Prov 8:30 in the Versions

Genesis Rabbah begins with a discussion of the unusual Hebrew word ‘amon in Prov 8:30. A commenter on my previous post was curious about what this verse looked like in Syriac. Did the translator use a word meaning “guardian”? Well, I had to look it up, and what I found was interesting, so here it is.

Basically, the Peshitta avoids the word altogether. The Targum, however, does support reading something like “guardian” here, using the Aramaic cognate root that also means “to believe, trust.” This is striking because the Peshitta of Proverbs often looks like someone just transcribed the Targum wholesale into Syriac script. Not so in Prov 8:30.

To round it out, I looked at the Septuagint. The translator there also wasn’t sure what to do with ‘amon. I think “fitting” or “suitable” likely reflects a similar reading of the Hebrew root. Amen. It’s appropriate.

Peshitta

ܥܡܗ ܡܬܩܢܐ ܗܘܝܬ܂ ܒܝ ܚܕܐ ܗܘܐ ܟܠ ܝܘܡ܂ ܘܒܟܠܙܒܢ ܩܕܡܘܗܝ ܚܕܝܐ ܗܘܝܬ

With him, I was established/created. In me, he rejoiced every day. And continually, I rejoiced before him.

Targum

והוית צידוי ¹ מהימנותא ² מהימנתא בי אחדי הוה כל יומא ויומא וחדיא אנא קדמוי בכל זמן׃

And I was beside him, a trusted one. In me, he rejoiced every day, and I was rejoicing beside him continually.

Septuagint

ἤμην παρ᾽ αὐτῷ ἁρμόζουσα ἐγὼ ἤμην ᾗ προσέχαιρεν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν δὲ εὐφραινόμην ἐν προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ

And I was beside him, suitable. I was that in which he rejoiced daily, and I was rejoicing beside him continually.

Text Criticism and Luke 4:18

I left the text critical issue of Luke 4:18 just hanging there unresolved in my last post. Basically, there are three possible variants for Isaiah 61:1 based on the witnesses of the MT, LXX, and NT. Each possible variant is individually supported by two witnesses. The phrase about the blind is found in the Greek witnesses, not in Hebrew. The phrase about the brokenhearted is found in Hebrew and in the LXX but is not in the NT. The ending phrase about freeing the oppressed is found in the Hebrew and the NT, not the LXX. I should point out that if you're using the KJV, everything is there. The Byzantine text type for the NT has restored the missing phrase about the brokenhearted. I've broken down the verse into phrases to more easily discuss what's there in each witness.

A. The Spirit of the LORD is upon me

B. because the LORD/he has anointed me

C. to bring good news to the poor

D. he has sent me

E. to bind up / heal the brokenhearted (missing from earliest NT mss, found in Byzantine-type)

F. to proclaim freedom to the captives

G. and recovery of sight to the blind (missing from MT)

H. and liberty to the prisoners/oppressed. (missing from LXX)

As noted above there are three text-critical issues here:

1. Line G: "Recovery of sight to the blind" could reflect a Hebrew variant derived from Isa 42:7. There is a thematic connection between 42:7 and 61:1 including some shared vocabulary.

2. The Greek versions are almost identical except for the oldest NT mss missing line E. Therefore, the NT isn't reflecting a completely different Greek translation.

3. LXX is missing line H which is found in NT.

I lined up the four versions in the original Greek and Hebrew and compared them closely. Here are my conclusions on how to best explain the variants.

1. Line G in the Greek versions probably comes from a real Hebrew variant inserted because of the influence of the similar subject matter of Isa. 42:7.
2. Line H likely reflects an early Greek marginal gloss correcting toward MT.
3. The LXX is the primary source of the NT quote.
4. The absence of line E from the oldest NT mss must reflect some type of scribal error. There is no reason to think it was deliberately omitted because it would have fit the context fine.
5. The uniformity of the various Greek versions suggests that the NT is not a homiletical quote or paraphrase.
6. The Byzantine text type restores line E which is expected following the general pattern of later mss to harmonize variants and "fix" the text.

So in this case, the later mss of the NT probably reflect the original text for line E but the Hebrew preserves the original when it comes to line G which was likely an insertion.

Reading the Book of Acts Intertextually

I’ve been on vacation, so to speak, for the last six weeks or so, recovering from my last full semester of graduate coursework. I hope to post on a weekly basis now, probably on Sundays or Mondays.

For this post, I’ve been thinking about intertextuality and interpretation again. While I’m skeptical about using intertextuality to determine how ancient readers were interpreting and connecting their texts, I find it satisfying as a reader to make connections between various texts, even if I can’t prove that the ancient writer intended those connections or that the ancient reader would have made the same connections. Intertextuality is really about the reader making those connections, not about the scholar identifying allusions that may (or may not) have been intended by the ancient writer targeting another ancient reader.

I especially enjoy reading the New Testament because new connections with the Hebrew Bible almost always occur to me. Some of these connections legitimately belong in the background of the New Testament. Directly or indirectly, they make up the conceptual worldview of a Jew from the first century CE. Some of them would certainly have informed the thinking of the early Christians. I can only suggest a connection, however. I can’t really prove that the NT writer was thinking of the connection or that an early NT reader would have made the connection. Intentional textual dependence and deliberate use seem to me to be impossible to prove without direct quotation or citation when we are dealing with a culture as religiously literate and text-focused as ancient Judaism or early Christianity.

I was recently reading in the Book of Acts where a new connection presented itself. There’s no specific textual marker connecting the passages, but there is a thematic connection. Acts 11 depicts the Apostle Peter commanded to spread the Christian message of salvation to the Gentiles (non-Jews). He reports back to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem in vv. 15-18.

Acts 11:15-18 (ESV)

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."

The Jewish Christians listen to Peter and acknowledge that God wants the Gentiles to believe and be saved as well as the Jews. When I read this, I wondered why they seemed surprised that God was widening the scope of salvation. It reminded me of Isaiah 42 where the Servant figure will “bring forth justice to the nations” (v. 1) and is given as a “covenant for the people, a light for the nations” (v. 6). In fact, several other places in Isaiah depict this concern for the nations, sometimes with the image of the nations worshiping Israel’s God (i.e., Isa. 2, 9, and 11). With the word for “nations,” we do have a minor verbal connection between the passages. The Hebrew goyim is translated in the Septuagint with a form of ethnos which is the same Greek word used for “Gentiles” in Acts. 11:18. It’s not the kind of marker that jumps off the page as a true allusion, though, because it is such a common word and the correspondence between the Greek and Hebrew for this word is typical.

It seemed to me that the early Christians should have been familiar with the imagery of Isa. 42:1-7 because the imagery seems to be clearly in the background of Isa. 61:1, especially when we look at the Septuagint Greek of Isa. 61:1 and the quoted text from Luke 4:18. In Luke, Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1 and applies it to himself.

Luke 4:17-21 (ESV)

17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Isaiah 42:6-7 (ESV)

6 "I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isaiah 61:1 (translated from the Septuagint)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind;

It should be apparent that Isa. 42 & 61 are dealing with similar subject matter. We also have the same textual difficulties that I’ve mentioned before when looking at Hebrew Bible quotes in the New Testament. The quoted version doesn’t exactly match the Septuagint or the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint and the New Testament both contain a phrase about the blind, missing from the MT but possibly a variant arising from the influence of Isa. 42:7. The Septuagint and the MT both have a phrase about the broken-hearted, missing from the NT quote. Finally, Luke’s quote ends with the freeing of prisoners, following the MT but with a phrase not in the Septuagint version.

It might appear that I’m going off track but remember where we’ve been. Acts 11:18 reminded me of Isaiah 42:1-7 which reminded me of Isaiah 61:1 which reminded me of Luke 4:18 that quotes it. So pondering the potential religious thought behind Acts 11:18 has led me to a number of inter-related passages. The Jewish Christians in Acts should have been familiar with Isaiah 42 because the Servant imagery is central to their interpretation of Jesus’ role and ministry. As proof that it should have been familiar, I offer Isaiah 61:1 which is explicitly quoted in the NT where Jesus explicitly takes on the anointed Servant role described by Isaiah. A closer look at the quote in Luke 4:18 has led me to a completely separate issue of textual criticism. The text critical issue is irrelevant for the question of intertextuality. For me it seems clear that the Servant imagery is appropriated by the NT in numerous places and that Acts 11 should be read with a consideration of the influence of passages like Isa. 42:1-7.

I can’t prove that any of this would have occurred to an ancient reader or that the writer of Acts was aware of these inter-connections, but it is satisfying as a reader to make those connections and point them out because it enriches the reading experience and allows for teaching opportunities to enrich the experience of others as they read the biblical text. Even if the first century audience didn’t make these exact connections, it seems likely that they made connections of this sort frequently. Therefore, learning to read intertextually helps you read the Bible a little more like the early Jewish Christians did.

The Use of the OT in the NT -- Mark 1:2-3

One of my primary research interests is looking at how the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament was interpreted in antiquity by the various religious groups that accepted it as sacred scripture. The groups that I am most fascinated with include the Qumran community, the early Christians, and the Rabbis. Recently, I came across an interesting New Testament usage of the Old Testament that I believe highlights the nature of the difficulties in looking at how the OT is represented in the NT. The passage is Mark 1:2-3 where both Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 are quoted. A detailed look at how Isaiah 40:3 is used in the NT and at Qumran would be worthwhile in its own right, but for now I am interested in the textual details of how these two verses are represented and put to use in Mark’s gospel. For a textual comparison, I used two representative Greek NT versions – one a representative of the earliest manuscripts (Nestle-Aland, 27^th ed.) and the other a representative of the Majority Text (Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine text). For the source of their quotations, I looked at the Greek Septuagint (LXX) in Rahlff’s edition and the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). So as not to burden the reader with the original languages, I have the text provided in fairly-literal English translations that represent the major differences between the versions. An important point to remember is that the NT is written in Greek. The first place we look for the source of a NT quote of the OT is the LXX because it is also in Greek. However, there were later Greek translations that were more literal in their representation of the Hebrew text (MT) which is why we must also compare with BHS. The example of Mark 1:2-3 shows that the quoted text in the NT often does not exactly match our OT text in either Greek or Hebrew.

Mark 1:2-3

Nestle-Aland Gk NT (ESV):

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"

Byz Gk NT (KJV):

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Quoted Passages

MT (ESV):

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me (Mal 3:1a). A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Isa 40:3).

LXX (Brenton):

Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he shall survey the way before me (Mal 3:1a). The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God (Isa 40:3).

Italics = inner-Gk differences

Bold = differences w/ LXX and/or MT

Types of differences:

1. Inner-Greek differences in NT mss
2. Inner-Greek differences between LXX and NT mss
3. Greek differences with MT

Textual differences:

1. Different word for “as” between Gk NT versions. (A)
1. The earliest manuscripts (mss) use the more common way to phrase “as it is written.” 25x in NT vs. 2x for the Byzantine phrase.
2. This is the only passage where Byz differs in this particular phrase. 24x as above vs. 3x for the alternative way.
3. Best explanation – scribal error in Byz because it differs from the earlier mss. Byz phrase was influenced by the use of the same phrase for “as it is written” in Luke 3:4 before quoting Isa 40:3. (But, some will say that the earlier mss have the error and that Byz preserves the original in Mark 1:2 precisely because it uses the less common way of phrasing it. The earlier mss have a scribal error – changing to the more common phrase. The fact that this phrase occurs in all Gk mss in Luke argues against that explanation.)
2. Earliest Greek versions read “in Isaiah” vs. the Byzantine text-type’s “in the prophets.” (A)
3. The Nestle-Aland Gk omits the pronoun “I” quoting Mal 3:1 which is written in LXX and Byz. It is grammatically unnecessary because of the verb form. (B)
4. The NT quotes of Mal 3:1 use the verb “to send” but LXX has a modified form of the same verb meaning “send forth.”
5. The phrase “before your face” is not in MT or LXX but is present in both NT text-types. (B, C)
6. The Gk versions use different verbs for “prepare” between Malachi and Isaiah. In the MT, both are the same verb. The LXX uses a verb which means “to look upon” in Malachi. The NT versions use a verb for “to prepare” in their quote, more like MT. (B, C)
7. The syntax of the Greek NT versions differs for the “prepare” phrase from Malachi as well. LXX and MT have an independent clause with a coordinating conjunction, “he will prepare/look upon.” The NT quote makes it a relative clause, “who will prepare.” (B, C)
8. The wording “your way” is different from both MT and LXX which read “the way before me.” (B, C)
9. The Byzantine text quoting Mal 3:1a adds two additional words at the end, “before you.”
10. NT versions of Isa 40:3 are nearly identical to LXX except for very end. LXX ends with “paths of our God” but NT says “his paths.” No evidence of correction/modification of this verse in NT versions back toward MT.
11. LXX and NT versions of Isa 40:3 have read the phrase “in the wilderness” as connected to the “voice of one crying.” Later in the verse, they omit the parallel phrase “in the desert.” The phrase should be connected to what follows based on an examination of the Hebrew parallelism – “the voice of one crying, ‘In the wilderness, prepare . . .”

The Minor Differences with Mal 3:1a & Isa 40:3

The NT versions show the most variation from the MT Hebrew of Mal 3:1a. The only significant difference in the LXX is reading the verb as “to look” which likely does not reflect a different Vorlage. The Heb verb in question “PNH” usually means “to turn” in the Qal stem and can take the meaning “to look” in context, usually in Late Biblical Hebrew. The less common Piel stem has the derived meaning “to clear away, prepare” from “to turn away, put out of the way.” The LXX translator probably just read the verb as a more common Qal and missed the idiom “to prepare,” reading instead the idiom “to look upon.”

For the other NT differences, there are three possible explanations. The first is that there were other Greek mss of the Old Testament that contained a version of Mal 3:1 similar to the NT versions. The best place to look to check this is Field’s Hexapla which I have not done yet. The second possibility is that the verse was being quoted or paraphrased from memory. The nature of the variations makes this second possibility very likely. The important content of the verse is present, and the differences are minor enough to have been unintentional changes. On the other hand, a third possibility is that a few of these minor changes were intentional and theologically motivated. For example, the shift to “before your face” or “prepare your way” for Malachi’s “before me” changes the nature of the action. Instead of only two participants – the speaker (YHWH) and the messenger (preparing the way for the speaker), Mark’s version introduces a third participant – the “you” being addressed. YHWH’s messenger is preparing the way for the person addressed, not YHWH himself. In the context of Mark’s gospel, this works out to be God the Father sending John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus. This theological interpretation also explains the minor change in all the synoptic gospels’ use of Isa 40:3 – “his paths” for “paths of our God” in Mark 1:3, Matt 3:3, and Luke 3:4. The verse can more easily be applied to Jesus – preparing his path (= Jesus) instead of the paths of our God (= the Father).

Reading “in Isaiah” versus “in the prophets”

The most fascinating difference in the use of the Old Testament in Mark 1:2-3 is that a verse from Malachi is attributed to Isaiah in the earliest manuscripts. The implications of this will be explored further in a future post.