The hermeneutics and translation stylistics of the septuagintal books of Haggai and Malachi

• Main Author: Dickson, R. William
• Published: University of Edinburgh 1991
• Subjects: 230
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.649537

In Chapter 1 I introduce the study and explain that virtually all of the post major treatments of the LXX of the Minor Prophets were essentially atomistic in nature and made no effort to treat the Greek text as a coherent, unified literary and theological work with its own independent integrity. I argue that the nature of the LXX of these books and the function of the LXX in history both constitute compelling reasons to treat the text as something other than a more or less defective witness toward a reconstructed Hebrew <i>Voriage</i> which might be useful in the text-criticism of the Hebrew Old Testament. In Chapter 2 I undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the <i>Kethib/Dere</i> variants, the <i>Sebirin</i>, the <i>Tiggune Sopherim</i> and the variants attested directly or indirectly in the manuscripts discovered in the Dead Sea region as these might bear upon the Hebrew text of the Minor Prophets. I conclude that there is no evidence of systematic conformity to a proto-septuagintal text-type and that the textual evidence suggests a stream-like history with a constant intermixing of texts. In Chapters 3 and 4 I provide a detailed textual comentary of Haggai and Malachi. In this commentary, I typically address the relation of the LXX's <i>Vorlage</i> to the MT, the meaning of the <i>Vorlage</i>, the meaning of the MT, the translator's understanding of the meaning of his <i>Vorlage</i>, the reasons the translator translated as he did and the significance of his Greek language without any concern for the motives or confusion which might be behind the Greek. In Chapter 5 I conclude the study with an argument that the LXX of the Minor Prophets illustrates that an ancient translation could be both highly literal and yet reflect a high degree of hermeneutical intentionality bg the translator.