THE DIVINE NAME IN GREEK (Traducere)

 

THE DIVINE NAME IN THE GREEK TRANSLATION SEPTUAGINTA

(abbreviation LXX)

 

"Septuagint" is a word that describes a version and translation name, derived from the Latin "seventy". Its abbreviation and logo are quoted as "LXX". It is a translation from the 3rd century BC. of the Hebrew Scriptures in Greek.

The translation of the Septuagint took place in Alexandria, by order of the Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphos (283-246 BC), who included it in the famous library in Alexandria.

Aristeas' letter is the earliest known record of the origin of the Septuagint and shows how King Ptolemy contacted the high priest Eleazar of Jerusalem and asked him to send him translators. Thus, six scholarly translators from each tribe of Israel were chosen and sent to Alexandria.

 

Debate on the rendering of the Divine Name in LXX

 

Most copies of the Septuagint — from the first and other editions — before the Council of Nicaea (325) had the divine name in the text. The source is from the Jewish Karaite scholar Nehemiah Gordon, USA. In these copies the Divine Name was often written in Hebrew characters.

 

The 8HevXII papyrus, also known as the LXX-VTS 10a, Rahlfs 943a is a manuscript of the Septuagint from the 1st century AD, with passages with passages from certain books of the prophets. They contain the Divine Name, also called the tetragrammaton YHWH, in Hebrew יהוה. The verses in question are: Jonah 4: 2; Micah 1: 1, 3; Micah 4: 4, 5, 7; Micah 5: 4, 4; Habakkuk 2:14, 16, 20; Habakkuk 3: 9; Zephaniah 1: 3, 14; Zechariah 2:10; Zechariah 1: 3, 3, 4; Zechariah 3: 5, 6, 7

 

The papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522 also known as P.Oxy.L 3522, Rahlfs 857 dates from the first century AD and contains verses from Job 42: 11-12.

 

The Fouad 266 papyrus (LXXP. Fouad Inv. 266; Rahlfs 847, 848 and 940; TM no: 62290; LDAB id: 3451: VH: 0056) is a copy of the book of Deuteronomy. This manuscript of the copy of the Septuagint dates from the 1 century AD. The text indicates over 50 mentions of the Hebrew Divine Name YHWH (יהוה), in verses: 18: 5, 5, 7, 15, 16; 19: 8, 14; 20: 4, 13, 18; 21: 1, 8; 23: 5; 24: 4, 9; 25:15, 16; De 26: 2, 7, 8, 14; 27: 2, 3, 7, 10, 15; 28: 1, 1, 7, 8, 9, 13, 61, 62, 64, 65; 29: 4, 10, 20, 29; 30: 9, 20; 31: 3, 26, 27, 29; 32: 3, 6, 19.

 

These ancient manuscripts - but also others - of the Septuagint show that there was a tradition of rendering the Divine Name when translating the text into Greek. It is possible that this tradition dates back to the 72 rabbis who translated the Old Testament (Tanakh) into Greek, where they kept the name of YHWH / יהוה Elohim intact and did not render it by translating and replacing it with the titles “Kurios ”(The Lord) or“ Theos ”(God).

 

So the Greek Christians of the first century AD — and even later — knew of the Divine Name.

Is it possible that Paul and the other New Testament writers followed this tradition? We can only guess, because there are not many manuscripts left from the first century.