God And The Gods: Pagan Deities And Religious Concepts In The Old Greek Of Isaiah

Abstract

This chapter investigates the way in which the Old Greek (OG) of Isaiah introduces pagan deities and religious concepts that are not mentioned in its Hebrew Vorlage and tries to understand them against the background of the religious history of Hellenistic Egypt in second century B.C. It throws light on the relationship between Alexandrian Jews and dominant non-Jewish culture which surrounded them. In so doing, it contributes to the exploration of a significant aspect of Jewish religious history in Hellenistic Egypt and thus to follow the lead of such great scholars as Z. Frankel and I. L. Seeligmann, who have taught us to use Septuagint not just as a tool for textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible but as a major cultural and religious monument of Hellenistic Judaism. The chapter draws attention to some characteristic features of pagan deities and religious concepts as represented by the Old Greek of Isaiah. Keywords: Alexandrian Jews; Hebrew Bible; Hellenistic Egypt; I.L. Seeligmann; Judaism; Old Greek (OG) of Isaiah; pagan deities; Septuagint