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Hello Guys!,
I’d like to know, whether we have any Old Testament Hebrew readers here ? My quest and question is :
I’d like to plunge into Old Testament in Greek and I’d like to know if it is readable having learned a little of attic Greek, or do I have to have
a proper command of Hebrew syntax first ? I’d like to read it, so that I may know what Paul speaks about in
Hebrews, and - also, or for probably the most - for the pleasure of reading. I’ve read some : Homer, Herodotus, Isocrates, Paul’s NT epistles. Thanks for any comments or insights into the matter in advance !
You need no knowledge of Hebrew. That's why the text was translated in the first place! There's some structures, words, jokes, puns, that are explainable only by recourse to the Hebrew text, but those are best approached as features of Septuagint Greek, rather than as something that would force you to learn a whole new language. If you do learn Hebrew, you will find that much in the Septuagint ends up being illuminated by that knowledge, but by all means - if you want to read the Septuagint go read it. I have not read all of it, but from what I've read most of it is not very complicated Greek.
Last edited by anphph on Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BartekStepien wrote:Hello Guys!,
I’d like to know, whether we have any Old Testament Hebrew readers here ? My quest and question is :
I’d like to plunge into Old Testament in Greek and I’d like to know if it is readable having learned a little of attic Greek, or do I have to have
a proper command of Hebrew syntax first ?
Albert Pietersma has been known to make disparaging remarks about syntax of the Old Testament in Greek. Not everyone who knows about these things agrees with him. Anyone schooled in ATTIC will find the Greek OT strange. In isn't a place to learn Ancient Greek as a language. It will help you understand the idioms used in the Greek NT. You need not become fluent with Hebrew but you certainly would benefit from the basics of the syntax. This isn't a huge project. The syntax of Hebrew narrative isn't anything like Greek Historians. Don't get bogged down in morphology, go directly to the syntax and pick up just a little morphology along the way. Only what you absolutely need to read the examples. Cheat on morphology using a Bible application.
Knowing Biblical Hebrew isn’t a prerequisite, but it’ll add a lot if you learn it at some point. You should just dive right in to the Greek. For pleasurable reads in the LXX, I suggest especially the Wisdom of Solomon, 2-4 Maccabees, and the prologue to Ben Sira. For understanding Hebrews, start with Wis. of Sol. and 4 Macc. For “translation Greek,” I like Tobit and the LXX additions to Daniel (it’s been debated since antiquity whether Susanna is a translation or not). And Genesis, which you could read alongside Philo if you’re up for a challenge. You’ll want to have access to a LXX lexicon. I usually use Lust-Eynikel-Hauspie, but there’s also one by Muraoka. Down the road, you might take a look at an introduction to the LXX, like Jobes/Silva’s Invitation to the Septuagint or Henry Swete’s old classic The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint (which helpfully includes an edition to the Letter of Pseudo-Aristeas—a must read).
dikaiopolis wrote:Knowing Biblical Hebrew isn’t a prerequisite, but it’ll add a lot if you learn it at some point. You should just dive right in to the Greek. For pleasurable reads in the LXX, I suggest especially the Wisdom of Solomon, 2-4 Maccabees, and the prologue to Ben Sira. For understanding Hebrews, start with Wis. of Sol. and 4 Macc. For “translation Greek,” I like Tobit and the LXX additions to Daniel (it’s been debated since antiquity whether Susanna is a translation or not). And Genesis, which you could read alongside Philo if you’re up for a challenge. You’ll want to have access to a LXX lexicon. I usually use Lust-Eynikel-Hauspie, but there’s also one by Muraoka. Down the road, you might take a look at an introduction to the LXX, like Jobes/Silva’s Invitation to the Septuagint or Henry Swete’s old classic The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint (which helpfully includes an edition to the Letter of Pseudo-Aristeas—a must read).
Thank you all for your helpful answers ! I have a few questions to you Dikaiopolis(or to anyone who knows a possible answer ). What do you mean by “translation Greek”? Hmm, then is there a good book to start me up in Biblical Hebrew ? In reply to your words about Genesis and Philo, is then Genesis such a challenge or Philo or both of them combined ? I’ll try first with LSJ, but on the way, I think I am going to grab the dictionaries you mentioned .
BartekStepien wrote:Hmm, then is there a good book to start me up in Biblical Hebrew ?
By far the best I encountered when I was starting out was the Routledge Introductory Course in Biblical Hebrew. The whole Routledge language series is outstanding and this one is no different.
Still on the topic, it's possible you may want to take a look at this one. I have no experience with it, just came across it a couple of days ago. But it seems like it could be helpful.
Texts like Wisdom or 4 Macc. were composed in Greek. Most of the texts in the LXX were translated from Hebrew (or Aramaic). The bizarre style of a book like LXX Genesis, resulting from it’s very close rendition of the Hebrew, subsequently had a huge influence on Jewish and early Christian literature written in Greek. And thus a huge influence on the history of Greek literature.
I meant that Philo might be a challenge, depending on how much Greek (especially Plato) you’ve read.
For Biblical Hebrew, I’ve used three introductory textbooks in the past. Jo Ann Hackett’s A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (by far the most accessible), Seow’s A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, and Thomas Lambdin’s Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (my favorite, but a little more challenging). I’m not familiar with the textbook anphph mentioned.
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! I have a few questions to you Dikaiopolis(or to anyone who knows a possible answer