Editing the Greek Psalter

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Editing the Greek Psalter

Introduction

Albrecht, Felix, and Reinhard Gregor Kratz, eds. Editing the Greek Psalter. De Septuaginta Investigationes 18. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2024.

In 2020, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony started a 20-year project to create a new critical edition of the Greek Psalter that will replace the outdated edition by Alfred Rahlfs (1931). You can read more about the project here. The project opened with a conference (held December 2021) where scholars presented papers on the Greek Psalter. This volume is the compilation of those papers.

Summary

Outline

The book is organized into four sections and contains a total of 29 chapters. The four sections are as follows:

  1. The Greek Psalter
  2. Daughter Versions and Translations of the Greek Psalter
  3. Hexapla of Psalms, Antiochene Text and Catena Tradition
  4. Reception History of the Greek Psalter


The following book summary will focus only on the first two chapters:

  • John Lee | "The Language of the Greek Psalter"
  • Anneli Aejmelaeus | "Translation Technique in the Greek Psalter"

The Language of the Greek Psalter (John Lee)

"The aim of this contribution is to describe the language of the Psalms... It will address... two topics, 'Greek idiom' and the 'level of Greek' or register' of the Psalter. The other, related topics, are 'translation method' and 'style', which I hope to pursure at another time" (21).

These two topics "give a good indication of the nature of the Greek of the Psalms. It is, in short: natural, idiomatic, upper-middle literary Greek of II BCE" (37).

Argumentation


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[Language of the Psalter]: The language of the Psalter is "natural, idiomatic, upper-middle literary Greek of II BCE" (37).
 + <Natural, idiomatic>: "The Psalms translator proceeds naturally, even instinctively, using normal Greek as much as possible" (29).
  + <Particles and word position>: "The particles, enclitic personal pronouns, indefinite personal pronoun τις, and the special particle ἄν are positioned in the Psalms in accordance with Greek rules," even when these particles have no one-to-one equivalent in the Hebrew text (22).
   + [Ps 10:5]: ואהב חמס > ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν 
   + [Ps 87:12]: היספר בקבר חסדך > μὴ διηγήσεταί τις ἐν τάφῳ τὸ ἔλεός σου
  + <Onoma rule>: "There are two instances of observance of the 'onoma rule', that is, ὄνομα is constructed without the article when the possessor of the name is expressed in the dative" (24).
   + [Ps 67:5]: ביה שׁמו > κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ (see also Ps 82:19).
  + <Prepositions>: "The Psalms translator usually adjusts his choice of preposition to the context" (24).
   + [Ps 2:2 vs Ps 10:2]:  נוסדו יחד על יהוה > συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου (Ps 2:2) vs כוננו חצם על־יתר > ἡτοίμασαν βέλη εἰς φαρέτραν (Ps 10:2)
   + [Ps 121:1]: בית יהוה נלך > εἰς οἶκον κυρίου πορευσόμεθα.
  + <Pronoun and copula>: In verbless clauses with personal pronouns, the translator includes a Greek copula and determines its position based on sense.
   + [Ps 117:28 vs Ps 92:2]: אלי אתה > θεός μου εἶ σύ (Ps 117:28) vs נכון כסאך מאז מעולם אתה > ἕτοιμος ὁ θρόνος σου ἀπὸ τότε, ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος σὺ εἶ (Ps 92:2)
  + <Relative pronoun>: "The Greek relative pronoun is used naturally and idiomatically by the translator. Attraction and incorporated antecedent come readily to him" (26).
   + [Ps 24:12]: יורנו בדרך יבחר > νομοθετήσει αὐτῷ ἐν ὁδῷ ᾗ ᾑρετίσατο.
  + <Idiomatic (non-literal) translations>: The Greek translator sometimes gives idiomatic, non-literal translations.
   + [Ps 36:33]: בהשׁפטו > ὅταν κρίνηται αὐτῷ.
  + <Idioms proper>: "Greek idioms proper appear often in the Psalms translation" (28).
   + [Ps 102:12]: כרחק מזרח ממערב > καθ ̓ ὅσον ἀπέχουσιν ἀνατολαὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν (cf. Pythag., Th., Antiph., Isoc., Is., Ar., X., Pl., Lys., D., Arist., Theophr., Epic., Men., Chrysipp., Plb., etc.).
  - <Absence of Greek features>: The Greek Psalter generally lacks some features of natural Greek, e.g., *partipium coniunctum* and conjunctions like ἐπεί, and μὲν ... δέ. #dispreferred
   <_ <Prose features>: "These are characteristic of prose and general use of them is not to be expected in a poetic work" (22).
   <_ <Classical vs Koine>: These features characterize Classical Greek, and although "much of the Classical inheritance continues into Koine Greek, changes have occurred" (22).
 + <Upper-middle literary>: "The language of the Psalter displays features of the literary level of the Greek of its time" (29). Although it is not quite high-literary, it is also "above the colloquial or everyday" (29).
  + <Particles>: The translator frequently uses particles.
   + [Particles]: δέ (× 121), γάρ (× 50), δή (× 19), ἄρα (× 11), μέν (× 1), μέντοιγε (× 1), οὖν (× 1), τε (× 2) (30).
  + <Optative>: The translator frequently uses the optative mood (x 110).
   + [Ps 16:2]: E.g., Ps 16:2: מלפניך משׁפטי יצא עיניך תחזינה מישׁרים > ἐκ προσώπου σου τὸ κρίμα μου ἐξέλθοι, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ἰδέτωσαν εὐθύτητας 
  + <Conjunctions>: The translator prefers to use ὅπως ἄν instead of simply ὅπως or ἵνα, and he frequently uses ὡσεί instead of ὡς.
  + <Vocabulary>: "In addition to standard everyday words, there are literary or higher-register words, poetic words, and rare words including possible new creations by the translator. This range is a sign of an educated translator intending to produce a creative work of some literary quality" (33).
   + [Literary vocabulary]: E.g., אל־תטשׁני  > μὴ ἀποσκορακίσῃς με (Ps 26:9, "a rather erudite word (and group), based on the Attic expression ἐς κόρακας") (34)
   + [Poetic vocabulary]: E.g., ואל־מכאוב > καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄλγος (Ps 68:27, "The word ἄλγος and its group... appear in Homer, then mainly tragic poets, rarely prose") (35).
   + [Rare vocabulary]: E.g., ונזליהם > τὰ ὀμβρήματα αὐτῶν ("their rain-water channel"? perhaps created from ὄμβρος, 'rain-storm', "an old word with a somewhat poetic flavour") (36).


Argument Mapn0Language of the PsalterThe language of the Psalter is "natural, idiomatic, upper-middle literary Greek of II BCE" (37).n1Ps 10:5ואהב חמס > ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἀδικίαν n16Particles and word position"The particles, enclitic personal pronouns, indefinite personal pronoun τις, and the special particle ἄν are positioned in the Psalms in accordance with Greek rules," even when these particles have no one-to-one equivalent in the Hebrew text (22).n1->n16n2Ps 87:12היספר בקבר חסדך > μὴ διηγήσεταί τις ἐν τάφῳ τὸ ἔλεός σουn2->n16n3Ps 67:5ביה שׁמו > κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ (see also Ps 82:19).n17Onoma rule"There are two instances of observance of the 'onoma rule', that is, ὄνομα is constructed without the article when the possessor of the name is expressed in the dative" (24).n3->n17n4Ps 2:2 vs Ps 10:2נוסדו יחד על יהוה > συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου (Ps 2:2) vs כוננו חצם על־יתר > ἡτοίμασαν βέλη εἰς φαρέτραν (Ps 10:2)n18Prepositions"The Psalms translator usually adjusts his choice of preposition to the context" (24).n4->n18n5Ps 121:1בית יהוה נלך > εἰς οἶκον κυρίου πορευσόμεθα.n5->n18n6Ps 117:28 vs Ps 92:2אלי אתה > θεός μου εἶ σύ (Ps 117:28) vs נכון כסאך מאז מעולם אתה > ἕτοιμος ὁ θρόνος σου ἀπὸ τότε, ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος σὺ εἶ (Ps 92:2)n19Pronoun and copulaIn verbless clauses with personal pronouns, the translator includes a Greek copula and determines its position based on sense.n6->n19n7Ps 24:12יורנו בדרך יבחר > νομοθετήσει αὐτῷ ἐν ὁδῷ ᾗ ᾑρετίσατο.n20Relative pronoun"The Greek relative pronoun is used naturally and idiomatically by the translator. Attraction and incorporated antecedent come readily to him" (26).n7->n20n8Ps 36:33בהשׁפטו > ὅταν κρίνηται αὐτῷ.n21Idiomatic (non-literal) translationsThe Greek translator sometimes gives idiomatic, non-literal translations.n8->n21n9Ps 102:12כרחק מזרח ממערב > καθ ̓ ὅσον ἀπέχουσιν ἀνατολαὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν (cf. Pythag., Th., Antiph., Isoc., Is., Ar., X., Pl., Lys., D., Arist., Theophr., Epic., Men., Chrysipp., Plb., etc.).n22Idioms proper"Greek idioms proper appear often in the Psalms translation" (28).n9->n22n10Particlesδέ (× 121), γάρ (× 50), δή (× 19), ἄρα (× 11), μέν (× 1), μέντοιγε (× 1), οὖν (× 1), τε (× 2) (30).n27ParticlesThe translator frequently uses particles.n10->n27n11Ps 16:2E.g., Ps 16:2: מלפניך משׁפטי יצא עיניך תחזינה מישׁרים > ἐκ προσώπου σου τὸ κρίμα μου ἐξέλθοι, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ἰδέτωσαν εὐθύτητας n28OptativeThe translator frequently uses the optative mood (x 110).n11->n28n12Literary vocabularyE.g., אל־תטשׁני  > μὴ ἀποσκορακίσῃς με (Ps 26:9, "a rather erudite word (and group), based on the Attic expression ἐς κόρακας") (34)n30Vocabulary"In addition to standard everyday words, there are literary or higher-register words, poetic words, and rare words including possible new creations by the translator. This range is a sign of an educated translator intending to produce a creative work of some literary quality" (33).n12->n30n13Poetic vocabularyE.g., ואל־מכאוב > καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄλγος (Ps 68:27, "The word ἄλγος and its group... appear in Homer, then mainly tragic poets, rarely prose") (35).n13->n30n14Rare vocabularyE.g., ונזליהם > τὰ ὀμβρήματα αὐτῶν ("their rain-water channel"? perhaps created from ὄμβρος, 'rain-storm', "an old word with a somewhat poetic flavour") (36).n14->n30n15Natural, idiomatic"The Psalms translator proceeds naturally, even instinctively, using normal Greek as much as possible" (29).n15->n0n16->n15n17->n15n18->n15n19->n15n20->n15n21->n15n22->n15n23Absence of Greek featuresThe Greek Psalter generally lacks some features of natural Greek, e.g., partipium coniunctum  and conjunctions like ἐπεί, and μὲν ... δέ. n23->n15n24Prose features"These are characteristic of prose and general use of them is not to be expected in a poetic work" (22).n24->n23n25Classical vs KoineThese features characterize Classical Greek, and although "much of the Classical inheritance continues into Koine Greek, changes have occurred" (22).n25->n23n26Upper-middle literary"The language of the Psalter displays features of the literary level of the Greek of its time" (29). Although it is not quite high-literary, it is also "above the colloquial or everyday" (29).n26->n0n27->n26n28->n26n29ConjunctionsThe translator prefers to use ὅπως ἄν instead of simply ὅπως or ἵνα, and he frequently uses ὡσεί instead of ὡς.n29->n26n30->n26


Translation Technique in the Greek Psalter (Anneli Aejmelaeus)

Aejmelaeus defines translation technique as "the relationship between the translation and its Vorlage" (41). Her description of the Greek Psalter's translation technique follows a crucial distinction between two aspects of translation: the quantitative aspect and the qualitative aspect.

  • Quantitative aspect: the extent to which each word in the Vorlage has a corresponding word in the translation; the order of words is also relevant to this category. In terms of the quantitative aspect, she describes the translation as follows: "more clearly than any other book, the translation of the Psalter follows the wording of the underlying Hebrew, retaining to an amazing extent the word-order as well as the number of words, including suffixes and other smaller units of meaning" (45).
  • Qualitative aspect: the extent to which the translation uses the same Greek lexeme or grammatical form to render the same Hebrew lexeme or grammatical form. Aejmelaeus' contribution focuses on this qualitative aspect of the translation. She argues that "the idiosyncrasies of this translator can be found precisely in the area of the qualitative aspect of translation" (45).

Argumentation


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[Aim for naturalness and comprehensibility]: In terms of the qualitative aspect of the translation, "the translator clearly takes the context into account, aiming at more natural expressions and comprehensibility" (48).
 + <One by many>: The translator will translate one Hebrew word by many Greek words, in each case choosing the Greek word that best suits the context.
  +[Translations of כּוּן]: ἑτοιμάζειν (16x, e.g., Ps 7:14 hiphil), κατευθύνειν (12x, e.g., Ps 78\[77\]:8 hiphil), καταρτίζειν (3x, e.g., Ps 68\[67\]:10 polel), θεμελιοῦν (4x, e.g., Ps 8:4 polel), κατορθοῦν (1x, Ps 96\[95\]:10 niphal), πλάσσειν (1x, Ps 119\[118\]:73 polel), συναντιλαμβάνεσθαι (1x, Ps 89\[88\]:22 niphal), συνιστάναι (1x, Ps 107\[106\]:36 polel), στερεοῦν (1x, Ps 93\[92\]:1 niphal).
  +[Translations of גמל (qal)]: ἀνταποδιδόναι (5x, e.g., Ps 7:5), εὐεργετεῖν (2x, e.g., Ps 13\[12\]:6), ἀπογαλακτίζειν (x1, Ps 131\[130\]:2).
 + <Many by one>: The translator will use the same Greek word to translate multiple Hebrew words.
  + [ἀνταποδιδόναι]: שׁוב hif., שׁלם pi., and גמל qal.
  + [ἀνομία]
 + <Concrete metaphors for God>: The translator, guided by the sentiments of his religious community, consistently replaces concrete metaphors for God with words that express the content of the metaphor (52).
  + [Ps 18]: E.g., Ps 18\[17\]:3 סלעי = στερέωμά μου, מצודתי = καταφυγή μου, צורי = βοηθός μου; Ps 18\[17\]:47 צורי = ὁ θεός μου.
 + <νόμος-related vocabulary>: The translator frequently uses νόμος-related vocabulary to translate words from the lexical domain of sin.
  + [ἀνομία]: E.g., ἀνομία (80x, used to translate the following terms: עון און זמה עולה עול פשע רשע חמס עתק).


Argument Mapn0Aim for naturalness and comprehensibilityIn terms of the qualitative aspect of the translation, "the translator clearly takes the context into account, aiming at more natural expressions and comprehensibility" (48).n1Translations of כּוּןἑτοιμάζειν (16x, e.g., Ps 7:14 hiphil), κατευθύνειν (12x, e.g., Ps 78[77]:8 hiphil), καταρτίζειν (3x, e.g., Ps 68[67]:10 polel), θεμελιοῦν (4x, e.g., Ps 8:4 polel), κατορθοῦν (1x, Ps 96[95]:10 niphal), πλάσσειν (1x, Ps 119[118]:73 polel), συναντιλαμβάνεσθαι (1x, Ps 89[88]:22 niphal), συνιστάναι (1x, Ps 107[106]:36 polel), στερεοῦν (1x, Ps 93[92]:1 niphal).n6One by manyThe translator will translate one Hebrew word by many Greek words, in each case choosing the Greek word that best suits the context.n1->n6n2Translations of גמל (qal)ἀνταποδιδόναι (5x, e.g., Ps 7:5), εὐεργετεῖν (2x, e.g., Ps 13[12]:6), ἀπογαλακτίζειν (x1, Ps 131[130]:2).n2->n6n3ἀνταποδιδόναιשׁוב hif., שׁלם pi., and גמל qal.n7Many by oneThe translator will use the same Greek word to translate multiple Hebrew words.n3->n7n4ἀνομίαE.g., ἀνομία (80x, used to translate the following terms: עון און זמה עולה עול פשע רשע חמס עתק).n4->n7n9νόμος-related vocabularyThe translator frequently uses νόμος-related vocabulary to translate words from the lexical domain of sin.n4->n9n5Ps 18E.g., Ps 18[17]:3 סלעי = στερέωμά μου, מצודתי = καταφυγή μου, צורי = βοηθός μου; Ps 18[17]:47 צורי = ὁ θεός μου.n8Concrete metaphors for GodThe translator, guided by the sentiments of his religious community, consistently replaces concrete metaphors for God with words that express the content of the metaphor (52).n5->n8n6->n0n7->n0n8->n0n9->n0