The Septuagint South of Alexandria

Johann Cook, DLitt (1982), Stellenbosch University, is emeritus professor in the Department of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University. He has published extensively on textual criticism, including the Septuagint. He specializes in ancient Near Eastern wisdom texts, especially the books of Proverbs. Gideon R. Kotzé, DTh (2011), Stellenbosch University, is research professor in the Focus Area Ancient Texts at the Faculty of Theology, North-West University. His most recent monograph is Images and Ideas of Debated Readings in the Book of Lamentations (Mohr Siebeck, 2020).

Preface


List of Figures and Tables


Abbreviations


Contributors





Part 1: Historical Context of the Septuagint


1 The Septuagint South of Alexandria—in Antiquity


 Siegfried Kreuzer





2 The Historical Context of the LXX and Its Hebrew Vorlage


 Russell E. Gmirkin





3 Platonism and Judaism: Have They Ever Met? Reflections on Biblical Creation Stories


 Johann Cook





4 Euripides’ Ion and 1 Samuel 1: Tradition-Historical and Cultural Critical Remarks


 Evangelia G. Dafni





Part 2: Narrative Books of the Septuagint


5 The Man Who Would Be King: Reading Haman’s Edict (LXX Esther Addition B) through the Lens of Social Identity Theory


 Helen Efthimiadis-Keith (AKA Keith-van Wyk)





6 Virtue, Asceticism, and the Masculinized Woman: Judith in Early Christian Greek and Latin Interpretations from the Second to the Fifth Century CE


 Chris L. de Wet





7 A Greimassian Analysis of the Function of the Fundamental Values in the Story of Daniel and the Priests of Bel in the LXX Additions to Daniel


 Risimati S. Hobyane





Part 3: Wisdom Books of the Septuagint


8 De (Pro)verb(i)is Raris: The Greek Rendering of Hebrew Absolute Hapax Legomena in LXX Proverbs


 Bryan Beeckman





9 Wise and All-Surpassing Kings: Two Shared Themes in LXX Ecclesiastes 1:16 and the Standard Babylonian Version of the Gilgameš Epic


 Gideon R. Kotzé





10 Atonement and Forgiveness in (the Book of) Sirach: A Survey on the Usage of ἐξιλάσκομαι/ἐξιλασμός


 Wolfgang Kraus





part 4: Anthropology and Theology


11 Anthropology in the Greek Psalter


 Martin Rösel





12 Divine Distinctiveness in Greek Exodus (With Special Focus on the Plague Narrative)


 Larry Perkins





13 Who and What Is a Hebrew Deity? Reflecting on Certain Hebrew and Greek Self-Declarations and Expressions


 Peter Nagel





14 “Joint Human-Angelic Praise” in Old Greek Daniel and 4QSabbah Shirot: Early Evidence of Merkebah Mysticism?


 Annette H. M. Evans





15 Josephus, the New Testament, and the Talmud: towards Reconstructing the Theology of the Sadducees


 Nicholas P. L. Allen





part 5: Septuagint and Other Ancient Translations


16 The Biblical Hebrew Idiom “Fill the Hand” and Its Translation in the Septuagint, Peshitta and Targums


 Douglas T. Mangum





17 Life for the Righteous: Perspectives on the Text(s) and Interpretation(s) of Habakkuk 2:1–4 in Ancient Textual Witnesses


 Gert T. M. Prinsloo





18 Translating Hebrew Poetry: Ezekiel 19 in the Septuagint as an Example


 Herrie F. van Rooy





19 Masks in Bible, Targum, and Talmud: An Investigative Study


 Gudrun E. Lier





part 6: Language of the Septuagint


20 Generative Syntax and Septuagint Greek: A Preliminary Analysis of the Quantifier πᾶς


 Jacobus A. Naudé and Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé





Index of Ancient Sources