Aquila's vocabulary

The TLG does not contain a coherent text of Aquila's Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, but (some/many) of his lexical choices were reported in LSJ. A list of all the entries that refer to Aq. can readily be generated for investigation to determine which current Greek words he employed and which words are peculiar to him (an example thereof).

The Jerusalem Temple and μεσότοιχον

Warning signs informed gentiles to proceed no further. Josephus comments,

"Proceeding across this [the open court] towards the second court of the temple, one found it surrounded by a stone balustrade, three cubits high and of exquisite workmanship; in this at regular intervals stood slabs giving warning, some in Greek, others in Latin characters, of the law of purification, to wit that no foreigner was permitted to enter the holy place, for so the second enclosure of the temple was called."

Jewish War 5, v, 2 (cf. Jewish War 6, ii, 4; Jewish Antiq. 15. xi, 5; Philo Leg. 212)

Two inscriptions bearing this warning have been found, the fullest of which is OGI II 598 (not yet online at PHI: photo and translation). The more fragmentary inscription is restored on the basis of the more complete text.

A full discussion may be found in Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: A multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad I, 1 (edd. H.M. Cotton, et al.), no. 2 (pp. 42-45).

We may assume that it was not thought necessary to have Hebrew or Aramaic warning signs. Today's equivalent sign is in Hebrew, then English, then French (but not in Arabic).

Ethnolinguistic vitality

Irish, Welsh, etc. and Yiddish and Hebrew in The Economist.

Aquila in Genesis 37:3: Joseph's robe

Aquila's ἀστραγάλειος ('of the ἀστράγαλοι') is otherwise unknown. In the LXX, the article of clothing is ποικίλος, but when the same Hebrew phrase recurs at 2 Sam. (= 2 Kingdoms) 13:18, in reference to Tamar's royal robe, it is translated as χιτὼν καρπωτός 'a sleeved garment'. See Conybeare-Stock (1905: 109).

On the subject of clothing vocabulary in Aquila, note σπαθαρίσκος in Genesis 38:14 (s.v.l.) and σπαθαρικόν from Symmachus's version of Isaiah 3:23.

Ghost words in Greek and ghost names in Hebrew

The Greek word ἀρχιεταιρος (see LSJ s.v. and Sophocles s.v.) found in 2 Kingdoms 15: 32 and 37; and 16: 16 arose from a misunderstanding of a Hebrew ethnic, arki: ארכ י

cf. 1 Paraleipomena 27: 33
2 Paraleipomena 17:5 Χουσὶ τὸν Ἀραχί

Conversely, a Hebrew word is rendered into Greek as a name, Jareb, in Hosea 5: 13 and 10: 6.

A quadrilingual funerary monument

Richard Brett, rector of Quainton, Buckinghamshire, served the translators of the Authorised Version (the First Oxford Company: the Major and Minor Prophets) apparently as a linguist. The funerary monument for himself and his family starts with a Hebrew inscription, then a Greek one, then a Latin one, and finally one in English.

So far, I have only found the English text in full:
"Instead of weeping marble weepe for him
All ye his flock whom he did strive to winn
To Christ, to lyfe; so shall you duly sett
The most desired stone on Dr Brett."

The Latin apparently said that the best monumentfor a pastor is his congregation.

The Shibboleth and translation technique

A dialectal difference in Hebrew between the Ephraimites and the other tribes gave rise to the English term 'a shibboleth' as a means of distinguishing an out-group from the in-group, whether by a mispronunciation specifically - as in the original instance - or, more generally, by a custom or fashion, by a catchphrase or password, or by a characteristic manner of speaking (and sometimes by a moral standard).

Until I can read Hebrew, here is the English Standard Version's rendering of the incident in Judges 12: 5-6:

"And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” (6) they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell."

The Old Greek versions differ in their treatment of 'shibboleth', which apparently means "a flowing stream" or "an ear of corn". The codex Vaticanus (showing so-called καί γε Hebraising features) takes a verbum e verbo approach and employs στάχυς, "an ear of corn" (note the first aorist forms of εἰπεῖν).

καὶ προκατελάβετο Γαλααδ τὰς διαβάσεις τοῦ Ιορδάνου τοῦ Εφραιμ, καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς οἱ διασῳζόμενοι Εφραιμ Διαβῶμεν, καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἄνδρες Γαλααδ Μὴ Εφραθίτης εἶ; καὶ εἶπεν Οὔ. (6) καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ Εἰπὸν δὴ Στάχυς· καὶ οὐ κατεύθυνεν τοῦ λαλῆσαι οὕτως. καὶ ἐπελάβοντο αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔθυσαν αὐτὸν πρὸς τὰς διαβάσεις τοῦ Ιορδάνου, καὶ ἔπεσαν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἀπὸ Εφραιμ τεσσαράκοντα δύο χιλιάδες.

However, the codex Alexandrinus (with Antiochene or Lucianic features) takes a sensus de sensu approach (note the pluralisation too):

καὶ προκατελάβοντο ἄνδρες Γαλααδ τὰς διαβάσεις τοῦ Ιορδάνου τοῦ Εφραιμ, καὶ ἐγενήθη ὅτι εἶπαν οἱ διασεσῳσμένοι τοῦ Εφραιμ Διαβῶμεν, καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἄνδρες Γαλααδ Μὴ ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ Εφραιμ; καὶ εἶπαν Οὔκ ἐσμεν. (6.) καὶ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς Εἴπατε δὴ Σύνθημα· καὶ οὐ κατηύθυναν τοῦ λαλῆσαι οὕτως. καὶ ἐπελάβοντο αὐτῶν καὶ ἔσφαξαν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς διαβάσεις τοῦ Ιορδάνου, καὶ ἔπεσαν ἐξ Εφραιμ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ δύο τεσσαράκοντα χιλιάδες.

That is, 'and they said to them, "Then say 'password'!"' (cf. 2 Maccabees 8.23, 13.15).

There was no attempt in either version to reflect the phonetics involved, altough ἄσταχυς existed (and was known in Hellenistic Jewish circles - at least, those of Philo and Josephus). Something along the lines of the <σι-> for <θε-> found in Laconian might have been possible.

The Vulgate gives a version with an attempt to reflect the word requested and the word spoken in answer.

occupaveruntque Galaaditae vada Iordanis per quae Ephraim reversurus erat cumque venisset ad ea de Ephraim numero fugiens atque dixisset obsecro ut me transire permittas dicebant ei Galaaditae numquid Ephrateus es quo dicente non sum. (6. ) interrogabant eum dic ergo sebboleth quod interpretatur spica qui respondebat tebboleth eadem littera spicam exprimere non valens statimque adprehensum iugulabant in ipso Iordanis transitu et ceciderunt in illo tempore de Ephraim quadraginta duo milia.

Note also the explanation of sebboleth, quod interpretatur spica, "an ear of corn". All this seems closer to Vaticanus. Jerome may have drawn on Symmachus' translation, which combined fidelity to the Hebrew with natural Greek idiom and constructions.

There is one further detail of interest. Field's Hexapla has a note on στάχυς: σεβελω * και ειπεν ταχυς z. The * is a hexaplaric asterisk (an 'x' with a dot in each wedge) indicating an addition to the LXX text from another version. The Larger Cambridge Septuagint notes from the margin of cod. 85 : καὶ εἶπεν τάχυς. Perhaps, someone somewhere wanted to reflect the difference of pronunciation with a minimal pair... but note that the accent on "swift" would be ταχύς.