Book Description

Reconsideration of the nature of the Greek attested in both the Septuagint and the New Testament has focussed in the past century on its place within the history of Greek. A central facet of the work of John Lee has been to demonstrate that biblical Greek is contemporary Koine, comparable to that found in inscriptions and papyri, and that it can be positioned within the history of the language. These essays honour him in considering various aspects of biblical Greek within its context. Lexicography is discussed in the light of particular 'Jewish Greek' features, the role of context for semantics, and the use of Modern Greek in lexicons. Septuagint translation techniques involving transliterations, loan-words, and ethnic terminology, and the grammatical topics of deponency and verbal aspect, are all analysed. The importance of papyri and numismatic evidence is highlighted, while the material witnessess of doublets in the manuscript tradition and of later Jewish versions represented in the Cairo Genizah and in marginal glosses are also examined.