[B-Greek] EGW EIMI hO WN (LXX of Exodus 3:14)

George F Somsel gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Fri Mar 28 19:39:11 EDT 2008


Although this forum isn't dedicated to textual criticism, I will note that no commentary on Exodus which I possess indicates an alternative reading and that Targum Neofiti to the Pentateuch as well as Targum Onkelos to the Pentateuch could almost qualify as a Xerox of the Massoretic text though the targums are Aramaic rather than Hebrew.  The Dead Sea Scrolls do have copies of Exodus which include this passage, but I know of no variants.  I would not consider it advisable to pin any hopes on finding a variant reading which could serve as the Vorlage to the LXX translation.

I agree that it is not necessary to translate the prefix form of the Hebrew verb as a future, but that doesn't change the fact that the reading would not be "I am the one who is" but rather "I am who I am" if you choose to translate the prefix form in such a fashion.  Therefore, the LXX is not truly an accurate translation of the Hebrew.
 
george
gfsomsel



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----- Original Message ----
From: Kevin P. Edgecomb <kevin at bombaxo.com>
To: b-greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 5:01:10 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] EGW EIMI hO WN (LXX of Exodus 3:14)

George Somsel wrote:
>> No, it really isn't totally accurate.  The Hebrew has the imperfect 
>> (prefix form) of the existential verb twice and would more accurately 
>> be translated "I will be who / what I will be."  I think I'll leave 
>> the Greek to your own efforts. It would almost seem that the LXX was 
>> translated under some Platonic influence.

I write:
The Hebrew imperfect form is not restrictively a future tense, but a
present/future aspect.

It seems reasonable that the LXX reflects a different underlying text
(perhaps Albert Pietersma can say more about this) which would've included
the Tetragrammaton in the hO WN position, the Hebrew being perhaps simply:
)HYH YHWH, "I am YHWH" which was simply literally translated EGW EIMI hO WN.
hO WN is certainly a passable translation of YHWH, "He Is", and is likewise
understood thus in patristic texts and iconography.

Regards,
Kevin P. Edgecomb
Berkeley, California


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