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.
540 John Zhu-En Wee
eja;n mevn clause (= µa clause):
A Proper ways of eating:
Thanksgiving offerings eaten on same day (vv. 12-15)
B............... kai; ejavn clause (= µaw clause): Votive & freewill offerings eaten
within first 2 days (vv. 16-17)
eja;n dev clause (= µaw clause):
A’ Improper ways of eating:
Guilty if eaten on 3rd day (v. 18).
Indeed, the same contrast is seen in Lev 19,6. Here, the LXX
translates µkjbz and rtwnhw as Greek finite verbs. Wevers correctly
notes that “[the verse] contrasts what is to be done the following day
[with] today and tomorrow†(40). He implies that the conjunction ejavn
was introduced by the translators, instead of being based on a variant
Hebrew Vorlage.
h|/ a[n hJmevra/ quvshte brwqhvsetai kai; th'/ au[rion
A
trjmmw lkay µkjbz µwyb
kai; eja;n kataleifqh'/ e{w" hJmevra" trivth" ejn puri; katakauqhvsetai
A’
πrçy çab yçylçh µwyAd[ rtwnhw
c) Grouping of laws on jubilee and vows (Lev 25; Num 30)
Sometimes, various facets of the same topic are discussed in
adjoining sections, each introduced by a X+yk+Pred or X+rça+Pred
construction. When these constructions (as well as the yk and µa
clauses) are translated by ejavn clauses, separate sections are no longer
distinguishable. This phenomenon in the LXX suggests that the
translators were sometimes more concerned with grouping similar
legal sections together, rather than elucidating the exact logical
relationship of one law to another.
An example of this would be Leviticus 25, which discusses
various laws relating to the year of jubilee. The first section in this
passage (vv. 2-13) begins with a yk clause, which is translated as an
ejavn clause. Two other sections in the chapter begin with the
X+yk+Pred pattern: 1) Lev 25,26-28 (Redeeming possessions); 2) Lev
25,29-34 (Redeeming houses). The difficulty of X+yk+Pred in Lev
25,26 has been noted earlier under Rule 2. Also, although these
sections are clearly organized under the overarching topic of the
jubilee, the yk clause (v. 2) which first introduces the topic is actually
(40) Ibid., 293.