[B-Greek] Dan 7:14 LXX
Albert Pietersma
albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Sat Dec 20 02:33:43 EST 2003
On Dec 20, 2003, at 12:43 AM, Tony Costa wrote:
> Albert Pietersma wrote:
>
> "Though the difference between LATREUW and DOULEUW may well have been
> accentuated in later Christian thought, in essence it is as old as
> Classical Greek.Since both Greek versions of Dan use both Greek words
> for the same
> Aramaic, one should probably conclude that their respective uses in
> 7:14 were deliberate. Hence Th thinks (at least primarily) of slavery."
>
> Albert, is it possible that since the LXX was used by Christian
> apologists (eg. Justin Martyr's 'Dialogue with Trypho') in their
> correspondence with Jews that the variants in the LXX of Dan 7:14 and
> Theodotion's version were theologically motivated? For instance, the
> versions of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion were reactions it seems
> to the LXX that Christians were utilizing. If this is the case, then
> the use of LATREUW in Dan 7:14 would be a convenient Christian polemic
> in equating the son of man with Jesus. However, in the case of
> Theodotion, DOULEUW would alter this meaning and "soften" the
> implication of worship or religious service.
It is, of course, a well known fact that texts can be used for all
sorts of purposes, but that scarcely means that such use is indicative
of original intent. Thus in the process of translating a text into
Greek from a Semitic source the target text would invariably acquire a
great deal of POTENTIAL for application. But again, that POTENTIAL
(brought about innocently by a certain mode of translation) cannot
simply be equated with a particular ACTUALIZATIONS. Consequently, that
Christian polemic seized upon LATREUW in LXXDan 7:14 may well be true
(I just don't know), but then to label DOULEUW a Jewish response--the
more since ThDan made considerable use of this verb throughout his
work--is a giant leap that would need a vast amount of validating
evidence. As the Greek ssay: fasouli to fasouli gemizei to sakkouli
(bean by bean fills the sack)---and it would take a great many beans to
get that sack full.
Al
Tony Costa
>
>
> ---
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—
Albert Pietersma
Professor of Septuagint and Hellenistic Greek
Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
Home: 21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm
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