Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Philip" <phil-eng AT ighmail.com>]

"I'm assuming, of course, that elohim was in the Vorlage."

First of all, which Vorlage? The LXX Vorlage or the MT Vorlage?

In any case, I think that for Psalm 8,there is no difference between the LXX
vorlage and the MT vorlage. i.e. I think that the LXX translators simply
used the MT vorlage, i.e. the unpointed MT consonantal text as the source
text for their LXX translation.

A careful comparison of the MT against the LXX of Psalm 8:6[5] reveals an
almost word-for-word verbatim presentation. It is highly unlikely that the
LXX vorlage of Psalm 8:6[5] is different from the MT vorlage of Psalm
8:6[5]. In view of the word-for-word verbatim presentation of the MT and
LXX, it is highly likely that the LXX was translated verbatim from the MT
vorlage, i.e. the unpointed MT consonantal text. It is a fair assumption,
based on available evidence, and the fact that neither the LXX vorlage nor
the MT vorlage is extant, that the LXX translators considered the unpointed
word elohim, which was in the MT vorlage, and translated it as aggelous.

Philip Engmann,
Student, OTS


-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Trevor Peterson
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2003 7:05 PM
To: BIblical Hebrew
Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] elohim versus aggelous, Psalm 8:6[5] MT verses
LXX


>===== Original Message From phil-eng AT ighmail.com =====
>Why does elohim occur in MT Psalm 8:6[5], whereas aggelous occurs in LXX
>Psalm 8:6[5]?

I suppose the best person to ask would be the translator who came up with
the
Greek rendering. Since I don't think that person is on this list, I'll take
a
stab at an answer. The translator probably felt that elohim has a wider
range
of meaning than can be captured in any one Greek word (as is often the case
when translating from any language to any other). A judgment had to be made
as
to the meaning of elohim in this context, and angelous seemed like the best
rendering to go with. I suspect that the translator had in mind the sense of
superhuman beings here, rather than human messengers. I'm assuming, of
course,
that elohim was in the Vorlage.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics

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