How sad it is that so few people know about one of the most festive days in the solar calendar year! So I am always thrilled to draw more attention to this splendid occasion that could — and now that I think about it definitely should — replace Valentine’s Day.

For that reason, I declare:

Today is indeed the the 18th annual international Septuagint Day! More than that, this year’s post to celebrate is in fact my eleventh year doing so here on this blog, which itself is something of a feat to celebrate.

Here’s a list of links to previous years’ celebrations:

ISD 2023    |    ISD 2022    |    ISD 2021    |    ISD 2020    |    ISD 2019

ISD 2018    |    ISD 2017    |    ISD 2016    |    ISD 2015    |    ISD 2014

To celebrate this year, I’m doing a roundup-style post for the variety of recent publications and resources that have appeared in our discipline.

Some Recent Notables in the Discipline

There have been a number of publications in recent months, many of them in languages other than English, as we’ll see. But we’ll start with some English resources.

*Open Access* Commentary on the Wisdom of Ben Sira

First up to bat is the new philological commentary on the book of Ben Sira produced by Takamitsu Muraoka. This volume is published by Peeters in the OBO series (here). It is over eight hundred pages long and is remarkably an open access publication that you can download right here. What more could you want on International Septuagint Day than a free book? Especially a book by one of the foremost biblical scholars in our day like Muraoka. 

Joshua Harper, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai (BHLXX)

I’ve drawn attention to the new(ish) series called the Baylor Handbook on the Septuagint before (here), and since then several volumes have appeared. The most recent one to emerge is this one covering the books of Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai in Greek, written by Josh Harper. These books are grammatical commentaries, and so they make great guides for reading the text solo, or certain kinds of research. I think I’ve mentioned before on here that I’m working on my own volume in this series.

The T&T Clark Handbook of Septuagint Research in Paperback

I’m admittedly biased, but I think it’s worth mentioning that the Septuagint handbook that I co-edited with Ed Glenny (here), published with Bloomsbury T&T Clark in 2021 is now available in paperback. Obviously the content is no different, but the price certainly is. The paperback is about one-third of the price (~$50), so if you’ve been saving up, you’ll be glad to hear that. What better way to celebrate Septuagint Day than to treat yourself, or perhaps someone you love?

Lanier and Ross, The Septuagint (Korean Edition)

While I’m highlighting my own books, I thought I’d also point out that, as of this week, there is a Korean translation available for The Septuagint: What It Is and Why It Matters. I posted about the original 2021 (English) publication of that book here. I also mentioned a while back that there is also a Spanish version available. If you’re interested in picking up the new Korean translation, you can do that here. 

Spanish Introduction to the Septuagint

Speaking of introductory books on the Septuagint, I recently learned from my colleague Eberhard Bons that he has coauthored a Spanish book alongside Anna Passoni Dell’Acqua, Antonella Bellantuono, Daniela Scialabba, and Dionisio Cándido. You can preview the book, which is actually a revised edition, here. I haven’t read this book myself, but I know almost all of the contributors personally and they are fine scholars, so I expect it’s an excellent resource.

New Volume in La Bible d’Alexandrie

Finally, I’m very glad to see the appearance of two a volume in the excellent La Bible d’Alexandrie series. This series is primarily a translation of the Septuagint into French, but the translation is accompanied by extensive notes on the Greek language and early interpretation history of the text. I have written about this series here and here. The new volume is a multiauthor production on the book of Micah.