Publisher Description

The authors of the essays collected in this volume are all concerned with the Jewish transmission and use of Greek translations of the biblical books from Late Antiquity to the early modern period. It is only in recent years that the idea of such a Jewish transmission has gained acceptance, and the present volume represents the first attempt to bring together contributions from specialists in a number of areas, including not only biblical and Jewish studies but also such disciplines as epigraphy and Byzantine history and literature, to investigate a wide range of aspects of the subject. The authors not only explore some of the ways in which Greek-speaking Jews kept alive a tradition of Greek biblical scholarship going back to ancient times, but also how this tradition impinged on Christian Bible study. They open a window on a forgotten chapter in biblical scholarship, and at the same time shed important light on aspects of Jewish life in the Middle Ages.

Author Biography

is Research Associate in the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. is Research Associate in the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. Born 1944; 1962-69 studied at Christ Church, Oxford; 1970 DPhil; 2001-11 Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University of Cambridge; Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge; Fellow of the British Academy.

Table of Contents

Natalio Fernandez Marcos: Non placet Septuaginta. Revisions and new Greek versions of the Bible in Byzantium - William Horbury: The Septuagint in Cambridge - James Aitken: The Jewish use of Greek Proverbs - Philip Alexander: The cultural history of the ancient Bible versions: the case of Lamentations - Giuseppe Veltri: The Septuagint in disgrace: some notes on the stories on Ptolemy in rabbinic and medieval Judaism - Silvia Cappelletti: Biblical quotations in Greek Jewish inscriptions of the Diaspora - David Jacoby: The Jewish communities of the Byzantine world from the tenth to the mid-fifteenth century: some aspects of their evolution - B. M. Outhwaite: Byzantium and Byzantines in the Cairo Genizah: new and old sources - Saskia Donitz : Sefer Yosippon and the Greek Bible. - T. M. Law: The use of the Greek Bible in some Byzantine Jewish glosses on Solomon's building campaign - Patrick Andrist: The Greek Bible used by the Jews in the dialogues Contra Iudaeos (4th-10th centuries CE) - Alison Salvesen: The relationship of LXX and the Three in Exodus 1-24 to the readings of Fb - Dries De Crom: The Book of Canticles in Codex Graecus Venetus 7 - Natalio Fernandez Marcos: The Greek text of the Complutensian Polyglot revisited

Long Description

The authors of the essays collected in this volume are all concerned with the Jewish transmission and use of Greek translations of the biblical books from Late Antiquity to the early modern period. It is only in recent years that the idea of such a Jewish transmission has gained acceptance, and the present volume represents the first attempt to bring together contributions from specialists in a number of areas, including not only biblical and Jewish studies but also such disciplines as epigraphy and Byzantine history and literature, to investigate a wide range of aspects of the subject. The authors not only explore some of the ways in which Greek-speaking Jews kept alive a tradition of Greek biblical scholarship going back to ancient times, but also how this tradition impinged on Christian Bible study. They open a window on a forgotten chapter in biblical scholarship, and at the same time shed important light on aspects of Jewish life in the Middle Ages.

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