WHAT PLEASES A GOD: TRANSLATION AND STYLE IN THE OLD GREEK PSALTER

Abstract

Over the past three centuries a number of biblical scholars have focused on the poetic and even lyric qualities of biblical poetry. However, perhaps due to its characterization as a “slavish” translation, the lyric, poetic, or even stylistic qualities of the Old Greek Psalter have received less sustained attention, raising the question of the extent to which the Greek Psalms might reflect literary sensitivity. Drawing on polysystem theory as a framework for understanding the development of literary corpora, the current analysis identifies cultural systems that could have influenced the translator’s work and their stylistic features. Ultimately, by focusing on the Greek Psalter’s style, the current project establishes that by drawing on Greek Pentateuchal poetry, Hebrew poetic technique, and Greek literary style, the translator contributed to the developing corpus of Jewish-Greek literature with a text that both respects the integrity of its Vorlage and reflects sensitivity to style, particularly its performative aspects, which are seen in the translator’s sensitivity to sound, rhythm, and the matching of content and composition.