Meditatio Septuaginta: Torah recitation as a spiritual discipline

Cameron Boyd-Taylor

doi:10.4102/hts.v77i1.6668

Abstract

There is evidence that the practice of meditative reading was cultivated by Hellenistic Jews as a discipline analogous to the spiritual exercises of the philosophical schools. The present study traces (1) the Deuteronomic antecedents of this practice, (2) its reconfiguration in the Torah Psalms, and (3) finally its expression in Greco-Jewish translation, with special reference to the Greek Psalter. Taking its cue from the work of Pierre Hadot, it situates this development within the larger matrix of Hellenistic philosophical discourse. The philological focus of the study is the use of the Hebrew verb I הגה Qal in contexts where Torah study is thematic and its rendering by μελετάω in the Septuagint. To frame the lexical analysis, it draws on the slot-filler model pioneered by Charles Fillmore.Contribution: This article situates a key Greco-Jewish translation with reference to both its Deuteronomic antecedents and to practices cultivated within the philosophical schools of the Hellenistic period. The analysis demonstrates the relevance of Frame Semantics to philological investigation.

Highlights

Contribution: This article situates a key Greco-Jewish translation with reference to both its Deuteronomic antecedents and to practices cultivated within the philosophical schools of the Hellenistic period
The analysis demonstrates the relevance of Frame Semantics to philological investigation
Hadot looks to the Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria (c. 20–50 CE), who offered a succinct overview of the subject in the form of two lists (Hadot 2002:25)

Summary

Introduction

Contribution: This article situates a key Greco-Jewish translation with reference to both its Deuteronomic antecedents and to practices cultivated within the philosophical schools of the Hellenistic period. The author employs the verb ‫( שיח‬Qal) six times in conjunction with various cognitive verbs (see Grant 2004:260–261).14 Like I ‫ הגה‬it regularly evokes the idea of verbal expression.15 Yet in contexts where the reference is to recollection (cued by the word ‫(זכר‬, ‫ שיח‬evokes a situation better characterised as intoning (with the content of the recitation again marked by ‫)ב‬.16 That some form of spiritual discipline is in view is suggested by the reference to the Psalmist’s practice of awaking before each watch of the night to recite God’s promise

Results

Conclusion