[B-Greek] ELPIS and ELEOS

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Wed Nov 17 01:26:08 EST 2004


It seem  to me, you are fusing two distinct issues: (1) whether two 
common words were interchanged in transmission history, i.e. a lexical 
question, and (2) whether the two series of letters E-L-E-O-S and 
E-L-P-I-S  were confused or could readily be confused in certain 
scripts, i.e. a palaeographical question.
In neither case would such a confusion be probable: (1) because their 
meaning is quite distinct, with no obvious semantic overlap; (2) though 
both begin with EL, their core letters EO and PI are quite dissimilar 
in scripts with which I am familiar. The S has to be largely discounted 
since it becomes relevant in only three inflections.
Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes.
Al
On Nov 16, 2004, at 11:49 PM, James Bowick wrote:

> What I am suggesting is that the confusion between ELPIS and ELEOS 
> happened
> in the transmition of the LXX itself.  As such it is just one more 
> Greek
> copyist error.  But ELPIS and ELEOS are both common words in the New
> Testament, which we have a rich attestation of copyist mistakes.  If 
> it is
> the case that they could be confused, it seems likely that at some 
> point in
> the copying of the New Testament that same mistake would have occured. 
>  I do
> not think it would necessarily be profitable to narrow the search to 
> LXX
> examples, however as it is a visual error, then arguably a confirming
> example would need to be traceable back to uncials and not occur 
> merely in
> miniscules.  Does anyone know of anywhere in any Greek literature that 
> ELPIS
> is copied in place of ELEOS?
>
> Thanks all for your help, and for the suggestions that you have already
> given.
>
> James Bowick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Albert Pietersma
> Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 6:43 PM
> To: pennerkm at mcmaster.ca
> Cc: '"Biblical Greek"'
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] ELPIS and ELEOS
>
>
>
> On Nov 16, 2004, at 4:46 PM, Ken Penner wrote:
>
>>  Dear Al,
>> Is this the sort of question the IOSCS commentaries would address?
>> Ken
> Indeed, the commentator will want to assess the likelihood of ELPIS
> being a  textual variant (hence attributable to the source text) or an
> interpretational variant (hence attributable to the translator).
> Al
>>
>>> Though the mistake you mention seems plausible, I don't off-hand know
>>> of an identical one. Given the fact that according to the
>>> Cambridge LXX
>>> there are no variants to ELPIS, one may want to entertain a
>>> variant in
>>> the Hebrew source text. Since ELPIS on a number of occasions
>>> in the LXX
>>> translates MaCHSeH (Ps 13:6, 60:4, 61:8, 90:9, 93:22, Isa 28:15)
>>> Al
>>> On Nov 16, 2004, at 3:00 PM, James Bowick wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> in the LXX of 2 Chron 35:26 ELPIS is used to translate
>>> CHESED.  ELEOS
>>>> it
>>>> seems would be a better choice, and in fact ELEOS is used in this
>>>> context
>>>> elsewhere in 2 Chron.  (e.g. 32:32).  The only way I can
>>> account for
>>>> ELPIS
>>>> in 35:26 is as a visual error.  Is it common to see
>>> copyists confuse
>>>> ELPIS
>>>> and ELEOS?  Are there other examples?
>>>>
>>>> James Bowick
>>>> M.Div. Cand.
>>>> McMaster Divinity College
>>>> Hamilton, Ont.
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
>>>> B-Greek mailing list
>>>> B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek
>>>>
>>>>
>>> -
>>> 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
>>>
>>> ---
>>> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
>>> B-Greek mailing list
>>> B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-greek
>>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
> B-Greek mailing list
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>
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
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> B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
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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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