Ungodly Additions? An Analysis of the Pluses of ἀσεβής in LXX Proverbs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/sacrascripta.2024.01Keywords:
Septuagint, Proverbs, ἀσεβής, Ethics, Translation TechniqueAbstract
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the transformations of the Septuagint (LXX) compared to the Masoretic Text (MT). These transformations often entail shifts of a theological or ethical nature. LXX Proverbs, being a free translation, is a prime example in which such transformations took place. Therefore, in order to contribute to the question of the theology and ethics of LXX Proverbs, this contribution analyses the pluses of ἀσεβής (‘ungodly, impious’) in LXX Proverbs. Since this word can be considered a locus theologicus et ethicus, examining its pluses, which are explicit differences between the Hebrew and Greek text, might shed light on the translation technique and the theology and ethics of LXX Proverbs.
References
BARTHÉLEMY, Dominique, Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. Tome 5: Job, Proverbes, Qohélet et Cantique des Cantiques. OBO 50.5. Fribourg – Göttingen: Academic Press – Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015.
BAUMGARTNER, Antoine J., “Étude critique sur l’état du texte du livre des Proverbes d’après les principales traductions anciennes.” Ph.D. diss. Faculty of Philosophy, University of Leipzig; Leipzig, imprimerie orientale Wilhelm Eduard Drugulin, 1890.
BEECKMAN, Bryan, “De Nomine Dei: Theological Exegesis in Verses of the Septuagint Version of Proverbs Containing ὁ θεός Without Any Counterpart in the Masoretic Text?” Louvain Studies 43.4 (2020): 372–387.
BEECKMAN, Bryan, “De Nominibus Sacris: Theological Exegesis in Verses of LXX-Proverbs Containing ὁ κύριος Without Any Counterpart in MT?” RB 128.4 (2021): 501–524.
BEECKMAN, Bryan, One or Two Translators? Translation Technique and Theology of LXX Proverbs and its Relation to LXX Job. BZAW 549. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024.
BEECKMAN, Bryan, “Righteous Transformations? An Examination of the Pluses of δίκαιος in LXX Proverbs.” CBQ (forthcoming).
BEECKMAN, Bryan, “Trails of a Different Vorlage and A Free Translator in LXX-Proverbs. A Text-Critical Analysis of Prov 16:1–7.” OTE 30.3 (2017): 571–591.
BERTRAM, Georg, “Die religiöse Umdeutung altorientalischer Lebensweisheit in der griechischen Übersetzung des Alten Testaments.” ZAW 13 (1936): 153–167.
CLINES, David J. A., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Volume I–IX. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993–2016.
COOK, Johann, “Contrasting as a Translation Technique in the LXX of Proverbs.” Pages 403–414 in The Quest for Context and Meaning. Studies in Biblical Intertextuality in Honor of James A. Sanders. Edited by Craig EVANS and Shemaryahu TALMON. Leiden: Brill, 1997.
COOK, Johann, “Proverbs.” Pages 621–647 in A New English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included Under that Title. Edited by Albert PIETERSMA and Benjamin G. WRIGHT. New York – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
COOK, Johann, “Textual Problems in the Septuagint Version of Proverbs.” JNSL 26.1 (2000): 171–179.
COOK, Johann, The Septuagint of Proverbs. Jewish and/or Hellenistic Proverbs? Concerning the Hellenistic Colouring of LXX Proverbs. SVT 69. Leiden – New York – Köln: Brill, 1997.
COOK, Johann and Bryan BEECKMAN, “A Transformation of the Theme of Women in LXX Proverbs? An Examination of the minuses of אִשָּׁה and the pluses of γυνή in Proverbs.” Forthcoming in XVIII Congress of the IOSCS, Zürich, 2022. Edited by Joshua ALFARO, Marieke DHONT, Gideon KOTZÉ and Alison SALVESEN. SBLSCS. Atlanta: SBL Press, forthcoming.
CUPPI, Lorenzo, “Long Doublets in the Septuagint of the Book of Proverbs: With a History of the Research on the Greek Translations.” PhD diss. University of Durham, 2012.
DE LAGARDE, Paul, Anmerkungen zur Griechischen Übersetzung der Proverbien. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1863.
DE WAARD, Jan, Proverbs. BHQ 17. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2008.
D’HAMONVILLE, David-Marc, Les Proverbes. BA 17. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 2000.
DICK, Michael B., “The Ethics of the Old Greek Book of Proverbs.” Pages 20–50 in The Studia Philonica Annual. Studies in Hellenistic Judaism Volume II 1990. Edited by David T. RUNIA. Brown Judaic Studies 226. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991.
FIELD, Frederick, Origenis Hexaplorum quae supersunt sive veterum interpretum Graecorum in totum vetus testamentum fragmenta. Tomus 2 Jobus – Malachias. Oxonii: Typographeo Clarendoniano, 1875.
FOX, Michael V., Proverbs An Eclectic Edition with Introduction and Textual Commentary. HBCE 1. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015.
FRITSCH, Charles T., “The Treatment of the Hexaplaric Signs in the Syro-Hexaplar of Proverbs.” JBL 72.3 (1953): 169–181.
GERLEMAN, Gillis, Studies in the Septuagint. III. The Book of Proverbs. LUA 52/3. Lund: Gleerup, 1956.
HATCH, Edwin and Henry A. REDPATH, A Concordance to the Septuagint. And the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament (Including the Apocryphal Books). Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1998.
JÄGER, Johannes G., Observationes in Proverbiorum Salomonis versionem Alexandrinam. Meldorpi et Lipsiae: Apud Reinhold Iacob Boie, 1788.
LESEMANN, Sven and Ralph BRUCKER, “ἀσέβεια, ἀσεβής, ἀσεβέω,” Pages 1191–1214 in Historical and Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint. Volume I: Alpha – Gamma. Edited by Eberhard BONS. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
LUST, Johan, Erik EYNIKEL and Katrin HAUSPIE, Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Third Corrected Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2015.
MURAOKA, Takamitsu, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Peeters: Leuven, 2009.
RAHLFS, Alfred and Robert HANHART, Septuaginta: Id est Vetus Testamentum Graece iuxta LXX Interpretes. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006.
TAUBERSCHMIDT, Gerhard, Secondary Parallelism. A Study of Translation Technique in LXX Proverbs. AcBib 15. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
TOV, Emanuel, “Recensional Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint of Proverbs.” Pages 419–431 in The Greek and Hebrew Bible. Collected Essays on the Septuagint. Edited by Emanuel TOV. VTS 72. Leiden: Brill, 1999.
TOY, Crawford Howell, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Book of Proverbs. ICC. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 21904.
VON LIPS, Hermann, Ruth SCORALICK and Hans-Winfried JÜNGLING, “Paroimiai / Proverbia / Sprichwörter /Sprüche Salomos.” Pages 1950–2000 in Septuaginta Deutsch: Erläuterungen und Kommentare zum griechischen Alten Testament. Band II: Psalmen bis Daniel. Edited by Martin KARRER and Wolfgang KRAUS. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2011.
WOLTERS, Al, Proverbs. A Commentary Based on Paroimiai in Codex Vaticanus. SCS. Leiden – Boston, MA: Brill, 2020.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Sacra Scripta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
