The Legend of the Septuagint: From Classical Antiquity to Today

354 Pages·2006·2.49 MB·English

by  Abraham Wasserstein

This page intentionally left blank
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
the legend of the septuagint
The Septuagint is the most influential of the Greek versions of the Torah, the
first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The exact circumstances of its creation are
uncertain,butdifferentversionsofalegendaboutthemiraculousnatureofthetrans-
lation have existed since antiquity. Beginning in the Letter of Aristeas, the legend
describes how Ptolemy Philadelphus (285–247 b.c.e.) commissioned seventy-two
Jewish scribes to translate the sacred Hebrew scriptures for his famous library in
Alexandria. Subsequent variations on the story recount how the scribes, working
independently,producedword-for-word,identicalGreekversions.Inthecourseof
thefollowingcenturies,toourowntime,thestoryhasbeenadaptedandchanged
byJews,Christians,Muslims,andpagansformanydifferentreasons:totellastory,
toexplainhistoricalevents,and–mostfrequently–tolendauthoritytotheGreek
textfortheinstitutionsthatusedit.Thisbookoffersthefirstaccountofallofthese
versions over the last two millennia, providing a history of the uses and abuses of
thelegendinvariousculturesaroundtheMediterranean.
AbrahamWasserstein(bornFrankfurtamMain,1921,diedJerusalem,1995)taught
attheuniversitiesofGlasgowandLeicesterbeforetakingupin1969achairinGreek
attheHebrewUniversityofJerusalem,wherehestayeduntilhisdeathin1995.He
had special interests in Greek literature and science, and he wrote widely in these
fields. His publications include an edition of the medieval Hebrew translation of
Galen’s commentary on Hippocrates’ Airs, Waters and Places (lost in the original
Greek).Thepresentbookwasbegunbyhimandleftincompleteathisdeath.
DavidJ.Wasserstein,A.W.’sson,readclassicsandorientalstudiesatOxford(DPhil
1982).HelecturedinArabicandHebrewatUniversityCollege,Dublin,andwas
professorofIslamichistoryatTelAvivUniversitybeforetakingupachairofHistory
andofJewishStudiesatVanderbiltUniversity,inNashville,Tennessee,in2004.He
istheauthorofTheRiseandFalloftheParty-Kings(1985)andTheCaliphateinthe
West(1993),aswellasofmanyarticlesonmedievalIslamicandJewishtopics.
i
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
ii
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
The Legend of the Septuagint
From Classical Antiquity to Today
abraham wasserstein
david j. wasserstein
VanderbiltUniversity
iii
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Informationo nthi stitle :www.cambri dge.org/9780521854955
©DavidJ.Wasserstein2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
isbn-13 978-0-511-19103-9 eBook(EBL)
isbn-10 0-511-19103-0
eBook(EBL)
isbn-13 978-0-521-85495-5 hardback
isbn-10 0-521-85495-4 hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
Da´vid Iva´n
30 January 1935 U´jpest, Hungary
1944 Auschwitz
nephew and cousin
Awrb wrkz yhy
v
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
What is Plato but Moses speaking in Attic?
NumeniusofApamea(2ndcenturyc.e.)
vi
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgments page ix
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
1. The Letter of Aristeas 19
2. TheHellenisticJewishTradition 27
3. TheRabbisandtheGreekBible 51
4. ThePtolemaicChanges 84
5. TheChurchFathersandtheTranslationoftheSeptuagint 95
6. AmongtheChristiansintheOrient 132
7. TheMuslimsandtheSeptuagint 174
8. YosipponandtheStoryoftheSeventy 192
9. Karaites,SamaritansandRabbaniteJewsintheMiddleAges 217
10. TheSeptuagintintheRenaissanceandtheModernWorld 238
Conclusion 270
Appendix:InPartibusInfidelium:ZosimusofPanopolis 275
BibliographyandSources 291
Index 324
vii
P1:JZP
0521854954pre CB976/Wasserstein 0521854954 February5,2006 9:54
viii