Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear List,

Below is the reply from Dr. Albert Pietersma, editor of the NETS (LXX),
forwarding the reply of Dr. Cameron Boyd-Taylor, director of the Cambridge
Project, the manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah and the LXX.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Albert Pietersma" <albert.pietersma AT sympatico.ca>
To: "Daniel Buck" <bucksburg AT yahoo.com>
Cc: <b-greek AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 4:23 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] The Cambridge Project


Sorry for the delay, but here Cameron's response to the question
raised by Bryant
Al

The medieval Jewish Greek manuscripts within the Cambridge corpus
comprise a broad range of materials, including  glossaries,
commentaries and scholia, as well as fragments of continuous
translations. Hence, while one may speak in general terms about the
significance of the textual evidence, this is always with the
understanding that there are exceptions. The bulk of the corpus dates
to somewhere between the tenth and twelfth centuries CE. The current
consensus is that these manuscripts draw upon a definite tradition
going back to the ancient Greek versions, and thus almost undoubtedly
contain genuine readings, particularly of Aquilas version. Yet their
text-critical value remains highly circumscribed. This has in large
measure to do with the cultural milieu in which the manuscripts were
produced. It should be noted that, judging by the epigraphic evidence,
Greek had ceased to be the official language of the Byzantine
synagogue by the sixth century CE. The sacred scripture was Hebrew,
and the primacy of the MT and its progenitors is evident in the
Cambridge manuscripts. The Greek biblical text evidently functioned in
an ancillary role to the Hebrew, and, as one might expect, it appears
to have been relatively fluid. Thus, there is a high preponderance of
vernacular elements. The texts contain a mixture of late Greek glosses
together with readings clearly dependent upon the ancient versions. We
may in fact be dealing with oral rather than literate tradition.
Jewish scribes had no formal education in Greek grammar and thus no
reservations about writing it down exactly as they heard and spoke it.
The spelling in these manuscripts thus tends to be phonetic, and the
morphology and syntax of the Greek has become more or less assimilated
to contemporary usage. As a consequence of these factors, while there
are echoes of the Old Greek, and certainly readings derived from
Aquila, the medieval Jewish manuscripts do no not, as a rule,
represent a source for ancient readings. They cannot be used to fill
gaps in the textual evidence. If they are used by textual critics at
all, it will be as supportive evidence, confirming readings that may
be in doubt, or correcting attributions to the ancient versions. Their
primary interest is with respect to the reception history of the Greek
biblical text with Byzantine Judaism.

Cameron Boyd-Taylor


Albert Pietersma PhD
21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma AT sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm

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