Notes on the Greek Text of Deuteronomy (review)

Abstract

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 120 Reviews Wilson turns finally to the deuteronomic law code, and particularly to the use of the phrase "before the Lord." Of its sixteen occurrences, two (in Deuteronomy 24) are clearly metaphorical. For almost all the remainder, however, there is a close and explicit connection with reference to the place which Yahweh should choose. The verbs used with the phrase are "eat," "rejoice," "stand," "say," "set down," and "worship." In these contexts, "before the Lord" is to be taken in its literal sense. The historical particularity of time and place, together with the clear preference for the preposition "before" even when, as in the case of the verb "say," another preposition would perhaps have been more appropriate, clearly suggest that the deuteronom(ist)ic author wishes to imply the real and actual presence of Yahweh at his chosen place where the actions denoted by these verbs are to be carried out. If the author had wished to emphasize the transcendence of Yahweh, as the advocates of "name theology" argue, it is difficult to understand his consistent preference for a phrase with such clear locative associations. This study's overall conclusion, that in Deuteronomy God is represented as being present on earth not only in the context of the wilderness wandering and the holy war but also in the cult, and at the very place where the divine name was present, is convincingly argued. The author is aware that the significance of the "name formula" must be the subject of a further study. Equally necessary is an examination of the significance of the ark in Deuteronomy, a problem which is here rather too quickly dismissed. For the moment, however, the author has achieved much: this is a clearly and closely argued study, of painstaking and methodical thoroughness, which effectively clears the ground for a much better account of deuteronom(ist)ic theology. A. D. H. Mayes Trinity College Dublin, Ireland NOTES ON THE GREEK TEXT OF DEUTERONOMY. By John William Wevers. SBL Septuagint and Cognate Studies 39. Pp. xxx + 665. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Cloth, $74.95. After Notes on the Greek Text of Exodus (1990) and Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis (1993), published in the same collection, Professor Wevers, with regular and untiring rhythm, offers us this excellent volume Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 121 Reviews on the Septuagint Text of Deuteronomy. It is a textual commentary on his critical edition of the Greek Deuteronomy published in the Gottingen series (1977). It should be read as a companion volume in connection with his edition of Deuteronomy and The Text History of the Greek Deuteronomy (Gottingen, 1978). The textual commentary, which constitutes the major part of the book, is preceded by an introductory statement and followed by two appendices as well as three indices. The appendices include (1) a list of proposed changes in the critical text of Deuteronomy and (2) Codex Alexandrinus in Deuteronomy (it represents basically an expansionist tradition). There are indices of Greek words and phrases, of Hebrew words and phrases, and of topical key words. In his introduction, Wevers, coherent with some of his former publications, explains the purpose of this monograph and the main presuppositions on which it is based, namely: (1) that the translators were consciously at work on a canonical text, (2) that the parent text being translated was in the main much like the consonantal text of the textus receptus , (3) that the product of the Alexandrian translators of the Torah was throughout sensible, and (4) that the Greek Pentateuch is a humanistic document of great value for its own sake. I basically agree with Wevers' presuppositions and with his conviction that the Greek text is the earliest exegetical source we have for understanding the Pentateuch. A condition sine qua non for the right interpretation of this version is the sound analysis of the translation technique and the style of the translator as well as the plausible certainty that we are dealing with the true Septuagint and not with a late or corrupt text. For the correct evaluation of the translation, it is indispensable to know the structure and limitations of the target language in relation to the...