TY - JOUR
T1 - Possible misreading in 1 Maccabees 7:34 in light of its biblical model
AU - Orian, Matan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Society of Biblical Literature. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - First Maccabees 7:34 employs four verbs to describe the offensive speech by Nicanor, the Seleucid general, addressed to the Jewish elders and priests. The third verb indicates that Nicanor defiled his audience. While this has led scholars to associate 1 Maccabees with the Jewish concept of gentile impurity, several factors suggest that, at this point, an error found its way into the Greek translation from the original Hebrew. The present argument comprises three steps. First, I use the biblical Sennacherib story, featured in the background of the Nicanor episode in 1 Maccabees, as a means of reconstructing the relevant original Hebrew verb employed by 1 Maccabees. Second, I suggest a possible misreading of one letter on the part of the Greek translator. Finally, I propose that a similar, earlier verse in 1 Maccabees, 1:24b, may have been conducive to the translator’s commission of this mistake, thus offering an insight into his way of thinking.
AB - First Maccabees 7:34 employs four verbs to describe the offensive speech by Nicanor, the Seleucid general, addressed to the Jewish elders and priests. The third verb indicates that Nicanor defiled his audience. While this has led scholars to associate 1 Maccabees with the Jewish concept of gentile impurity, several factors suggest that, at this point, an error found its way into the Greek translation from the original Hebrew. The present argument comprises three steps. First, I use the biblical Sennacherib story, featured in the background of the Nicanor episode in 1 Maccabees, as a means of reconstructing the relevant original Hebrew verb employed by 1 Maccabees. Second, I suggest a possible misreading of one letter on the part of the Greek translator. Finally, I propose that a similar, earlier verse in 1 Maccabees, 1:24b, may have been conducive to the translator’s commission of this mistake, thus offering an insight into his way of thinking.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081372666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1353/JBL.2019.0041
DO - 10.1353/JBL.2019.0041
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85081372666
SN - 0021-9231
VL - 138
SP - 777
EP - 789
JO - Journal of Biblical Literature
JF - Journal of Biblical Literature
IS - 4
ER -