"E' stata la mano di Dio": God's Hand in the Septuagint
(2023) EABS Graduate Symposium — Location: Jerusalem, Israel (27.March.2023)
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- Abstract
- Over the last decade, attention to bodies and their various roles/significances gained interest within Biblical Studies. As a particular aspect of this “Körpergeschichte” (Wagner 2014), the issue of divine embodiment is addressed. It is shown that God, in the Bible, has a body and that His body is often described with humanlike (i.e., anthropomorphic) terms. C. Fritsch, in 1943, proposed that LXX-Pentateuch, sporadically, spiritualizes these anthropomorphic conceptions of God. Harsh replies argued against LXX’S anti-anthropomorphic tendency (Orlinsky,1944;,Wittstruck,1967). The recent development of a Septuagint-theology re-opened the debate regarding the so-called anti-anthropomorphisms as an element of LXX’S theology. Against the background of this renewed debate, I intend to explore one particular anthropomorphism: God’s hand in the Pentateuch. Usually, LXX-Pentateuch renders God’s hand literally. However, a divergence appears in those verses presenting God’s “mighty hand” (יד חזקה). The Pentateuch contains two types of “mighty-hand-phrases”: 1) reading only God’s mighty hand; 2) joining God’s mighty hand with His outstretched arm (זרוע נטויה). Three differences with MT appear: a) LXX-Ex 32:11 does not contain God’s hand present in MT; b) LXX-Ex 6:1; 32:11; LXX-Deut 3:24; 6:21; 7:8; 9:26 refer to God’s arm, not present in MT; c) LXX-Ex 14:31 has God’s literal hand, metaphorically present in MT. Do these differences stem from translation technique, different Vorlage or anti-anthropomorphism regarding God’s hand? While the Biblical reference to God’s mighty hand has been studied regarding the Hebrew formula (esp. Martens 2001, Coetsee 2021), research is lacking for the rendering in LXX. I intend to analyse LXX’S rendering of God’s mighty hand, and show that LXX’S divergence reflects the consolidation of a formula containing both God’s mighty hand and His outstretched arm, all while rendering faithfully the anthropomorphism. I comply with other textual witnesses (Samaritan Pentateuch, Dead Sea Scrolls, Peshitta, Hexapla) to evaluate where the variants stem from.
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Citations
De Doncker, E. (2023). “E’ stata la mano di Dio”: God’s Hand in the Septuagint. EABS Graduate Symposium, Jerusalem, Israel. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/100205