The Pentateuch

Abstract

Abstract The impetus behind the translation of the Pentateuch likely emanated from a well-educated sector of the Jewish community, whose members were not unfamiliar with the Hebrew original. The translation’s language style adheres closely enough to Semitic syntax and idiom to suggest that the original’s words were never expected to be lost from view. Being the first undertaking of its kind, the translated Pentateuch is filled with renderings that speak of a spontaneous, creative procedure in which various strategies were attempted. The extent to which the Greek Pentateuch would have functioned as a theological guide for Hellenistic Judaism is not clear. Some parts do exhibit interpretive shifts, while others simply defy being counted as Torah in Greek. The Greek Pentateuch was known to later translators who depended in varying degrees upon its vocabulary.