The Geographical Shape Of The Unconquered Land In Joshua 13:2–5 Mt And LXX

Abstract

In spite of more than a century of thorough investigation into the Greek translation of Joshua, there are still many riddles to be solved. One of these is the relationship between the Greek and Hebrew texts of Josh 13:2-5. The relationship between the Hebrew and Greek texts of Joshua has been subject to discussion for many decades. The natural understanding of the Hebrew text is that the area from the Shihor in the south until the territory of the Philistine city of Ekron in the north is considered to be Canaanite territory. The Greek text displays a number of smaller variants which may be classified as free renderings of a text similar to or identical with MT. In other cases the Greek Joshua apparently witnesses to a text different from MT, or he reflects an attempt of the Greek translator to make sense of Vorlage that was incomprehensible or corrupt. Keywords: Canaanite territory; Greek Joshua; Greek text; Hebrew text; Josh 13:2-5