Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and Content

Proverbs 7 MT and LXX 165
Verse 25
*
+ + H1 + 9* 1B
+# "*1B
c b a *
b’ c’+a’ *
While the synonymous stichs are kept intact in the surrounding verses, in
v. 25 the second stich is missing in the LXX altogether. The MT is
undoubtedly original, as proven by the structure of these last verses. Is this
the last expression of our translator’s independence in this speech?
Admittedly, he never skipped an entire stich but rather preferred to forgo
repetition by fusing together parallel redundant elements. However, how
can we explain the omission of the second stich? There is no apparent sign
to suggest an accidental omission either in Hebrew or in Greek. Rather,
after having translated the first stich literally, he must have felt that another
line with a similar verb and a second reference to ‘her ways’ would be
redundant. The contents, however, remains the same.
Verse 26
*
& ('
! ( "1 .
+@=1. ="
b a *
b’ a’ *
The translator improves the parallelism by turning @ ‘her victims’ into a
verbal relative clause: ' ‘those whom she has slain’; cf. vv. 12,
16 where he added a verb to achieve a better parallelism. In the course of
the reformulation he left out the word that in the Hebrew serves mainly
to maintain the balance between the stichs.
____________
beginning of the speech (vv. 4–6). In ch. 4, on the other hand, the interchange of
plural (4:1–2) and singular (4:10ff) is reflected in the LXX as well.