary. Edited by Stanley E. Porter, Hess, Richard S., and Jarick, John. Septuagint Commentary Series. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
Hendel, Ronald S. “On the Text-Critical Value of Septuagint Genesis: A Reply to Rösel.” Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies 32 (1999): 31–34.
Hiebert, Robert J. V. “Translation Technique in the Septuagint of Genesis and Its Implications for the NETS Version.” Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies 33 (2000): 76–93.
Hiebert, Robert J. V. “The Hermeneutics of Translation in the Septuagint of Genesis.” In Septuagint Research: Issues and Challenges in the Study of the Greek Jewish Scriptures, edited by Wolfgang Kraus and R. Glenn Wooden, 83–103. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.
Hiebert, Robert J. V. “To the Reader of Genesis.” In New English Translation of the Septuagint Notes, edited by Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright, 1–6. Winona Lake, Indiana: International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 2007. https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/01-gen-nets.pdf
Hiebert, Robert J. V. “Textual and Translation Issues in Greek Genesis.” In The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation, edited by Craig A. Evans, Joel N. Lohr, and Petersen, 405–26. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum ; Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature, 152. volume 6. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2012.
Hiebert, Robert J. V. “Linguistic Interference in Septuagint Genesis.” Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies 55 (2022): 55–73.
Karrer, Martin, and Wolfgang Kraus, eds. Septuaginta Deutsch. Erläuterungen und Kommentare zum griechischen Alten Testament, Band I: Genesis bis Makkabäer: 1. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2011.
Kepper, Martina. “Genesis.” In Introduction to the LXX, edited by Siegfried Kreuzer, translated by David A. Brenner and Peter Altmann, 75–87. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2019.
Rösel, Martin. Übersetzung Als Vollendung Der Auslegung: Studien Zur Genesis-Septuaginta. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Bd. 223. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1994.
Rösel, Martin. “The Text-Critical Value of Septuagint-Genesis.” Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies 31 (1998): 62–70.
Scarlata, Mark W. “Genesis.” In T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint, edited by J. K. Aitken, 13–28. Bloomsbury Companions. London: T&T Clark, 2015.
Tov, Emanuel. “The Harmonizing Character of the Septuagint of Genesis 1-11.” In Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, Septuagint: Collected Essays, 470–89. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, volume 167. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
Tov, Emanuel. “The Septuagint Translation of Genesis as the First Scripture Translation.” In Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, Septuagint: Collected Essays, 504–20. Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, volume 167. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
Wevers, John W. Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis. Septuagint and Cognate Studies 35. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.
Genesis Studies
B. Focused on the Flood Account
These studies present extensive textual data about the Flood Account (Lewis), its discourse structure in MT (R. Longacre, Wenham), or examine its LXX version and translation technique (Covington, Wright), but none present a comprehensive comparative discourse analysis. Wright speaks specifically to translation technique, characterizing the GenesisLXX translator as working with a narrow focus that sometimes centered on the word level rather than a view toward the larger context, a perspective that differs from the conclusions I reached after applying my comparative discourse analysis.
Covington, James Robert. “The Poetics of Translation in Greek Genesis and the Virtuous Plot.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2019.
Lewis, Jack P. A Study of the Interpretation of Noah and the Flood in Jewish and Christian Literature. Leiden: Brill, 1978.
Longacre, Robert E. “The Discourse Structure of the Flood Narrative.” In The Development of Textlinguistics in the Writings of Robert Longacre, edited by Shin Ja Joo Hwang, 155–95. Publications in Translation and Textlinguistics 4. Dallas: SIL, 2010.
Wenham, Gordon J. “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative.” In I Studied Inscriptions from before the Flood: Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11, edited by Richard S. Hess and David Toshio Tsumura, 437–47. Sources for Biblical and Theological Study 4. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1994.
Wright, Benjamin G. “Noah and the Flood in the Septuagint.” In Noah and His Book(s), edited by Michael E. Stone, Aryeh Amihay, and Vered Hillel, 137–42. Society of Biblical Literature. Early Judaism and Its Literature, no. 28. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010.