Psalms 38 and 145 of the Septuagint

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The present dissertation is a commentary on Psalms 38 and 145 in the Septuagint (LXX) version,or more accurately, the Old Greek (OG) version. Specifically, this dissertation attempts tounderstand the semantic meaning of these psalms at the point of their inception, or composition,i.e. as translated literary units derivative of a presumed Semitic Vorlage. Stated differently, thisdissertation sets out to understand how these psalms were interpreted in translation by thetranslator(s).With the task of interpretation comes the assumption that the 'original or 'oldest verifiabletext can be first established since neither the OG nor its Vorlage are known to be extant. To thisend it is necessary to begin with the best critical editions available while also attempting toreconstruct a viable representative of the OG and Vorlage in the light of standard text-criticalcriteria and translation technique. Although the Old Greek text is the object of study, thetransmission history and related history of interpretation for both the Greek and Hebrew areselectively examined insofar as they are necessary as comparisons for the LXX at the point of itsinception, and the Vorlage from which it was derived.This work assumes – in accordance with the way translation may be understood generally –that the translator(s) of the Psalms were attempting to communicate his/her Vorlage to a newaudience. In this respect translation may be viewed as communication that crosses a languageboundary. As such, both lexical replication and idiomatic representation fall within the scope ofinterpretation. Both phenomena occur in Ps 38 and 145 in varying degrees and both phenomenacomprise aspects of the translator's cross-lingual communication.Chapter 1 establishes preliminary concepts regarding translation in terms of isomorphic andisosemantic representation, textual criticism of the Psalter, and select MSS and witnesses usedthroughout the study. Chapter 2 surveys key modern translations of the Septuagint as well ascertain trends in Translation and Communication Studies for methodological and hermeneuticalapproaches. Chapter 3 derives working methodological principles based upon the discussions inchapters 1 and 2. Chapters 4 and 5 are detailed, word-by-word, clause-by-clause, commentarieson Psalms 38 and 145 respectively. Chapter 6 offers a summary and conclusions.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University