In this episode, I discuss rhetorical features in the Greek Pentateuch based on James Aitken's 2011 article. These examples are used to further the argument in the last episode concerning the translators' knowledge of Greek.

This is the second of the series examining questions such as: Is “Septuagint Greek” a dialect? How proficient in Greek were the translators? What can we know about the translators’ identity? How has the vocabulary of the Septuagint influenced later reception? And before that, to what extent is the Septuagint responsible for innovations in Greek vocabulary?

To subscribe to the new podcast, use an RSS reader and subscribe to this feed, or you can go directly to iTunes and subscribe there.

Bibliography mentioned

James K. Aitken, "The Significance of Rhetoric in the Greek Pentateuch," in J.K. Aitken, K.J. Dell, and B.A. Mastin (eds), On Stone and Scroll (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2011), 507–21.
Eberhard Bons and Thomas J. Kraus (eds.), Et sapienter et eloquenter: Studies on Rhetorical and Stylistic Features of the Septuagint (Göttingen: V&R, 2011)
Eberhard Bons and Jan Joosten (eds.), Septuagint Vocabulary: Pre-History, Usage, Reception (Atlanta: SBL, 2011)
Michäel van der Meer, Problems and Perspectives in Septuagint Lexicography: The Case of Non-Compliance (ἀπειθέω), where he also provides a good list of the resources now available for lexicography.

Episode Notes

English translations are from NETS

Genesis 1:2
וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος
Yet the earth was invisible and unformed
Aitken:
The difficulty lies in determining whether a feature is a choice made by the translator for stylistic effect or the result of translating a Hebrew verse that already reflected such style (for example, word order) or that naturally arose from translating the Hebrew (for example, a stereotyped rendering). Thus, to identify a feature in the Greek as rhetorical, one must first decide whether the feature could have been generated unintentionally by a translator aiming at a standard rendering of the Hebrew.
Exodus 5:13
דְּבַר־יֹום בְּיֹומֹו כַּאֲשֶׁר
Συντελεῖτε τὰ ἔργα τὰ καθήκοντα καθ’ ἡμέραν καθάπερ καὶ ὅτε τὸ ἄχυρον ἐδίδοτο ὑμῖν.
Complete the customary tasks daily even as when the straw was being given to you.
Deut 1:30
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם
κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν ὁ προπορευόμενος πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν·
The Lord your God, who goes before you.
Deut. 32:21
αὐτοὶ παρεζήλωσάν με ἐπ’ οὐ θεῷ,
παρώργισάν με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν·
κἀγὼ παραζηλώσω αὐτοὺς ἐπ’ οὐκ ἔθνει,
ἐπ’ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ αὐτούς.
They made me jealous with what is no god,
     provoked me with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with what is no nation,
     provoke them with a nation lacking understanding.
Deut. 32:23
συνάξω εἰς αὐτοὺς κακὰ
καὶ τὰ βέλη μου συντελέσω εἰς αὐτούς.
I will gather evils against them,
and will spend my arrows against them.
Deut. 32:11
ὡς ἀετὸς σκεπάσαι νοσσιὰν αὐτοῦ
καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς νεοσσοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπεπόθησεν
Like an eagle to protect his brood 
he too yearned for his young.