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of the LXX

      Among the ancient translations, the LXX holds pride of place for textual critics since it reflects a greater number of variants than all the other translations put together. Textual differences between the LXX and the other witnesses of the Hebrew Bible, reconstructed as variants in the underlying Hebrew Vorlagen, are extant in all the books. They are especially remarkable in Samuel, since its Masoretic Text is often corrupt.

      The analysis of the character of the LXX in the various books indicates that they share only a limited number of features; it is therefore not appropriate to speak about a Septuagintal text-type, Septuagintal features, or the like. The main element shared by the Hebrew Vorlagen of the books of the LXX is that they were chosen to be rendered into Greek. The only textual feature recognizable in the LXX as a whole, is a large number of small harmonizing additions in the Torah similar to those of the SP and its forerunners found at Qumran (the so-called pre-Samaritan scrolls). Together with smaller textual variants created in the course of the textual transmission of the biblical books, the LXX reflects a sizeable number of editorial differences created in the course of the literary growth of the books.

      4.1.10 The Greek Versions and Christianity

      At one time, the LXX was considered to be inspired scripture by both Jews and Christians, but now is sacred only for the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The translation started off as a Jewish enterprise (see § 4.1.4), and was accepted by the early Christians when they were still part of Judaism. Western Christianity held on to the LXX as scripture until the time of the Vulgate, which assumed official status in the Western Church some time after its creation. At an earlier stage Judaism had changed its approach toward the Jewish-Greek translation, when Jews turned their back on the LXX in the pre-Christian period, and to an even greater extent after the rise of Christianity. Already in the first century BCE it was realized that the Greek translation did not reflect the Hebrew Bible current in Palestine, and at that time the process of revision of the OG toward the proto-Masoretic Text started to take shape.

      In the first century CE, when the NT writers quoted the earlier scripture, they used the wording of the LXX. That was a natural development since the NT was written in Greek, and under normal circumstances its authors would quote from earlier scripture written in the same language.

      At the same time, as a result of Jews abandoning the Jewish-Greek translation in the first centuries CE, that translation was held in contempt in its own environment (Sof 1.7 and parallels) despite its being a Jewish biblical version. Whether or not rabbinic Judaism officially rejected the LXX is unclear, but it was definitely disregarded since the rabbis did not quote from it.

      The LXX lost its central position in Judaism from the first century CE onward. Subsequently, this process was accelerated when that translation was used as the official source for scripture in the writings of early Christianity. Christians accepted the LXX generally without changing its wording. At the same time, they inserted some changes in the external features of scripture: Christian scribes adopted the codex instead of the scroll and they introduced abbreviations for the Greek divine names (ΚΣ [kyrios »Lord«], ΞΣ [theos »God«], and ΧΣ [christos »Christ«], etc.).

      The LXX influenced the NT at various levels because early Christianity adopted the LXX as its scripture. The influence of the LXX is visible in the areas of the language, terminology, and theological foundations of the NT, as well as in its frequent quotations.

      4.2 The Other Greek Translations

      After the completion of the main Greek translation, several Greek translations were prepared in the form of revisions of the original translation, usually in the direction of the ever-changing Hebrew text. Most of these translations were Jewish, and the most known among them were those of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, referred to as the »Three.« Several elements from these three revisions have been preserved among the remnants of the Hexapla, in various papyrus fragments, in marginal notes in Hexaplaric manuscripts of the LXX, and in quotations by the church fathers. The Hexapla (or »sixfold« edition) was an edition of the Bible arranged in six columns by the church father Origen in the middle of the third century CE, and included the Hebrew text (1), its transliteration in Greek characters (2), Aquila (3), Symmachus (4), the »LXX« translation (5), and Theodotion (6). The chronological sequence of the »Three« was Theodotion (now named »kaige-Theodotion«), Aquila, Symmachus.

      4.2.1 Kaige-Theodotion

      Kaige-Theodotion is the modern name of an early anonymous revision of the OG, dating to the middle of the first century BCE, at first identified in the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Naḥal Ḥever. This text contains an early revision of the OG, and was named kaige in modern research. Barthélemy⁷³ chose this name because one of its distinctive features is that the Hebrew word gam (»also«) is usually translated with kaige (»at least«) apparently in accordance with one of the thirty-two rabbinic hermeneutical rules, or middot, of R. Eliezer ben Yose ha-Gelili named »inclusion and exclusion.« To what extent kaige-Theodotion followed rabbinic exegesis in other details as well (as claimed by Barthélemy) remains a matter of debate.

      A similar revision of the OG is also found in several segments of the »LXX« in Samuel-Kings, the B text of the »LXX« of Judges, and the »LXX« of Ruth and Lamentations and elsewhere. In antiquity, this anonymous revision was associated with Theodotion, who apparently lived at the end of the second century CE, and was probably from Ephesus. Because Theodotion’s translations belong to this group of revisions, the whole collection came to be known as kaige-Theodotion even though its various attestations are not uniform in character and accordingly different individuals may have been involved.

      4.2.2 Aquila

      Aquila’s revision dates to approximately 125 CE. He issued two different editions of his revision for some biblical books, but the relation between them is unclear. Aquila’s translation system is the most slavishly literal of the translators, creating a translation that is often not understandable without knowledge of the Hebrew source text. He believed that every letter and word in the Bible is meaningful, and therefore attempted to accurately represent every word, particle, and morpheme. For example, he translated the Hebrew sign of the direct object ʾet separately with syn (»with«) on the basis of the other meaning of ʾet (namely »with«). In his linguistic approach toward translation, Aquila paid much attention to the etymology of the Hebrew words, and this, more than any presumed rabbinic exegesis, characterizes his version.

      Some scholars think that Aquila is the »Onqelos the proselyte« mentioned in the Talmud (b. Meg 3a and elsewhere) as the author of the Targum of the Torah.⁷⁴ However, although the names Aquila and Onqelos are similar, there is no evidence that the same person translated the Torah into Aramaic and revised the LXX. While both translations are exact, the amount of adherence to the MT of the Greek translation is greater than that of the Aramaic one.

      4.2.3 Symmachus

      Symmachus’s revision is usually dated to the end of the second century or the beginning of the third century CE. His background and religious affiliation is unclear. According to Epiphanius, Symmachus was a Samaritan who had become a proselyte. Eusebius and Jerome state that he belonged to the Jewish-Christian Ebionite sect. Some scholars think that Symmachus was Jewish, while others identify him with Somchos, a disciple of R. Meir, mentioned in b. Er 13b.

      Symmachus was very precise (his revision, like Aquila’s, was based on kaige-Theodotion), but, he also very often translated according to the context rather than representing the Hebrew words with fixed equivalents or stereotyped renderings.

      4.3 Targumim

      The most »Jewish« among the biblical translations are the Targumim, because they were created within the Jewish communities as the companion to Hebrew Scripture within the milieu of rabbinic Judaism. The meaning of the word targum

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