Dorosh, Marko
Accompanying Scripture: Hebrew-Greek Translation in Hellenistic Jewish and Early Christian Authors.
Master thesis, M Religion & Pluralism.
Abstract
The thesis studies the Septuagint translation philosophy in the Hellenistic Jewish and Early Christian authors using the comparative method. The main research question is whether the Letter of Aristeas, Aristobulus, Philo, Josephus, prologue to Ben Sira, colophon to Greek Esther, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, and Clement of Alexandria share any common features or in terms of how they perceive the Septuagint translation. The investigation is done according to the three criteria: possibility, divine inspiration, and preciseness of the translated text.
The study reveals that none of the authors opposed the very possibility to translate the Law into Greek, although Ben Sira’s prologue and Josephus treated it as a secondary text. As for divine inspiration, it is referred to by each author except the authors of the prologue, the colophon, and Josephus. The clearest examples are Philo and Irenaeus, who mention a miraculous event. Moreover, there is a clear shift in notions from divine inspiration to zeal and arduous work of the translators. Considering preciseness, the Septuagint was highly esteemed by its first propagators and the Church Fathers. On the other hand, Ben Sira’s prologue introduces the idea of the unequal influence of a Greek text on the reader, implicitly, embedded in Josephus.
Overall, the texts under discussion form two categories: those that support the translation and those that show a cautious attitude. Among the Jewish Hellenistic authors, there is also a geographic parallel, as the Alexandrian authors regard the translation more positively than those from Palestine.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Bakker, A.F. | | Faculteit GGW, Faculteit Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap | a.f.bakker@rug.nl | | Ruiten, J.T.A.G.M. van | | Faculteit GGW, Jodendom, Christendom en Islam in formatieve fase | J.T.A.G.M.van.Ruiten@rug.nl |
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| Degree programme: |
M Religion & Pluralism |
| Academic year: |
2021-2022 |
| Date of delivery: |
14 Oct 2022 08:21 |
| Last modified: |
14 Oct 2022 08:21 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/687 |
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