Septuagint: Maccabees

Septuagint: Maccabees PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
ISBN: 1990289185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Four books of Maccabees were ultimately added to the Septuagint, three in the 1ˢᵗ century BC, and the 4ᵗʰ as an appendix in the 1ˢᵗ century AD. No trace of these books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they are generally thought to have been written in Greek. 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees do include several Aramaic loanwords that support an Aramaic source text. A different book of Maccabees has survived in the Arabic language, either called Arabic Maccabees, or 5ᵗʰ Maccabees. Three additional books of Maccabees have survived in the Ge'ez language in Ethiopia and are generally considered translations from either Syriac or Arabian sources. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees tells the story of the Maccabean Revolt against the rule of the Seleucid Empire in the 2ⁿᵈ century BC. The content of 1ˢᵗ Maccabees appears to be a Sadducee text, as it clearly gives all credit to the self-declared high-priests that led the rebellion against the Greeks, and barely mentioned the sky-god Shamayim, or the earth-goddess Eretz. It also omits the names of the other gods that 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees mentions the Judeans worshiping, such as Dionysus, which supports its authorship in the Hasmonean Dynasty, when the other gods were no longer tolerated. 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims to be an abridged version of Jason of Cyrene's now lost five-volume version of Maccabees. Jason's books of the Maccabees were likely composed earlier than 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, as the story ends decades earlier, and contains many references to Sabaoth, translated into Greek as Dionysus, which are missing from the 1ˢᵗ Maccabees. While 1ˢᵗ Maccabees is a very secular version of the events that led to the creation of the Hasmonean kingdom, and was, therefore, almost certainly composed by a Sadducee, 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims that Judas the Hammer, the protagonist of both 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees was a Hasidean, suggesting that either Jason of Cyrene, or whoever abridged his work, was a Hasidean. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees mentioned the Hasideans joining Judas' forces, but did not claim he was one. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees is a philosophical interpretation of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees. It was added to the Septuagint in the 1ˢᵗ-century AD, however, it could have been written anywhere between circa 100 BC and 100 AD. This text includes more details regarding the torture of the Hebrew youths from 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, which may have come from Jason of Cyrene's original five-volume version of Maccabees. The author of 4ᵗʰ Maccabees accepts the flying horsemen of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees as sky messengers, which implies the Phrygian imagery was widely accepted by Jews at the time and supports the Greek and Roman records that indicate the Phrygians and Hebrews worshiped the same god. Unlike 2ⁿᵈ and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees, 4ᵗʰ Maccabees does not mention the god Dionysus/Sabaoth, indicating that the book was written in Hasmonean Dynasty or later. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees also does not have any Aramaic loanwords, indicating it was almost certainly written in Greek.

A New English Translation of the Septuagint

A New English Translation of the Septuagint PDF Author: Albert Pietersma
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019972394X
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 1050

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Book Description
The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of Jewish sacred writings) is of great importance in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. The first translation of the books of the Hebrew Bible (plus additions) into the common language of the ancient Mediterranean world made the Jewish scriptures accessible to many outside Judaism. Not only did the Septuagint become Holy Writ to Greek speaking Jews but it was also the Bible of the early Christian communities: the scripture they cited and the textual foundation of the early Christian movement. Translated from Hebrew (and Aramaic) originals in the two centuries before Jesus, the Septuagint provides important information about the history of the text of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have looked to the Septuagint for information about the nature of the text and of how passages and specific words were understood. For students of the Bible, the New Testament in particular, the study of the Septuagint's influence is a vital part of the history of interpretation. But until now, the Septuagint has not been available to English readers in a modern and accurate translation. The New English Translation of the Septuagint fills this gap.

Studies on Baruch

Studies on Baruch PDF Author: Sean A. Adams
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110364271
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
There has been widespread neglect by scholars of deuterocanonical books, especially those (e.g., Baruch) that are thought to lack originality. This book seeks to address this lacuna by investigating some of the major interpretive issues in Baruchan scholarship. The volume comprises a collection of essays from an international team of scholars who specialise in Second Temple Judaism and Old Testament pseudepigrapha. Topics covered include: historical issues (the person of Baruch), literary structure, intertextual relationships between Baruch and the OT (Jeremiah, Isaiah), reception history (Christian and Jewish), and modern translation challenges. This is the first volume of essays that exclusively focus on Baruch and one that seeks to provide a foundation for future investigations.

The Life of Harkhuf

The Life of Harkhuf PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1990289339
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The life of Harkhuf is one of the better-documented lives from the era of the Old Kingdom era of Egyptian history. Harkhuf lived during the reigns of kings Merenre I and Pepi II of the 6ᵗʰ Dynasty, at the same time as the more famous Weni, whom he may have mentioned in his autobiography. Like Weni, he is primarily known from the inscriptions on his tomb, however, unlike Weni, he only seems to have had one tomb. On the front of his tomb were carved two inscriptions, one promising to intercede in the afterlife for those who prayed for him at his tomb, and the other was his autobiography, telling of his three expeditions into Nubia for King Merenre I. This appears to have been the original design of the tomb, as the front of the tomb was completely covered in the two inscriptions, however, like Weni, he later had more to add. Unlike Weni, Harkhuf did not build a second tomb, instead, he had one side of the tomb smoothed off so a letter to him from King Pepi II could be inscribed there, providing more information about the world he lived in. Harkhuf lived during the 6ᵗʰ Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which would have been at the peak of the Old Kingdom’s international reach, but after the major pyramid-building feats of the 5ᵗʰ Dynasty were completed. Egypt had already built the tallest building in the world around a century before Harkhuf’s expeditions into Nubia, which would continue to be the tallest building in the world for thousands of years, until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. As Merenre I is only believed to have ruled for around 9 years, Harkhuf and Weni had to be active in Nubia at the same time. Weni’s Autobiography includes two lists of Nubian tribes, first a list of five tribes that fought in Canaan with the Egyptian army, and later a list of four tribes when he went to Nubia to dig five canals to open the region to trade via Egyptian barges. Nubia was the land to the south of Egypt, was Aswan and Elephantine at the First Cataract of the Nile. Elephantine, under its older Egyptian name Abu was mentioned as one of the mines that Weni visited, however, was considered Egyptian during the Old Kingdom, and marked the boundary between the two cultures. As only four of the five Nubian tribes that Weni mentioned are mentioned by Harkhuf, it allows both their routes through Nubia to be compared and tracked, establishing where the Nubian settlements were probably located.

The Shapira Scrolls

The Shapira Scrolls PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 199828879X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 65

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Book Description
The Shapira scrolls, also known as the Shapira manuscript or Moabite Deuteronomy, are a collection of leather strips supposedly discovered in the Arnon Valley of modern Jordan in the 1860s. While they were initially accepted as authentic by the Jewish antiquities dealer Moses Shapira, they were later discredited as forgeries by German and British biblical scholars. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in the 1940s, there have been several scholars who have called into question the claims that the leather strips were a forgery, however, their whereabouts is unknown, and therefore no modern analysis of the leather strips is possible. Several reasons were given for the initial claims that the strips were a forgery, including the script, language, and content. The script is a form of Phoenician, similar to the Moabite script of the 800s BC, however, the language includes Imperial Aramaic terms not used until the Persian era, several centuries later. The content is not a match for any surviving translation of Deuteronomy, however, it does include many parallel statements. Some of the statements are somewhat heretical, however, they do seem similar to the beliefs of the Hasidian and Tobian sects reported to have been living in the region under Greek rule between 330 and 240 BC. Moses Shapira had previously been involved in the discovery and authentication of both authentic and fraudulent artifacts for the museums and universities of Europe, including five scrolls inscribed on leather sold in 1870, that were later assumed to be forgeries in 1884 and have subsequently disappeared. His biggest ‘swindle’ was thousands of fake Moabite artifacts labeled as Moabitica, which were apparently dug up at a site in the Arnon Valley of modern Jordan. These artifacts included stone heads, and clay vessels inscribed with Moabite text, and were dug up by both Shapira’s workers and German scholars, who later assumed Shapira’s people hid the artifacts there for them to find. The Altes Museum in Berlin bought the largest collection of these artifacts, at 1700, however, there were additional sales to other institutions and individuals across Europe, and the total number of artifacts is unknown.

Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah

Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah PDF Author: Sean A. Adams
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004278494
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This work is the first major commentary of LXX Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah in English. Rather than seeing LXX mainly as a text-critical resource or as a window on a now-lost Hebrew text, this commentary, as part of the Septuagint Commentary Series, interprets Baruch and EpJer as Greek texts and from the perspective of Greek readers unfamiliar with Hebrew. Included are a transcription and an English translation of Codex Vaticanus, the oldest extant manuscript of the books, and a detailed commentary. Another major contribution is the utilisation of the sense-delimitation (paragraphs) of Codex Vaticanus and other codices to explore how early readers interpreted the text.

4 Baruch (Paraleipomena Jeremiou)

4 Baruch (Paraleipomena Jeremiou) PDF Author:
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
ISBN: 158983173X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


The Life of Weni

The Life of Weni PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
ISBN: 1990289290
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
The life of Weni, also called Uni, is one of the best-documented lives from the era of the Old Kingdom era of Egyptian history. Weni experienced significant upward mobility during the reigns of kings Teti, Userkare, Pepi I, and Merenre I, and as a result had a second tomb prepared for himself later in life, resulting in two of his tombs surviving to the present. His tombs were not extravagant like the king's pyramids of the era, and seem to have generally been ignored until rediscovered in the 1800s. His earlier, smaller tomb included the shorter Inscription of Weni, sometimes called the Tomb Inscription of Weni, while his later, larger tomb included the longer Autobiography of Weni, also sometimes called the Inscription of Weni, or Tomb Inscription of Weni. The second, longer Autobiography of Weni is the longest surviving text from the Old Kingdom that is non-religious and provides a glimpse into the lives of the royal court, as well as the extent of the Old Kingdom's power within Nubia and Canaan. The older inscription is believed to date to late in the reign of King Pepi I, as Weni doesn't mention anything after the campaigns in Canaan. The larger inscription includes Weni's expeditions into Nubia for King Merenre I, who reigned after Pepi I, and provides a brief Egyptian description of Nubia during the Old Kingdom era. Weni's life spanned most of the 6ᵗʰ Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which would have been at the peak of the Old Kingdom's international reach, but after the major pyramid-building feats of the 5ᵗʰ Dynasty were completed. Egypt had already built the tallest building in the world decades before Weni was born, which would continue to be the tallest building in the world for thousands of years. The 6ᵗʰ Dynasty continued to build pyramids, however, none came close to the engineering accomplishments of the 5ᵗʰ Dynasty. One pyramid, which King Merenre I built, is mentioned prominently in the later section of the autobiography. It is believed to have been the Pyramid of Merenre at Saqqara, although it might have been a different pyramid for one of his wives.

The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research

The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research PDF Author: Tim McLay
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802860910
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Too often the Septuagint is misunderstood or, worse, ignored in New Testament studies. In this book R. Timothy McLay makes a sustained argument for the influence of the Greek Jewish Scriptures on the New Testament and offers basic principles for bridging the research gap between these two critical texts. McLay explains the use of the Septuagint in the New Testament by looking in depth at actual New Testament citations of the Jewish Scriptures. This work reveals the true extent of the Septuagint s impact on the text and theology of the New Testament. Indeed, given the textual diversity that existed during the first century, the Jewish Scriptures as they were known, read, and interpreted in the Greek language provided the basis for much, if not most, of the interpretive context of the New Testament writers. Complete with English translations, a glossary of terms, an extensive bibliography, and helpful indexes, this book will give readers a new appreciation of the Septuagint as an important tool for interpreting the New Testament.

Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor

Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor PDF Author: Scriptural Research Institute
Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
ISBN: 1990289215
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor is the earliest known surviving story of a shipwrecked sailor, and as such is the forerunner of many stories of nautical adventure encountering strange magical creatures, from Homer's Odyssey to Sinbad the Sailor. In a broader sense, it is generally considered the oldest piece of Egyptian fiction to survive to the present. Only one copy has been found to date, a single papyrus manuscript that resides at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is designated pHermitage 1115. The exact origin of the papyrus was not properly documented at the time, which was common for early Egyptologists, however, it was most likely recovered in Vladimir Golenishchev's 1884-85 expedition to the Wadi Hammamat, which was the major trade route between the Nile in southern Egypt and the port of El Qoseir on the Red Sea. The papyrus does appear to be complete, however, the story is not. It begins abruptly and ends abruptly, and suggests that it was excised from an older text. The story begins as a ship's captain is returning home from Nubia, on a failed mission of some kind, and then segues to the narrator telling the disinterested captain of a time when was shipwrecked on an island near Punt. It ends as abruptly as it begins, but the scribe confirms that this is the end of the story. Based on the content, it appears that the point of the papyrus was to copy the section of text dealing with the island and the 'Lord of Punt,' which was copied from a longer text in which the captain returned from his failed mission in Nubia, and told the king a story his crewman had told him to make up for the fact that he had nothing to report, but also downplayed the fantastic story by making it clear that it was his boring crewman's story, and not his. The reason for the extraction of the story, was probably because at the time, in the early Middle Kingdom era, the Egyptians were re-exploring their world, and trying to find the lands their ancestors had been trading with. This short work of probable fiction was, nevertheless, about the fabled land of Punt, which the Middle Kingdom reopened trade with during the 11ᵗʰ dynasty. Under the 11ᵗʰ dynasty's Mentuhotep III, an officer named Hannu reopened trade with Punt, however, it is unknown if he personally sailed there or simply organized the expedition. The most probable time for Imenyas pen-Imeny to have excised the story was before that first mission of Hannu, when the Egyptians were scouring their records for information on Punt. The fact that it was abandoned in the Wadi Hammamat, the route taken from the capital at Thebes to the Red Sea port of El Qoseir, seems to be a pretty strong indicator that the navigator did not see any value in the text, and did not even bother carrying it all the way to the harbor.

The Old Testament in Early Christianity

The Old Testament in Early Christianity PDF Author: E. Earle Ellis
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1592442560
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
In this paperback edition of an important historical study, E. Earle Ellis examines the Old Testament canon in the early church and biblical interpretation in the New Testament. He writes from the conviction that "the use of the Old Testament by the New Testament writers is the primary key to their theology and, thus, to the message of God that they taught the early church and that they continue to teach the church today."