Wordplay Within the Context of 'explicit ne explanations' in Genesis 1-11, as a Content-related Criterion in the Characterization of Septuagint Translation Technique

The relation between the Massoretic text and the Septuagint has been the subject of studies for centuries. Especially after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there has been given much attention to situate the study of LXX’s translation technique within the broader context of Textual and Literary Criticism. In this contribution, we aim at describing the way in which the translator of LXX Genesis rendered his Hebrew Vorlage from the specific angle of a content-related approach, developed by H. Ausloos and B. Lemmelijn. More concretely, we will demonstrate that the way in which Hebrew wordplay within the context of ‘explicit name explanations’ in Genesis 1–11 is rendered in Greek, can indeed function as a content-related criterion to evaluate the competence and creativity of the LXX-translator. After having presented this approach (part 1), an overview of scholarly opinions about LXX Genesis’ translation technique will be offered (part 2). More particularly, this summary will illustrate that the ‘mixed’ evaluation of the LXX-translator as rendering its Vorlage ‘extremely literal’ in some passages and simultaneously exposing ‘much more freedom’ in other instances, has given rise to circular argumentations with respect to the text-critical evaluation of variants between LXX and MT. Against this background, we will evaluate LXX Genesis by looking specifically at the way in which Hebrew wordplays are rendered in Greek (part 3). This particular evaluation will indeed confirm the ‘mixed nature’ of LXX Genesis. However, the study of LXX-Genesis from the angle of the Greek rendering of Hebrew wordplay will simultaneously illustrate that the most ‘literal’ Greek translation is not always the most ‘faithful’ with regard to the rendering of its Hebrew Vorlage. As such, the value of studying the translation technique of Genesis as a contribution within Textual and Literary Criticism will not only be confirmed, but also problematized.