Invitation to the Septuagint

Trinity Journal, Fall 2002 by DeRouchie, Jason S

Karen H. Jobes and Moises Silva. Invitation to the Septuagint. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000. 351 pp. $29.99.

While a number of introductions to the Septuagint (LXX) have been published in the last century (e.g., the classic works by Sweet and Jellicoe and most recently the edition by Femandez Marcos), none balance accessibility with learned thoroughness as well as this volume by Jobes and Silva. These scholars, both of whose research is known and respected by the readers of this journal, seek to provide an aid in transitioning students from having a general knowledge of the Greek versions to being able to competently use the LXX in biblical study and interpretation. This goal has been admirably reached. Comprehensive, well-informed, and pedagogically well-structured, this primer does justice to its name by providing an enticing presentation of the history, modern research, and usefulness of the Greek OT.

Following a helpful introduction that answers why one should study the ancient Greek versions of the OT, the body of the book is divided into three parts, each with a short introduction. Part I is titled "The History of the Septuagint" and contains four foundational chapters that cover the origin, transmission, canonical content, and translational nature of the LXX. Each chapter begins with a summary of its subject matter and ends with direction for further study. Technical terms are defined (both in the text and in the glossary), and all foreign language words presented in the body of the text are transliterated for easy access by the beginning student.

Part 2, "The Septuagint in Biblical Studies," contains six chapters that focus on the contemporary use and interpretation of the LXX. Helpful chapters on the character of "Septuagintal Greek" and the use of the LXX in NT study precede and follow respectively three important chapters that wrestle with the use of the LXX in textual criticism. While effort has been taken to make this material accessible to a wide variety of readers, the technicality of the topic, the numerous examples, and the untransliterated Greek and Hebrew make this section most profitable for those with at least an intermediate proficiency in the biblical languages. As in the previous section, each chapter is introduced with a summary and concludes with guidance for future research. The section ends by illustrating with three LXX passages (Gen 4:1-8; Isa 52:13-53:12; Esth 5:1-2 with addition D) how the forestated material can influence the interpretation of the biblical text.

"The Current State of Septuagint Studies" is the focus of Part 3. The four chapters included here are targeted at the advanced student in the hope that he/she will engage in future LXX studies. A discussion of the lives, historical setting, and contributions of the previous generation of LXX scholars leads to three chapters that review contemporary contributions to LXX studies in the areas of linguistics, historical reconstruction, and theological development. These chapters also open with a summary, but direction for future reference is relegated to the footnotes. The book ends with summaries of all the major LXX organizations, research projects, and reference works; a glossary of all difficult terms; a table delineating all the differences in versification between the English versions and LXX; and subject, author, and Scripture indexes.

As an OT scholar with intermediate proficiency in LXX studies and OT textual criticism, I found this volume most helpful and accessible. The first two sections could easily be used in a seminary or advanced undergraduate class, whereas the book as a whole is ideal for the doctoral student or interested scholar who desires to gain an overall grasp of the field and to begin engaging in the discussions.

The book begins where it needs to-namely, by defining terms and noting the challenges of speaking about the Septuagint. What is known and questionable about the origin and history of the LXX is clearly presented, including profitable discussions about the nature of the revisions/versions and the interpretive challenges regarding their transmission. Included with the various tables and diagrams are numerous photographs of the major codexes, manuscripts, and critical editions, all of which clarify and enhance the discussion of the Greek text's transmission history.

A questionable statement is made in Part 1 regarding the history of the biblical canon. Jobes and Silva rightfully note how events like the adoption of the LXX by the early Christian church, the division of the church between the East and West in the Middle Ages, and the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century all left their mark on the content and structure of Bibles used by various religious communities. But they also state that "at the end of the first century, the church's Bible consisted of all the books of the Hebrew Bible in Greek translation, some additional books, and the collection of writings that became the New Testament" (p. 83). By including certain "additional" materials into the earliest Christian community's Bible, the authors appear to attribute canonical status to a body of literature Protestants have traditionally viewed as apocryphal (Greek for "hidden, inauthentic"). The authors even define these books in the glossary under the title "deuterocanonical" rather than "apocryphal." Personal dialogue with the authors, however, has clarified that they each hold to the traditional Protestant position regarding the canon. That is, both Jobes and Silva affirm that, while the Jews and Christians of the early part of this era highly esteemed the apocryphal books, the NT evidence strongly suggests that, apart from the twenty-seven books that became the NT, the Greek texts considered Scripture by the early church were limited to the books found in the Jewish Hebrew canon (i.e., the OT). Although the apocryphal books may have been a part of the earliest Greek versions, the first century church did not attribute to them canonical status as did some church fathers of the second to fourth centuries and the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century.