The Peshitta and Syro-Hexapla Translations of Amos 1:3-2:16

301 Pages·2016·2.83 MB·English

by  Petra Verwijs

ThePeshittaandSyro-HexaplaTranslationsofAmos1:3–2:16

The Peshitta and
Syro-Hexapla Translations of
Amos 1:3–2:16
By
PetraVerwijs
leiden | boston
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Verwijs,Petra.
Title:ThePeshittaandSyro-HexaplatranslationsofAmos1:3-2:16/byPetra
Verwijs.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,2016.|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2016017855(print)|LCCN2016022250(ebook)|ISBN
9789004164079(hardback:alk.paper)|ISBN9789004322813(E-book)
Subjects:LCSH:Bible.Amos.Syriac–Versions–Peshitta.|Bible.Amos.
Syriac–Versions–Syro-Hexapla.
Classification:LCCBS1584.S97V472016(print)|LCCBS1584.S97(ebook)|
DDC224/.8043–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016017855
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isbn978-90-04-16407-9(hardback)
isbn978-90-04-32281-3(e-book)
Copyright2016byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Peshitta:TheSyriacTranslationoftheHebrew 14
3 Syro-Hexapla:TheSyriacTranslationoftheGreek 129
4 Conclusion 221
Appendixa.VocabularyChapterTwo 225
Appendixb.SyntaxChapterTwo 240
Appendixc.VocabularyChapterThree 245
Appendixd.SyntaxChapterThree 257
Bibliography 266
IndexofAuthors 276
IndexofBiblicalReferences 279

Acknowledgements
Theprocessproducingthisbookhasbeenawonderfulillustrationaboutshar-
inglifeaspartofthehumancommunity.Inspiteoftheimpassivenatureofthe
dataandanalysescontainedinthiswork,theexperiencehasbeenoneofwarm
connectionswithothers.OnadailybasisIremembertheancientcommuni-
tiesoffaithwhorespectfullypreservedtheBiblicaltextinlanguagesthatwere
mostmeaningfultothem.IamindebtedtoProf.MarvinSweeneyforrekindling
myinterestinBookoftheTwelveandforaffirmingthevalueofmymethodol-
ogy.Prof.TammiSchneiderhasbeenanenthusiasticsupporterwhosecheerful
messages have kept me going. I continue to be astounded by the ‘prophetic’
insightsofProf.KristinDeTroyer,whonotonlysawtheneedforrenewedstudy
oftheSyro-Hexapla,butalsosensedsomethingaboutmypersonalityandthe
kindofprojectthatwouldexciteme.Prof.DeTroyer’sgeneroussharingofher
manydiverseareasofexpertiseismuchappreciated.Dr.AnthonyGelstonhas
providedamostinvaluableserviceinmeticulouslyreadingthroughallthedata
andtheconclusionsdrawn.Istandinaweofbothhisexpertiseandhisgeneros-
ity.IwanttogiveaspecialthankstoProf.RobertHiebertforhisthoroughnessin
readingpreviousmaterialandpointingoutareasthatneededtobeimproved.
Prof.Dr.R.BasterHaarRomenycontributedmanysuggestionsthathelpedme
reviseandrefinethelanguageofthisworkandanumberofargumentscon-
tainedinthebook.Dr.EdwardGlennygraciouslyprovidedmeacopyofapaper
presentedatanannualsblmeeting,whichshedimportantlightonpartsof
the Septuagint text. Thanks also to Ms. Betty Clements, the reference librar-
ianattheClaremontSchoolofTheology,andMr.MikePhelps,formerlyofthe
AncientBiblicalManuscriptCenter,whohavebeenpatientandveryhelpful.
Andlast,butbynomeansleast,thankstoMs.LiesbethHugenholtz,EditorOld
Testament Studies at Brill, for her encouragement and support in bringing a
longpreparatoryphasetoasuccessfulconclusion.Iamacutelyawarethatin
spiteoftheexcellentsupportandcarefulreadingandre-readingofthemate-
rial,thisbookwillcontainerrors.Itakefullresponsibilityforeachoneofthem.
Besides those who have supported me directly, I am grateful for all my
colleaguesinthemoderntranslationcommunity,whoremindmeonadaily
basisthattheprocessofcommunicatingacrosslanguagesisatime-honored
traditionandanongoing,vibrantaspectofthehumanexperience.Aboveall,
mygratitudegoesouttomyspouseRev.Dr.LindaBos,whohasalwaysbelieved
inmyabilitytocompletethevariouspartsoftheproject.
Abbreviations
Amos1–2 Amos1:3–2:16
bdb F.Brown,S.R.Driver,andC.A.Briggs,HebrewandEnglishLexiconoftheOld
Testament(Oxford,1979)
Bib Biblica
bo Bibliothecaorientalis
csco Corpusscriptorumchristianorumorientalium
djd DiscoveriesintheJudeanDesert
Dod Dodekapropheton
Dtr Deuteronomistic
ErIsr Eretz-Israel
etl Ephemeridestheologicaelovanienses
g OldGreek
grbs Greek,Roman,andByzantineStudies
h HebrewVorlage
idb G.A.Buttricketal.(eds.),TheInterpreter’sDictionaryoftheBible(Nashville,
1962)
jbl JournalofBiblicalLiterature
jjs JournalofJewishStudies
jts JournalofTheologicalStudies
mpil MonographsofthePeshittaInstituteLeiden
ms Manuscript
mss Manuscripts
mt MasoreticText
otl OldTestamentLibrary
p Peshitta
Pent Pentateuch
q Qumran
sblds SocietyofBiblicalLiteratureDissertationSeries
st Studiatheologica
Syh Syro-Hexapla
t Targum
tre G.KrauseandG.Müller(eds.),TheologischeRealenzyklopädie(Berlin,1977)
v Vulgate
vt VetusTestamentum
zaw ZeitschriftfürdiealttestamentlicheWissenschaft
chapter 1
Introduction
One of the creative means of communication accessible to human beings
is language. Through words we are able to communicate information. Such
communication consists of both intention and perception. The challenge is
to make sure that another human being perceives what one intends him or
hertounderstand.Thisprocessisevidentinauniquesensewhenitinvolves
translation from one language to another. The translator is acutely aware of
theprocessofhisorherownunderstandingofthematerialandwhatmaybe
neededtohelpthelistenerorreaderperceivethatsameconnotation.Attimes
thetranslatormayalsousehisorherinfluencetouselanguageinseekingto
alter the intention of the original material when portraying it to the listener
orreader.Incomparingthetextreceivedbythetranslatorwiththetranslated
product,conclusionsmaybedrawnaboutboththetranslator’sownperception
of the text to be translated and about the translator’s view of the audience
receivingthetranslation.
Thetaskofthisbookistoexploreinadetailedandsystematicwaytrans-
lation techniques used in two different Syriac translations of Amos 1:3–2:16
(hereafter referred to as Amos 1–2). The passage under discussion is found
inthepartoftheOldTestamentcommonlyreferredtoasDodekapropheton
(hereafterreferredtoasDod).ThefirsttranslationisonefromHebrewtoSyr-
iac(Peshitta)andthesecond,fromGreektoSyriac(Syro-Hexapla).Thechoice
oftheword‘OldTestament’isaconsciousone.Thereisnoinclusivetermthatis
usedbyallcommunitiesthattreasurethedocumentknownas‘HebrewBible’,
‘Septuagint’,or‘OldTestament’.Sincethematerialsusedasreferenceforvocab-
ularycomparisonincludebooksoriginallywritteninGreek,theterm‘Hebrew
Bible’isnotappropriateinthecontextofthiswork.ThetextsofbothPeshitta
andSyro-Hexaplahavebeenpreservedbycommunitiesthatrefertothefirst
partoftheirBibleas‘OldTestament’.Forthesereasons,theterm‘OldTesta-
ment’isusedhere.
Contents
Chapter Two seeks to identify the translation techniques employed by the
Peshitta (hereafter referred to as p) translator of Amos 1–2. This translation
from a Hebrew Vorlage (hereafter referred to as h) is most likely produced
© koninklijkebrillnv,leiden,2016 | doi:10.1163/9789004322813_002