[B-Greek] PASXA and SIKERA --transliteration from Hebrew
Albert Pietersma
albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Mon Apr 2 11:20:49 EDT 2007
On Apr 2, 2007, at 10:45 AM, Randall Buth wrote:
> There is a technical point on transliteration from Hebrew to Greek
> that is worth further discussion for those focussing on NT Greek.
>
> Pietersma EGRAPSE
>> If you you check the first passover account in Ex 12, you will see
>> that
> the LXX has PASXA (v.11), a transcription of the Aramaic term, rather
> than the Hebrew. This probably means that when the Hebrew Pentateuch
> was translated into Greek, Alexandrian Jews referred to the festival by
> that name.>
>
> Al is correct is suggesting that PASXA reflects a form that was
> probably already current in Alexandria in Greek in the Jewish
> community that produced the LXX.
>
> However, it should be pointed out that the LXX translator was
> transliterating the Hebrew word at Ex 12:11. That is, a Hebrew source
> "pesaH" produced a form PASXA in Greek at Ex 12:11. (reasons to be
> discussed below). [[There is no indication that the LXX translator was
> working from an Aramaic text, in fact there is no indication that an
> Aramaic text of the Torah even existed in pre-Christian times. the Old
> Greek does mention the use of an Aramaic text when translating Job. If
> our Aramaic Job from Qumran is any indication, that text probably came
> from Mesopotamia in the East.]]
We are now perhaps going into territory beyond the scope of this list.
My point regarding PASCA in Exodus was neither that the Greek text
worked from an Aramaic original nor that PASCA was a transliteration,
but rather Hebrew PESAC in the source text triggered the term used by
Egyptians Jews in common parlance for the festival in question, namely,
PASCA. PASCA, however, happens to be Aramaic, not Hebrew (as
determinative final A indicates). The phenomenon as such —— and SIKERA
belongs here too—— testifies to the extensive influence of the lingua
franca of the Persian period (Aramaic) among Jews as well as others.
The same influence is underscored by the fact that the Greek
translators of the LXX often 'Aramaized' their Hebrew source, i.e.
ascribing Aramaic meanings to Hebrew words and morphemes.
Al
>
> Why is this important? Because one needs to be able to correctly go in
> the other direction. If a Greek text was found with a form PASXA,
> along with other signals of translation from a Semitic source, would
> someone declare that the source text was Aramaic and could not be
> Hebrew? This very logic, mistaken, turns up in NT studies frequently,
> like at Luke 1:15 where we find SIKERA. SIKERA is 'beer' and is a
> transliteration from HEBREW "shexar" found in the LXX (Lv 10:9, Nu
> 6:3, 28:7, Dt 14:26, 29:5). Hebrew shexar is always rendered sikera in
> the Tora, though sometimes translated MEQUSMA in other books (1Sm
> 1:15, Mic 2:11. OINOS Ps 69:13=68:13, Prov 31:4, MEQH Prov 20:1, 31:6,
> )
> The question as to why Hebrew shexar would be transliterated SIKERA in
> Greek is an interesting question in its own right. That shexar means
> beer is probable because of Akkadian and archaeology. But why
> transliterate instead of using a Greek word for beer?
>
> Well -- have you ever tried to find the Greek word for beer? this is
> not an easy endeavor. Modern Greeks cannot help because they use
> 'bira'. Papyri come to the rescue. I've run accross ZUQOS in ancient
> papyri though haven't checked where this occurs in literary texts.
> apparently, ZUQOS was not a high-class or popular drink in Greek
> society. In any case the LXX translators preferred transliteration, or
> a general translation 'alcoholic drink/wine'.
> So finally, why would the form SIKERA be chosen in Greek when working
> from a Hebrew text? Probably two reasons, 1) a form of a word ending
> in 'a' is more euphonic in Greek and matches the vowel of a regular
> neuter ending found in -MA words, PNEUMA, FRONHMA ktl. 2) From the
> Black Sea to Egypt, Greek was interfacing with Aramaic on an
> international stage. (Aramaic was the former language for
> international diplomacy.) Apparently, this resulted in choosing
> Aramaic-like forms when transliterating from minority Semitic
> languages. While these two reasons could be over-ridden, as we see
> with some 8 examples of FESAK (6 in 2Chr, 1 in Jer, 1 in Neh.). The
> point of all of this is that SIKERA, PASXA, et al, are the standard
> ways of transliterating HEBREW words into Greek during Second Temple
> times.
>
> So for those celebrating the feast tonight --
> Hag sameaH (=EORTH KALH, EORTH XARAS, EUFRAINOU EN TH EORTH TOU PASXA)
> Randall
>
> Randall Buth
> randallbuth at gmail.com
> www.biblicalulpan.org
>
>
> --
> Randall Buth, PhD
> www.biblicalulpan.org
> χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη
> שלום לכם וברכות
> ybitan at mscc.huji.ac.il
> randallbuth at gmail.com
> ---
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—
Albert Pietersma
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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