The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Version of the Bible

by Natalio Fernandez Marcos; Wilfred G. E. Watson

Publisher:

Brill

, 2000

Overview

This translation of the second—revised and expanded—Spanish edition of The Septuagint in Context deals fully with the origins of the Septuagint. The book discusses its linguistic and cultural frame, its relation to the Hebrew text and to the Qumran documents, the transmission of the Septuagint, and its reception by Jews and Christians. Included are discussions of early revisions by Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, the Christian recensions and particularly Origen's Hexapla, biblical commentaries and catenae, as well as other issues such as the relation of the Septuagint to Hellenism, to the New Testament and to Early Christian Literature.

While there was a time not too long ago when introductory texts on the Septuagint were few and far between, the past decade has seen a blossoming in the study of the LXX and several scholars have filled what was formerly a large gap in introductory texts for nearly a century. In 2000, Natalio Fernández Marcos led the way in the revitalization of Septuagint studies with his The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Version of the Bible.

The Septuagint in Context will prove particularly useful to biblical scholars and students of theology, ancient history and philology, and also to those interested in the history of Judaism and the origins of Christianity.

Key Features

• Thorough introduction to the Septuagint
• Essential discussions of the relationship between the Greek and Hebrew text

Contents

• The Linguistic and Cultural Setting
• The Origins of the Septuagint
• The Septuagint in Jewish Tradition
• The Septuagint in Christian Tradition
• The Septuagint and Christian Origins

Top Highlights

“Thus the translation of the Jewish Pentateuch into Greek in the 3rd century bce can be considered an event without precedent in the ancient world, of extreme importance for the history of our civilisation.” (Page 18)

“more attention should be paid to the phenomenon of bilingualism and its repercussions in the area of syntax” (Page 15)

“The Greek Pentateuch came to be a rudimentary lexicon for books translated later, such as Isaiah.^{13” (Page 22)}

“I am aware that the Septuagint is not a translation but a ‘collection of translations’” (Page xi)

“where the discrepancy acquires alarming proportions is in the translation of verbs” (Page 29)

Praise for the Print Edition

[The Septuagint in Context is] the best available description and evaluation of current research.

—Karen Jobes and Moisés Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint

...a volume that is not only the most comprehensive available, but sets a new standard for Septuagint studies.

—Peter J. Gentry, The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 2004

It is a pleasure to have an English version of this Introduction - "the most thorough and up-to-date summary and evaluation of current scholarly work" (Jobes and Silva). May it receive the wide acclaim it deserves.

—A. Hilhorst, Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2002

Product Details

• Title: The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Version of the Bible
• Author: Natalio Fernandez Marcos
• Translator: Wilfred G. E. Watson
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 394

About Natalio Fernández Marcos

Natalio Fernández Marcos, Ph.D. (1970) in Classical Philology, University of Madrid (Complutense), is Research Professor at the Institute of Philology, where he was Director (1988-1992). He has published extensively on the Septuagint and Hellenistic Judaism including Scribes and Translators: Septuagint and Old Latin in the Books of Kings (Brill, 1994) and El texto antioqueno de la Biblia griega (CSIC 1989-1996).