Reconstructing 1 Samuel chapter 3

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:My Ph.D. dissertation proposed a four-step procedure for recovering the earliestpossible text of the Old Testament: (1) detennining the lexical and grammatical characteristicsof the various secondary (non-Hebrew) witnesses; (2) determining the literary and theologicalcharacteristics of the same witnesses; (3) retroverting the non-Hebrew witnesses whereversignificant variants occur; (4) evaluating the Hebrew and retroverted variants andreconstructing a Hebrew Vorlage presumed to lie behind all of the extant witnesses. Thedissertation itselfcompleted the fIrst two of these steps, which a..rnount to a determination of thesignificant variants (i.e., those that probably point to a Hebrew reading different from M'I) ofthe secondary wiblesses. It is the goal of this thesis to complete the analysis and produce acritical, eclectic Hebrew text of 1 Samuel 3.Before attempting to retrovert the different secondary witnesses, a number ofproblemareas need to be addressed, including developing a methodology for retroverting versionalreadings that is as scientific as possible, the Hebrew script used in the Vorlagen of the variousversions, and the orthography of the Vorlagen and of the reconstructed archetype. Themethodology used for retroverting secondary witnesses is informed by the works of Margolis,Tov, and others, and the translation techniques of the versions as. determined in mydissertationplaya large role. The methodology must be modified somewhat when analyzing the partialsecondary witnesses (the Lucianic and Hexaplaric recensions of LXX).Once the secondary witnesses have been retrov~their data is combined with that ofMT, 4QSama, and a few other Hebrew witnesses and evaluated. The problems of multipleliterary editions and conjectural emendations are examined, as are the merits ofexternal andinternal evidence in making text-critical decisions. After each of the units ofvariation has beenevaluated, the possibility that LXX represents an edition of Samuel different from MT is considered on the basis of the evidence from chapter 3. Finally, a critical edition of thechapter, replete with critical apparatuses containing both the original and retroverted readings ofthe secondary witnesses, presents the fruits of the study.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University