Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and Content

Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 139
Verse 4
. &.
*
2 ( ("3
"%$
c b a *
a’ b’ c’ *
While the MT has a perfect chiastic parallelism (a, b, c–c’, b’, a’), in the LXX
the first two elements in the second stich are shuffled (a, b, c–b’, c’, a’). The
word order in the MT is preferable, since the emphasis should be on the
novel feature, i.e., the characterization of wisdom as ( & ‘sister’
(end of first stich), and %* ‘acquaintance’ (beginning of second
stich). 21 The translator reformulates the parallelism, while using an
accusativus cum infinitivo: “Say that wisdom is thy sister, and gain prudence
as an acquaintance for thyself.” 22
It is difficult to rely on this creative translator and assume that the elusive
verb ‘preserve, procure’ reflects rather than . 45 The
translator could have been influenced by sayings such as (
“Acquire wisdom, acquire discernment,” without actually reading a
different verb, especially since he chose such an unusual equivalent. 24
21 While %—here parallel with (—presumably means ‘kinsman,’ it is
rendered by an etymological equivalent *, ‘an acquaintance,’ from
-, ‘make known,’ ‘become acquainted with.’ LXX-Ruth came up with the
same solution (2:1; 3:2).
22 Hamonville, Proverbes, 200, renders the second stich as: ‘attache-toi la prudence
comme une familière.’
45 As suggested by Lagarde, Anmerkungen, 25, and Baumgartner, Étude critique, 75.
Consequently, they take the lamed of as an accusative, contra Jäger (apud
Lagarde and Baumgarter) who reads . All this seems unnecessary.
24 In the LXX renders mainly ( and other verbs which connote ‘keep
alive’, ‘preserve’. While it is used twice for in Genesis, it never renders .