Two Difficult Passages in the Hebrew Texts of Lamentations 5: Text-Critical Analyses of the Greek Translation

Abstract

The Greek translation of Lamentations counts amongst the more interesting translation units in the corpus of Greek Jewish scriptures traditionally known as the Septuagint (LXX). This chapter demonstrates the text-critical analyses of the Greek renderings of difficult passages in the Hebrew wording of Lamentations 5 which focus on how the readings in the Old Greek text were created during the translation process, on the one hand, and which compare these readings with their counterparts in other ancient translations, on the other hand, and indeed shed light on the translation technique of LXX Lamentations. The assumption that formed the point of departure of this study is, therefore, valid - at least for LXX Lam 5:10 and 5:13. The data provided by these analyses not only lead to a better understanding of the Greek wording of Lam 5:10 and 5:13, but can also contribute to a more nuanced translation profile of LXX Lamentations. Keywords:Greek Translation; Hebrew wording; Lamentations; Septuagint (LXX); Text-Critical Analyses