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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Phinehas & Peleg - pe > phi

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: "Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" <joel AT exc.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org, MarjorieAlley AT cs.com
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Phinehas & Peleg - pe > phi
  • Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:28:18 +0100

On 19/09/2005 13:50, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:

I am curious about why the hard pe in the Hebrew names Pinchas (English Phinehas) and Peleg are spelled with a phi instead of a pi in the LXX.

Why did the LXX spirantize the pe when they transliterated the names? Does this reflect a different Hebrew pronunciation of the names or is there some other reason?


Yes, it probably reflects a different Hebrew pronunciation, and I
would ask the question the other way around. Given the LXX spellings,
is there any evidence that the Masoretic convention that gives us P is
right? I think it's more likely that the Greeks got it right ...


Yes, the Greeks got it right: a plosive (an aspirated one), not a fricative.


... and the
Masoretes (over a millennium later, after all) got it wrong, ...


They also got it right. There is no inconsistency.

... though in
the end probably neither group accurately reflects really ancient
Hebrew, and we also don't know exactly how the Greek was pronounced.


True, but we are almost certain that phi was an aspirated plosive, at least in classical times - perhaps not quite so certain for LXX times.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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