John Zhu-En Wee, «Hebrew Syntax in the Organization of Laws and its Adaptation in the Septuagint», Vol. 85 (2004) 523-544
The Hebrew of the Pentateuch exhibits a hierarchy of
discourse markers that indicate different organization levels in the legal
texts. This organization elucidates the relationship (whether coordination or
subordination) of legal stipulations with each other. The markers studied
include X+yk+Pred and X+r#)+Pred
constructions, yk and M)
clauses, as well as a specialized use of the particle
hnh. The Greek translators may have been sensitive to the use of these
markers and even modified them in order to express their particular
interpretation of the text.
534 John Zhu-En Wee
the people (23). In Lev 15,2 and Num 5,12, where the gender under
discussion is significant, some form of ajnhvr ajnhvr is used. The
translators may have viewed çya çya in Lev 22,4 not as the
introduction to a whole new topic, but as a specification of çya lk (=
pa'" a[nqrwpo") already mentioned in 22,3. This may have been the
reason that the expression is rendered by a single a[nqrwpo" there.
Also, Lev 20,2 is unusual in its use of ti". Interestingly, none of the
four non-legal uses of çya çya are translated as the above Greek words.
Exod 36,4; Num 1,4 and 4,19 all use some form of the word e{kasto",
while Num 4,49 has a[ndra kat’ a[ndra.
In addition, the translation of X+yk+Pred is intriguing. This
Hebrew construction is found primarily in the legal texts and has been
rendered in different ways by the translators (24):
Renditions of X+yk+Pred
ejavn clause < X+ejavn+Pred > X+rel+an+Pred
[
Affinity of Syntax Forms:
Follows Hebrew Word Order? No Yes Yes
Usual Greek Word Order? Yes No Yes
Greek Equivalent of yk ? Usual Usual Unusual
Occurrences in Legal Texts: 9 19 17
In line with the general practice of the LXX Pentateuch, the
translation of X+yk+Pred tends to follow the word order in the
Hebrew rather literally (25). The most frequent Greek form used is
(23) Lev 17,3.8.10.13; 18,6; 20,9; 22,18; 24,15; Num 9,10.
(24) The notation rel refers to all kinds of relative pronouns, including
indefinite relative pronouns and correlative pronouns. The occurrences of the
Greek forms are as follows: X+yk+Pred as ejavn clause: Lev 2,1; 5,1; 13,40; 19,20;
22,11; 24,19; 25,26.29; Num 30,4; X+ejavn+Pred: Lev 1,2; 4,2; 5,15.21;
13,2.9.18.24.29.38.47; 15,25; 21,9; 22,12.13; 24,15; Num 5,12; 19,14; 27,8;
X+rel+a[n+Pred: Lev 5,4.17; 7,21; 12,2; 15,2.16.19; 20,27; 22,14.21; 24,17;
27,2.14; Num 5,6; 6,2; 9,10; 30,3. Wevers observes that, for Lev 5,15.21[Greek
6,2]; 13,29.38, the minority of witnesses attests to X+ejavn+Pred, whereas the
majority attests to X+rel+a[n+Pred. He argues that “the change is probably in the
direction of an improved Greek rather than towards a Hebraism; i.e., in each case
the ejavn construction is originalâ€, J.W. WEVERS, Text History of the Greek
Leviticus (Göttingen 1986) 74. I concur with Wevers, although this textual issue
is not crucial to my discussion here, since both X+ejavn+Pred and
X+rel+an+Pred function on the same organizational level.
[
(25) For examples of the LXX’s fidelity to word order, note the discussion by
G. WALSER, “A Peculiar Word Order Rule for the Septuagint and for Cognate
Textsâ€, X Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate
Studies (ed. M.K.H. PETERS) (Atlanta, GA 1998).