Is 3.2 στοχαστής

This is a B-Greek reading Group for the LXX Isaiah. This reading group is going through two chapters of the LXX Isaiah per week. Ken Penner, the B-Greek moderator for the "Septuagint and Pseudepigrapha Forum" is writing a commentary on the LXX Isaiah and is sharing his notes with those who wish to read the Isaiah LXX. Dive in, if you dare!
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Louis L Sorenson
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Joined: May 5th, 2011, 9:21 pm
Location: Burnsville, MN, USA
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Is 3.2 στοχαστής

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

στοχαστής is a hapax legomena in the LXX, occurring only in Is 3.2

Ottley wrote:
στοχαστὴν] Heb. 'diviner.' The more usual representatives of
this Heb. word and those connected with it (root קסמ) are μάντις, μαντεῖον,
& c , Num. xxii. 7, Deut. xviii. 10, Micah iii. 11, Ezek. xii. 24,
xiii. 7, xxi. 21 (which perhaps describes one of the principal methods),
Zech. x. 2. In Greek στοχάζομαι, στοχασμός, &c. seem to mean little
more than ' aiming' and so ' guessing'; but Josephus, Bell. Jud. iv.
iv. 6, has the phrase στοχαστὴς τῶν μελλόντων.

I find this word often associated with καιρός and ἀκριβῶς. Galen uses the word in opposition to ἀκριβῶς 'accurate' knowlege.

Galenus Med., De animi cuiuslibet peccatorum dignotione et curatione (= De animi cuiuslibet peccatorum dignotione et medela)
Kühn volume 5, page 80, line 8
Φέρε γὰρ (ἵνα σαφηνείας ἕνεκα τῶν <ἐξ> ἀρχιτεκτονίας τι λέξω
παράδειγμα), πόλεως κτιζομένης προκείσθω τοῖς οἰκήσουσιν αὐτὴν ἐπί-
στασθαι βούλεσθαι, μὴ στοχαστικῶς ἀλλ' ἀκριβῶς, ἐφ' ἑκάστης ἡμέρας,
ὁπόσον τε παρελήλυθεν ἤδη τοῦ χρόνου τοῦ κατ' αὐτήν, ὁπόσον θ'
ὑπόλοιπόν ἐστιν ἄχρι δύσεως ἡλίου.
But here are some quotations from authors who use the word as diviner.

Basilius Theol., Enarratio in prophetam Isaiam [Dub.]
Chapter 3, section 102, line 26
– Οὐκοῦν Προφήτης μέν ἐστιν, ὁ κατὰ
ἀποκάλυψιν τοῦ Πνεύματος προαγορεύων τὸ μέλλον· στο-
χαστὴς δὲ, ὁ διὰ σύνεσιν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ὁμοίου παραθέσεως, διὰ
τὴν πεῖραν τῶν προλαβόντων, τὸ μέλλον συντεκμαιρόμενος·
ὁ λέγων· «Ἐὰν ποιήσωμεν τὰ Σοδόμων, ὅμοια ἐκείνοις πει-
σόμεθα» ἢ ὅτι «Ἐὰν μετανοήσωμεν ὡς οἱ Νινευῖται,
παραπλησίως ἐκείνοις ἐλεηθησόμεθα».
------------

Procopius Rhet., Scr. Eccl., Commentarii in Isaiam
Page 1897, line 19
Ἀλλ' ὁ
μὲν προφήτης, ἀποκαλύψει τοῦ Πνεύματος, προαγο-
ρεύει τὰ μέλλοντα· ὁ δὲ στοχαστὴς, συνέσει τῇ δι'
ἐμπειρίαν πραγμάτων, ἐξ ὁμοίου παραθέσεως τὸ
μέλλον τεκμαίρεται· ὥσθ' ὅταν τὰ Σοδομιτῶν ποιή-
σωμεν, πεισόμεθα παραπλήσια, ἐὰν μετανοήσωμεν,
ὡς οἱ Νινευῗται σωζόμεθα.
------------Philo Judaeus Phil., De specialibus legibus (lib. i-iv)
Book 1, section 61, line 1
ἐπιστάμενος γοῦν
τῷ πλάνῳ τῶν πολλῶν βίῳ συμπράττουσαν οὐ μετρίως εἰς ἀνοδίαν
μαντικήν, οὐδενὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς ἐᾷ χρῆσθαι, πάντας δὲ τοὺς κολα-
κεύοντας αὐτὴν ἐλαύνει τῆς ἰδίου πολιτείας, θύτας, καθαρτάς, οἰωνοσκό-
πους, τερατοσκόπους, ἐπᾴδοντας, κλῃδόσιν ἐπανέχοντας. στοχασταὶ γὰρ
πάντες οὗτοι πιθανῶν καὶ εἰκότων, ἄλλοτε ἄλλας ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν φαν-
τασίας λαμβάνοντες, διὰ τὸ μήτε τὰ ὑποκείμενα φύσιν ἔχειν πάγιον μήτε
τὴν διάνοιαν ἀκριβῆ βάσανον περιπεποιῆσθαι, ᾗ βασανισθήσεται τὰ
δόκιμα.

---------------
Philo Judaeus Phil., De opificio mundi
Section 45, line 5
προλαβὼν γὰρ περὶ τῶν
οὔπω γεγονότων | ἀνθρώπων, οἷοι τὰς γνώμας ἔσονται, στοχασταὶ τῶν
εἰκότων καὶ πιθανῶν, ἐν οἷς πολὺ τὸ εὔλογον, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τῆς ἀκραιφνοῦς
ἀληθείας, καὶ ὅτι πιστεύσουσι μᾶλλον τοῖς φαινομένοις ἢ θεῷ σοφιστείαν
πρὸ σοφίας θαυμάσαντες, κατιδόντες τε αὖθις τὰς ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης
περιόδους, δι' ὧν θέρη χειμῶνες καὶ ἔαρος καὶ μετοπώρου τροπαί, τῶν
ἐκ γῆς ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος φυομένων καὶ γιγνομένων ἁπάντων αἰτίας ὑπολή-
ψονται τὰς τῶν κατ' οὐρανὸν ἀστέρων περιπολήσεις, ἵνα μηδενὶ γενητῷ
τὰς πρώτας ἀνατιθέναι τινὲς τολμῶσιν ἢ διὰ θράσος ἀναίσχυντον ἢ δι'
ἀμαθίαν ὑπερβάλλουσαν, ἀναδραμέτωσαν, φησί, ταῖς διανοίαις ἐπὶ τὴν
πρώτην τῶν ὅλων γένεσιν, ὅτε πρὸ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης παντοῖα μὲν
Georgius Pachymeres Hist., Συγγραφικαὶ ἱστορίαι (libri vi de Michaele Palaeologo)
Page 661, line 22
Καὶ ἅμ' ἐμβάντων
– ἠγγέλλοντο γὰρ ἐγγὺς ὄντες καὶ Τόχαροι, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀναβάλλεσθαι ἢ
μὴν ἀμελεῖν καὶ διὰ τὴν νόσον ὑπερτίθεσθαι· ἐκακοσπλάγχνει γὰρ καὶ τῶν
ἐγκάτων ἀρρώστως εἶχεν – , ἅμα τοίνυν ἐμβάντων αὐτοῦ τε καὶ παίδων,
στοχαστής τις ὢν τότε καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν μελλόντων γνῶσιν ἐξ ἀγχινοίας
οἰκείως ἔχων, εὐσκόπως ἅμ' ἐξ αὐτῆς τὸ μέλλον ἂν κατετόπασεν.


--------------------------------

Scholia In Sophoclem, Scholia in Sophoclis Oedipum tyrannum (scholia recentiora)
Source of scholion sch thom, scholion 1086-87, line 2
εἴπερ ἐγὼ κατὰ γνώμην μάντις εἰμὶ καὶ ἴδρις κ.
ἐπιστήμων καὶ ἄριστος στοχαστής,
μὰ τὸν παν-
σέληνον Ὄλυμπον, οὐκ ἔσῃ κ. ὑπάρξεις, ὦ Κιθαιρών,
ἀπείρων κ. ἀμέτοχος κατὰ τὴν αὔριον ἡμέραν,
μὴ οὐκ αὔξειν κ. φαίνεσθαί σε καὶ πατριώτην τοῦ Οἰδί-
ποδος καὶ τροφὸν καὶ μητέρα,
καὶ χορεύεσθαι παρ'
ἡμῶν· τουτέστιν ὅσον οὔπω φανήσεται ὁ Οἰδίπους εὑρεθεὶς
ἐν Κιθαιρῶνι τὴν ἀρχήν, διὸ καὶ πατέρα καὶ μητέρα αὐτοῦ
τοῦτον καλεῖ.
Ken M. Penner
Posts: 881
Joined: May 12th, 2011, 7:50 am
Location: Antigonish, NS, Canada
Contact:

Re: Is 3.2 στοχαστής

Post by Ken M. Penner »

Good detective work, Louis.
I think Philo's usage is most relevant here, and guessing seems to fit the context in which he uses στοχαστής.
In English we might say, "I can't divine what my wife wants for her birthday," in the sense of guessing at something that seems impossible to know. But it doesn't seem that a Greek would have understood στοχαστής to be a professional fortune-teller, the way we might think of the word "diviner." It's not a common word (not attested before Isa 3:2), but it wouldn't be hard for a Greek to "guess" at its meaning, either, because other words from the same root were more common.
I've changed my translation from "diviner" to "guesser".
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
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