SEPTUAGINT, Linguistic Character of the. The language of the Sept., from its close connection with that of the New Test., has been a fruitful source of discussion, and various theories on the sulyect have been maintained with considerable vehemence. Thus Isaac Vossius maintained that the Alexandrian Jews were studious of Attic Greek. Scaliger used the plirase "Hellenistic tongue;" Salmasius contended for a "Hel- lenistic (ireek," and maintained that the diction or style of the Sept. was not a form of Greek which had its origin in Alexandria, or in other parts where the Macedonian rule had prevailed, but that it was the style of translators, or of authors whose acquaintance witli the language was imperfect. It was the Greek of the unlearned, and tlierefore I^iiotiko^, or unpol- ished; it was used to interpret HebrcAv ideas and phrases, and thus it was 'tppi]ViVTiKoQ, or the lan- guage of interpreters. R. Simon used the term "syna- gogue Greek'" to express a style of Greek which was so full of Hebrew words and Hebraisms as to be scarcely intelligible to readers who had no knowledge of He-
SEPTUAGINT
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SEPTUAGINT
brew or Chaldee. He illustrates this by the Spanish Jews' translation of the Bible into the Spanish tongue, which can be understood only by those who have some knowledge of Hebrew as well as Spanish. Later critics liave, however, admitted the existence of an Alexan- drian dialect, from which the Sept. has derived some of its features, though these are not its most prominent characteristics. Thus Hody, quoting Crocus, says : '• The (ireek translators of the Scriptures are to be described as Hebraists, Chaldaists, and Alexandrists. Their version is full of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Alexandri- an words and phrases. Thej' render word fur word, and often where a passage is thus translated, the words are (ireek, but the Hebrew construction is retained" (^De Bill. Text. Orig. U, iv, 23).
As the text from which the Alexandrian version was made did not have the vowel-points, it would be very interesting to know how the translators pronounced the Hebrew, and the more so since some critics who delight in hunting after various readings would make the Sept. the standard for the Hebrew text. But here we are at a loss, and all that we know we can only make out from the version itself. Commencing with the alphabet, the pronunciation of the letters is given to us in the Lamen- tations of Jeremiah, where the verses are arranged al- phabetically. The letters of the alphabet, thus com- mencing the different verses, are expressed fully, as the following scheme will show :
St="A\£f 3 = B(j3-.
5=ri7t£X. n="H.
1 =Ovav. T =Za'iv. n =liSi.
? =A(7jUf^.
a = M7;/x.
C)=2a/i£x- 5.' =Air.
:i=T(Ta^/;.
;!:=X(T£v, n=eaS.
That 1 and n were pronounced wav and tav we may infer from the fact that v is always equivalent to the Hebrew 1, thus ■'13 = A£D(. From the version itself we see that the letters had the following pronunciation :
X,in itself inaudible (like the Greek spir-itws lenis), re- ceives its intonation from the vowel, as *TilX, 'Aapuiis HSpbX, 'EXKai/ti. Sometimes it has the ftpiritun a»per, as
cmnx, 'A/jpa<;(u; in-^bx, •nxia^; iibx (Judg. ix, 37),
•WXiiiv.
a is ft, sometimes <p : a^<T"3p'l (Judg. vii, 25), 'laxe/S- ^l;(t>; also 1', aim (Josh, xix, 30), Pum.. Sometimes 3 is expressed by fift, as nSS, No/u/3^; 323117, Zepoi//u/3a/3t\ : or by ij. alone, as 11333, Ae/ini; CiTa'^l (1 Chron. vii, 2),
'leuu.a<iv.
5 is y, sometimes k, as 533, Na^tK; 5X^1, Aw^k : also x.
a? STl'iU, Sepoi'X.
1 is 5, but also ^, as T1I213 (Gen. xxxvi, 39), WarpaiSr.
n is, like S, either iiiandible, as 3311, 'A/3t\ ; or it has the spiritus axpcr, as '('OTl, Ai/iai/.
1 is V, inn="Eua, "^13 := Aei/i. Sometimes it is /3, as il"'.r, Sa/Su (Gen. xiv, 5), and 51 0 (xxxviii, 12), ^<ift,'i. Sometimes it is not expressed at all, as ^Pt'l, 'Actti ; '^V:i^ (1 Chron. vi, 13), lavi.
T is C, seldom o- as TS''bx, 'EXi0(;r (Gen. xxxvi ; but 1 Chron. i, 'EA«p.lC); very seldom f, as 713 (Gen. xxii, 21), Ba.;f.
H is inaudible at the beginning, middle, and end of a word. Ofren it is x, DPI, X<;m ; "11113, Nuxi^p ; sometimes x. as 113:: (Gen xxii, 24), OaftU.
13 is T, seldom &, as b3lS1 (Gen. x, 6; 1 Chron. i, S), (toi'-d; or Si, as k33S"'5X (2 Sum. v, 16 ; 1 Chron. xiv, 5), 'EAi^a- A.iS'.
^ is i, as 3p"'', 'laKui/3; but it is also i when followed by
t:"l"l, as 1n"'T2"l% 'lepeM'ac.
D is X, sometimes k, as S3n3D (Gen. x, 7), 2a/3a5aKa; seldom 7, as D'^inss (ver. 14), ru(^3a)ptiM.
"13 3 are X v p.
12 is M, but sometimes ft, as 111^3, Na/3pw5; ilii'2'J (1 Chron. i, 47), leftXd.
"O "d O are cr.
5? is inaudible, as 'jIlSS', 'E<ppwv; or with the spiritus asper, as ICjJ, 'Haai : it is also 7, as HITQ", Pn/uoppa ; or K (at the end of the word), as 3;3"lS (Gen. xxiii, 2), 'Ap/iox.
S is (p, sometimes tt, as lHS3iJ, XaXnadd.
S is 0-, seldom ?, as riS" (Gen. x, 23; xxii, 21), o;;^.
p is K, sometimes x, as iH'Mp (Gen. xxv, 1), X£ttoi'p«; SSIpl (Neh. vii, 53), 'Ax'^" : seldom 7, as pppl (Numb, xxvi, 30), Xe\t7.
n is 3-, sometimes t, as ^Tin, Toxo?; 1^5, Farep.