This volume represents the current state of Septuagint studies as reflected in papers presented at the triennial meeting of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS). It is rich with contributions from distinguished senior scholars as well as from promising younger scholars whose research testifies to the bright future and diversity of the field. The volume is remarkable in terms of the number, scholarly interests, and geographical distribution of its contributors; it is by far the largest congress volume to date. More than fifty papers represent viewpoints and scholarship from Belgium, Canada, Cameroon, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Korea, The Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This volume examines numerous Hebrew wordplays not identified and discussed in previous research, and the technique of the Septuagint translators, by offering another criterion of evaluation – essentially, their concern about the style of translating Hebrew into Greek. Elizabeth Backfish's study analyzes seventy-four wordplays employed by the Hebrew poets of Psalms 90-106, and how the Septuagint renders Hebrew wordplay in Greek. Backfish estimates that the Septuagint translators were able to render 31% of the Hebrew semantic and phonetic wordplays (twenty-four total), most of which required some sort of transformation, or change, to the text in order to function in Greek. After providing a thorough summary of research methods on wordplay, definitions and research methodology, Backfish summarizes all examples of wordplay within the Fourth Psalter, and concludes with examples of the wordplay's replication, similar rendition or textual variation in the Septuagint. Emphasising the creativity and ingenuity of the Septuagint translators' work in passages that commentators often too quickly identify as the results of scribal error or a variant Vorlage from the Masoretic text, Backfish shows how the aptitude and flexibility displayed in the translation technique also contributes to conversations in modern translation studies.

This volume examines Jewish literature produced from c. 700 B.C.E. to c. 200 C.E. from a socio-theological perspective. In this context, it offers a scholarly attempt to understand how the ancient Jewish psyche dealt with times of extreme turmoil and how Jewish theology altered to meet the challenges experienced. The volume explores various early Jewish literature, including both the canonical and apocryphal scripture. Here, reference is often made to a divine epiphany (a moment of unexpected and prodigious revelation or insight) as a response to abuse, suffering and passion. Many of the chapters deal with these issues in relation to the Antiochan crisis of 169 to 164 B.C.E. in Judea, one of the more notable periods of oppression. This watershed event appears to have served as a catalyst for the new apocalyptic texts which were produced up until c. 200 C.E, and which reflect a new theological dynamic in Judaism – one that informed subsequent Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. Passion, Persecution and Epiphany in Early Jewish Literature will be of interest to anyone working on the Bible (both Masoretic and LXX) and early Jewish literature, as well as students of Jewish history and the Levant in the classical period.

This volume honors the lifetime of scholarly contribution and leadership of Professor Emanuel Tov, Judah L. Magnes professor of Bible at the Department of Bible, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Colleagues from all over the world have contributed significant studies in the three areas of Tov’s primary interest and expertise: the Hebrew Bible, its Greek translations, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Festschrift is a fitting tribute to one of the generation’s leading scholars, whose dedicated efforts as editor-in-chief have brought about the complete publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ilmari Soisalon-Soininen (1917–2002) was a Finnish Septuagint scholar and the father of the translation-technical method in studying the nature of translations. The present volume upholds his work with studies related to the syntax of the Septuagint. It is impossible to describe the syntax of the Septuagint without researching the translation technique employed by the translators of the different biblical books; the characteristics of both the Hebrew and Greek languages need to be taken into consideration. The topics in this volume include translation-technical methodology; case studies concerning the use of the definite article, preverbs, segmentation, the middle voice, and the translations of Hebrew stems in the Pentateuch; selected syntactical features in Isaiah and Jeremiah; the connection between the study of syntax and textual criticism, especially in Judges; and lexical distinction between near-synonymous words. The volume concludes with six articles by Soisalon-Soininen, originally written in German and translated into English. These studies pertain to the use of the genitive absolute, renderings of the Hebrew construct state and the personal pronoun, interchangeability of prepositions, segmentation, and Hebraisms. These articles have lasting value as analyses of significant translation-syntactic phenomena and, together with Soisalon-Soininen's monographs, they crystallize his translation-technical method. The volume paves way to a description of the syntax of the Septuagint that does justice to its nature as a translation.

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all feature ideas about heaven, hell, and afterlife, and these concepts have evolved over time within these religions. This work supplies a detailed and coherent understanding of the broad scope of spiritual thinking in the last 3,000 years within the Abrahamic traditions. Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife: Eternity in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam provides an all-encompassing examination of historic and contemporary perspectives on afterlife in Western religions. In these three volumes, Judaic, Christian, and Muslim scholars join forces, providing an unprecedented review of their individual faith's traditions. Every significant issue and major theme is discussed; no controversial topic is avoided. From ancient doctrines to modern-day outlooks of conservatives, progressives, and liberals in all three religions, all are analyzed and presented here. The framework of the volumes underscores how the ethics and concepts of eternity in the Western "action" religions contrast with Eastern religions that tend to be characterized as "passive" or "withdrawal" religions in their ethics and their notions of afterlife as absorption within universal spirit, Nirvana, or nonexistence. This work is well-suited for undergraduate and graduate students, general readers interested in religion, and professional scholars, particularly those in fields corollary to religious study.

Prior to any attempt to study a text at the literary level, the textual material itself has to be carefully established. It is for this reason that the present volume is devoted to a detailed text-critical study of the 'physical' text of the Plagues Narrative in Exod. 7:14 11:10. In the first chapter, the author formulates a number of prolegomena relating to textual criticism as a discipline, the extant textual material, the terminology employed and the methodological model that serves as the basis of this study. In the second chapter, data provided by the various textual forms of the Plagues Narrative in Exod. 7:14 11:10, namely MT, LXX, SamP, 4QpaleoExodm, 4QpaleoGen-Exodl, 2QExoda, 4QExodc, 4QGen-Exoda and 4QExodj, are registered and described. The extant textual versions themselves are presented in the form of a synopsis, added as an appendix to this book. The third and final chapter offers the text-critical evaluation of all 'text-relevant' variants.

Essays from experts in the field of Septuagint studies The study of Septuagint offers essential insights in ancient Judaism and its efforts to formulate Jewish identity within a non-Jewish surrounding culture. This book includes the papers given at the XV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS), held in Munich, Germany, in 2013. The first part of this book deals with questions of textual criticism. The second part is dedicated to philology. The third part underlines the increasing importance of Torah in Jewish self-definition. Features: Essays dealing with questions of textual criticism, mostly concerning the historical books and wisdom literature and ancient editions and translations Philological essays covering the historical background, studies on translation technique and lexical studies underline the necessity of both exploring general perspectives and working in detail

This volume presents the main lectures of the 22nd Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT) held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in September 2016. Sixteen internationally distinguished scholars present their current research on the Hebrew Bible, including the literary history of the Hebrew text, its Greek translation and history of interpretation. Some focus on archeological and iconographic sources and the reconstruction of ancient Israelite religion while others discuss the formation of the biblical text and its impact for cultural memory. The volume gives readers a representative view of the most recent developments in the study of the Old Testament.