Biblical Greek (Old Testament)

Teacher(s)

Auwers Jean-Marie;

Language

French

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of ancient Greek (at least LRELI1180 or LFIAL1770), but preferably a more advanced knowledge (LGLOR1271 or LGLOR1371).
Those students whose level is insufficient will be oriented towards LRELI1240.

Main themes

Study of the Greek of the Old Testament (Septuagint and other translators).
Alternating with LGLOR2781 (New testament), the course provides an introduction to specific questions of morphology, syntax, and vocabulary which arise from biblical Koine. Special attention is paid to Semitism, translations indices and bilingualism. It attempts to show the nature of "a translation language", and brings out how any translation is an interpretation and examines the question of what view the Septuagint had of the work of translation.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the the end of this course, the student will be capable of reading with profit the Septuagint in its Greek text, with the aid of the appropriate grammar and dictionaries. He will be able to find in it the specialities of the bible Koine, and to get the best out of printed and computer based work tools (dictionaries both general and specific, concordances grammars and encyclopedias).

Content

The course consists of a commented reading (from a linguistic and grammatical point of view) of the texts of the Septuagint, of which certain were written directly in Greek and others were translated from the Hebrew, the texts being chosen to illustrate the different levels of literalness in the translation. The course also includes a systematic revision of Greek grammar.  Biblical students should familiarise themselves with the tools of classical philology, the students of philology with the tools of bible studies.

Teaching methods

The active participation of the students is a prerequisite, and the texts to be studied will be indicated at the start of the course. They should prepare their own translation of these texts.

Evaluation methods

Oral exam covering the texts seen during the course (70%), and reading of one or several texts from the New Testament (30%).

Other information

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Online resources

The students can obtain from the Moodle server a bibliography, a text on Greek accenting and other working tools.

Bibliography

Il est recommandé aux étudiants de se procurer une grammaire grecque (par exemple celle de Ch. Van de Vorst ou celle de E. Ragon - A. Dain),
Le Dictionnaire grec-français d'A. Bailly a fait l'objet en 2023 d'une révision par G. Gréco téléchargeable gratuitement sur le site http://gerardgreco.free.fr/spip.php?article52.
Il est conseillé aux étudiants de se procurer une édition de la Septante (A. Rahlfs, Septuaginta, 2e éd., Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006).
Autres instruments de travail au maniement desquels les étudiants seront initiés :
- J. Lust, E. Eynickel, K. Hauspie, Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Revised Edition, Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2003.
- T. Muraoka, A Greek-English lexicon of the Septuagint, Leuven, Peeters, 2009.
- E. Hatch et H. A. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint and the Other Greek Versions of the Old Testament, 2d edition by T. Muraoka, Edinburgh, Clark, 1998.
-  F.M. Abel, Grammaire du grec biblique suivie d'un choix de papyrus (Études bibliques), Paris, 1927.
- Henry St. John Thackeray, A Grammar of the Old Testament in Greek according to the Septuagint, Cambridge, 1909; réimpr. Darmstadt, G. Olms, 1978.
- T. Muraoka, A Syntax of Septuagint Greek, Leuven, Peeters, 2016.

Faculty or entity

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