Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and Content

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146 Tova Forti and Zipora Talshir with the text is most obvious in his treatment of the parallelismus membrorum. The wisdom-teacher sets his words in concise parallel stichs, structured partly in parallelism, with varying techniques. Unlike his quite faithful rendering of the introductory verses, here the translator feels free to rewrite the text and forgo the literary form designed by the author. He may have found it difficult to reproduce the more sophisticated and variegated parallelism characteristic of the body of the argument. As things are, he seems more concerned with conveying the contents and message rather than handling the decoration of the poetic presentation. 39 Verse 6 b a * a *#
Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 147 and happening to see the encounter between the lad and the woman, while in the LXX the woman is intently examining the streets, seeking out her prey. A variant Hebrew text is not unthinkable, 41 but highly unlikely, in view of the translator’s intensive interference with the text in these verses. He did not have to change the parallelism in order to put the verb in the third person. As the following verses will show, he also interferes with the structure in cases where he does not intend to change the meaning or introduce new ideas. Verse 7 ' 21 & a !"+ * *1"&("" " 2 While in the MT vv. 6 and 7 form separate units combined by a waw—he looked through the window and he saw a simple lad—the translator connected the two by devices that are characteristically Greek: he constructed the verb in v. 6 as a participle and the verb at the beginning of v. 7 as a subjunctive (... ' 3 1...): looking through the window in case she might detect a gullible young man. As in the previous verse, he does not reproduce the parallelism here. The obvious parallels // are condensed in the LXX into: “at one whom she may see of the foolish boys,” with only one verb instead of // and the parallel // combined into one phrase: the boys devoid of sense. Here it becomes even clearer that the change originates with the translator. 42 He chooses to speak in continuous sentences rather than in stichs, even though he does not change the meaning in any way. b a * c’ b’ a’ * 41 E.g., ( ( ‘For she looks from the window of her house into the streets’. 42 The similarity between the juxtaposed words could have prima facie caused the omission of the verb, but his practice advocates a deliberate fusion of the parallel verbs.
Page 1 and 2: Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and
Page 3 and 4: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 131 (6) An in
Page 5 and 6: The conclusion is marked by a new a
Page 7 and 8: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 135 The MT an
Page 9 and 10: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 137 and subst
Page 11 and 12: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 139 Verse 4
Page 13 and 14: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 141 the follo
Page 15 and 16: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 143 these mon
Page 17: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 145 ancient c
Page 25 and 26: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 153 not be a
Page 29 and 30: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 157 Inventive
Page 31 and 32: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 159 whores. O
Page 33 and 34: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 161 ( and ( e
Page 35 and 36: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 163 formulate
Page 39: Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 167 influence

Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and Content

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