Dear Barry, I am not sure what you mean by the word "incredible."
There are several problems if we try to use the verbs of the LXX in order to understand the meanings of the Hebrew verbs in the Tanakh. First, the translation quality of the books of the LXX is variable. This shows that the skills of the translators were different. Second, the translators did not have written grammars that made the fine distinctions between the meanings of the verbs as we find in modern grammars. Third, if Classical Hebrew is an aspectual language, there are fine (aspectual) nuances between the verb forms, and it is not easy to grasp these nuances without a long and careful study. Fourth, If Hebrew only codes for aspect and not for tense, as I believe, something may be lost or added when Hebrew verbs are rendered into Greek, where some forms only code for tense, others only code for aspect, and others code for both tense and aspect. I would like to illustrate the situation from my experience with my Akkadian classes. To identify the basic forms IPRUS (which wrongly is called "preterite," because it is not a tense) and IPARRAS (which wrongly is called "present," because it is not a tense) is difficult in some of the stems. The students prepared for the lessons looking up the words and translating a text, and this required much work. When a student read a line or two in class, s/he had to translate this text. Then, when I asked if a particular verb was "present" or "preterite," often the student could not answer, because this was difficult and s/he had not considered it. On which basis had the student made his or her translation? On the basis of the lexical meanings of the words and the context, whether the context showed that the action was past present or future. The finer nuances of the action, which required more work to find where often ignored. When this so often happens in a class where the students are grammatically drilled and are encouraged to look for aspectual nuances, how much more in an environment where this drill and education is lacking, as probably was the case with the Greek translators. I do not say that some LXX translators did not look for nuances in the Hebrew verbs. But my impression is that the task the translators viewed as their basic one, was to find whether the action was past, present or future, and then convey this into Greek. One reason for all the aorists in the LXX is that a great part of the actions in the Tanakh are past, and aorist very often is used with past reference, although it can also refer to the future. Evidently, there were also some linguistic conventions that the translators followed, and therefore we see certain patterns of how Hebrew verb forms are rendered into Greek. But to draw any conclusions as to the meaning and nuances of the Hebrew conjugations and stems on the basis of the renderings of the LXX, is in my view impossible. Best regards, Rolf Furuli Stavern Norway Lørdag 28. September 2013 12:37 CEST skrev Barry <[email protected]>: > I find this statement rather...incredible. What it tells us is how the > translator, involved in both linguistic communities, conceptualized the > verbs. In Isaiah 44:24 we have him rendering with both present substantive > participles and aorist main verbs. I don't think we can ignore this, and how > the ancient translators (especially the LXX and Jerome) rendered these has to > inform our own theories with regard to Hebrew verbs. The fact that there is > not a "one-to-one correspondence" is in itself an important datum. > > N.E. Barry Hofstetter > Sent from my iPad > Personal opinions expressed in this email do not reflect any institution with > which I may be affiliated > > > > > RF: There is not a one-to-one correspondence between the Hebrew verb forms > > of the Tanakh and the Greek verb forms in the LXX. Therefore, in my > > opinion, the use of verbs in the LXX tells us nothing about the meaning of > > the verbs in the Hebrew text. _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
