Has the Septuagint finally arrived? For many years, the Septuagint remained on the dusty shelf in the corner of the room for the common biblical scholar and perhaps in the box of books in the closet for the classicist. Only for the biblical textual critic did it hold any real value. Those days are long gone. Classicists interested in Hellenistic Judaism realise the Septuagint represents the most important contribution by and for Jews of the Diaspora (see Rajak's Translation and Survival [2009]). Biblical scholars now know that the Septuagint is much more than just a translation. It is at times a witness to a separate textual tradition than what we have in the Masoretic Text tradition, from which our modern translations derive. Not only a separate tradition, but also an earlier one. The Septuagint also represents in many instances the earliest commentary on the biblical text.
The growing mound of resources for Septuagint study includes introductions (Swete, Jellicoe, Marcos, Dines, Siegert, Dorival et. al., Jobes & Silva); handbooks (two forthcoming, an Oxford Handbook edited by L. and Salveson, and a T & T Clark Companion by Aitken); lexica (Lust et. al. and Muraoka); concordances (Hatch and Redpath, as well as computer software programs: Bibleworks, Accordance and Logos); and monographs and collected studies. If one seeks classification for L.'s volume, it is something of a hybrid. It is introductory, without being an introduction. On the one hand, it includes a chapter on the spread of Hellenism, which precipitated the need for a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. And L. effortlessly explains complex ideas in the fields of textual criticism and reception history so that the non-specialist and educated layperson can understand. Yet, the overall thrust of the book is that of an apologia for the Septuagint and a call to place it in its rightful place in the study of both theology and early Christian studies. Müller's First Bible of the Church (1996) trumpeted the same horn, but did not have the impact it warranted. L.'s book has made a bigger splash due to, among other variables, the choice in publisher, distribution and internet visibility. This defence of the Septuagint comes in the form of a narrative history of the Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, their reception and impact in early Christianity (L. ends his account with Jerome).
L. makes many comments throughout the book that may cause theologically conservative readers to cringe. For example, L. dismantles the pursuit of an ‘original text’ as a dead-end street. Classicists and many biblical scholars have known this for a long time, but some still find it difficult to leave the cul-de-sac. L. uses the textual plurality present in the time of earliest Christianity as a deterrent. From the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint's variant readings to the many ancient Jewish texts that were used alongside biblical books, L. makes a persuasive argument that it becomes increasingly difficult even to talk about a ‘Bible’ before the second century c.e. Before that, we ought to discuss ‘scripture’ or ‘scriptural texts’.
If L. places his focus on variants between the main texts (Septuagint, DSS, Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Text), or exaggerates their differences in hyperbolic statements, or skips over ancient testimony regarding a tripartite collection of scriptures that resembles our Hebrew Bible, it is only in reaction to the inclination of many to overstate their case for continuity, overlooking such differences and nuances. The plurality of texts and voices is vitally important to the true picture of the development of the canon, the importance of the translations, textual history and reception. The other more innocent reason to focus on the variance between the Masoretic Text underlying our modern editions of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint is the fact that when one compares two things, the similarities are just not that interesting. The magic dwells in highlighting the differences, not lingering over how they are the same. In the end, the ancients simply did not require the textual uniformity we often wish existed, or desire today.
Perhaps more enlightening is the description of the use of the Septuagint in the New Testament and the early Church. Here, L. provides examples where the Septuagint influenced the theological thought of the early Christians. The most noteworthy instance concerns the Gospel of Matthew's citation of Isaiah as a proof-text for the virgin birth – a proof not found in the Hebrew version, but only in the Septuagint. Further, ‘Paul's theology in Romans might be considerably different [if he read the Hebrew alone], since we have seen that his reading of the Septuagint of Isaiah provided him the theological contours he drove home. Likewise, the theme of rest in the book of Hebrews, so central to its message, would have been absent had this writer been reading the Hebrew Bible’ (p. 116).
In the final chapter before the postscript, L. examines the confrontation between two towering figures of early Christianity – Jerome and Augustine. Here, Jerome plays the villain, not surprisingly given the apologetic tone of the book in favour of the Septuagint. L. shows a familiarity with the sources, as he does throughout, and turns Jerome's vindictive tongue against himself in his portrayal of him as the villain who put the nails in the coffin of the Septuagint in the Western Church. In the postscript L. gives what may be (hopefully is) a foretaste concerning the Septuagint beyond Jerome's time. This narrative history of the Septuagint deserves to be written and theoretically could entail two more volumes, one on the medieval period and a second bringing it up to the present.
L. writes his narrative history of the Septuagint in the Western Church with a confidence born out of long hours in the study. He gives well-reasoned arguments further weight in 27 pages of endnotes and twelve pages of ‘Further Reading’. In a mere twelve pages, L. guides the student to the best literature on the given topics. However, there are moments throughout the book where L. tells the reader to see a particular author in the ‘Further Reading’, but since the list is divided into sixteen topics this becomes time-consuming.
The book is a welcome addition to the field of Septuagint studies, a growing sub-discipline of biblical studies that must also take seriously the classical world of early Christianity. While not an introduction proper, this book serves well as an entry point for those interested in the history of the biblical text and the Septuagint. The reader will find erudite discussion on a range of topics, such as the Letter of Aristeas, a number of early church figures, the Interlinear Paradigm theory, the Hexapla, Dead Sea Scrolls and more.
The book also provokes further questions important for future study. For example, several methodological puzzles deserve attention. For instance, how does one tell when the translator has a different Hebrew text (Vorlage), as opposed to being innovative in the translation? Studies in translation techniques among the translators, particularly from the Finnish school, have been helpful here, but more work is necessary. Also, much more work needs to be done on the theological differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Bible, as well as the reception of each in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Here too, methodologically rich study is necessary. How does one carefully examine the theological differences between the texts themselves and how the communities received them – sometimes what a translator intended was not how the community received it? Should the scholar completely separate these two lines of research? For the reception of the translations, the place to start is the French translation of the Septuagint, La Bible D'Alexandrie, which provides precious information on Rezeptionsgeschichte.
