Over the last few months I’ve highlighted a number of my own publications, so I thought it would make sense to point out others’ work as well.

Mambelli, Vedere Sogni on Old Greek Daniel (Italian)

I was glad to receive news from Anna Mambelli of her recent publication, Vedere Sogni. Here is an English translation of part of the volume description:

For the first time, the Hellenistic context and meaning of the dream reports in Daniel 2 and 4, in its ancient Greek version known as the Old Greek, are examined in a detailed study. Far from being a simple literal translation of its Hebrew-Aramaic source, the Old Greek introduces several variations in dream-related vocabulary attributable exclusively to the translator. These variations have significant narrative, exegetical, and even theological implications.

Such linguistic changes constitute traces that, when carefully analyzed, can reveal the exegetical methods through which the Danielic text was adapted to a new Hellenistic environment and made accessible to new audiences, particularly Jews of the Alexandrian diaspora. The specific meaning attributed to Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams in the Old Greek version of Daniel is therefore illuminated in this volume through constant comparison with archaic, classical, and Hellenistic Greek literature, Greek papyri from Ptolemaic Egypt, and other non-biblical sources.

Fabry et al., Die Septuaginta

Once again, the Germans have put together a sizeable collection of essays as part of the ongoing LXX.D initiative. This particular volume is impressive not simply given its size (500pgs +), but because it represents the proceedings of the 2020 conference, or rather what was going to be the 2020 conference before covid (see here).

In any case, the event did happen eventually and is now presented in this volume of essays. As the title suggests, there is a loose theme focused on the prophetical corpus. The description reads:

Prophecy is associated with a claim to authority that must be justified and can be contested. Both textually and theologically, prophetic texts from the Old Testament pose particular challenges for ancient translators and modern interpreters alike. The Greek translations are caught between the tension of textual fidelity and the need for theological and ethical updating. This anthology brings together studies on the development of textual traditions, translation techniques, and the current and literary reception of prophetic texts.

Bellantuono et al., Between Scroll and Scripture

This forthcoming volume is another edited project that collects a wide array of essays. Frankly I am not certain if this represents the proceedings of a conference, but it does have that look. Essays in this volume are focused mainly on Septuagint vocabulary. Here is the description:

The articles of this volume aim to contribute to a better understanding of the language of the Septuagint and biblical Greek in general. A large amount of the specific linguistic features of the Septuagint can be explained against the background of the vocabulary and stylistic phenomena of Greek literature and contemporary papyri. Moreover, numerous linguistic features of the Septuagint also occur in the New Testament, in the Apostolic Fathers and in the literature of ancient Christianity. The contributors to the volume consider both the Semitic legacy of these literary collections and their Greek background in the widest sense, including inscriptions and spoken Greek as reflected in papyri. The articles address three major topics: the vocabulary of the Septuagint and the New Testament and its linguistic background; papyri, neologisms and hapaxlegomena; and problems related to the interpretation of difficult passages in biblical and non-biblical Jewish literature. The contributors take into account recent developments in the research landscape, including studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the growing attention to the Septuagint as a version of the Bible to be studied in its own right.