[B-Greek] The value of the LXX

Cherney,Kenneth cherneyk at wls.wels.net
Sun Feb 10 23:23:14 EST 2008


Thanks to Albert for that crucial distinction.  For an excellent treatment of the importance of the LXX "as it stands" for understanding the semantics of the GNT, see Moises Silva's Biblical Words and Their Meaning.
KAC

________________________________

From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org on behalf of Albert Pietersma
Sent: Sun 2/10/2008 5:27 PM
To: Hugh Donohoe Jr.
Cc: blist greek
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] The value of the LXX



While what you and Carl are saying about the reception history of the 
LXX is perfectly valid and true, it needs to be underscored, it seems 
to me, that no change of function in reception history is capable of 
changing the linguistic make-up of the text as translated, i.e. the 
LXX as produced. Thus when we ask about the Greek of the LXX, we are 
not asking about the LXX's theological status at any given point in 
its history of interpretation any more that, when we ask about any 
given text in the NT, we are asking about how the Fathers of the 
Church read it. Thus, as I see it, it is precisely the LXX AS 
PRODUCED that falls within the parameters of this forum.
Al

On Feb 10, 2008, at 5:28 PM, Hugh Donohoe Jr. wrote:

> Your response greatly touched upon the
> theological/cultural significance of the LXX. Cultural
> values could be behind the negligence of LXX studies
> historically. I was thinking that Protestantism and
> Catholicism in essence have embraced somewhat Jerome's
> value system of the 'Hebrew veritas'. The Augustinian
> value system of seeing the LXX as the 'inspired'
> 'Bible of the apostles' has only been kept alive in
> the Orthodox tradition. Being that the scholarship of
> Biblical Greek from the Reformation onward was
> dominated for several hundred years by Protestantism.
> Catholicism in the last century has been rising to the
> occasion. As Pelikan pointed out, and he is entitled
> to since he became Orthodox, Orthodox scholarship has
> lagged behind the others historically. So maybe this
> (a potentially anachronistic account) can explain the
> neglect of the LXX as a result of scholastic
> attitudes/values. In summary, the Orthodox church
> which maintains the value system Carl touched upon,
> has not been a major player in biblical scholarship
> until more recently.
>
> I know if dialog continues upon the road I am
> traveling here, it will go outside the scope of this
> forum. I only mention this because Carl's comments
> touched upon a larger issue of why the LXX is
> considered important scholastically. So please respond
> to me offline if your response deviates any farther
> than I have already traveled.
>
> ex amino
>
> Hugh Donahue
>
>
> Carl wrote:
> Well, at least it's really a question about the Greek
> Bible and
> therefore about Biblical Greek, isn't it? And I think
> that's not the
> whole answer, but it's a serious part of the answer:
> for Greek-
> speaking believers in the first centuries of
> Christianity the LXX was
> the OT scripture, it is what they understood by GRAFH
> or GRAFAI. My
> understanding, and I trust that someone will correct
> me on this point
> if I'm wrong, is that early Greek-speaking believers
> did not regard
> the LXX as a translation and therefore a text only
> secondary to and
> dependent upon the Hebrew text of the Law and
> Prophets, but rather it
> was the Biblical text they knew and cited and from
> which they worked
> out their theological understanding(s) of the faith.
> While there are
> exceptions, for the most part the OT text that is
> cited within the NT
> corpus is drawn from the LXX, not directly converted
> into Greek from
> the Hebrew. To the extent that what I've written is
> true, I think we'd
>
> have to say that the LXX was THE BIBLE for
> Greek-speaking Christians
> in the early centuries -- and it was the
> Greek-speaking Christians
> (orthodox or heterodox or both) who played the leading
> role in the
> early centuries in shaping the initial normative
> structure of the
> Christian faith -- not, perhaps, the enduring
> normative structure, but
>
> the jumping-off point for later developments. If those
> propositions
> are true, then I think that's enough reason for the
> LXX to hold a
> prominent place in the study of ancient and biblical
> Greek.
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University
> (Retired)
>
>
>
>
>       
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