LXX

Call for Papers: Septuagint Studies Section – ETS 2020

It is a real pleasure to work alongside Chris Fresch and a great steering committee to help build the Septuagint Studies section at the annual meeting of ETS. I’m excited to publicize an open call for papers for our 2020 meeting in Providence, RI.

We do not have any specific themes to work with this year, so the possibilities are fairly wide open. If you are in a PhD program or a professor working on a topic in or related to Septuagint, consider sending in a proposal! We are excited to host this year’s sessions and look forward to receiving them. You can begin the submission process here.

If you’re interested, you can read a little about the history of our section here:

2019 Section and Call | 2018 Consultation | 2017 Consultation and Review | 2016 Consultation and Review

International Septuagint Day 2020: An Interview with the Editors of the Lexham English Septuagint

Today is indeed a very special day, for it is the 14th glorious iteration of International Septuagint Day! If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you can read all kinds of tidbits that I’ve written in the past number of years on this festive occasion:

ISD 2019    |    ISD 2018    |    ISD 2017    |    ISD 2016    |    ISD 2015    |    ISD 2014

The short version is, at some point Robert Kraft noticed that February 8th is the only date we know of as being historically related to the Greek Scriptures. In a document dating to February 8th, 533 C.E. the Emperor Justinian announced permission for public reading of Jewish Scriptures in the Roman Empire. He proclaims his approval of any language, but where Greek is used he states that

“those who use Greek shall use the text of the seventy interpreters [i.e. the LXX], which is the most accurate translation, and the one most highly approved…”

So this fine day has been marked as a worldwide celebration ever since 2006, at least it has among the fine folks within the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS). (more…)