Pietersma states that the dependent status of the Greek version entails that “for the vast majority of Septuagint books this linguistic relationship can best be conceptualized as a Greek inter-linear translation of a Hebrew original within a Hebrew-Greek diglot” (“To the Reader of NETS,” xiv). The genius behind this model is Albert Pietersma, who presents a conceptual school setting in which Greek and Hebrew texts were read in interlinear fashion. The basic framework that NETS uses is called the Interlinear Paradigm. The reason, in the perspective of the NETS group, is that the LXX was intended to serve as a pedagogical tool for Jewish students of the Hebrew text, which was always read alongside the Greek so that the two texts were best understood in conversation with one another. This is not merely to say that both Hebrew and Greek texts existed, but that the Hebrew continued to serve as a religious text, rather than being supplanted by a new translation. Indeed, proponents of the NETS approach understand the Greek and Hebrew scriptures to have coexisted with equal importance, so to speak, after the Greek version was produced. What makes NETS unique among them is its understanding of the LXX as a subservient text to the Hebrew scriptures that came before it. The New English Translation of the SeptuagintĮach of the modern language translations of the LXX operate on the basis of assumptions about the nature of the LXX itself. With that, I will dive into the approach of the scholars who produced NETS.
Of course, just what constitutes a “good” translation is exactly the topic of this series. You can also purchase it for Accordance as well as Olive Tree. As I mentioned, NETS is also accessible freely online ( copyright), although owning a hard copy is well worth the cost since you’ll be referring to it so often. While there are older versions (namely Thomson and Brenton ), NETS is your best bet, generally speaking, for a “good” English rendering. The first and, for many, most relevant of these is the most recent English translation. I mentioned four modern translation projects of this sort – some finished, some still in the works. This left me short on time and without any of my books! In the time since I wrote the initial post, we had our second child and moved from Philadelphia to Cambridge, where I have just begun doctoral work. Apologies that it has taken me so much time to get back around to working on this series. In a previous post I announced a new ‘series’ in which I will outline the various principles and procedures involved in the current modern language translations of the Septuagint.
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