LITERARY USE OF THE LXX. BY NON-CHRISTIAN HELLENISTS.

1. A HAPPY accident has preserved fragments of the lost literature produced by the Hellenised Jews of Alexandria between the inception of the Alexandrian Version and the Christian era. The Greek historiographer, Alexander Cornelius -- better known as Polyhistor (ho poluistor), from his encyclopaedic learning -- wrote a treatise On the Jews which contained extracts from Jewish and Samaritan Hellenistic writings [784] . Of these a few were copied from Polyhistor's book by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, in whose pages they may still be read. They consist of fragments of the historians Demetrius, Eupolemus, Artapanus, and Aristeas, the poets Philo, Theodotus, and Ezekiel, the philosopher Aristobulus, and Cleodemus or Malchas. There is reason to believe that Demetrius flourished c. B.C.200; for the other writers the date of Polyhistor (c. B.C.50) supplies a terminus ad quem, if we may assume [785] that he wrote the work attributed to him by Clement and Eusebius.

The following references will enable the student to find the fragments: (1) Demetrius: Clem. Al. strom. i.141. Eus. pr. ev. ix.19(?), 21, 29. (2) Eupolemus: Clem. Al. strom. i.141. Eus. pr. ev. ix.17, 26 (= Clem. Al. strom. i.153), 30 -- 34, 39. (3) Artapanus: Eus. pr. ev. ix.18, 23, 27. (4) Aristeas: Eus. pr. ev. ix.25. (5) Philo the poet: Eus. pr. ev. ix.20, 24, 37 (cf. Clem. Al. strom. i.154). (6) Theodotus: Eus. pr. ev. ix.22. (7) Ezekiel the poet: Eus. pr. ev. ix.28 (= Clem. Al. strom. i.155), 29. (8) Aristobulus: Eus. pr. ev. viii.10; ix.6 (= Clem. Al. strom. i.22); xiii.12. (9) Cleodemus or Malchas: Eus. pr. ev. ix.20.

Several of these fragments bear traces of a knowledge and use of the Greek Bible, and this evidence is not the less convincing because, with one exception, the purpose of the writers has kept them from actual quotation. They wished to represent their national history in a form more acceptable to their pagan neighbours; but while avoiding the uncouth phraseology of the Greek Bible they frequently betray its influence. A few extracts will make this plain.

Demetrius: (a) ton theon to Abraam prostaxai auto; ton de anagagonta ton paida epi to oros puran nesai kai ton ?saak; de mellonta koluthenai hupo auto pros ten parastesantos [786] . (b) ekeithen de , enthen paragenesthai . . . kai teleutesai Rhachel ton Beniamin [787] . (c) phesi gar ton Abraam paidas epi katoikian pempsai; dia touto de kai eipein Mosen gemai [788] (d) me echonta de ekei gluku alla tou theou eipontos, ti ten pegen, kai genesthai gluku . ekeithen de elthein, kai heurein ekei men de [789] . (For other coincidences, see above, p.18.)

Eupolemus: ektisen, hos heileto anthropon chreston ek chrestou andros . . . kai architektona anthropo Turion ek metros Ioudaias ek tes phules Dan [790] .

Aristeas: ton Esau gemanta Bassaran gennesai Iob; de touton chora genesthai de auton kai poluktenon, ktesasthai gar auton men de , [791] .

Ezekiel (in his tragedy he Exagoge):

Mariam d' adelphe mou katopteuen pelas;

kapeita thugater basileos homou

katelthe loutrois, chrota phaidrunai neon.

d' euthus kai labous' ,

egno d' Ebraion onta; kai legei tade

Mariam adelphe prosdramousa basilidi;

soi paidi tod' heuro tachu

; he d' epespeusen koren;

molousa d' eipe metri, kai paren tachu

aute te meter kalaben m' es ankalas.

eipen de thugater basileos Touton, gunai,

apo sethen.

* * * *

ouk pephuka, glossa d' epri mou

dusphrastos, , hoste me logous

emous genesthai basileos enantion [792] .

Aristobulus: (a) ho [793] . (b) [794] kai en pasi .

2. Besides these fragments, some complete books have survived the wreck of the pre-Christian literature of the Jewish colony at Alexandria. They are included in the Alexandrian Greek Bible, but may be employed as separate witnesses of the literary use of the canonical translations. And the evidence supplied by them is ample. Thus the writer of Wisdom knows and uses not only Exodus (Sap. xvi.22 = Exod. ix.24, and perhaps also Sap. xii.8 = Exod. xxiii.28) and Deuteronomy (Sap. vi.7 = Deut. i.17, Sap. xi.4 = Deut. viii.15), but Isaiah (Sap. ii.12 = Isa. iii.10, Sap. xv.10 = Isa. xliv.20). The translator of Sirach not only recognises the existence of the Greek Pentateuch and Prophets and 'the other books,' but shews everywhere the influence of the Greek phraseology of the LXX. [795] In 2 Maccabees vii.6 we have a verbatim quotation from Deut. xxxii.36, and in 4 Maccabees xviii.14 ff. a catena of references to the Greek Bible, including direct citations of Isa. xliii.2, Ps. xxxiii.19, Prov. iii.18, Ezek. xxxvii.4, Deut. xxxii.39, xxx.20 -- all from the LXX. The picture which the last-named passage draws of a Jewish father reading and teaching his children out of the Greek Bible (cf.2 Tim. iii.15) is a suggestive one, but the book, it must be remembered, is of uncertain date, possibly as late as the time of Josephus, to whom it was at one time ascribed [796] .

3. The Jewish portions of the Sibyllines, notwithstanding the epic form in which they are cast, exhibit clear signs of the influence of the LXX. Thus in Sibyll. iii.312 execheas is a reminiscence of Ps. lxxviii.3, LXX.; ib.606 cheiropoieta . . . en schismais petron katakrupsantes is borrowed from Isa. ii.19 ff., Lxx.; ib.708 ff. is probably modelled on the Greek of Isa. xi.6 ff.

4. There remains one Alexandrian Jewish writer, the greatest of the succession, whose extant works happily are numerous and throw abundant light on the literary use of the Septuagint at Alexandria.

Philo's literary life probably coincided as nearly as possible with the first forty or five and forty years of the first century A.D.; in 40 A.D. he could speak of himself as already an old man [797] , but his literary activity was not yet at an end, as appears from his account of the embassy to Rome in that year. Thus the evidence of his writings belongs to a period just antecedent to the rise of the earliest Christian literature, and his numerous quotations enable us to form a fair idea of the condition of the text of the LXX. in Alexandrian copies shortly before it passed into the hands of the Church.

The following list of Philo's works may be useful for reference. Cohn and Wendland's order is followed so far as their edition has been published.

A. Exegetical works. De opificio mundi (Gen. i.). Legum allegoriae (ii.1 -- iii.19). De Cherubim etc. (iii.24 -- iv.1). De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini (iv.2 f.). Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat (iv.3 -- 15). De posteritate Caini (iv.16 -- 26). De gigantibus (vi.1 -- 4). Quod Deus sit immutabilis (vi.4 -- 12). De agricultura (ix.20). De plantatione Noe (ix.20). De ebrietate (ix.21 -- 23). De sobrietate (ix.24). De confusione linguarum (xi.1 -- 9). De migratione Abrahami (xii.1 -- 6). Quis rerum divinarum heres (xv.). De congressu eruditionis gratia (xvi.1 -- 6). De fuga et inventione (xvi.6 -- 14). De mutatione nominum (xvii.1 -- 22). De somniis i., ii. (xxviii.12 ff., xxxi.11 -- 13, xxxvii., xl., xli.). De Abrahamo. De Josepho. De vita Moysis. De decalogo. De circumcisione. De monarchia. De praemiis sacerdotum. De victimis. De sacrificantibus. De mercede meretricis. De specialibus legibus (3rd -- 10th commandments of the Decalogue). De iudice. De iustitia. De fortitudine. De humanitate. De creatione principum. De tribus virtutibus. De poenitentia. De nobilitate. De praemiis et poenis. De execrationibus. Quaestiones et solutiones (1) in Genesim, (2) in Exodum [798] . B. Philosophical works. De nobilitate. Quod omnis probus liber sit. De vita contemplativa. De incorruptibilitate mundo. De providentia. De ratione animalium. De mundo. C. Political works. In Flaccum. De legatione ad Caium.

In his exegetical writings Philo quotes the LXX. directly, announcing each citation by a formula such as phesi, eipen, legei, legetai, gegraptai, or some more elaborate phrase [799] . In this way he reproduces a considerable portion of the Greek text of the Pentateuch, as well as a few passages from Joshua, Judges, 1, 3 Kingdoms, 1 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and some of the minor Prophets. His Greek is, on the whole, clearly that of the Alexandrian version, which he regarded as the work of men divinely qualified for their task [800] . Nevertheless his quotations often differ from the Greek of the LXX., as it is found in our extant MSS., or in the oldest and best of them.

5. The task of comparing Philo's quotations with the LXX. has been undertaken in Germany by C. F. Hornemann and C. Siegfried, and in England more recently by Professor Ryle; and from these investigations the student may derive a general acquaintance with the subject, although even the latest of them will need revision when the critical edition of Philo's works, now in course of being published, has reached completion. The following specimens will shew the extent to which Philo departs from the LXX.

Gen. ii.7 eis psuchen zoes (LXX. eis psuchen zosan) [801] . iv.21 houtos esti pater ho katadeixas psalterion kai kitharan (LXX., en ho k.). vi.7 ethumothen (LXX. enethumethen). vi.14 nossias nossias poieseis ten kiboton (nossias semel LXX.). ix.25 pais oiketes doulos doulon estai (LXX. p. oiketes estai, and so Philo, ii.225.20). xv.18 heos tou potamou, tou megalou potamou Euphratou (LXX. potamou 2º) [802] . xviii.12 oupo moi gegone to eudaimonein heos tou nun (LXX. omit to eud. and so Philo once, iii.184.28). Exod. iv.10 ouch eimi eulegos (so Philo, apparently [803] : LXX. ouch hikanos eimi), xv.17 hedrasma eis kathedran sou kateirgaso (LXX. eis hetoimon katoiketerion sou ho kat.). xx.23 met' emou (LXX., humin autois). xxiii.2 meta pollon (LXX., meta pleionon). Lev. xix.23 xulon broseos (LXX., x. brosimon, and so Philo ii.152.8). Deut. viii.18 alla mneia mnesthese (LXX. kai mnesth.). xxi.16 klerodote (LXX., katakleronome B, kataklerodote AF, and these readings are found as variants in Phil. i.209.4).

The student who is at the pains to examine the readings given above, will find that while some of them may be merely recensional, or even due to slips of memory, the greater part imply a different rendering of the Hebrew, or even in some cases a different Hebrew text from that which is presupposed by the LXX. (Gen. vi.14, Deut. viii.18), whilst in others we seem to have a conflation of two renderings (Gen. iv.21, ix.25), one of which is preserved in all extant MSS. of the LXX., while the other agrees more nearly with the Hebrew. When the MSS. of the LXX. are at variance, Philo inclines on the whole to Cod. B [804] , but the preponderance is not strongly marked. Thus in Exodus -- Deuteronomy, he agrees with B against one or more of the other uncials sixty times, while in fifty-two places he takes sides against B. It has been observed that in several instances where Philo opposes the combined witness of the uncials, he goes with Lucian; e.g. Lev. xviii.5 ho poiesas; Deut. xii.8 hosa, xxxii.4 + en auto.

Besides substantial variants, Philo's quotations shew many departures from the LXX. which may be ascribed to inaccuracy, defects of memory, or the writer's method of citing. Thus (a) he omits certain words with the view of abbreviating; (b) he substitutes for a portion of his text a gloss or other explanatory matter of his own; (c) he exchanges Hebraisms and words or phrases which offend him for others in accordance with a correct literary style; (d) he forms a fresh sentence out of two or more different contexts.

E.g. (a) Gen. xxiv.20 kai dramousa epi to phrear hudreusato tais kamelois. (LXX., kai edramen epi to phrear antlesai hudor kai hudr. pasais tais kamelois). (b) Num. v.2 exaposteilatosan ek tes hagiou psuches (LXX. ek tes paremboles) panta lepron. (c) Gen. xxviii.13 he ge (v. l. he gen) eph' hes su katheudeis (+ ep' autes LXX.) soi doso auten (d) Gen. xvii.1 + xxxv.11 ego eimi theos sos; ego ho theos sou; auxanou kai plethunou (Pil. iii.161.4 f.).

The majority of Philo's quotations from the LXX. are modified in one or other of these ways. Philo entertained the highest veneration for the Jewish canon, especially for the law, which he regarded as a body of Divine oracles [805] ; and his respect for the Alexandrian Version was at least as great as that with which the Authorised Version is regarded in England, and Luther's Version in Germany. Nevertheless he did not scruple to quote his text freely, changing words at pleasure, and sometimes mingling interpretation with citation. This method of dealing with a source, however high its authority, was probably not peculiar to Philo, but a literary habit which he shared with other Jewish writers of his age [806] . We shall have occasion to observe it again when we consider the use of the LXX. by the writers of the New Testament.

6. The Alexandrian Version was also used by the Palestinian Jew, Flavius Josephus, who represents Jewish Hellenistic literature in the generation which followed Philo. He was born at Jerusalem within the lifetime of the great Alexandrian (A.D.37 -- 8). He was descended from a priestly family [807] ; his early education familiarised him with the learning of the Rabbis, and the opinions of the great schools of Jewish thought; in his nineteenth year he was enrolled a member of the sect of the Pharisees [808] . His earliest work, on the Jewish War, was written in Aramaic [809] , and when he desired to translate it into Greek, he was constrained to seek assistance (c. Ap. chresamenos tisi pros ten Ellenida phonen sunergois houtos epoiesamen ton praxeon ten paradosin). But the Antiquities of the Jews (hai Iosepou historiai tes Ioudaikes archaiologias), which appear to have been completed in A.D.93 -- 4, form an original Greek work which, so far as we know, was composed without material help. In it Josephus professes to interpret the Hebrew records for the benefit of Hellenic readers: Ant. i. proem.1 tautn de ten enestosan enkecheirismai pragmateian, nomizon hapasi phaneisthai tois Hellesin axian spoudes; mellei gar periexein hapasan ten par hemin archaiologian kai diataxin tou politeumatos ek ton Ebraikon methermeneumenen grammaton. His chief source, therefore, was the Hebrew Bible, with which he was doubtless acquainted from boyhood [810] . Nevertheless, there is ample evidence in the Antiquities that the writer knew and, for the purpose of his work, used the Alexandrian Greek version. He does not, indeed, like Philo, quote formally either from the Hebrew or from the Greek, but he shews a knowledge of both.

His indebtedness to the LXX. appears in a variety of ways. (a) He interprets proper names as they are interpreted by the LXX. e.g. Ant. I.1.2 Heua . . . semainei . . . panton metera (Gen. iii.20); I.2.1 Kais . . . ktisin (v.1. ktesin) semainei (Gen. iv.1); iii.1.6 kalousi de Ebraioi to broma touto manna; to gar man ererotesis .. . ti tout' estin' anakrinothsa (Exod. xvi.15); v.10.3 Samouelon . . . theaiteton an tis eipoi (1 Regn. i.20). (b) His narrative frequently follows a Heb. text different from the M.T., but represented by the LXX.; e.g. Ant. vi.4.1 esan ebdomekonta ton arithmon (1 Regn. ix.22, k?slsm; vi.11.4 hupotheisa tois epiboliaiois hepar kvd aigos (1 Regn. xix.13, kvyr); vi.12.4 Doegos d' ho Suros ho tas hemionous autou boskon (1 Regn. xxii.9, d'g h'dmy vhv' ntsv lvdys'vl); vii.2.1 monon heurontes . . . ton Iesbothon kai mete tous phulakas parontas mete ten thuroron egregoruian (cf.2 Regn. iv.6 LXX., kai idou he thuroros enustaxen kai ekatheuden); vii.5.3 husteron ho ton Aiguption basileus Sousakos . . . elabe (2 Regn. viii.7, LXX.; ^ ). (c) Whilst retailing in his own words the story of the Hebrew records, he falls from time to time into the peculiar phraseology of the Alexandrian version. A few examples will make this evident. Ant. i.1 (Gen. i.1 ff.), en arche ektisen ho theos ton ouranon kai ten gen . . . genesthai phos ekeleusen ho theos . . . diechorise to te phos kai to skotos . . . kai haute men an eie prote hemera, Mouses d' auten mian eipe . . . to ton tetrapodon genos arren kai thelu poiesas. i.10.3 (Gen. xv.9 f.) damalin trietizousan kai aiga trietizousan kai krion homoios triete kai trugona kai peristeran keleusantos dieile, ton orneon ouden dielon. (Gen. xxvii.30) paren Esaus apo tes theras. i.20.2 (Gen. xxxii.23 f.) cheimarroun tina Iabakchon legomenon diabebekoton Iakobos hupoleleimmenos . . . diepalaien. ii.4.1 (Gen. xxxix.1) Iosephon de poloumenon hupo ton emporon onesamenos Petephres aner Aiguptios epi ton Pharaothou mageiron. ii.6.1 (Gen. xli.45) prosegoreusen auton Psonthonphanechon . . . agetai gar kai Petephrou thugatera ton en te Helioupolei hiereon . . . Asennethin onomati. ii.7.5 (Gen. xlvi.28) apantesomenos exeisi kai kath' Heroon polinauto suoebalen [811] . (d) There is evidence to shew that Josephus used 1 Esdras, which is known only in a Greek form, and the Book of Esther with the Greek additions.1 Esdras. Ant. xi.1.1 (1 Esdr. ii.3 f.) Kuros ho basileus legei Epei me ho theos ho megistos tes oikoumenes apedeixe bailea, ton naon autou oikodomeso en Ierosolumois en te Ioudaia chora. xi.2.2 (1 Esdr. ii.21, cf.2 Esdr. iv.17) basileus Kambuses Rhathumo to graphonti ta prospiptonta kai Beelzemo kai Semelio grammatei kai tois loipois tois suntassomenois kai oikousin en Samareia kai Phoinike tade legei. xi.3.2 -- 8 = 1 Esdr. iii. -- iv. Esther. Ant. xi.6.6 = Esth. B; xi.6.8 ff. = C, D; xi.6.12 f. = E. The first Book of Maccabees was also known to Josephus in its Greek form [812] , which underlies his account of the Maccabean wars, just as the Greek translation of the canonical books is used in the earlier books of the Antiquities.

A recent examination, by A. Mez, of Basle [813] , into the Biblical text presupposed by Josephus' history in Ant. v. -- vii. has led to the following results, which are important for the criticism of the LXX. (1) The Josephus text of the LXX. has no affinity with the characteristic text of cod. B. (2) In Joshua it generally approximates to the text of . (3) In Judges it is frequently, but not constantly, Lucianic; in 1, 3 Kingdoms it agrees with Lucian so closely as to fall into the same omissions and misconceptions; only in four instances, other than proper names, does it contravene a Lucianic reading, and three of these are numerical differences, whilst in the fourth 'Lucian' appears to have undergone correction, and the reading of Josephus survives in cod. A. These investigations, so far as they go, point to a probability that in these books the Greek Bible of Palestine during the second half of the first century presented a text not very remote from that of the recension which emanated from Antioch early in the fourth. While Philo the Alexandrian supports on the whole the text of our oldest uncial cod. B, Josephus the Palestinian seems to have followed that of an 'Urlucian.'

LITERATURE. Hellenistic writers before Philo: Text: C. Müller, Fragmenta historica Graeca iii. J. Freudenthal, Hellenistische Studien i., ii. (Breslau, 1875). Cf. Susemihl, Geschichte der griech. Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit, ii. p.356 ff.; E. Schürer, Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes³, iii. p.345 ff.; Oeconomus, ii.76.

Philo: Text: L. Cohn and P. Wendland, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt (Berlin, vol. i.1896; vol. ii.1897; vol. iii.1898; vol. iv.1902; vol. v.1906 -- in progress). Cf. C. F. Hornemann, Specimen exercitationum criticarum in versionem LXX. interpretum ex Philone (Göttingen, 1773); C. Siegfried, Philo and der überlieferte Text der LXX. (in Z. f. wiss. Theologie, 1873, pp.217 ff., 411 ff., 522 ff.); A. Edersheim in D. C. B. iv. p.357 ff.; E. Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek (Oxford, 1889), p.140 ff.; F. C. Conybeare, in Expositor, 1891, p.456 ff.; and Jewish Q. R., 1893, p.246 ff., 1896, p.88 ff.; H. E. Ryle, Philo and Holy Scripture (London, 1895); P. Wendland, in Philologus 1898, p.283 ff., 521 ff., 1899, 274 ff.; L. Massebieau, Le classement des oeuvres de Philon (in Bibliothèque de l'école des hautes études 1. pp.1 -- 91); J. Drummond, in Hastings' D. B. suppl.197; J. H. A. Hart, in J. Q. R. xvii. p.78 ff.; Aug. Schröder, De Philonis Alexandrini Vet. Test., Greifswald, i907.

Sibyllines. Text: A. Rzach, Oracula Sibyllina, Vienna, 1891. Cf. F. Blass in Kautzsch, Pseudepigraphen, p.177 ff.

Josephus. Text: B. Niese, Fl. Josephi opera (Berlin, 1887 -- 1895). Cf. Spittler, 1779, J. G. Scharfenberg, 1780; E. Schürer², E. T.1. i. p.77 ff.; A. Edersheim in D. C. B. iii. p.441 ff.; C. Siegfried in Stade's Z. f. d. ATliche Wissenschaft, 1883, p.32 ff.; H. Bloch, Die Quellen des Fl. Josephus in seiner Archäologia (Leipzig, 1879); A. Mez, Die Bibel des Josephus untersucht für Buch v. -- vii. der Archäologia (Basle, 1895).

---

Footnotes:

[784] Cf. Joseph., ant. i. 15, Clem. Al. strom. i. 130, Eus. pr. ev. ix. 17.

[785] See Schürer³, iii. p. 347 f.

[786] Cf. Genesis 22:1 ff.

[787] Cf. Genesis 35:16.

[788] Cf. Genesis 25:6; Cf. Numbers 11:34-xii. 1.

[789] Cf. Exodus 15:23 ff.

[790] Cf. 2 Chron. ii. 12 ff.

[791] Cf. Job 42:17 b, c, i. 1 ff. Pseudo-Aristeas ad Philocratem makes abundant use of the Greek Pentateuch, as the reader may see by referring to the Appendix, where LXX. words and phrases are indicated by the use of small uncials.

[792] Cf. Exodus 2:4 ff.; iv. 10, where ouk eulogos is read by cod. F.

[793] Exodus 13:9

[794] Exodus 9:3. Estai A, epestai B. Kai en pasi, which is wanting in our MSS., may be due to a slip of memory, or it is a short way of expressing what follows in the text en te tois hippois ktl.

[795] See Edersheim in Wace's Apocr. ii.[p. 26.

[796] Cf. A. Deissmann in Kautzsch, Pseudepigraphen, p. 150: "als Abfassungszeit wird man den Zeitraum von Pompejus bis Vespasian annehmen dürfen."

[797] Leg. ad Cai. i. 28.

[798] On these see J. R. Harris, Fragments of Philo, p. 11 ff., and F. C. Conybeare, Expositor, IV. iv. p. 456 ff.

[799] Cf. Ryle, Philo, p. xlv. f.

[800] Cf. vit. Moys. 6, 7.

[801] On this see Nestle, Zur neuen Philo-Ausgabe in Philologus, 1900, p. 259. Dr Nestle informs me that cod. 75 often agrees with Philo.

[802] See Nestle, op. cit., p. 270.

[803] See above, p. 371.

[804] In Genesis 1.-xlvi. 27, where B is wanting, Philo shews on the whole a similar preference for the text represented by D. The figures, which are Dr Ryle's, are based on Mangey's text, but the new edition, so far as examined, gives very similar results.

[805] See Ryle, p. xvi. ff.

[806] Cf. D. C. B. iv. p. 387 a.

[807] Vit. 1.

[808] Ib. 2.

[809] B. J. prooem. 1 te patrio [sc. glosse] suntaxas.

[810] He possessed a copy of the sacred books which Titus granted him from the spoils of the Temple: Vit. 75 ten aitesin epoioumen Titon . . . biblion hieron [kai] elabon charisamenou Titou.

[811] For some of these instances I am indebted to a collation made by Mr C.. G. Wright for the Editors of the larger LXX.

[812] Bloch, Die Quellen d. Fl. Josephus, p. 8 ff.

[813] Die Bibel des Josephus, p. 59 ff.