Well yet another International Septuagint Day has arrived (and gone) as of yesterday, 8 February. It being a Sunday, I figured I would draw attention to it this morning instead. And as usual, I have something to say about it. First, here’s a list of links to previous years’ celebrations here on the blog:
To celebrate this year, I want to draw attention to an exciting new venture at Oxford.
Oxford Seminar on the Septuagint
Septuagint scholarship is in something of a transition phase at the moment. Many of our senior scholars have retired in just the last year or so, and more will do so soon. For that reason (and others), the landscape is changing in important ways, not least of all where and how to connect with research in the field.
That is why I’m excited to draw attention to a new Septuagint seminar taking place at Christ Church College at Oxford University. The seminar is being convened by Joel Bell and Guillermo Velilla, with the oversight of George Heath-Whyte and Alison Salvesen. It’s especially gratifying to see this happen at Christ Church, where the Regius Professorship of Hebrew is based. Although it is currently vacant, the Regius chair has contributed to Septuagint scholarship for centuries.
The seminar aims to provide a regular space at Oxford for sustained, methodologically reflective work on the Septuagint and related Greek Jewish texts. For the current Hilary Term and upcoming Trinity Term, the aim is foundational. Presentations are designed to be accessible and educational for those less familiar with the field, whether students or scholars in adjacent disciplines. A schedule appears below for Hilary.
As you can see, the inaugural meeting of the seminar occurred just a few days ago, when Phillip Marshall presented his research on Aramaic influence in the Septuagint translation. By all accounts it was well received, and there are more fascinating papers scheduled.
There are plans afoot to make the seminar available via livestream. If and when that comes together, I’ll be sure to post something about access here.
Septuaginta &c. 