[B-Greek] a question in LXX
Maurice A. O'Sullivan
mauros at iol.ie
Mon Aug 30 06:52:58 EDT 2004
At 05:43 30/08/2004, Revdpickrel at wmconnect.com wrote:
>I know it means twentieth, but the Hebrew
>says the seventh and tenth not seventh and twentieth, see my problem. I
>hoping I was translating it incorrectly and someone would point out my
>misunderstanding.
You are into deep waters here ( pardon the pun ) because the "discrepancy"
you have noticed has all to do with differing calendar systems -- a topic
on which the literature (and scholarly differences) is extensive.
>> The fact is that both the Greek text and the Book of Jubilees have
different dates, but also want to indicate the period of a year ( the
Ethiopian Enoch does so explicitly <<
[ Westermann, Claus. Genesis I-II: A Commentary. Trans. John A. Scullion,
S.J. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984 ]
Taken as a given that P ( the Priestly Writer ) is responsible the passage
you quote, Westermann writes:
>>
7:6 (P) gives merely the six hundredth year of Noah's life as the date of
the beginning of the flood. 7:11a (P) however introduces the precise dating
of each stage of the flood even to the very day, and this is continued in
7:23; 8:3b, 4, 5, 13, 14. It is quite surprising that the stages are given
with such precision for an event like the flood. The only other place in
the Old Testament where something similar occurs is in the prophecy of
Ezekiel which is chronologically close to the beginnings of the priestly
writing. It is certain therefore that this must be a contribution of P
himself and that it could not have been in the tradition he received.
Moreover "the numbering can only be understood in the light of the
Babylonian calendar"; "for the ancient Israelite calendar did not reckon
the months by ordinals but gave each month its specific name" E. Auerbach,
VT 2 (1952) 340-341.
<<<
Note the reference to " the tradition he received " -- so who is know what
tradition had been received by the writer(s) of the Greek, let alone
Jubilees? Yet the emphasis on _one_ year ( irrespective of how it is
measured ) is common to all.
BTW, just how seriously the users of the different calendars took them is
shown by this passage in Jubilees :
>> 32 And you, command the children of Israel so that they shall guard the
years in this number, three hundred and sixty-four days, and it will be a
complete year. And no one shall corrupt its (appointed) time from its days
or from its feasts because all (of the appointed times) will arrive in them
according to their testimony,
33 and they will not pass over a day, and they will not corrupt a feast.
But if they are transgressed, and they do not observe them according to his
commandment, then they will corrupt all of their (fixed) times, and the
years will be moved from
34 within this (order), and they will transgress their ordinances. And all
of the sons of Israel will forget, and they will not find the way of the
years. And they will forget the new moons and (appointed) times and
sabbaths. And they will set awry
35 all of the ordinances of the years. For I know and henceforth I shall
make you know-but not from my own heart, because the book is written before
me and is ordained in the heavenly tablets of the division of days-lest
they forget the feasts of the covenant and walk in the feasts of the
gentiles, after their errors and after their ignorance
36 And there will be those who will examine the moon diligently because it
will corrupt the (appointed) times and it will advance from year to year
ten days.
37 Therefore, the years will come to them as they corrupt and make a day of
testimony a reproach and a profane day a festival, and they will mix up
everything, a holy day (as) profaned and a profane (one) for a holy day,
because they will set awry
38 the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. Therefore, I shall
command you and I shall bear witness to you so that you may bear witness to
them because after you have died your sons will be corrupted so that they
will not make a year only three hundred and sixty-four days. And therefore,
they will set awry the months and the (appointed) times and the sabbaths
and the feasts, and they will eat all of the blood with all flesh.<<
I realise this goes beyond your original query, but perhaps you were
missing the wood for just two trees? <g>
Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie
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