Abstract
Septuaginta Deutsch - A Theological Challenge. Considerations following the German translation of the Septuagint The new German, English and French translations of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) bring to attention the wealth of the scriptures that gained significance in Israel until the 1st century AD. That hidden treasure poses questions for systematic theology: 1. The extent of the Greek scriptures is greater than that of the Hebrew Bible; the editions of the Septuagint even contain material that exceeds the so-called apocrypha / pseudepigrapha (PsSal, Odes). Thus, the question evolves, whether the boundaries of the canon have to be opened. 2. The wording of the scriptures differs from the Hebrew in many instances. Sometimes, the Septuagint reflects an older Hebrew text, which is lost today. Therefore we have to consider, whether and where this second text might have theologically similar weight to the masoretic text. 3. Textual variants, corrections and sometimes recent conjectures enrich the meaning of the texts. Therefore we sometimes must tolerate more than one meaning of holy texts. All in all: By making the Septuagint accessible, a considerable - yet so far not much perceived - capaciousness may be assigned to the protestant principle “sola scriptura”. “Scripture” does not consist of just one single authoritative textversion, but it contains a vast intrinsic and theologically valuable diversity.
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