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Bertil Albrektson
TEXT, TRANSLATION, THEOLOGY
Text, translation, theology - the three nouns in the title indicate the main
fields of Old Testament study which are covered in this collection of essays.
Text refers both to the history of biblical texts and to problems of textual
criticism. Translation of the I lebrew Bible as a philological task is a central
subject in several essays. Theology does not define what the essays are but
what some of them are about: religious ideologies are objects of enquiry.
Bertil Albrektson gathers together a selection of his essays, some of
which have bccomc classics, which were written on separate occasions and
published in different, sometimes rather remote, places. They cover more
than four decades of research, and for the first time they are now brought
together in this accessible volume.
Bertil Albrektson was bom in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1929 and took his
doctor’s degree at the University of Lund in 1963, having been a research
student there and at Cambridge. He was Professor of Old Testament
exegesis at Âbo Academy in Finland 1967-76 and then moved back to
his native Sweden, where he played a leading role in the Bible Translation
Commission in Uppsala, which published the new official Swedish version
of the Bible in 2001. Professor Albrektson is a member of several learned
societies, among others the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, of which
he has been President, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History
and Antiquities. The Socicty for Old Testament Study in Britain made him
an Honorary Member in 1983, and he has received honorary doctorates
from Edinburgh University and Âbo Academy. The British Academy
awarded him the Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies in 2003.
SOCIETY FOR OLD TESTAMENT STUDY MONOGRAPHS
Series Editor
Margaret Barker
Series Editorial Board
Katharine J. Dell; Paul Joyce; Edward Ball; Eryl W. Davies
Series Advisory Board
Bertil Albrektson; Graeme Auld; John Barton; Joseph Blenkinsopp;
William Johnstone; John Rogerson
Ashgate is pleased to publish the revived Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS)
monograph scries. The Society for Old Testament Study is a learned society based
in the British Isles, with an international membership, committed to the study of
the Old Testament. This series promotes Old Testament studies with the support
and guidance of the Society. The series includes research monographs by members
of the Society, both from established international scholars and from exciting new
authors.
Titles in the series include:
The Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology
Collected Essays of John Barton
John Barton
Amos and the Cosmic Imagination
James R. Linville
Contradiction in the Book of Proverbs
The Deep Waters of Counsel
Peter T.H. Hatton
Hebrew Life and Literature
Selected Essays of Bernhard Lang
Bernhard Lang
The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple
John W. Welch
Text, Translation, Theology
Selected Essays on the Hebrew Bible
BERTIL ALBREKTSON
ASHGATE
© Bertil Albrektson 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publieation may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Bertil Albrektson has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court Hast Suite 420
Union Road 101 Cherry Street
Famham Burlington
Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405
England USA
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Albrektson, B. (Bertil)
Text, translation, theology : selected essays on the Hebrew Bible. - (Society for Old
Testament Study)
1. Bible. O.T—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Bible. O.T.—Hermeneutics.
I. Title II. Series
221.6—de22
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Albrektson, B. (Bertil)
[Selections. 2009]
Text, translation, theology : selected essays on the Hebrew Bible / Bertil Albrektson.
p. cm. — (Society for Old Testament study)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-7546-6908-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T.—Criticism,
interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BS1115.A43 2009
221.6—dc22
2009020739
ISBN 9780754669081 (hbk)
ISBN 9780754696230 (cbk.III)
Mixed Sources
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Contents
Preface vii
Place of Previous Publication ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 The Background and Origin of the Theology of Lamentations
(1963) 9
2 On the Syntax of היהא רשא היהא in Exodus 3:14 (1968) 35
3 Reflections on the Emergence of a Standard Text of the I Iebrew
Bible (1978) 47
4 Some Observations on Two Oracular Passages in 1 Sam.
(1978) 63
5 Difftcilior lectio probabilior. A Rule of Textual Criticism and
its Use in Old Testament Studies (1981) 73
6 Etymological Semantics: Response to J. C. Greenfield
(1993) 87
7 Translation and Emendation (1994) 95
8 Ezekiel 30:16 -A Conjecture (1995) 107
9 A Disputed Sense in a Covenant Context: On the Interpretation
of Genesis 15:6 (2003) 113
10 Masoretic or Mixed: On Choosing a Textual Basis for a
Translation of the Hebrew Bible (2007) 121
Index of Biblical References 135
Index of Authors 139
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Preface
I am grateful to Dr Margaret Barker and Professor John Barton for the
initiative to publish this collection of essays in the series Society for Old
Testament Study Monographs, and to other members of the Editorial Board.
It is a privilege to be included in the friendly scholarly fellowship of SOTS,
and I am honoured to be admitted into this monograph series. As a member
from abroad I have experienced a remarkable fulfilment of the biblical
appeal: ‘The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native
among you, and you shall love him as yourself’ (Lev. 19:34).
Some of the essays were first published long ago and needed
transcribing into electronic format. This has been done by Karin Wcjdcrot
of the Swedish Bible Society, and I am indebted to her for her careful and
competent help.
I am also grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and
Antiquities for a generous grant to cover the expense of the transcription.
Finally I want to thank my daughter Ingrid, resident in England for
many years, for her advice in questions of English usage.
Uppsala 2009
B. A.
This page has been left blank intentionally
Place of Previous Publication
1 Bertil Albrektson, Studies in the Text and Theology of the Book of
Lamentations. With a Critical Edition of the Peshitta Text, Lund:
CWK Glccrup, 1963, pp. 214-239.
2 P. R. Ackroyd and B. Lindars (eds), Words and Meanings: Essays
presented to David Winton Thomas, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1968, pp. 15-28.
3 Congress Volume Göttingen 1977 (Supplements to Vetus
Testamcntum, XXIX), Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978, pp. 49-65.
4 Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute, vol. XI: Festschrift
Gillis Gerleman, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978, pp. 1-10.
5 Remembering All the Way ... A Collection of Old Testament Studies
Published on the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of the
Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland (Oudtestamentische
Studiën, ed. by A. S. van der Woude, vol. XXI), Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1981, pp. 5-18.
6 Zeitschrift für Althebraistik 6, Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer,
1993, pp. 38-43.
7 S. E. Balentine and J. Barton (eds), Language, Theology, and the Bible:
Essays in Honour of James Barr, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994, pp.
27-39.
8 T. Fombcrg and D. Hcllholm (eds), Texts and Contexts: Biblical Texts
in Their Textual and Situational Contexts: Essays in Honor of Lars
Hartman, Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995, pp. 5-10.
9 A. D. H. Mayes and R. B. Salters (eds), Covenant as Context: Essays
in Honour of E. W. Nicholson, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003,
pp. 1-9.
10 Textus XXIII: Text-Criticism and Beyond: In Memoriam of Isac Leo
Seeligmann, Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2007,
pp. 33-49.
The essays arc reprinted here by permission of the copyright holders.
Description:Text, translation, and theology - the three nouns in the title indicate the main fields of Old Testament study which are covered in this collection of essays. Text refers both to the history of biblical texts and to problems of textual criticism. Translation of the Hebrew Bible as a philological tas
