Now a research argument is not like the heated exchanges we hear every day. Those arguments usually involve a dispute: children argue over a toy; roommates over the stereo; drivers about who had the right-of-way. Such arguments can be polite or nasty, but most involve conflict, with winners and losers. To be sure, researchers sometimes…More
A Lexicographer’s Favorite Verses
Anyone with the slightest bit of experience doing word studies knows what a wearisome task the lexicographer has. Today, as my mind wandered from the task at hand, I flipped through the front pages of Takamitsu Muraoka’s Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. What verses did he choose to include at the end of his Introduction (page…More
How Do You Say “Par Excellence” in Greek?
In the front of the Rahlfs-Hanhart edition of the Septuagint there is a brief “History of the Septuagint Text” written by Rahlfs. As Rahlfs describes the way first century Christians regarded the Old Testament, he casually drops a Greek word that occurs only once in the LXX and once in the NT. Of course, I…More
Septuagint and New Testament
Chapter 9 of Jobes and Silva is about the relationship between the LXX and the NT. I thought their discussion of the relationship between the language of the LXX and NT was worth a few quotes here. The LXX and NT share a common language, yet there is “much linguistic diversity” throughout the literature. A Fact…More
Coming Soon: BibleWorks 9
A very intriguing post from the folks at BibleWorks. Looks like version 9 will feature significant integration of the high resolution digital images of biblical manuscripts available on the web! More information on the BibleWorks Manuscript Project is available here. To see what’s new in version 9, click here.More
“A New Testament Perspective on Power”
Slightly off-topic, but interesting (and edifying) nonetheless: Chris Tilling just tweeted a link to an excellent talk that he recently gave on the concept of power in the NT. According to Chris, in the NT and the ancient world in general, “power” is a theological concept. Yet in the NT power is understood in light of…More
With Christ “in God”?
Today, while discussing the syntax of Romans 1:5 with a friend, I was reminded of a note I originally posted on Tumblr. It is related to Greek syntax, so I thought I would post it here, too. The Problem Because we have been raised with Christ, Colossians 3:1 tells us to “Seek the things above,…More
What Does “70” Have to Do with the Greek Old Testament?
The Greek Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Septuagint (from the Latin word for 70) or as the LXX. But why 70? The answer to this question lies in the legendary account of the circumstances surrounding the first Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The story begins with the Letter of Aristeas. Most scholars…More
Re: “Septuagint”
The word “Septuagint” is quite slippery. In their first chapter Jobes and Silva note a few different ways the word is used and provide a little etymology: Etymology: “Septuagint” came into English from the Latin word Septuaginta (“seventy”), a shortened form of the title Interpretatio septuaginta virorum (“The Translation of the Seventy Men”). The Latin title arose from the…More
Why Study the Septuagint?
This is a summary of the reasons laid out by Jobes and Silva in their introductory chapter: For anyone interested in history: The Septuagint was the first translation made of any literary work of a size comparable to the Hebrew Bible. “It marks a milestone in human culture.” More manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament…More
