The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint

The Septuagint is the term commonly used to refer to the corpus of early Greek versions of Hebrew Scriptures. The collection is of immense importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The renderings of individual books attest to the religious interests of the substantial Jewish population of Egypt during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and to the development of the Greek language in its Koine phase. The narrative ascribing the Septuagint's origins to the work of seventy translators in Alexandria attained legendary status among both Jews and Christians. The Septuagint was the version of Scripture most familiar to the writers of the New Testament, and became the authoritative Old Testament of the Greek and Latin Churches. In the early centuries of Christianity it was itself translated into several other languages, and it has had a continuing influence on the style and content of biblical translations.

The Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint features contributions from leading experts in the field considering the history and manuscript transmission of the version, and the study of translation technique and textual criticism. The collection provides surveys of previous and current research on individual books of the Septuagint corpus, on alternative Jewish Greek versions, the Christian 'daughter' translations, and reception in early Jewish and Christian writers. The Handbook also includes several conversations with related fields of interest such as New Testament studies, liturgy, and art history.

Alison G. Salvesen, Professor of Early Judaism and Christianity, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, and Polonsky Fellow, Oxford Centre for Jewish Studies,T. M. Law, Independent scholar

Alison G. Salvesen is Professor of Early Judaism and Christianity at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, and Polonsky Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Jewish Studies.


T. M. Law is an independent scholar.

List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Introduction, Alison Salvesen
PART I: FIRST THINGS
1. What Is the Septuagint?, Cameron Boyd-Taylor
2. The History of Septuagint Studies: Early Modern Western Europe, Scott Mandelbrote
3. The History of Septuagint Studies: Editions of the Septuagint, Felix Albrecht
PART II: THE CONTEXT OF THE SEPTUAGINT
4. The Social and Historical Setting of the Septuagint: Palestine and the Diaspora, James K. Aitken
5. The Social and Historical Setting of the Septuagint: Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, Livia Capponi
6. The Nature of Septuagint Greek: Language and Lexicography, Trevor V. Evans
7. Theology in the Septuagint?, Mogens M?ller
8. The Letter of Aristeas, Dries De Crom
9. Manuscripts, Papyri, and Epigraphy: Papyri and Epigraphy Relating to the Septuagint, Michael P. Theophilos
10. Manuscripts, Papyri, and Epigraphy: Manuscripts of the Septuagint from Uncials to Minuscules, Luciano Bossina
11. Translation Technique, Hans Ausloos
PART III: THE CORPUS OF THE SEPTUAGINT
12. The Pentateuch, Dirk B?chner
13. Joshua and Judges, Natalio Fern?ndez Marcos
14. The Books of Samuel, Anneli Aejmelaeus
15. The Books of Kings, Tuukka Kauhanen, Andr?s Piquer Otero, Timo Tekoniemi, and Pablo Torijano
16. Chronicles/Paralipomena, Laurence Vian?s
17. Isaiah, Rodrigo F. de Sousa
18. Jeremiah and Baruch, Matthieu Richelle
19. Ezekiel, Katrin Hauspie
20. Daniel, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon: Old Greek and Theodotion, Olivier Munnich
21. The Twelve Minor Prophets, C?cile Dogniez
22. Megillot (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther), Robert J. V. Hiebert
23. The Psalter, Staffan Olofsson
24. Proverbs, Lorenzo Cuppi
25. The Book of Job, Maria Gorea
26. Deuterocanonical and Apocryphal Books, Alison Salvesen
PART IV: THE SEPTUAGINT IN ITS JEWISH CONTEXT
27. Philo and the Septuagint, Sarah J. K. Pearce
28. Josephus and the Septuagint, Tessa Rajak
29. The Scrolls from the Judean Desert and the Septuagint, Eugene Ulrich
30. Kaige and 'Theodotion', Siegfried Kreuzer
31. Aquila, Giuseppe Veltri with Alison Salvesen
32. Symmachus, Micha?l N. van der Meer
33. Quinta, Sexta, and Septima, Bradley John Marsh, Jr.
34. The Samaritan Pentateuch in Greek, Bradley John Marsh, Jr.
35. The Constantinople Pentateuch and Medieval Jewish Use of Greek Biblical Texts, Julia G. Krivoruchko
PART V: THE SEPTUAGINT AS CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE
36. Citations in the New Testament, David Lincicum
37. The Proto-Lucianic and Antiochian Text, Tuukka Kauhanen
38. Origen's Hexapla, Peter J. Gentry
39. The Use of the Septuagint in the Liturgy and Lectionary of the Greek Orthodox Church, John A. L. Lee
40. Reception of the Septuagint among Greek Christian Writers, Reinhart Ceulemans
41. The Septuagint in the Latin World, Michael Graves
PART VI: THE SEPTUAGINT IN TRANSLATION
42. The Vetus Latina (Old Latin), Pierre-Maurice Bogaert
43. Armenian, Georgian, and Church Slavonic Versions, Pablo A. Torijano
44. The Syrohexapla, Marketta Liljestr?m
45. Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic Versions, Andr?s Piquer Otero
46. Modern Translations of the Septuagint, Eberhard Bons
47. Textual Criticism, B?n?dicte Lemmelijn
48. New Testament, J. Ross Wagner
49. Christian Theology, John Barton
50. Illustrated Manuscripts of the Septuagint, Maja Kominko
Index