(-)θηκ- and fēc-

There are places in which τίθημι (better ἔ-θηκ-α) has the sense of its Latin cognate faciō (better fēcῑ). As LSJ s.v. B puts it 'put in a certain state or condition, much the same as ποιεῖν, ποιεῖσθαι, and so often to be rendered by our make:'.

Or, as Geoff Horrocks put it in his discussion of ἤθηκη in SEG XLVI 1313, the verb can mean 'make someone happy', but it cannot mean 'make a crown out of a lump of gold' (as facio can). The latter, as he notes, seems to be required in that inscription.

The point is underlined by a 'quotation' from Isaiah 5:20 in Mark the Deacon's Life of Porphyrius, 90:
Οὐαὶ τοῖς ποιοῦσι τὸ γλυκὺ πικρὸν καὶ τὸ πικρὸν γλυκύ,
τοῖς τιθεῖσι τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος.

Ralhfs' edn. has the nominative masculine plural participle τίθεντες in both places and after οὐαί has οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν, κτλ.

Some duals

Menander, fr. 520 Kock
μήτηρ τέθνηκε ταῖν ἀδελφαῖν ταῖν δυοῖν (δυεῖν in Körte-Thierfelder)
ταύταιν· τρέφει δὲ παλλακή τις τοῦ πατρὸς
... but ...
αὐτάς, ἅβρα τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν γενομένη.


Josephus (!), AJ 14.425:
ὡς δὲ καθιμήθησαν αἱ λάρνακες, ἐτόλμα δ’ οὐδεὶς προσελθεῖν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν στομίων,
ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ δέους ἠρέμουν, μάχαιράν τις περιζωσάμενος τῶν ὁπλοφόρων καὶ ταῖν χεροῖν ἀμφοτέραιν δραξάμενος ἁλύσεως, ἀφ’ ἧς ἤρτητο ἡ λάρναξ, κατῄει ἐπὶ τὰ στόμια δυσχεράνας τὴν τριβὴν τῶν ἐπεξιέναι μὴ τολμώντων.

In Plutarch, we find ταῖν with θεαῖν (so too in Arrian's Anabasis) and χεροῖν.

In Job 13:20, we find δυεῖν '(you shall indulge me) in two things' (NETS, p. 678) in the poetic section, but δύο in 42:7 in the prose epilogue (Joosten 2014: 35), where δυεῖν would be inadmissible syntactically.

Phrynichus at his best

(316) Καμμύειν· τοσαύτη κακοδαιμονία περί τινάς ἐστι τῆς βαρβαρίας, ὥστε, ἐπειδὴ Ἄλεξις (fr. 319 K.) κέχρηται τῷ καμμύειν ἠμελημένως ἐσχάτως, αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ αὐτοὺς οὕτω λέγειν, δέον ὡς οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν ἀρχαίων καταμύειν.
(317) Κεφαλοτομεῖν· ἀπόρριπτε τοὔνομα καὶ Θεόφραστον κεχρημένον αὐτῷ (Π. εὐδαιμονίας), λέγε δὲ καρατομεῖν.
(318) Λάκαιναν μὲν γυναῖκα ἐρεῖς, Λάκαιναν δὲ τὴν χώραν οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ Λακωνικήν, εἰ καὶ Εὐριπίδης παραλόγως φησὶν (Androm. 194) "ὡς ἡ Λάκαινα τῶν Φρυγῶν μείων πόλις".

καμμύω (apocope of καταμύω)  appears in 'LXX' Isaiah 6:10 and its New Testament quotations. As elsewhere, the comedian Alexis gets a rap on the knuckles. Even the great Theophrastus, more Attic than the people of Attica, nods from time to time. An instance in Euripides is not enough to justify misusing ethnic adjectives.

Number plates

For some time, on my way to work, I used to see a (non-personalised) number plate that happened to end 'LXX'. I assume that this was not the owner's choice.

This one caught my attention two days ago. One wonders whether there is a companion vehicle with the plate 'agris'. A landrover, maybe.

Some Septuagintal notes

Proverbs
Chapter 6 has an addition after verse eight about bees that came from Aristotle (of all people).

Daniel and its related additions
One group of witnesses (including P 967) has the chapters in the following order: 1-4, 7-8, 5-6, and 9-12.

This sequence is chronological (all of events of the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, then of Belshazzar, then of the Persian kings). By contrast, the MT's order apparently separates the material by genre (third person narrative, then first person apocalyptic [reported in direct speech in chapter 7]) and by language Hebrew (1:1-2:4, cf. Συριστί), then Aramaic (2:4-7:28), then Hebrew (8-12).

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).

Job's daughters

The 'Old Greek' of Job (42: 14) names the sufferer's second set of daughters as Ἡμέρα (for Jemimah, 'Dove'), Κασία (for Keziah, 'cassia') and Ἀλμαθείας κέρας Horn of Almatheia, a 'Horn of Plenty', (for Karen-Happuch, 'Horn of adornment'; cf. Jeremiah 4:30). As the LGPN stats show, none of these was ever particularly common and the first two are only known from Roman imperial times onwards. See Joosten 2014: 35.

For 'Dove', cf. Πέλεια, Περιστερά, Στρούθη, Στρούθιον, and Στρουθίς, all Hellenistic, some Classical.

By contrast, Eve (Εὕα 2 Cor. 11: 3, 1 Tim. 2: 13), who appears in LXX Genesis as Ζώη (3:20, but Ευα at 4:1 and in Tobit 8:6 BA+S), has a name that has more attestations, but all are still Roman imperial or later.

A weakness of the gloss method

E.A. Sophocles, s.v. σισόη  [p. 990i], gives 'a sort of queue' Sept. Lev. 19, 27, Greg. Naz.  III, 1081 A. Theod. I, 337 B'.

What sort of queue? Since LSJ s.v. gives 'roll of hair, LXX Le.19.27', which suits the context, this must be OED s.v. queue, n. 4, not 7, which is 'Chiefly Brit.

'(Egyptian)' in Sophocles, but 'Phaselite' in LSJ on the basis of Hesychius.

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.

Parian marble and Macedonians in Esther

Old Greek 1:6: ἐπὶ στύλοις παρίνοις καὶ λιθίνοις ... 
ἐπὶ λιθοστρώτου σμαραγδίτου λίθου καὶ πιννίνου καὶ παρίνου λίθου.

Alpha: 'pillars of marble and other stones... on an emerald pavement and roses round about'.

Haman is ὁ Μακεδών in 8:12k and 9:24, but ὁ Βουγαῖος elsewhere (1:1r, 3:1, and 9:10). In 8:12o, Haman is accused of plotting to handover the Persian Empire to the Macedonians: διὰ γὰρ τῶν τρόπων τούτων ᾠήθη λαβὼν ἡμᾶς ἐρήμους τὴν τῶν Περσῶν ἐπικράτησιν εἰς τοὺς Μακεδόνας μετάξαι.

Cf. the Λακωνικόν in Isaiah 3:23.

Relative clauses with resumptive pronouns ?

Gow-Page cite Anth.7.72 (Menander Comicus) on Call.epigr. VIII.3 (42 Pf., Anth.12.118).

Menander:
Χαῖρε, Νεοκλείδα, δίδυμον γένος, ὧν ὁ μὲν ὑμῶν 
   πατρίδα δουλοσύνας ῥύσαθ’, ὁ δ’ ἀφροσύνας.

Callimachus:
Ἄκρητος καὶ Ἔρως μ’ ἠνάγκασαν, ὧν ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν
   εἷλκεν, ὁ δ’ οὐκ εἴα τὴν προπέτειαν ἐᾶν.

ἀντάλλαγμα

LSJ cites the following: '... E.Or.1157, cf. LXXJb.28.15, al.; τῆς ψυχῆς Ev.Matt.16.26, cf. Ph.Fr.110H.'.

The last is a fragment on p. 110 of J. Rendel Harris (ed.) Fragments of Philo Judaeus (Cambridge, 1886).

The passage in question reads (from Cod.Rup.f. 261b, also 'Anton Melissa col. 1184': see Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 136):
ἀπὸ ἑνὸς συνετοῦ συνοικισθήσεται πόλις
οὔκ ἐστιν ἀντάλλαγμα πεπαιδευμένης ψυχῆς.

Harris says no more about these two lines. Since Moulton-Milligan does not have an entry for ἀντάλλαγμα, that collection was not the source for LSJ here.

The first line is Siracides 16.4a (followed by φυλὴ δὲ ἀνόμων ἐρημωθήσεται), the second Siracides 26.14b (following from δόσις κυρίου γυνὴ σιγηρά).

Although the combination of these two lines might be regarded as a fragment of Philo, the instance should be cited from Siracides.

'Peace and Safety!'

With 1 Thess. 5:3, compare: X.Cyr.7.4.5,  Psalmi Salomonis 8.18, Plu.Ant.40.7, Dio Chrysostom Orations 74.4.

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.

Diminutives in LSJ

Under χελύ̄νιον, there are two instances of an interesting explanation that I have not encountered in LSJ before: 'Dim. (in form only) of foreg.'. We are all too ready to use diminutive as a semantic/functional rather than a derivational/formal label.

Also in this entry, we are told which section of the 'foreg.' is involved.

Note too the mention of a f.l. for χελώνια II, Lxx De.34.7 cod.Alex. - perhaps a little too much precise or redundant information for the entry. Also curious is the citation from a (new) periodical or serial of 1932.

The entry is much shorter in LS4. These accretions might well speak volumes about the later work for LSJ, including its treatment of Septuagintal material.

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.

Quotations about the Septuagint

As biblical scholar Adolf Deissmann once wrote, “A single hour lovingly devoted to the text of the Septuagint will further our exegetical knowledge of the Pauline epistles more than a whole day spent over a commentary.”

Peter Walters (né Katz) once wrote of the Greek of the translation by Aquila, "the language he writes is not Greek nor any other living thing at all" and noted Aquila's "pedanticism in reproducing the Hebrew original and consistency in clinging to fixed Greek equivalents (?) for Hebrew stems and derivations".

Which Greek letter accounts for the most words?

Continuing this theme, we may consider this photograph from the office of A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint by Lust, Eynikel and Hauspie (aka LEH).

Note that although some letters are grouped into a single file, alpha and epsilon have their own box-files.

Professorial Advice

As Ferdinand Hitzig is said to have remarked to his students, 'Gentlemen, have you a Septuagint? If not, sell all you have, and buy a Septuagint.'
Karen H. Jobes, Invitation to the Septuagint, Baker (Grand Rapids, April 2001), 26.