The Septuagint – the First Bible Translation
Abstract
This article offers a short overview of the present state of Septuagint research and give some prospects of future studies in the field. It briefly discusses the provenance of the translation and possible causes for its production. Next, the article presents the problems of the study of the Hebrew source text as well as its significance for the research of the text of the Hebrew Bible. Then, the article offers an overview of the textual history of the Septuagint itself and the Greek manuscripts, followed by the recensions and the subsequent Greek translations. The article also reviews the study of the Greek language and Septuagint translator’s manner of translating (so-called translation technique), subjects which are the research speciality of the author. This last-mentioned field of study should be the foundation for any approach that researches the Septuagint text and translation, in particular, the study of its language and its ideology/theology, but which nowadays is too often neglected.
