[B-Greek] ARISTEAS 11, SYRIAKH, and language clarity in Greek

James Ernest j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Wed Apr 4 08:21:19 EDT 2007


Randall Buth wrote:

> The biggest surprise in all of this is how a viewpoint like Black's
> about Aristeas, can be so wrong and yet remain in a third edition of a
> much quoted work.

Not to divulge an industry secret carelessly, but over the course of
publishing history, down almost to the present--the practice of has of
course now been abolished--several books containing mistakes were
published and republished. ;-)

Regarding Black's *Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts*, given
its continuing influence, which Randall points out, it seems worth
noting here: OUP's three editions were published in 1946, 1954, and
1967. If you buy the book now, you're likely to get a 1998 reprint
from my former employer, Hendrickson Publishers, with a brief
introduction by Craig Evans that includes a page and a half of
discussion of "scholarly assessment of Black's Aramaic approach" with
footnotes and bibliography pointing to dozens of reviews and other
critical articles. I don't know whether any of them mention the point
that Randall has very usefully noted. The body of the book is simply a
photo-offset of OUP's third edition.* Evans indicates that Black's
work, while valuable, needs updating. That updating comes in new
articles and books--I don't think anyone is going to revise Black,
which has become frozen as a classic and so simply is what it is. (But
who knows? Edersheim got a thorough reworking, didn't it? Want another
job, Randall?)

James Ernest



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