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A Lexicon of Symmachus' Special Vocabulary in His Translation of the Psalms

Johan Lust
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

General Introductory Remarks

1. Symmachus' translation was one of the early revisions of the Septuagint included in Origen's Hexapla. In ancient times his version was much appreciated for giving the sense of the Hebrew clearly and with reasonable elegance¹. Jerome relied on it frequently for his own translation, the Latin Vulgate. Eventually, with the disappearance of the Hexapla, Symmachus' translation got lost. Only a few manuscript fragments, marginal manuscript readings, and patristic citations remain. The large majority of these remainders contain parts of the Psalms. Most of the direct evidence of the manuscript fragments of the Psalms has been published successively by C. Taylor (1900), C. Wessely (1910), and G. Mercati (1958), after the completion of F. Field's standard work on the Hexapla (Field 1867-1871)². The editions of Taylor and Wessely were limited to a few verses: Pss 21,15-24; 68,30-33; and 80,11-14, respectively. The materials published by Mercati, in an impressive volume, are much more substantial: 17,26-48; 27,6-9; 28,1-3; 29,1-13; 30,1-10.20-25; 31,6-11; 34,1-2.13-18; 35,1-6; 45,1-12; 48,1-15; 88,26-53. Recently the whole lot has been collected in a critical edition by J. R. Busto Saiz (1978). Additional fragments were published by A. Schenker (1975): Pss 77,30-66; 78,1-13; 79,5-20; 80,8-16; 81,1-8; 82,2-16.

2. Recent studies of Symmachus' translation techniques have been produced by J. R. Busto Saiz for the Psalms (Busto Saiz 1978), J. González Luis for the Major Prophets (González Luis 1981), and A. Salvesen for the Pentateuch (Salvesen 1991). The latter offers a more general introduction to Symmachus, giving a critical reassessment of the exegetical peculiarities in his translation and of his religious identity, topics researched in the earlier works of A. Geiger (1862), H.-J. Schoeps (1942, 1945, 1948), and D. Barthélemy (1974)³.

Vocabulary

3. Symmachus often uses a vocabulary different from, and more accurate than, that of the LXX. Many of his words do not occur in LXX, and some of them are neologisms. There is no up-to-date lexicon of this interesting vocabulary. Insofar as they were available in his days, J. Schleusner incorporated the readings of Symmachus, Aquila, and Theodotion in his Thesaurus published in 1820-1821 (Schleusner 1820-1821). It should be clear that his work is in need of revision, not only because of the new data have been discovered after the publication of the Thesaurus, but also because it translates the Greek vocabulary into Latin, which is not much of a help for many modern scholars and students. The Concordance to the Septuagint of E. Hatch and H. A. Redpath (1897) lists a good deal of the new materials, especially in the third part of the Supplement published in 1906 (Redpath 1906). The use of these data, however, is not without problems. First of all, the Concordance does not give a translation of the vocabulary. Second, insofar as the hexaplaric materials are concerned, no contexts are given, and the Hebrew equivalents are not provided.

4. In our Septuagint lexicon (Lust 1992, 1996) we confined ourselves to the vocabulary of Rahlfs' edition (Rahlfs 1935; several re-editions have been published as well), postponing the treatment of the vocabulary of "The Three" to later times. Now that the first edition of that lexicon has been completed, "The Three" call for renewed attention.

5. According to our planning, the lexicon of "The Three" has to list only the words used in the revisions that do not occur in the LXX. The reason for this limitation is purely pragmatic. For the vocabulary shared with LXX, the reader is referred to the Lexicon of the Septuagint. Of course, "The Three" may have given new meanings to some of these terms, meanings that are not dealt with in the Septuagint lexicon. The treatment of these nuances is, however, to be confided to the editors of a more complete and final lexicon of the Septuagint and its revisions.

6. As a rule, for each word the following data will be provided: (1) the reference to the passages in the Psalms where the lemma occurs, together with its Hebrew equivalent; (2) the immediate context in which the term occurs (s'), as far as available, with the Septuagint rendition of that context (o'); (3) an English equivalent based on the use of the term in its context.

7. Some of these elements are to be left open in cases where the context is lacking. When the Greek lemma and its context are known only through retro-translation from the Syro-Hexapla by Field (Field 1867-1871), then the whole text is italicized. Lemmas with a context preserved in the direct manuscript evidence are marked with an asterisk (*). Lemmas that also occur elsewhere in "The Three" are signalled by a colon (:) when the occurrences are in Aquila or Theodotion, and by a semi colon (;) when they are in Symmachus' translation of biblical books other than the Psalms. The numbering of chapters and verses is that of the Septuagint in the edition of Rahlfs. The footnotes discuss some text-critical problems and list the remaining materials of "The Three," without being exhaustive⁴.

8. The translation of the Psalms was chosen as a test case. The reasons for that selection are double. First, most of the direct evidence pertains to the domain of the Psalms. Second, a lexicon of "The Three" for the Psalms may be a useful instrument for those who prepare the critical edition of the Septuagint of the Psalms.

9. The test case is limited to the vocabulary of Symmachus. The reasons are again twofold. First, the recent in-depth studies of his Psalms translation by G. Mercati, A. Schenker, and J. R. Busto Saiz present an excellent basis for a lexicographical investigation. Especially the lists created by Busto Saiz come in very handy. Second, Symmachus' vocabulary is most interesting because of the judicious character of his selection of equivalents for the Hebrew words.

Examples

10. The following examples are taken from the first ten entries of the Symmachus Lexicon. Only two of them occur in passages preserved in the direct manuscript tradition: a)htthsi/a in Ps 30,5, and ai)qh/r in Ps 88,38, both marked with "*":

a)htthsi/a that which is unconquerable			zw(m 30,5
	s'*	oti su ahtthsia mou
	o'	oti su ei o uperaspisthj mou
ai)qh/r; ether, heaven			qx#$ 35,6
	s'	h bebaiothj mexri twn aiqerwn
	o'	h alhqeia sou ewj twn nefelwn
56,11
	s'	kai mexri tou aiqeroj
	o'	kai ewj twn nefelwn
67,35
	s'	en tw| aiqeri
	o'	en taij nefelaij
76,18
	s'	hxon edwken aiqhr
	o'	fwnhn edwkan ai nefelai
88,7
	s'	tij gar en aiqeri antiparaqhsei tw| kuriw|; ecisasei tw| kuriw| en uioij qewn
	o'	oti tij en nefelaij iswqhsetai tw| kuriw|; kai tij omoiwqhsetai tw| kuriw| en uioij qeou
88,38
	s'*	wj h mhnh edraia aiwniwj o de diamarturomenoj en aiqeri pistoj
	o'	kai wj h selhnh kathrtismenh eij ton aiwna kai o martuj en ouranw| pistoj

11. Several lemmas among the first ten are marked with a semicolon ";" signaling that these words also occur in Symmachus' translation of other biblical books:

a)gla/i+sma; ornament, honor			#&w#&m 47,3
	s'	ap' arxhj afwrismenw| aglaismati pashj thj ghj
	o'	eurizwn agalliamati pashj thj ghj
tr)pt 88,18
	s'	oti aglaisma ahtthton autwn ei su
	o'	oti to kauxhma thj dunamewj autwn ei su

This word is also attested in Symmachus' translation of Prov 19,11.

12.

a)glaismo/j; ornament, adorning			Nw#&#& 44,8
	s'	elaiou aglaismou para touj etairouj sou
	o'	elaion agalliasewj para touj metoxouj sou

This word is also attested in Symmachus' translation of Job 39,13.

13.

ai)qh/r; ether, heaven

The occurrences of this lemma in the Psalms have been given above. For Symmachus' use of it elsewhere, see Deut 33,26; Job 36,28; 37,18.21; Prov 8,28; Jer 28,9 (51,9 MT).

14. None of the first ten lemmas are used by Theodotion, and only one, marked with ":", occurs in Aquila:

a)dhmone/w:; to be sorely dismayed, to be in anguish			P+( (qal) 60,3
	s'	en tw| adhmonein thn kardian mou
	o'	en tw| akhdiasai thn kardian mou
zpx (qal) 115,2
	s'	kai eipon adhmonwn paj anqrwpoj diayeudetai
	o'	egw de eipa en tw| ekstasei mou paj anqrwpoj yeusthj

The verb in question is also provided with a semicolon ";" because it also occurs elsewhere in Symmachus. The full list of the preserved attestations of a)dhmone/w is as follows:

Aquila:	Job 18,20
Symmachus:	Pss 60,3; 115,2; Eccl 7,17; Ezek 3,15

15. In Ps 60,3 Symmachus uses the verb as a translation of P+(, to faint, to languish; in 115,2 (116,11 MT) it renders zpx, which, according to Köhler-Baumgartner means to hurry away in anguish. In the two remaining occurrences in Symmachus, and in the one in Aquila, it is employed as an equivalent of forms of Mm#$, to be appalled. It is not surprising to see that Symmachus renders three different Hebrew expressions (P+(, zpx Mm#$) by the same Greek word. Our translator does not seek to give a wooden translation in which each Greek word always corresponds to the same Hebrew, nor does he always seek to render the same Hebrew word by the same Greek. His main preoccupation is to provide an accurate equivalent. On the other hand, his use of ai)qh/r demonstrates that at times he seems to be more systematic in his replacement of Septuagint terminology. Although our concern is with lexicography and not with grammar and style, it may be useful to note that Symmachus often prefers a more elegant Greek style, avoiding the Semiticizing character of the Septuagint. The first sample may illustrate this to a certain extent. It refers to Ps 77,8, where Symmachus uses the adjective abebaioj rendering a hiphil of the verb Nm), combined with the negation )l.

Symmachus' Translation Vocabulary Illustrated by His Use of a)dhmone/w

16. In most cases, if not in all, the translation of Symmachus is more accurate or closer to non-translation Greek than that of the Septuagint. A brief investigation of the passages in which Symmachus uses a)dhmone/w may illustrate this. In 60,3, LXX uses a)khdia/w, a neologism derived from the substantive a)khdi/a, known from classical Greek medical texts, and referring to a state of apathy in illness (see Harl 1971). In the context in Ps 60, the fainting (P+() of the heart is caused by fear of the enemy. Symmachus does not see the need for a neologism to render this state of the heart, since the semantic field of the existing verb a)dhmone/w covers the meaning of P+( in this context. In Ps 115,2 LXX has the substantive e1kstasij for the Hebrew verb zpx⁵. This verb does not occur frequently in the Old Testament (9 times). With reference to Deut 20,3; 2 Sam 4,4; 2 Kgs 7,15 (qere); Pss 30(31),23; 115,2 (116,12); Job 40,23, the meaning of the qal is usually said to be to hurry away (in alarm, fright)⁶. It should be noted, however, that the connotation of hurrying seems to be totally absent from our text. Similarly, in the other instances in which the verb occurs, perhaps with the exception of 2 Sam 4,4, this meaning does not seem to be prominent. The basic connotation is that of fear, anguish. 'Adhmone/w adequately renders this meaning of the verb in its context of Ps 115,2 (116,11). The lexicographical choice of the Septuagint is not wrong. The term e1kstasij has the connotation of fear, terror, but then mostly when this emotion is inspired by something awful and supernatural, divine. In Ps 115,2 the fear appears to be caused by threatening and untrustworthy people. In this context, a)dhmone/w is to be preferred.

17. The verb a)dhmone/w is a good equivalent of Hebrew Mm#$ in the remaining three instances where it is used by Symmachus and Aquila. The most difficult and remarkable passage of these three is perhaps Ezek 3,15 where the prophet is said to sit among the exiles for seven days, "desolate, in anguish" (Mym#$m). The Septuagint has a)nastrefo/menoj, a passive or medial participle of a)nastre/fw, a verb usually functioning as an equivalent of bw#$, to turn. Followed by e)n me/sw|, the expected meaning of the Greek participle is conversant among. This is confirmed by Ezek 19,6, where a lion's cub is said to converse among the adult lions⁷. That Greek expression does not seem to be an adequate rendition of the Hebrew in 3,15. Symmachus' a)dhmonw=n is much more accurate. There is no reason to assume that the translator read another Hebrew word by mistake. It is to be noted, however, that in this context, the LXX does not refer to any angry or bitter emotions of the prophet. That is already so in the foregoing verse 14. According to MT, at the end of his vision, the prophet says "I went in bitterness (rm), my spirit raging (yxwr tmxb)." The Septuagint has no equivalent for rm, and has e)n o(rmh|= (in the impulse) for tmxb: "I went in the impulse of my spirit." Again Symmachus gives a more accurate version of MT: pepikramme/noj qumw|~ embittered with anger. It is not obvious why the prophet should have been bitter and angry after his vision that filled his mouth with a "taste sweet as honey" (3,3). This may explain why the Septuagint translator avoided all references to such negative feelings in this context.

Conclusion

18. These samples illustrate the need and the usefulness of a lexicon of "The Three," and in particular of Symmachus. They also demonstrate that it should not only provide a translation or an interpretation of the words used exclusively by "The Three," it should also give the data that are lacking in the concordance of Hatch and Redpath: the context of each word and its Hebrew equivalent.

Symbols and Abbreviations
a' or Aq	= Aquila
q' or Th	= Theodotion
s' or Sym	= Symmachus
+	= the Greek word is a "plus"; in the Psalm referred to after this sign there is no Hebrew equivalent

For more on the following symbols: see above, par. 7.

*	direct manuscript evidence
:	also in Aquila or Theodotion
;	also in Symmachus outside the Psalms

For other symbols and abbreviations, see Lust 1992: xvii - xviii and Lust 1996: vii - viii.

19.

Click on any letter to jump to entry
a	b	g	d	e
z	h	q	i	k
l	m	n	c	o
p	r	s	t	u
f	x	y	w

SYMMACHUS - PSALMS
Part 1: A - I