The Septuagint and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria: A Study in the Narrative of the Letter of Aristeas

223 Pages·2003·0.88 MB·English

by  Sylvie Honigman

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5111 THE SEPTUAGINT AND
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HOMERIC SCHOLARSHIP IN
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4 THE SEPTUAGINT
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6 AND HOMERIC
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SCHOLARSHIP
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IN ALEXANDRIA
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4 A study in the narrative of
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the Letter of Aristeas
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First published 2003
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2003 Sylvie Honigman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Honigman, Sylvie, 1965–
The Septuagint and Homeric scholarship in Alexandria: a study
in the narrative of the Letter of Aristeas/Sylvie Honigman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Letter of Aristeas. 2. Bible. O.T. Greek – Versions – Septuagint.
I. Title.
BS744.A7H66 2003
221.4′8′09–dc21 2003046663
ISBN 0-203-49877-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57087-1 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–28072–9(Print Edition)
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5111 TO THE MEMORY OF
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TO MY PARENTS
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CONTENTS
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3111 Preface and acknowledgements ix
4 List of abbreviations xi
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1 Introduction 1
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2 Genre and composition in the Book of Aristeas 13
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3 The central narrative: the transfiguration of history into
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charter myth 37
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4 Enforcing the narrative veracity: the rhetoric of historiography
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in the Book of Aristeas 65
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5 The origins and early history of the LXX: guidelines for a
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reconstruction of the past 93
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6 The Homeric paradigm: a hypothesis on the genesis of
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the LXX and the Book of Aristeas 119
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7 Conclusion: the Book of Aristeas between two worlds 145
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5 Appendix: outline of the composition of the Book of Aristeas 149
6 Notes 151
7 Selected bibliography 191
8 Index of sources 199
9 General index 203
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PREFACE AND
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3111 I first began to work closely on the Book (Letter) of Aristeas in 1995, when
4 Laurence Vianès asked me to write the explanatory notes which were to
5 accompany her new French translation (forthcoming in A. Caquot and
6 M. Philonenko (eds), Écrits intertestamentaires, vol. 2, Paris: Gallimard). This
7 gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with the current state of research.
8 The survey of the relevant bibliography that I was led to make in the prepar-
9 ation of my notes convinced me that the study of the Book of Aristeas was
20111 suffering from the lack of a comprehensive monograph. The existing running
1 commentaries were getting outdated in their bibliography and approach.
2 Indeed, the very arrangement of running notes, with its necessary stress on
3 synthesizing existing bibliography, seriously hampers a thorough revision of
4 accepted views. After some time I decided to fill this gap. This was the
5111 genesis of the present book.
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7 First of all, I would like to thank Laurence Vianès, who led me to take a
8 close interest in the Book of Aristeas. In the genesis and actual redaction of
9 this book I have benefited from discussions and comments from many people.
30111 I am grateful to Martin Goodman, Christopher Pelling, Jonathan Price,
1 Alison Salvesen and David Wasserstein, who read large sections of the book
2 and provided both detailed and general comments which were valuable for
3 their sharp insight and deep erudition. John Collins and Tessa Rajak read
4 a preliminary outline of the book, and made important comments at this
5 early stage of my work. Margalit Finkelberg read a chapter and provided
6 detailed comments that helped improve it. I also wish to thank Susan
7 Weingarten who, more than an English editor, was a thorough reader, and
8 contributed numerous remarks and comments about both form and content,
9 which were of considerable help. I have also benefited from long discussions
40111 with Sebastian Brock, Alison Salvesen, Tessa Rajak and Benjamin G. Wright
1 III in the field of Septuagint studies. Their help was invaluable in many
2 ways, and was provided most generously. Martin Goodman and Christopher
3 Pelling also contributed many valuable remarks in oral discussions at various
44111 stages of my work. I have also profited immensely from reading unpublished
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