The Göttingen Septuagint ... Finally!

[basilides]

This is very good news, indeed!

Logos has finally got the lead out and appears to be proceeding at a fast pace to make available shortly, and after a considerable and intensely annoying delay (not enough customers, the company claims) the indispensable Gottingen Septuagint.
It's unknown when or if Logos will offer the New English Translation of the Septuagint (2009 edition) as well. Perhaps, though not wanting to beat a dead horse too much, our beloved BibleWorks could instead beat them to the punch and provide both of them to us as modules, albeit expensive, considering BibleWorks does not regard the LXX text as inspired, presumably, and therefore there would be no violation of BibleWorks' admirable conscience code.

[bkMitchell]

Perhaps, though not wanting to beat a dead horse too much, our beloved BibleWorks could instead beat them to the punch and provide both of them to us as modules, albeit expensive, considering BibleWorks does not regard the LXX text as inspired, presumably, and therefore there would be no violation of BibleWorks' admirable conscience code.

I would not mind at all if BibleWorks published the Gottingen Septuagint, but I wouldn't buy it. I'd be far more interested if they published electronic facsimiles of Byzantine texts (or better yet Hebrew manuscripts!). Who, needs apparatus and eclectic/hypotetical texts, when they could have libraries of original manuscripts!

As, for NET or any another English translation for that matter, No thank you!!!

The real Bible, my friend: are the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Scriptures everything else is just commentary!

ללמד תרגום זה כמו לנשק את הכלה דרך צעיף
"Studying through a translation is a kin to kissing a bride through the veil."

חיים נחמן ביאליק
Hayim Nahman Bialik

AD FONTES!

[basilides]

Brian, if I may, you mean "is akin to kissing" not "is a kin to kissing," which conjures up an odd image. Yes, translation can be tricky and requires the utmost precision.

Regarding the LXX, if you can find the time, read A. Gelston's "Some Hebrew Misreadings in the Septuagint of Amos," Vetus Testamentum, 2002, and note Acts 15:17, Amos 9:12 (LXX), and Amos 9:12 (MT).

[bkMitchell]

If you are Orthodox, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, or Traditional...

Basilides, I do not know if you're Greek Orthodox,(any other type Orthodox), Catholic, or another type of traditional Christian but If you are then you have my ear and full support if you decide to petition BibleWorks or any other Bible Software company for more Greek/Syriac/Eastern original language electronic resources. I am with you on this one, Orthodox, Catholics, Traditional Christians of all strips are often ignored in the software industry.

On Translation and Interpretation

Translation/Interpretation are sometimes necessary, but I firmly believe they have cause way to much division in the body of Christ. If, a translation (sight reading) is done orally in the ecclesiastical community and for the community during their assembly then that is something that I can fully agree with and say Amen, to.

When, individuals and companies produce translations commercially it is hard for me not be skeptical. How can a company or an individual interpret and expound the word for a community of faith he/she/they do not know personally or worse yet when they have a radically different faith? To some degree everyone is biased and those biases will find their way into translation!

Translation/Interpretation I believe, is best done in the community of faith rather than in commercially produced so called study Bibles. In the community of faith there are checks and balances, objections can be raised, debate, and discussion can happen. When a printed translation is published and is claimed to be the word of God; conversation and debate stops for many who blindly believe that translation to be the actual word of the living God. Still, others jump from translation to translation based on what sounds best to them at the moment, when they have know way of evaluating the various translations against the original language texts. Sorry, to be long winded...

Your Quotes and my replies

Brian, if I may, you mean "is akin to kissing" not "is a kin to kissing," which conjures up an odd image. Yes, translation can be tricky and requires the utmost precision..

Thanks, I'll fix the next time I use it, but I'll leave that mistake in the former post.

Regarding the LXX, if you can find the time, read A. Gelston's "Some Hebrew Misreadings in the Septuagint of Amos," Vetus Testamentum, 2002, and note Acts 15:17, Amos 9:12 (LXX), and Amos 9:12 (MT).

Sure, I can find some time, now if I can just find that article I'll be happy to read it.

[AbramKJ]

I know Göttingen is not in BibleWorks, but just to stick this here in the discussion about it, in case it's helpful to anyone, I've just put together part one of a short primer (with part two to follow) on using/understanding the Göttingen Septuagint. If anyone here is interested in reading, I'm grateful for any feedback and suggestions for improvement.

How to Read and Understand the Göttingen Septuagint: A Short Primer, part 1

[ISalzman]

Hey AbramKJ, Is there any way that you could make your blog post available as a pdf that would be downloadable to one's local hard drive? Thanks.

Irving

[MGVH]

Thanks to AbramKJ for the primer on the use of the Göttingen Septuagint. Looking forward to part 2.

In connection w/ this note that he also blogged about "BHS, the Göttingen Septuagint, and other critical editions: a basic orientation to what they are"

As he has noted, BibleWorks only offers Rahlf's edition of the LXX, but does add:

Now included are the substantial text variations and multiple text types (assuming Codex Vaticanus as standard) from the Theodotian revision, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Sinaiticus. But not yet included are the textual variants as encoded from the apparatuses of the best available editions (especially Goettingen, Cambridge), and reformatted for computer by the Philadelphia team of the in-process CATSS Project under the direction of R. Kraft.

I think this refers to the alternative texts you find for Joshua, Judges, Daniel, Tobit, Susanna, and Bel. There are not any apparatus notes in BW.

You do have some options for LXX text critical work, however.

Online, Swete’s The Old Testament in Greek is available at archive.org (search for Swete septuagint)
The Larger Cambridge LXX is also online there with the first eight volumes bundled here: http://archive.org/details/OldTestam...CodexVaticanus
Another work that could be mentioned here, but it is one that is even more difficult to negotiate, is Frederick Field’s Origenis Hexaplorum, also online at archive.org (search for hexapla).

I have links to these resources saved in BibleWorks ERMIE for easy access.

[AbramKJ]

Hey AbramKJ, Is there any way that you could make your blog post available as a pdf that would be downloadable to one's local hard drive? Thanks.

Irving

Hi, Irving! Good question--I'm not sure I know how to do this in WordPress, but especially once I have the series of posts completed, that's a good idea.

If you go to https://abramkj.wordpress.com/contact-abram/ and use that to send me your email address, however, I may be able to send you something in .pdf that is more or less the same as the post.

[AbramKJ]

Thanks to AbramKJ for the primer on the use of the Göttingen Septuagint. Looking forward to part 2.

In connection w/ this note that he also blogged about "BHS, the Göttingen Septuagint, and other critical editions: a basic orientation to what they are"

As he has noted, BibleWorks only offers Rahlf's edition of the LXX, but does add:

Now included are the substantial text variations and multiple text types (assuming Codex Vaticanus as standard) from the Theodotian revision, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Sinaiticus. But not yet included are the textual variants as encoded from the apparatuses of the best available editions (especially Goettingen, Cambridge), and reformatted for computer by the Philadelphia team of the in-process CATSS Project under the direction of R. Kraft.

I think this refers to the alternative texts you find for Joshua, Judges, Daniel, Tobit, Susanna, and Bel. There are not any apparatus notes in BW.

You do have some options for LXX text critical work, however.

Online, Swete’s The Old Testament in Greek is available at archive.org (search for Swete septuagint)
The Larger Cambridge LXX is also online there with the first eight volumes bundled here: http://archive.org/details/OldTestam...CodexVaticanus
Another work that could be mentioned here, but it is one that is even more difficult to negotiate, is Frederick Field’s Origenis Hexaplorum, also online at archive.org (search for hexapla).

I have links to these resources saved in BibleWorks ERMIE for easy access.

Thanks for these, Mark!

[ISalzman]

Hi, Irving! Good question--I'm not sure I know how to do this in WordPress, but especially once I have the series of posts completed, that's a good idea.

If you go to https://abramkj.wordpress.com/contact-abram/ and use that to send me your email address, however, I may be able to send you something in .pdf that is more or less the same as the post.

Thanks so much AbramKJ. Will do.